November/December 2019 Volume 49 Issue 6 $6.95 UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING ASSOCIATION
The new Z6 contains several performance breakthroughs in the intermediate category, while taking passive safety to the highest level yet in the Buzz series. With a refined SharkNose leading edge, optimised line plan for 20% drag reduction, a new blend of materials to improve durability and reduce weight, the Z6 is the most advanced Buzz to date. • • • •
20% Reduction in Overall Line Drag Refined SharkNose Profile G-String Leading Edge Double-3D Shaping
Photo: Ben Jordan
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Pilot: Lyndsay Nicole
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1 NORTHWEST [ AK∙HI∙IA∙ID∙MN∙MT∙ND∙NE∙OR∙SD∙WA∙WY ] Mark Forbes Doyle Johnson Randall Shane Owen Shoemaker
ON THE COVER Descendants of Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian indigenous groups and Huns that populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea, today’s semi nomadic Kazakh culture still practices the ancient tradition of hunting for fur and food with golden eagles. As a contemporary falconer of almost 20 years, Jeff Shapiro traveled with friends and fellow ambassadors, Nick Greece and Krystle Wright, to experience and learn more about this displayed mixture of cultural heritage, practical hunting and art.
Martin Palmaz, Executive Director executivedirector@ushpa.org Beth Van Eaton, Operations Manager office@ushpa.org Erika Klein, Communications Manager communications@ushpa.org Chris Webster, Information Services Manager tech@ushpa.org Galen Anderson, Membership Coordinator membership@ushpa.org OFFICERS Alan Crouse, President president@ushpa.org Randall Shane, Vice President vicepresident@ushpa.org Ken Andrews, Secretary secretary@ushpa.org Mark Forbes, Treasurer treasurer@ushpa.org
2 CENTRAL WEST [ Northern CA∙NV∙UT ] Neil Hansen Steve Rodrigues 3 SOUTHWEST [ Southern CA∙AZ∙CO∙NM ] Ken Andrews Alan Crouse Ken Grubbs Greg Kelley 4 SOUTHEAST [ AL∙AR∙DC∙FL∙GA∙KS∙KY∙LA∙MO∙MS∙NC∙OK∙SC∙TN∙TX∙WV∙VA ] Larry Dennis Kate Griffin Daniel Lukaszewicz Tiki Mashy Matt Taber 5 NORTHEAST & INTERNATIONAL [ CT∙DE∙IL∙IN∙MA∙MD∙ME∙MI∙NH∙NY∙NY∙OH∙PA∙RI∙VT∙WI ] Felipe Amunategui Mike Holmes Paul Voight
Photo by NICK GREECE The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Inc. (USHPA) is an air sports organization affiliated with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), which is the official representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), of the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the United States at FAI meetings, has delegated to the USHPA supervision of FAI-related hang gliding and paragliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, a division of the National Aeronautic Association, is a representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale in the United States.
For change of address or other USHPA business +1 (719) 632-8300 info@ushpa.org POSTMASTER USHPA Pilot ISSN 1543-5989 (USPS 17970) is published bimonthly by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc., 1685 W. Uintah St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80904 Phone: (719) 632-8300 Fax: (719) 632-6417 Periodicals Postage Paid in Colorado Springs and additional mailing offices. Send change of address to: USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO, 80901-1330. Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3.
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USHPA PILOT 5
Flight Plan [ Editor > NICK GREECE ]
Martin Palmaz, Publisher executivedirector@ushpa.org Nick Greece, Editor editor@ushpa.org / advertising@ushpa.org Greg Gillam, Art Director art.director@ushpa.org C.J. Sturtevant, Copy Editor copy@ushpa.org PHOTOGRAPHERS Jeff Shapiro
STAFF WRITERS Annette O’Neil Dennis Pagen Jeff Shapiro C.J. Sturtevant
SUBMISSIONS from our members and readers are welcome. All articles, artwork, photographs as well as ideas for articles, artwork and photographs are submitted pursuant to and are subject to the USHPA Contributor's Agreement, a copy of which can be obtained from the USHPA by emailing the editor at editor@ushpa.org or online at www.ushpa.org. We are always looking for great articles, photography and news. Your contributions are appreciated. ADVERTISING is subject to the USHPA Advertising Policy, a copy of which may be obtained from the USHPA by emailing advertising@ushpa.org. COPYRIGHT ©2019 US HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING ASSOC., INC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of USHPA.
This year has been very difficult in our communities in terms of safety. We've witnessed another year on the curve that raises the median in terms of fatalities. Is there a cause behind this, or is this simply another year of bad luck? Could the “normalization of deviance” be a factor? What’s that, you say? It’s a theory that was originally postulated around NASA’s 1986 Challenger catastrophe by sociologist Dr. Diane Vaughan, which defines the normalization of deviance as “the gradual process through which unacceptable practice or standards become acceptable. As the deviant behavior is repeated without catastrophic results, it becomes the social norm for the organization.” Is this an issue in free flight, more than in other forms of aviation or adventure sports? Are we normalizing questionable decision-making and behaviors? Before I continue, I am asking you to leave any defensive knee-jerk reaction you may feel here. Do not bring it with you, as it will not serve this exercise well. Leave the word "deviant” alone as that will lead you down the wrong path. Yes, we are all deviants who participate in these sports. Track the word normal. What “normal” behaviors do you see pilots successfully pulling off that, if looked at through a microscope, would not stand up in the best-practices-of-aviation test? I’ll be the first to admit that my launches have become lazy and less than perfect in recent years, due to lack of currency and not practicing kiting enough now that I often fly very far. A friend, who has a lot less experience than I have, told me this year that I needed to work on my launches. But, I argued, I ended up in the air! I didn’t get hurt! I even flew for several hours on a couple of the flights…so I must be fine. For a few years I have been “getting away with” less than perfect launches, and this has normalized and reinforced my poor practice. All of this is compounded and escalates our risk profiles if as a group we readily accept that flying while taking collapses, or hung over, or tired, or launching between lulls, or not nailing perfect launches every flight is normal. For the next flying season, I hope we all will take a moment to look at our individual practices, and those in our local flying community, with egoless, brutal honesty and determine if in fact we have normalized deviance or, hopefully, have not. I can’t help but think that the proliferation of social media and selective reporting of our flights is a factor in this. I don’t brag on social media about the days I land early because it was too much for me, or how scared I was during parts of some of the big flights, or when I didn’t launch because the wind was too strong—I only post about the glory of my successes. I postulate that social media has increased the prevalence and speed at which individuals and communities can go through the normalization process in comparison to the pre-social media, “did you see when I (insert humble or blatant brag here)” days. This may not be a trend, but going into the new year, let’s all vow to take stock of our flying habits and diligently and truthfully look at our practices to ensure that we are giving ourselves and our friends every opportunity to enjoy the stoke of free flight for decades to come. You may partake in this fearless inventory and come back roses, which is great, but you may need to adjust. Either way, it’s a result and in any case such introspection can encourage a dialogue in your community and perhaps become a vehicle to aid those in need of change.
2019 November/December CONTENTS 8 LAUNCHING 8 AIRMAIL 10 FINDING LIFT 11 STORE 60 CALENDAR 61 CLASSIFIED 62 RATINGS
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18 18 RECORDS
Team Flying—Get Into It!
Learning from team Brazil by JOSH COHN
22 FUNDRAISING
X-Flight
Days 4-12
by GLEN VOLK 52 TRAINING
Advice to Fledglings
There are bold pilots and old pilots. by LIZ DENGLER 56 SKILLS
Wing Loading Effects
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Important details from the professor
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by DENNIS PAGEN
12 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
36 FLY LIKE A GIRL!
by LINDA SALAMONE
by C.J. STURTEVANT
US hang-gliding team makes a strong showing in Spain at the 22nd FAI competition.
The legacy girls of Dog Mountain, Washington reunite and remember.
28 BUSY LIVIN'
42 MONGOLIA
by ANNETTE O'NEIL
by NICK GREECE and JEFF SHAPIRO
KAVU's The Barr family has been lifting up free flight since forever.
Nick Greece, Krystle Wright and Jeff Shapiro explore the remote northwest wilds.
HANG GLIDING AND PAR AGLIDING ARE INHERENTLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES
USHPA recommends pilots complete a pilot training program under the direct supervision of a USHPA-certified instructor, using safe equipment suitable for your level of experience. Many of the articles and photographs in the magazine depict advanced maneuvers being performed by experienced, or expert, pilots. These maneuvers should not be attempted without the prerequisite instruction and experience. 6 US HPA P I LOT
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The Joy of Flying
The Intermediate Classic
The EPSILON 9 combines performance, safety and precision in equal measure. The ADVANCE Intermediate Classic is for those many pilots who want to enjoy their flying – an easy-to-fly, good performing wing with a high feelgood factor – whether a long-serving thermal pilot with cross country ambitions, or just the fun flyer who relishes of the latest technology to enhance performance and user-friendliness – and your safety. Enjoy! www.advance.ch /epsilon
distributor: superflyinc.com info@superflyinc.com 801-255-9595
Picture: Adi Geisegger
the joy of flight. This EPSILON 9 includes most
Launching
NIVIUK’S ERGO HANDLES are designed to alleviate pressure off your hands for those pilots who take a wrap, especially for tandem pilots. They are designed specifically for pilot comfort. Based off the Ergo XC design, these new handles can fit on any brake toggle with a swivel. They distribute the load evenly on your hands. More info: www.eagleparagliding.com.
The FLOW D-CHUTE is a drag parachute designed specifically to aid a quick descent rate in high performance paragliders. When in use, D-CHUTE will reduce the G-forces encountered in steep spiral dives therefore increasing the sink rate. Flow claims that their drag parachute is easy to use, effective and an important safety device to be used to lose height without increasing G-force and/or increasing risk. Light and compact, 195g. It is the smallest and lightest drag parachute in the market. Contact
www.LiftParagliding.com
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Airmail
[ Latest Gear ] XC TRACER MINI III GPS is a solar variometer with GPS and BLE. It may weigh only 34 grams but it is a capable unit. The XC Tracer Mini III GPS gives lag-free audio feedback due to the use of an accelerometer combined with a barometer. XC Tracer claims that this allows the unit to be more efficient in thermals, especially in weak conditions. XC Tracer Mini III GPS also logs an IGC and KML file simultaneously. The Bluetooth BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) 4.0 module that is built in allows you to connect the Mini III GPS to your favorite free-flight app on your Android /iOS / e-reader device. One button and that’s all. In short this is the "go-to” variometer that won’t break the bank, whether you are just getting started in the sport or an experienced XC pilot. More info: www.eagleparagliding.com. WOODY VALLEY QUADRO 140 light rescue parachute is suitable for heavier paragliding pilots, hang-gliding and paramotoring. Its main features are a sink rate of 5.49 meter/ second (at maximum work load of 140 kg), an opening time of 3.20 seconds and a very light weight of 1450 gr. More info:
www.eagleparagliding.com.
[ Letters to the Editor ]
Generous donors from the free flight community will match your tax deductible donations, dollar for dollar up to $50,000. Dear Flying Enthusiasts: I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the Foundation for Free Flight's 2019 Matching Gift Campaign! The Foundation has supported hang gliding and paragliding for over 30 years since our designation as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit in 1989. We are an independent charity, separate from USHPA, and we rely on donations from pilots and benefactors to fulfill our mission. All funds raised will be used to protect and improve flying sites, promote safety and education, ensure access to competition and more. Generous donors from the free flight community will match your tax deductible donations, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000 so please, DONATE TODAY! This opportunity could not come at a more critical time. In 2019 alone, our grant program assisted chapters with site and access improvements, sites in jeopardy, conservation and recreation easements. We created a targeted fundraiser for the Red Bull X-Alps, Hang Gliding and Paragliding world teams, and assisted local and grass-roots competitors. We granted funds to instructors from the Instructor Support Assistance Program and provided administrative services across the board to improve fundraising outcomes. To double your support, please make a tax deductible donation to the Foundation’s 2019 Matching Gift Campaign today! FoundationForFreeFlight.org/MATCH - Sincerely, Jayne DePanfilis, Executive Director JayneDePanfilis@foundationforfreeflight.org 559-677-7546 P.S. Donations will be matched up to $50,000 through December 31, 2019. On behalf of future pilots, thank you in advance for your generous support.
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M A I L C H E C K S : F O U N D AT I O N F O R F R E E F L I G H T , C / O K I M E R L I N G & W I S D O M L L C , 1 5 0 B R OA DWAY , S U I T E 1 1 0 5 , N E W YO R K , N Y 1 0 0 3 8 D O N AT I O N S @ F O U N D AT I O N F O R F R E E F L I G H T. O R G 559-677-7546
Finding Lift
[ Executive Director, USHPA > MARTIN PALMAZ ]
Towards the Centerline change in both genders if there were more Dear Membership: We’ve noticed a very notewomen involved, as both participants and inworthy trend in hang gliding and paragliding over the last few seasons: considerably more structors? Do male and female participants look events organized by and centered around wom- for different information when they become interested in an activity that involves more en. These are all over the U.S., and include the significant calculated risk? I don't have well-inWomen's Fly-In Festivals at Lookout Mountain Flight Park, the Chelan Halloween Women's formed answers for any of these, but it would be Fly-In, and the Rocky Mountain Swifts Fly-In at interesting to explore them, and I suspect that Villa Grove. the answers to each one inform the others. It’s tremendously encouraging to see an Aside from drawing more women’s participaincreased level of interest in events that are tion in free flight, female-centered programs centered around female participants, because have plenty of side benefits for current athletes. we’d love to see the composition of our member- "There is something special about female pilots learning from other female pilots," says Lindsey ship move meaningfully further towards the centerline. As it stands now, 6.5% of USHPA’s HG Ripa, who organized the women's Villa Grove Pilot members are female; in PG, that number is fly-in in September. "We can relate to the newer pilot's journey and envision ourselves as the XC 11.7%. Rated female participants in both sports make up 8% of the bi-wingual member total. On pilot who keeps up with and even outpaces the boys. Women's events bring together amazing the instructor side, those numbers skew even ladies who may otherwise never see another further: Women make up just 2.2% of our HG instructors, 5.3% of our PG instructors, and 9.1% woman on the hill!" Creating female-focused community hubs is AIRS of the instructors rated to teach both sports. When a sport is so one-sided, it's very cultural- powerful and worthwhile, promoting a different Accident/Incident ly different than a sport with more male/female quality of learning environment and teaching Reporting System balance. Statistically speaking, sports considstyle that many newer pilots may find beneficial, ered “extreme” tend to attract male participants, increasing ease of interaction, and generatis standing by at but we also know that such a tendency is neiing new mentorship opportunities. Based on feedback from past women-focused events, it ther a foregone conclusion nor a hard-and-fast airs.ushpa.org appears that participants experience an envirule. Change is not only possible, but necessary. ronment of open sharing, as well as a feeling If you've been injured or I would be personally ecstatic if we moved each of greater safety in the ability to discuss issues experienced a close call, of those numbers above 25%. file a report today. The questions around gender balance are with a community of female pilots. interesting ones: Where's the cultural tipping I could go on about the subtle (and not-so-subAll AIRS reports are point? What are the factors that drive it? How tle) ways these differences impact female particcompletely confidential. would our collective decisions about flying ipation, but I’ll leave you with my acknowledgement of the power of these efforts to change our sports for the better—and my wholehearted support for these changes. We would love to IN THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE, I wrote about engaging more active duty and veteran service members in our sports. I’m very pleased to hear about and promote other women-centered announce that—thanks to the stalwart efforts of Membership Coordinator events as they occur. If you want to get one Galen Anderson, alongside Erika Klein and Mitch Shipley—USHPA has been of these events going at your own site, please approved to receive a $120K GRANT for the next fiscal year to provide reach out to us for support. We’re here to help, adaptive flight training to disabled veterans and active-duty military. In and we’re very open to suggestions from the conjunction with this project, we plan to capture the stories of transformamembership. tion that the participants experience during their process of learning to fly. As always, thank you for your ongoing support The work we’ll explore under this grant will not only introduce free flight to in these efforts—and your continuing feedback new participants, but also give back to servicemen and servicewomen for --—which are both deeply appreciated. whom our sports and our community will make a massive, positive difference. We’re very excited about this program and will have more information available soon on our website.
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- Blue skies, Martin Palmaz Executive Director, USHPA
HAPPY HOLIDAYS USH PA PILOT 11
Start your gift shopping at USHPA.org/STORE
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Flying in Salt Lake City offers a lot of options with glorious views. Point of the Mountain, Utah.
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FREE FLIGHT T-SHIRTS Show your pride of wing with these bold, graphic HG & PG designs – available in both men’s and women’s styles. Cardinal red for Hang Gliders. Sapphire blue for Paragliders. Bi-wingual? Get one of each!
$14.95
2020 WALL CALENDARS Brighten your walls with an amazing collection of photos taken by pilots from around the world. Keep track of adventures you have planned for flying season. 13” x 10”, 12 pp.
$20.00
SOFT SHELL FLIGHT JACKETS Durable Marmot jackets are water-repellent, windproof, and breathable. Features include stand up collar with zipper chin guard, zippered chest pocket w/ headphone port, zippered hand pockets, and LYCRA bound cuffs. Available in Gray for Men’s and Black for Women’s. Embroidered USHPA logo on the front, “U.S. Hang Gliding & Paragliding Assn” on the back.
$149.95
22nd FAI World Hang Gliding Championships [ contributed by LINDA SALAMONE ]
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COMPETITION
ABOVE 2019 Team. Jeff Chipman, John Simon,Linda Salomone, Will Ramsay, Majo Majors, Zac Majors, Pedro Garcia.
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very two years, the best of the best hang glider pilots from around the world are invited to compete over 14 days for team and individual World Champion titles. This past July, in Tolmezzo, Italy, I was honored to participate as the 2019 US Hang Gliding Team’s leader. Being selected in April gave me little time to notify my summer boss, Jonny Thompson of Kitty Hawk Kites, of an 18-day absence during the busiest part of the summer season. Jonny understood what an honor it was for me to be a part of yet another World Championship, albeit in a different capacity, and he gave me his blessing. Tolmezzo, Italy: Here I come! Zac Majors, Pedro Garcia, John Simon, Will Ramsey, and Jeff Chipman were selected to represent the US. Majo Majors and I would share the retrieve driving. Jamie Sheldon had taken on team leader responsibilities, prior to turning it over to me, and she had already arranged lodging and retrieve vehicles. Between May and my July 10th departure, fundraising for the team was the main focus. Jayne DePanfilis was my contact in the Foundation for Free Flight; we quickly set up a donation page with the ever-patient Doug Sharpe from FFF. John Harris
of Kitty Hawk Kites and Kip Stone of Artforms, Inc., generously donated $2500 each, to match funds from individual donors from all over the country. Although we were given such a short window during which to arrange this, we managed to raise 1/3 of the team’s total expenses. Kip Stone, who was instrumental in arranging my presence at this event, also provided team t-shirts to raise funds and donated the team’s jackets and uniforms. The northeastern region of Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, has a different look from the southern and western regions I’ve visited. It has more of an Austrian or German feel, and, of course, it has the eastern Italian Alps. Upon arriving in Tolmezzo, home of the meet headquarters, it was hard for me to imagine plentiful landing zones in between the majestic Alps. During the first three days after the team assembled and got a few practice flights together, any doubt I had about LZs was erased. Breathtaking views from the Gemona launch revealed large fields in and around the towns and a beautiful countryside. The opening ceremonies on Saturday, July 13th, in the town of Tolmezzo were a bit of a
USH PA PILOT 13
mystery to us. The teams were sequestered for a while, away from the town square where spectators were entertained, before we paraded along the road to join them. Introducing each nation’s competitors took a long time, as there were 35 nations represented. After the opening ceremony, wine, beer and appetizers were provided. The following day was the first team-leader meeting and the official practice day. Our participants chose to avoid the crowd and fly again at Gemona but had to rush to land before the storms arrived. The competition began on Monday, the 15th. There was never much doubt that the Italians would do very well here, in their own backyard. But we witnessed a few upsets and surprises along the way. Day 4 was cancelled, John Simon won Task 5, Task 6 was stopped due to storms, and Day 11 was cancelled to become a mandatory rest day. Airspace, including MOAs and a bird sanctuary, were a constant concern and became the subject of a US team complaint. And altitudes of airspace changed daily. The trackers provided an easy way to follow just my team, and they alerted Majo and me when our pilots landed, with an exact GPS location. The trackers also provided much drama and angst; penalties for late tracker return seemed to take on a life of their own. The organizers assisted with a tree extraction on the last competition day and executed it efficiently and expertly. I asked the team members to share their unique perspectives.
the entire time. After tagging the first two turnpoints, I turned west into what was obviously inevitable sink-out cloud cover. Sizing up my landing options, I settled on an open field near a nice rural residential area in the town of Cavalicco. After a mediocre landing typical of my time in Italy, I walked my glider over to the edge of several yards with goats and gardens and a pair of children with eyes like saucers. Before I’d removed my harness, their mother was pressing a much-appreciated glass of cold water into my hand. Minutes later, the master of the goats approached me with two glasses in one hand and a bottle of homebrewed beer in the other. Matteo, my new friend, shared a drink with me, as I told the tale of my arrival into his life. Once I’d packed my glider and secured my gear, I still had 30 minutes before retrieve. So he invited me to sit on his patio with his lovely wife Isabella. For the next half-hour they plied me with questions, delicious home-made cheese, and Malbec. This was the quintessential dream meeting of a stranger in a friendly foreign land!
Will Ramsey:
Where to begin describing my best memory of Italy? Would it be soaring with gryphons, cruising the stunning ridges of Slovenia, the majestic grandeur that is the Alps, the wonderful camaraderie of our team, the moment we learned John Simon won the day, John’s tree landing on the last day? Truly the comp was a memorable experience all around, full of wonderful people, scenery, dining, and good times. But my own personal best memory was on July 21. The task started with launch at Gemona, followed by turnpoints south, then east, then west, and finally north to goal. The majority of the task was in the flats, under growing cloud cover and eventual storms over the goal. Taking the second start, I found myself in a loose gaggle of 20 or so pilots, flying in survival mode almost
Finally, Majo arrived to retrieve me, and for the only time on the trip, I was less than super-enthused to see her. I thanked my newfound friends and made to leave. Before I could go, Matteo shoved another bottle of his homebrewed beer into my hand. My gratitude knew no bounds. I was truly enchanted by this magical experience and will always remember my lovely hosts in Italia. Now I just need to tweak the next experience to realize those “farmer’s daughter” fantasies . . . I drank Matteo’s gift, warm, on my last night in Europe. It was the best beer I ever tasted.
ABOVE Pilot briefing, last task, Gemona.
Pedro Garcia:
BELOW LEFT Day winner John Simon's entourage. RIGHT John Simon always arrives in style.
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After a couple years’ pause from competition while flying and moving to the US, I felt ready to give competitions another try and was motivated to attempt to earn a place on the US Team. I had attended the pre-worlds last year and, despite its being quite disappointing from several points of view, the landscape, views and potential were incredible. However, it was the possibility of being part of the team that made me want to go back this year and, I have to say, this first experience as a US Team member was not only one of the highlights of the 2019 season, but it also made me look forward to doing it again in the future! I was able to see the potential for building a really strong team. And it was also special for me to live the many experiences of the competition: the positive atmosphere resulting from everyone’s helping each other, the support from our ground crew and the FFF, and all the people who participated by making and selling t-shirts, giving donations and following the meet from home. We had ups and downs and a rough start, as far as points go, but I really enjoyed and appreciated how we kept trying to make the best out of each day, making sure we could bring some great memories back home. Oh, and celebrating John’s day win was also one of the best moments! All I have to say is thank you for having me, and I will be looking forward to the next opportunity!
John Simon:
The whole trip was amazing! We showed up a week early and got together for a full five days of practice, flying in the pre Alps of Italy. We flew three sites, two of which would figure prominently in the competition. The most fun was probably a day of flying Gemona, where four of the five of us launched a bit late and got chased off the mountain range into the flats by rain. We all anticipated landing, but lo and behold… conditions got better and better, and we turned SE into a partly sunny area. Nearly three hours later, we landed… in Slovenia! We had a great meal and a perfect retrieve from Majo. Note: b=Beer in Slovenian is “pivo.” Love Slovenia! The competition was characterized by great flying, good people and long days, usually followed by a quick meal, before heading to bed just to do it all again the next day. After a fun opening ceremony/parade, the meet kicked off with equally excellent flying. We had outstanding weather almost the entire week. The 12-day meet would have two mandatory rest days, meaning at most we would fly 10 days. And… that we did! Only nine would count, because one day was stopped and eventually called, due to a storm near goal, but still we flew! I spent most of the week picking the brains of the many experienced mountain pilots on the team. I was the only flat-lander, and thus, knew I’d be pedaling hard all week to catch up. All my teammates were incredibly helpful, and I got a bit better at dragging my wing across the rocks at 6000’ each day. The team was up early every
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day and usually didn’t return to the apartment until after 9 p.m. Another highlight was a 200km task into Austria from Valsecca, which is a 6000’ launch in the Alps. The view from setup was astonishing. I just wanted to sit and take it all in, but soon I was climbing at 800 fpm, and from well above launch I was greeted by a view which was, incredibly, even more spectacular! As I went deep into the Alps and started heading deeper, Austria slid into view, more than 11,000 feet below. It was simply stunning, no matter which direction you looked. I was intensely focused on climbing and moving quickly, and hours passed. I flew well for much of the day, but nearly six hours later and just eight km or so short of goal, I landed in a beautiful field, where I was greeted by a German-speaking Austrian farmer… with a beer! Love Austria! With 15 days of flying from four different sites and seven different launches, more than 50 hours and three different countries, the flying is second to none in northern Italy. The opportunity to fly with four other great US mountain pilots was invaluable, and the honor of representing the United States at such a high-end event was an amazing experience. I’d like to offer my sincere and deep appreciation for all the support from the many donors and contributors to the team’s mission. We could not have done it without you! A special thanks goes out to Linda and Majo for taking care of us for nearly two weeks, no small task. Thank you all!
Jeff Chipman:
“You’ve been selected as a USA world team member for Italy,” is something I thought I’d never hear. But it happened, and once I heard it, I was super excited to go. There had been some warnings about conditions in the Alps, especially in the area where we would be going. But after consulting a few of my friends, I was determined to give it my best. Wasn’t this something I had always dreamed about? This was my dream coming true. It had been more than a few years since I had traveled abroad, but I was generally familiar with overseas travel because I had been in the US Navy for 20 years and had spent my share of time overseas. Europe was one region where I had not been, so the thought of going to Italy and, possibly, also flying into Slovenia and Austria was very
appealing. Although the eventual team makeup had a ABOVE Jeff Chipman over few changes, I was beaming with pride to be the Italian Alps. Photo by part of this team. Jeff Chipman. Our first flight in Italy was from Gemona, and our plan for our practice day was to fly along the mountains into Slovenia. I heard that the task was partly motivated by John and Zac’s being tired of eating pizza and hoping for a good goulash meal in Slovenia. Four of the five team members flew that day into the flats, which I thought might put us on the ground. But we all stuck together pretty well, with John and Zac making it over the tough part of the course that was riddled with vineyards into Slovenia, while Will and I landed just short of it in a good field, right before it started raining. Our accommodations were comfortable and gave us a little feel for both Austria and Italy combined, since we were so close to the border. Days started early for us. Get Linda Salamone (team leader) to HQ by 8:00 and try to get breakfast or something for lunch (even though there was a small lunch for us every day at launch). Drive about 2 hours to launch, hope you don’t have to hike to launch 3 at Meduno, fly the two- to three-hour task, return home, or close to it, find something to eat, find some time to relax and enjoy your team members’ antics (one and done), try to get some sleep, repeat this schedule for 10 days. A memorable flight was one that went along the back range from the Gemona launch on day 5. We had good ridge racing with many paragliders who were on the route who must have been thinking, What just happened? when they saw about 120 hang gliders racing hard, passing many of them as if they were standing still. At the end of the ridge, we climbed up Gomiščko-
TOP Zac Majors launching vo Zavetišče na Krnu (2182m, or 7160’), where Meduno. plenty of hikers enjoyed the aerial ballet.
Airspace for me caused two zero days, which
BOTTOM Zac after was difficult to swallow. I experienced that on Majo's kiss launching Valsecca. the first task, along with 17 other pilots, and
on one of the last days, where there were no options other than to land at the base of the mountain on course that was in an airspace area. I made goal only on the third day, but scored for the team on five out of the nine days we were tasked. For that I was pretty happy. Of course, there was plenty of fun and jokes along the way. Seemed I could never get away from the Bernie Sanders action figure that turned up wherever I went. For anyone who knows me, it was just weird to have him as a constant companion. Ask Linda.
Zac Majors:
This year in Italy our US National Team was composed of a new gathering of experienced pilots, as only John Simon and I had been on the team together prior. After having flown the pre-worlds and having extensive European experience, Pedro Garcia (and Maria) was a huge asset to the team. Our new members this year were both pilots from Sylmar, California: Jeff Chipman and Will Ramsey, who both brought welcome energy and enthusiasm and flew well with the team. As a Team USA veteran, I tried 16 US H PA P I LOT
to steer us in the right direction, without being overbearing. Arriving early at take-off seems like a terrible idea when you’re getting up and leaving the house, but the preparation and relaxation on launch make it worthwhile (Master Filippo taught me well). The northeastern region of Italy reminded me of Colorado’s front range, because of the flats heading out to the Adriatic Sea, and the mountains jump up quickly to form the pre-Alps and then the proper Alps. It’s too bad that the pre-worlds hadn’t had better weather and been more successful, because aside from the tasks we did to the west with airspace issues, the area was pretty awesome. The Tolmezzo area was much bigger than I expected, with robust tourism. I wish we’d have had more time to explore more historic castles and some of the crazy forts that we flew over. I really enjoyed the practice day, when after escaping rain in the mountains, we got back up in the flats and were able to continue our task into Slovenia— so cool to arrive in a country for the first time via hang glider! When the winds were light and the base was high, we had days like Task 4, in which we flew to Slovenia and back, with some incredible racing along a ridge without turning for a long stretch. Task 8 was even more impressive, as we went over the back into Austria and the high Alps in really enjoyable air and stunning scenery. As much as I love our US country-club style, flatland-aerotow events, I’ve really missed flying the mountains. This comp shows I need to get back to my mountain roots, as I really struggled to keep pace with the Euro pilots and make effective decisions to be fast and consistent. Massive congratulations to John Simon for his World Championships day win on Task 5. That was no small feat! Pedro Garcia deserves recognition for consistently flying well and finishing as our top-placing US pilot. Team USA relies on the generosity of our pilot community. This year we have a lot of people to thank: Our fearless team leader Linda Salamone was incredible! She sold and shipped T-shirts (provided by teammate Kip Stone who ultimately declined to attend), hauled our team uniforms to Italy, endured team-leader meetings every morning, and herded kittens for two weeks. Huge thanks, as always, to the Foundation for Free Flight who paid our entry fees and, with the help of John Harris of KHK and
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Kip Stone, matched funds of pilots like yourself who donated, thereby making a big difference in our efforts to represent the USA. I’m lucky to also have Wills Wing to thank for equipping me with the awesome new T3 and my trusty Covert. I can’t fail to mention my beautiful wife who expertly drove the team around the mountains and supports me at every turn. 2020 will bring our first Pan-American Championships in Big Spring, Texas, and the next World Championships will be in Macedonia. Will you be on the team? How might you be able to help support the team? Make your next flying vacation a competition: Improve your skills and enjoy the camaraderie!
A
fter nine tasks, the Italians walked away with the big team win. Brazil’s team was second, and Germany third. Individually, Alex Ploner (Italy) took first, for his millionth world title, Christian Ciech (Italy) was a close second, and Primoz Gricar (Germany) won bronze. Pedro Garcia was our high scorer, taking 13th overall in this tight field, by making goal consistently. John Simon’s day win was a high point for us all, but Team USA only managed 13th place, despite some really strong day finishes. In 2021, our pilots will be ready for battle in the skies over Krushevo, Macedonia. And I can only hope to be so lucky as to usher Team USA to victory!
Every two years, and again this year, Foundation for Free Flight volunteers worked closely with the hang gliding national team to raise funds for travel expenses associated with representing the USA in the FAI World Hang Gliding Championship. This year's hang gliding national team relied on a Foundation Fiscal Sponsorship to increase the success of their fundraising by collecting tax deductible donations. The team's fundraising strategy is a good example of how groups who lack the 501(c)(3) status, can raise tax deductible donations as part of a targeted campaign for a short term event or "pilot" project. The Foundation for Free Flight is responsible for financial management of the US team fundraiser. We have a secure system to track and manage tax deductible donations. We charge a nominal administrative fee, plus credit card processing fees if applicable, to receive funds from donors, whether from an online donation form that we create for you, or from payments mailed directly to our business office. Our volunteers send gift acknowledgements and receipts, and review expense reports and write checks. We include the details in our annual tax return so you don't have to.For more information about fiscal sponsorships and tax deductible targeted campaigns for competition, site preservation, and safety and education, contact Jayne DePanfilis, executive director at 559-677-7546 or JayneDePanfilis@foundationforfreeflight.org.
BELOW Team celebration of John's day win | photo by Bernie.
Nevada Wide-Open!
[ contributed by JOSH COHN ]
Flying in Nevada is a full-value propostion. Josh Cohn and Nick Greece break the Nevada state record.
RECORD S
ABOVE Josh Cohn on our final glide with just one peak left to soar. We posted up on this butte until we got high enough to glide to a dirt road.
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For nearly three weeks in August the Intermountain Wide Open was going on, including pilots’ best four flights in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. The event was started and run for years by Nate Scales but Willi Cannell took the reins this time. After a string of family weekends it was a perfect excuse for me to chase some paragliding XC adventure. Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, Tahoe is the most “local” part of the contest area. The forecasts on xcskies.com for the first weekend were looking decent, with blue top of lift above 13,000’ and moderate SW winds; we were a bit concerned about some patchy high clouds in the forecast. I contacted some of the usual suspects: Nick Greece, Eric Ams, Michal “Kansas” Hammel. Nick, based in Truckee, along with Tyler Bradford, based in South Lake Tahoe, had pushed the line out Interstate 80 into Nevada, the farthest. Eric and Kansas are some of my main Bay Area XC crew—Eric groaned a little when I proposed getting up at an hour usually reserved for alpine climbing to drive to Truckee, but he agreed. Kansas was already in South Lake with his family,
which led to some interesting logistics. The Kingsbury Grade launch is reached by a short but steep hike. It is framed by two large pine trees that get bigger every year as gliders get spannier. The clearance between them on each side for a large CCC glider is currently about a foot, requiring a sort of diagonal shuffle, that Nick demonstrated, to emerge from launch untreed. The launch faces SE and thermal cycles can begin as early as 10:30 or so and 11:00 is a common launch time for pilots wanting to use the whole day. It usually requires full concentration to get established in the first climb of the day at the house thermal, which is around the corner from launch. So typically you don’t see how a pilot is doing until they’ve climbed well above launch. Thanks to Eric for appeasing the launch gods with a sacrificial bombout and having a great attitude about spending the whole day retrieving. He had the option to go for a second flight but said he was there to fly with friends, so passed. After crossing over the low hills between the Carson and Washoe valleys to McClellan Peak, Kansas and I got a bit low (but still above the
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McClellan launch) while Nick had applied local knowledge, maxed out the glide and observed our scratching from a comfortable height. Soon after that Kansas got low and glided out toward Dayton. We lost track of him but he got up again and went 200km along I-80 to near Lovelock. A Southwest Airlines jet came below us pretty close—maybe 200m horizontally and 100m vertically—heading for the nearby Reno Class C airspace. It was reassuring that we were climbing as they were descending, so at least the separation was increasing. From McClellan to 2/3rds of the way to Fernley, there is a continuous ridge that works pretty well if you can stay well above it. Then Highway 439 cuts across the high ground, providing a pass that can channel wind. Fortunately, on this day we had only a tailwind there, pushing us toward Fernley. After crossing Fernley and arriving at the dark volcanic rock of Two Tips Peak with 1500’ AGL, I didn’t mind that the cirrus was mellowing things out a little. The air felt ominous and roiling. Then we hit a 5m/s climb that put us back up to 13,000’. From there we could have gone north or northeast. With thermals drifting from the SSW it was a bit of a tossup. But I-80 extended NE, so it won for faster retrieve. We had planned to
cross I-80 somewhere after Lovelock to get to the steep and prominent ridge leading to Star Peak, but thick cirrus shaded that ridge. So we stayed to the NW of I-80 on some lower-angle hills including Ragged Top Mountain and Toulon Peak. There was blue convergence keeping us between 13,500’ and 15,500’ with little turning between 4:45 and 5:15p.m. and even one paved road cutting through miles of badlands and meandering mining roads. As soon as we left the ridge South of Majuba
ABOVE The length of the shadow indictate the height and steepness of the terrain below. BELOW Michal Hammel climbing near Slide Mountain, Nevada.
finished packing up. Mountain, to stay near the interstate, we lost At the Nationals this year, Donizete Lemos the convergence. A long, smooth glide led to showed his and Rafael Saladini’s* film Ciclos, the treeless, rounded mounds of the Eugene ABOVE Josh Cohn paralleling I-80 towards Mountains. Deepish in the low-angle mountains about their adventures team flying together to break the world record in Brazil’s northeast. It Winnemucca at 14,000 feet. at 1400’ AGL felt low, but Nick spotted the good was further inspiration to work on team flying. part of the climb a little deeper and it turned Nick Greece has been the pilot I’ve had the most into a solid 3m/s. success team flying with so far. This flight from We went on glide for Blue Mountain, with its South Tahoe to Winnemucca was probably steep south face. Sure enough, it was a pretty the best example of that. Other than at the spot for some evening ridge soaring, but arrivbeginning and end, our tracks overlap almost ing at 6:20p.m., the day was shutting down and completely. there were few roads downwind. The second We thought we had not beat the Nevada state golden eagle of the day, startlingly large and record that Nick had set a couple years before, close, showed me the best part of the last thermal of the day. So we glided across the wind to a but investigation in the morning (looking on xcontest.org) showed his previous flight past road with some trailers on it to land. Winnemucca was from McClellan, so this was As I was landing, the landowner came out on actually a joint record at 274km. Not a bad way his four-wheeler to greet us. In appeasement to kick off the Intermountain Wide Open! It mode, we were pleasantly surprised to find him turned out to be the longest flight of the event to be a super friendly Puerto Rican who’d left and put us in first and second overall in the the Bronx and moved out here for the solitude. “Scary Hot Ships” division. It was indeed impressively quiet, though the black Jerusalem crickets trying to stow away in my glider added a touch of urgency to packing. Thanks to Eagle Paragliding, Lift Paragliding, Thanks to Caroline Schou for a very successful Flow Paragliders for the great Flow Spectra glider. first retrieve-driving day, appearing just as I * and team:
https://ojovolador.com/en/2016/10/17/564-3-km-donizete-lemos-tells-story-longest-paraglider-flight/ 20 US H PA P I LOT
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DAYS 4-12
X-FLIGHT BULL RIDING
NO HOTELS
LOW SAVES
WET & SLOW
HIGH & FREEZING
by GLEN VOLK Part 1 of this saga appeared in the September/October issue of this magazine.
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fter concluding our Day 3 flights in the soggy Texas Hill Country, we headed to Rock Springs, located up on the edge of the Edwards Plateau, so we could use Edwards County Airport the next day. Lodging was important on this trip and since this was the start of summer, we never could be sure we would find reasonable accommodations on a moment’s notice. Mid-summer camping in TX was not an option. We discovered that every single hotel room in Rock Springs and nearest towns was rented out for a big Bull Riding event. This necessitated our taking a short drive up the road to Junction, Texas, where we would launch the next day into stellar conditions. Junction Airport is a great regional
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airport with very helpful management. They were so accommodating that they even let us set up right next to their air-conditioned offices. And let me tell you, it was HOT! We set an unofficial goal of Big Spring and took to the skies in the early afternoon, with a light southerly flow. The country was beautiful. Rolling hills, patches of forest, and crystalline lakes, all leading to the cultivated high plains areas east of Big Spring. Larry got about 100 miles, I was five miles short of him, and Robin got about 135 by turning north earlier in the flight, abandoning the idea of going to Big Spring, given the strong southerly push. He was below 2000’ AGL for most of the last 40 miles. The next day’s weather indicated a moderate northly flow through central Texas, so we zagged three hours to the
west to Hobbs, New Mexico, where we would have light winds. Hobbs, a town in eastern NM, is the launch point of many big soaring flights taken in both sailplanes and hang gliders. In fact, we used to hold truck-tow meets there through the late ‘80s into the early ‘90s, before we started flying with GPS. So back then, it was road maps in Mylar sheaths that we used to read while in the air to figure out where we were going. The landscape is flat, so sighting a road from the map was crucial to our not getting lost. The weather report indicated it would be chilly with the possibility of our getting up to 13,000 feet. We frankly didn’t take this information as seriously as we should have, since up until then, we’d been flying each day mostly below 4000ft AGL. Big mistake. We would arrive at close to 16,000 feet and would
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freeze our butts off for almost five hours. It was so painfully, numbingly cold that we shivered and shook in our harnesses. The conditions were also so good that we stayed high (14,000’-16,000’) for extended periods of time without coming down. After about three hours, Robin glided back down to 8000’ to defrost, before hooking another of the many 800-1000fpm elevators back up into the Ice Box. Larry spent a lot of time high and at one point, when he came over the radio talking about road junctions, he sounded like an original 45rpm disk being played at 33 rpm. (All of us probably sounded that way.) Hobbs offered up an amazing flying day. Conditions pumped the whole way, with our flights all ending within a few miles of each other at about 140 miles out—a good distance for the day, given the lack of true tailwind support. We all had 1200fpm climbs at times that were, all things considered, very smooth.
I turned back from where I popped off, found the offending thermal and wrestled that beast until I finally climbed out. With a low save and windy conditions, I was quickly committed, as a relaunch was no longer possible. The intra-thermal flying was a bit rough, however. Next X-Flight, we’ve all agreed that oxygen is a must. A big shout-out to Brian Nelson, a latter-day HG pilot in Hobbs, who appeared when we needed him most with hospitality and cold water. He even went off into town to fix our punctured trike wheels on a Sunday afternoon! The next day’s forecast indicated the
New Mexico dry line would blow up (and it did), so we shifted back to the east to Hereford, Texas, Regional Airport. This is another fine airport with very helpful folks who were thrilled to have us there. Having an air-conditioned office to go over the weather briefing is so much better than being outside! (A little-known fact is that during World War II, facilities at Hereford were used as a prisoner-of-war camp for Italians. These were dismantled in 1947.) The surface winds at Hereford were fairly strong that day, so it was very rough on the climb out. Larry launched first, and Robin blew up his weak link, so I gave him my spare. He then launched and it was my turn. I thought to myself, I sure hope my weak link doesn’t break, as I have no spare now. Of course, Yep, at 500-600’, it popped. I turned back from where I popped off, found the offending thermal and wrestled that beast until I finally climbed out. With a low save and windy conditions, I was quickly committed, as a relaunch was no longer possible. The flight was definitely one of my favorites. Larry and Robin got well ahead of me, so I was on my own. I had another low save about 30 miles out, in the middle of nowhere, over some very LEFT The line! ABOVE Glen Volk, 14,000’ over NM. Freezing! OPPOSITE Robing Hamilton climbs out from Hobbes, NM.
cool sparsely populated terrain with a canyoned river valley to clear and few dirt roads. And bad roads at that. Eventually, the flight led to a large, expansive, cultivated area with a highway providing direction, and several small towns. But while we had pumping conditions for the first 2/3 of the flight, the conditions dropped off to weak and very slow, with eventual shading from high cirrus. Larry and Robin managed to punch into it OK; I landed about 10 miles short of the border. Our next stop was the small county airport in Buffalo, Oklahoma, another welcoming place where management allowed us the use of their air-conditioned pilots’ office. After we set up, we did our weather briefing and proceeded to get off the ground. There was the strong likelihood of over-development to the north, so we shaded to the NE and tried to get away from the OD. This was our first real experience with Midwest flying and I must report it was pretty light. In fact, I went first and barely got a bump as the day had yet to develop. So I had to relaunch. But in short order, we were all off and flying north. This is where we were joined by Pete Lehmann from Pennsylvania and his cohort, Dave Glover. Pete, Robin and I flew together for a lot of this flight. Pete and I got shut down by shading, but Robin managed to go another 40 miles up into Kansas, before he was shut down by thunderstorm cells. We were slowly making progress, with the key word being “slowly.” Coming in to Kansas, we had hopes of high, dry wheat fields, but instead, it looked more like Minnesota, the “Land of Lakes.” Most of the fields below were dotted with ponds from recent heavy rains. Highlights that evening were the double rainbows on the drive west and dinner at the OK Corral in Dodge City. We then zagged west again to Lamar Airport in SE Colorado to try to get some better weather and drier terrain under us. We were met there by Kevin Carter and Sara Weaver. Once again, conditions were very rowdy, though 24 US H PA P I LOT
winds were light and variable. I went first and broke a weak link low, at about 400 feet. Only this time there was no getting up. In fact, because of the higher elevation of the airport and the very light winds, I was rather low to make the glide back to launch. I did circle in zero and managed to get closer, but in the end, stretched my glide out too far and read the sock wrong, resulting in a horrendous high altitude landing that luckily resulted in no more than a bruised ego and thigh. I took a break and waited for the others to launch, after which I managed to stay on the rope and catch up with everyone in the first 10 miles. We were all together, getting up to 3000-4000’ AGL in fairly weak, inconsistent lift. Sara and Kevin definitely added to the fun factor. Pete, Robin, and I were soon on our own, fairly low in weakening lift. Soon we were glomming on each other, since we were unwilling to venture very far away from each other. We could see in the distance a convergence line and knew that if we made that, we would be golden. Winds had picked up, so we started covering ground faster. But,
ABOVE Rock Springs, Wyoming, rodeo.
alas, it was not to be for Pete and me, as we burned just before the clouds. I know Kevin landed nearby us as well. Luckily Robin made it via a low save, with around 50 hawks, and got quite a bit further, allowing all of us to make headway on this day. Having made around 50 miles in three hours, Robin managed to connect with the late-day clouds and long promised 20+mph tailwind, to cover another 70 miles in two hours, landing at sunset out in the wheat fields. The next day we actually back-tracked a bit to Burlington, Colorado, just west of Kansas, where we got the use of a fantastic airport. Daniel, the manager, had a drone fleet that captured some great footage on the take-offs and tows. The winds were very strong from the ESE, which turned out to make northward progress very difficult. The clouds looked great going almost due west, but became blue to the north very quickly. We tried, but I think the best distance that day was about 30 miles. We retired to our motel for improvised 4th of July celebrations. Next morning, we woke to low overcast skies, drizzle, easterly wind and 55° temps. So we quickly made the decision to move further west in Colorado to Fort Morgan, hoping to get into clearer weather. Once again, the airport managers were insanely friendly and accommodating. They allowed us to set up just off the main runway, so we could take best advantage of the wind direction on the day. After updating the weather at Fort Morgan, we saw that it was becoming another light-lift day. Also, the land around the airport consisted of green, irrigated crops, similar to the previous Lamar setting. So we took super high, depressingly smooth tows in order to try to glide out of what was, in fact, a soft lift zone for maybe 10 miles from the airport. I could have taken a nap with one arm over the base tube on tow. On glide after about 10 minutes, I started to get bumps. Robin had radioed that he was getting light lift from low down (<1000’), and as we
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flew further, the day got better. Soon we were cruising about 5000’ AGL, with progress hindered only by rain cells and blow-out from larger cu-nimbs off to the west of our course line. Robin was able to make it into Wyoming, up north of Cheyenne at about 75miles, and all things considered, we ended up with a pretty decent day that “moved the chains.” I landed in the Pawnee National Grasslands and was quickly attended by the friendliest people who were out taking in the vast expanse of lush, green carpet that went on for as far as the eye could see. I should interject here that our ground crew of Mike, Sasha, John and David were absolutely stellar up to this point and throughout the rest of the event. None of us ever had a long retrieve, which is remarkable, given the country we sometimes flew over and the lack of familiarity with these routes. And Rick “the Mountain” Mullins was always ready when it came time to launch. This crew was really amazing. Next stop we took a step back from the best landing spot of the previous day to launch from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, just across the NE state line. Once again, we were faced with low cloudbase and wet, muddy terrain conditions. The airport was another welcoming spot. No one there, but no hassles either. Who’d have thought that all these airports would be so accommodating to us hang glider pilots? It was truly refreshing. Larry and Robin went off,
and Pete and I followed. At one point Pete peeled me off, and the next thing I knew, I was about 500 feet off the deck. I must have circled in zero for over 30 minutes and about 10 miles, before eventually finding a good climb to 3000 feet or so. I had flown over Pete and Robin, but did not see them. There were promising clouds ahead and good-looking terrain, unlike the marsh I seemed to be flying over at the time. Unfortunately, I hit the big sink again and found myself just a few hundred feet AGL. Eventually, I came to a heavily forested area that led to a downhill canyon. At this altitude, I could not continue, so I opted for a field that I thought had a road leading to it. Turns out it was a railroad track. I’d actually landed next to a junkyard with no discernable road. But Mike was not deterred. He blazed a track to me next to the railroad tracks. It sure beat walking! The next day we shifted west to Casper to try to get over some higher, drier ground. We knew we needed the high, dry ground without the storms, so the drive was certainly justified. On the way there, Larry tried to get permission to fly out of the main Casper Regional Airport, but that was a no-go due to airspace issues. We were going to use the smaller dirt airstrip east of Casper, but Larry made arrangements to use Kevin Kristofferson’s ranch—a 40-acre spread on the Casper Mountain foothills, just to the south of Casper. Kevin is a world foot-launch-distance record holder and also encyclopedic on Wyoming flying.
ABOVE LEFT Shifting W from storms in KS to Lamar, CO. RIGHT Flight planning to avoid storms and headwinds in CO.
THANK YOU, KEVIN! We were pretty excited about checking out Kevin’s airstrip. As Mike and I drove in on the dirt road, it became clear we were also driving in on the airstrip. It was about 25 feet wide with vegetation that had grown about three feet high, just off the road. But it was fairly straight and sort of level, so why not? We set up next to Kevin’s hangar. (He has some damn cool toys, for sure: several trikes, and what a set up!) As it came time to launch, none of us was particularly eager to be the first pilot to try. But Robin stepped up, and I went in second. Picture a skinny, uphill, dirt road, with high brush on both sides, high-altitude air-density situation (6000’ MSL), very hot, dry conditions and light winds. In a word, it was “horrifying.” Robin’s roll out (slightly uphill to boot) was really short, because the cart veered left almost immediately. As Robin rolled fully into the weeds and rutted, rocky surface below, his cart could no longer roll smoothly, and he got bumped off with very little airspeed. Then he couldn’t be seen, as he was flying under the tops of the weeds with his control bar basetube slapping everything in front of him. We really expected some serous carnage at this point, but Rick kept the pedal to the metal and eventually pulled Robin out of the weeds. His climb out was slow, as you would
I recall an almost 20-
mile glide where I was only 3000 feet lower than when I started. That’s how good it was.
expect at this altitude, but he did climb and eventually pinned off in strong lift. He radioed back down: “Did I leave any glider parts down there?” while removing sagebrush from his control frame and harness. Hmmm, now it was my turn. I figure, what could go wrong? I was armed now with valuable intel about what not to do this time. So we moved the launch point ahead about 100 feet where the road was level and not uphill. And I waited for a gust. When I launched, I was able to make decent airspeed for launch, just before my cart veered right off the road and into the weeds. By then I was able to clear the cart and ground easily. The climb out was nasty, but there was no way I was going to relaunch, so I just hung on as best I could. It didn‘t help to have the rotor turbulence off the mountains to the south, though, I can tell you that! But once I was off the tow rope, I had a good climb to over 10,000 feet. Pete and Larry followed. We were trying to fly to Gillette, Wyoming or beyond. But the winds had 26 US H PA P I LOT
a lot of west in them and we were all forced to a more easterly direction than we wanted. We were told that morning that there were lots of dirt roads for easy pickup along our intended route. And there was certainly a ton of dirt roads that looked pretty good. But according to Mike, who had decided to chase me through the desert along those roads, they were all locked. But it didn’t matter, because we were again experiencing a Hobbs-like experience at almost 16,000 MSL and absolutely freezing conditions. So retrieve access was not yet an issue. We were making great time. I recall an almost 20-mile glide where I was only 3000 feet lower than when I started. That’s how good it was. As I got further along, a very large cell was exploding to the north and slightly west of me. I could not see a way around its west side, so I tried to get around on the east side. Unfortunately, all of us eventually had nowhere left to go except to the east, and that was pointless. So, we all landed around Wright, Wyoming, which was about 40 miles short of Gillette, for a total of
around 70 miles. I had a great landing in the front yard of some very nice folks who had a flag out front. Sort of made it a no brainer decision for me. All along the way we met very friendly folks. Lots of families would drive up and make sure we were all ok. Several agreed to let me video them, and they got posted on Facebook. Taking stock at the end of Day 12, we were around 1200 miles out from our start down in Texas, despite the weather challenges, and had some 400 miles still to run for the Canadian border. Meanwhile, the weather interjections and new water parks we sometimes overflew had made it feel at times a little as if we were in a Hunger Games movie... And our next offering from the Gamemaster was a big area of severe weather sitting up in Montana and the Dakotas, blocking the easy route north and waiting for our next move. Others were watching this movie, as our FB group following had now grown to over a thousand, and our Susan G Komen fundraising had kicked in with donations, after people, realized we
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were for real going to do this adventure. And we were. On a personal note, it’s been a very long time since I did anything other than fly in a comp. About four years ago I went for a couple of flights in San Diego. Before that, it had been several years since I free-flew. This adventure was the first of its kind for me and the first in a long time that I had a flying vacation that didn’t involve racing. When I started, I had intended to only fly for five or six days. And Mike, my driver, had intended to only crew for that amount of time. A couple of times I decided to leave, only to rethink that decision a few hours later or the next morning. Something was keeping me on this adventure, and I wasn’t really sure what it was. But I found that no matter how hard I tried to leave, I couldn’t. What I have since gleaned from all of this is that a new sense of adventure has been awakened in me, as I think maybe it has in all four of us
ABOVE X-Flight team: Rick “The Mountain” Mullins, Larry Bunner, Glen Volk, Pete Lehmann, Robin Hamilton, John Enrietti, Mike Degtoff, David Glover, Sasha Hamilton. OPPOSITE Robin Hamilton climbing out of Burlington, CO.
And at the risk of sounding sappy, I think all nine of us bonded more than we expected, because of the novelty of the event and the challenges we faced together. And we are really looking forward next year to X Flight 2-2020! More to and maybe in our ground crew and Rick follow on that later. as well. This was different. Not (too) hard. Not (too) extreme. Not dangerous, Glen Volk, #27288, has been a USHGPA well, not usually. But damn, it was fun. member since 1979.
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Busy Livin'
Here's KAVU's Barry Barr, Standing Behind Free Flight Since Forever by ANNETTE O'NEIL Busy livin’. That’s the hashtag. That’s the ethos, too, for the littleoutdoor-brand-gone-big that has been steadily supporting free flight for decades. It’s KAVU, of course, and forever at its helm is Barry Barr, the brand’s perpetually-slightly-sunburned, perpetually-widely-smiling founder. From the company’s start on a boat in Alaska’s Bering Sea (when Barry, a young commercial salmon fisherman,
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invented a novel way to keep his hat on), KAVU has grown into a global brand, albeit one with an insistently O.G. logo—still built around the same text a friend cut from butcher paper in the early 1990s. Uniquely, Barry has maintained single ownership of the company for that entire term—even though now, 25 years later, KAVU continues to grow at the brisk clip of 10-20% per year. For all that juggernauting, the title on Barry’s business
card still reads “Inspector Fun.” KAVU’s connection to the flying community is no recent invention; no slap-on, YouTube-inspired marketing bid. Indeed, it’s practically encoded into Barry’s DNA. As it turns out, flight runs in the Barr family; some of Barry’s earliest memories are of watching his dad fly. “Growing up, I saw flying as no strange thing,” he smiles. “It was just part of our family’s lifestyle.”
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Growing up, I saw flying as no strange thing. It was just part of our family’s lifestyle.
The elder Barr, a cross-platform outdoor adventurer par excellence, got his start playing with airfoils by flat-kiting behind ski boats in his native Seattle. One night, when he was at a party, he noticed an ad in the back of Water Skier Magazine. The ad was hawking a boat-towable Delta Wing. The cost: A then-steep $500. Thoroughly intrigued, he called his inebriated friends around him and convinced them to go in with him to buy the thing. “A week later, it showed up—but not a single one of them remembered saying they would put money into it,” Barry laughs. “He was, like, ‘Screw it, let’s fire this thing up anyway.’ They put floats on the wings, towed it behind a waterski boat and got it up.” And up they went. The jolly little crew had that hand-built kit, styled after the American flag, regularly running on a 2500-foot tow line over Lake Washington. Things were, as they say, getting real. Before too long, Barry’s dad had opened The Sun Valley Kite School. Initially, they towed gliders behind snowmobiles. The scene had progressed into foot-launched flight by 1974. At a certain point, Barr was the
only hang gliding certifier from California all the way to Washington. “My dad was really into it, and in with the Wills Brothers; there’s a whole history there,” Barry remembers. ”We were basically dirt baggers. We cruised around with hang gliders and motorcycles and ski boats—flying was just part of the overall package of fun.” Fun, certainly—but perhaps not entirely sustainable. Those were, as Barry refers to them, the “barnstorming days.” “They were doing some crazy stuff,” he says. “Hanging upside down by the legs without being strapped in launching in ridiculous conditions. They didn’t know how to fly, really; what to do and what not to do. My dad got out of it because his best friends were dying, and my mom gave him an ultimatum. She said, ‘I want my kids to have a dad. Either you stop or I’m leaving.’ He stopped.” That was 1977. A while later, when Barry was 18, the family was flying out to Australia. Since they had a long layover in LA, they stopped at Torrey Pines to check it out. When they walked in, then-owner Bill Bennett was there
to greet them. (What a happy coincidence, too; Barry’s dad hadn’t seen Bill since the World Championships in 1976.) As Bill and the elder Barr caught up, Barry got acquainted with paragliding—a concept with which he was already glancingly familiar.
ABOVE: Bruce, Becky, Barry, and Jodi TOP Jeff Shapiro, KAVU Team Captain, launching in France. OPPOSITE Barry Barr, the Captain, at Torrey Pines!
ABOVE Bruce and Barry Barr. RIGHT Clockwise from Top Left: Bruce Barr cathcing air on Lake Washington in 1974. Bruce Barr's float plane in Washington. Bruce setting up on Barr Mountain, WA in 1975. Bruce getting ready to fly Elkhorn at the Sun Valley Mountain Resort.
“I remember seeing one of the first paragliders in Idaho,” he recalls. “We were coming down a mountain after a five-hour hike, and some guy landed beside me on one of those old ninecell paragliders. I remember asking him, ‘What is that, a parachute?’ He told me it was a paraglider. I was, like, ‘You hiked up and flew down. I want that. I am going to learn that.’ And here was my chance.” Barry started taking his first paragliding lessons in 1989. Pretty much instantly, he was into it bigtime. “Everywhere I went, I took that backpack,” he laughs. “New Zealand, Alaska, wherever, just hiking up and flying down.” When Barry wasn’t handing over his glider as checked baggage, he was flying at home. From his Pacific Northwest base, he’d trundle off to all the local launches: Tiger Mountain, Chelan, Saddle Mountain. “My dad was the first one to fly off Saddle Mountain in ‘74,” Barry muses. “We were at a desert race underneath it, and he was, like, ‘Hey, that looks good; let’s drive the truck up there and see if we can fly off.’ And he did.” As Barry’s paragliding career was picking up speed, so was his nascent 30 US H PA P I LOT
business, which was quickly growing from its early days as a garage-based haberdashery. It needed to extend its marketing reach. “When I started KAVU in 1993, the way we got promotion was sponsoring athletes,” he explains, “and, in those early days, it was mostly around river kayaking. That was where you would get the most bang for your buck. Anyway, a lot of our employees or friends were profes-
sionals, so a sticker on their helmet reliably got our logo into a magazine.” Barry reached out to Adam Shandro, an Olympic whitewater rafting athlete, to see if KAVU could sticker him up. He agreed. It’s worth mentioning that, even though KAVU isn’t an athletic or technical brand, it employs a motley team of athletes as ambassadors that includes climbers, sailors, BASE jumpers—and, of course, paraglider pilots.
LEFT Barry selling his first product, the strap cap, in Reno, NV in 1995.
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Since Barry was already a paraglider pilot, bringing paragliding athletes into the fold was an obvious move. (The name of the company itself is a tweak of the acronym for “clear above, visibility unlimited.”) “KAVU: In other words, the perfect day to go hike and fly,” Barry grins.
“And I always loved foot-launched flight. I would sponsor all the guys from Idaho to Seattle and give them stuff, even though there was no exposure there yet, because there were only a couple thousand paraglider pilots in the States. “We’re by and for outdoor people, so
the brand is aligned with the whole philosophy of creating that ultimate day,” he continues. “Hiking up and flying down, and that feeling of I just had the best day of my life. Anyway, the places you see when you are paragliding are total KAVU places— the campsite you are hanging out in,
LEFT Barry in front of the new line. TOP KAVU ambassador Nick Greece in Valle de Bravo. ABOVE Barry heading to launch in Haiti.
the hike up, the view from the launch, being with your buddies. That’s the inspiration for it. So I wanted to align that with KAVU from the start.” KAVU’s first athletes from the free-flight world were two Jeffs: Jeff Shapiro and Jeff O’Brien. At the time, they were both hang glider pilots. Soon, Chris Santacroce and Othar Lawrence joined the KAVU team (“because they both lived in Sun Valley and I spent a lot of time there,” Barry explains). Not long after came Dave Bridges (who tragically died in 1999, victim of an avalanche at Shishapangma, Tibet). Over the next decade or so, several airsports legends have followed in the early athletes’ footsteps: Marshall Miller, Steph Davis, Jesse Hall, Robert “Scotty-Bob” Morgan, Hartman Rector, our very own Nick Greece. KAVU’s athletes have a tendency to be multi-airsport; typically, they’ll also skydive, BASE 32 US H PA P I LOT
LEFT Barry flying Torrey Pines. jump and speed fly. TOP Bruce Barr's floating cabin. “All of our guys have gotten into BOTTOM Barry rippin' lips. paragliding and skydiving and now into airplanes,” Barry mentions. “[Jeff] sponsored. They don’t fit in with our Shapiro just got an airplane, and Neil credo: be humble, respect others. You don’t want to be the coolest person [Amonson] has got his. In fact, we were all jumping out of it last week in in the room. You want to be the most humble one. The rule is that the betMontana. “These guys are traveling the world ter you are, the quieter you should be. living this total KAVU lifestyle,” he Let your actions speak for you. adds. “That’s how we have always “When our athletes talk to you, supported the sport.” they look at you in the eye,” he adds. The other really noticeable thing “They’re interested. They’re kind. about the KAVU athlete team is the That’s how we narrow people down. general, well, vibe. KAVU athletes We sponsor people who are at the top are decidedly low-key: respectful of of their sport but can happily hang the sport, of the planet, and of each out with someone who’s learning.” other, totally unfettered by pretense. As Barry sees it, the awesome lives According to Barry, that’s by design. lived by these big-hearted badasses “Our guys are the best at what they now form the heart of the brand he do, no doubt,” he muses, “but they are founded. far from a*holes about it. We drop “The whole sponsorship format the guys who walk around thinking changed from trying to get the logo they’re extra cool because they’re into magazines to driving content
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KAVU is sponsoring all USHPA members until February. Use promo code GLASSOFF for 25 percent off.
TOP Barry goes on athlete trips including surfing in Tuomoto Island, Indonesia. ABOVE Barry Barr, MVP of the Pro Lesisure tour.
that illustrates what we’re all about,” he explains. “It doesn’t matter if these guys are camping, or hiking, or in an airport, or hanging out at a dinner table. That stuff is just as cool to us as throwing barrel rolls down the mountain on a speedwing.” Barry insists that KAVU will continue its steadfast support of free flight
as long as he’s around. KAVU doesn’t ing spot, four minutes away from get a big return on its investment his front door, where he can go soar in foot-launched flight, but that’s in his flip-flops, and then land on not the goal of the athlete program; the beach below the ridge for a surf. instead, Barry says that he does it #busylivin indeed. because he simply loves flying. He “We just do what we do,” he smiles. wants to support those guys, and “We don’t take things too seriously. their endeavors. Case closed. In the We’re just out there trying to share meantime, he’s got a great beach-soar- the vibe with everyone.”
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Tom Frazer enjoying the evening light in Sun Valley, Idaho. Photo by Matt Beechinor
The Legacy Fly Girls of Dog Mountain, Washington:
FLY LIKE A GIRL!
by C.J. STURTEVANT with Tina Jorgensen, Jasmine Jorgensen and Kerie Swepston
and sledders from Barr Mt., her closest-to-home H-2 practice site. She’d accumulated 95 minutes of airtime, and met only one other woman pilot, who’d promptly advised her that she was “too og Mt., over its 40-something old” (36) and “too short” (5’ nothing) to years as a hang gliding site, has be a hang glider pilot. But her instruclaunched the flying careers of dozens of women pilots, easing them tor Chuck assured her that she, with a from their training hill hops into the brand-new 134 Gemini, and her husband beautiful western Washington skies. George, with the ElectraFlyer Dove But of those dozens, only four of us they’d been sharing for the past year, have continued to log flights at Dog for were ready to soar; Chuck organized a more than three decades. Meet the four “road trip” to Dog Mt., a two-hour drive Legacy Fly Girls of Dog Mountain! south and the NW’s friendliest, most reliable soaring site for new pilots. “The site seemed crowded to me,” C.J. recalls, Back in the Day “and when a young lady, 15 years my juOn March 27, 1983, C.J. was a newly fledged hang glider pilot, with 53 flights, nior and at least 5” taller than I, walked mostly short hops on the training hill toward me, I mentally raised my shields
D
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and prepared for another put-down. “How wrong I was! Tina Jorgensen, flying a Wills Wing Harrier and exuding a confidence that I could only hope to emulate someday, was then and remains now one of the most welcoming and inclusive pilots I’ve encountered in my decades of flying!” Tina was, in fact, the first one of us to become a Dog Mt. Fly Girl—she learned to hang glide in 1980, along with her husband Larry but, she says, “It took me about a whole year to learn, and I didn’t fly off Dog till 1981.” Her training glider was a Raven, way too big and tail heavy for her to handle comfortably, so she switched instructors and gliders, and found “a 194 Firefly, and a different teaching style, worked so much better!”
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Larry was (“typically!” grins Tina) a much faster learner, and was soon flying a Comet and acting as Tina’s mentor. “I was only allowed to do sledders for months,” she recalls—“five sledders a day, from Dog Mt.’s north launch to the North Field LZ, flying on the uprights all the way.” She never went to the basetube on any of those flights, and, she admits, when Larry finally suggested she make the transfer, she found it frighteningly disorienting. Tina and Larry have been a regular presence at Dog ever since those early ABOVE Tina in the Dogpatch LZ on a busy day at Dog. Photo courtesy Tina. days—it’s their home site, and they’ve OPPOSITE Tina, Jazzy, Kerie and C.J. enjoyed thousands of flights there over on the west launch ramp, with Riffe the ensuing almost-four decades. They Lake in the background and Dogpatch recently bought a home on an airstrip hidden by the trees below Kerie. Photo by Jagur Swepston just 10 minutes from the Dogpatch LZ, from which Larry flies his Dragonfly, often towing Tina up for an early morn- one of the main attractions to a sport that she now finds almost addicting ing flight, or cruising over to Dog in his Kerie’s introduction to Dog Mountain Cessna to check out conditions before had nothing to do with hang gliding: making plans for the day’s flying. As a teenager in 1987, just after her high What kept them coming back to Dog school graduation, she’d gone camping in those early years, Tina points out, was being able to camp at Dogpatch, on with her family at Riffe Lake, waterskithe bank of Riffe Lake, spending the ing and just enjoying being at the beach. weekend at the flying site. “We were Her sister’s in-laws were intrigued by really poor,” Tina explains, adding that the hang gliders coming down to land, they’d had to take out a bank loan to and after chatting with the pilots, they buy their first gliders. “We loved that we both eventually took lessons at the Orecould stay all weekend, loved the hang gon-coast training site at Cape Kiwanda. gliding community, made lots of close The next time Kerie went to Dog, it was friends. Even if we ended up sitting to watch her extended family take their around the campfire under a blue tarp first altitude flights, and to drive their in the rain, we loved it!” They loved the car down after they’d launched. As it Dog Mt. flying scene so much that they turned out, that day was an unexpected rarely traveled to other sites. game changer. But, Tina admits, she didn’t actually Her now-husband Aaron was on love hang gliding for the first three launch, preparing to demo a new Magic years or so; she stuck with it, though, Kiss. Tandem pilot Kamron was also even though she described it as “almost there, waiting for his tandem passenger torturously scary.” It was the support who never showed. Kerie was SO not and friendship of the Dog Mt. commulooking forward to driving down that nity that gradually brought out the fun narrow, rocky, blind-cornered road from launch, that when Kamron offered to factor and suppressed her trepidation. fly her down for half price, “that seemed “My Dog Mt. friends were so patient,” less scary than driving,” she laughs, and she says, “and everyone was really helpful with critiques and suggestions.” thus it began. Her immediate reaction on that first It was the friendship factor that lured flight was, “Wow!! You just can’t get a this young lady into the hang gliding view like this from the ground!” Kerie’s community, and, she admits, that’s still
One cool thing about getting older is becoming more relaxed—when I get dumped out of a thermal, I just go “whee!” and continue in the unexpected direction. sister, who was waiting in the LZ, was immediately infected with the family’s new-found enthusiasm for hang gliding, and both girls decided to learn to fly. Tina recalls meeting Kerie on one of Kerie's first days at Dog; Kerie clearly remembers meeting Tina and her two-year-old daughter, Jazzy, the Dog Mt. Princess in pink high-top sneakers. But it was Aaron who really captured Kerie’s attention, when he offered to take her for a flight on his new tandem glider next time she was at Dog. The next weekend found Kerie and her family back at Dog, once again focused on airtime rather than beach time. Kerie’s sister’s tandem flight was a disappointment—she got airsick and decided hang gliding wasn’t for her. Kerie, however, kept going to Dog, flying tandem and hanging out with Aaron; a few weeks later, when Aaron headed to Telluride to compete, Kerie went with him. That was in 1988; they’ve been together ever since. Aaron was offered a job at PacAir in northern California, but wasn’t willing to take it unless Kerie went with him. So Kerie quit school and they moved to California in December; both were working at PacAir, where she was able to take hang gliding lessons at the beach. They were married in 1989, with Jazzy as their flower girl. Although Aaron had been flying the Pacific Airwaves Magic Kiss for a while, he had yet to fall in love with that glider. When he demoed a Wills Wing AT during Demo Days at Fort Funston, however, it was love at first flight. He and Kerie quit their jobs at PacAir and came home to the NW. Kerie had learned to fly on the dunes in California, earning her H-1 rating, but had not advanced to flying from
My favorite Dog flight was back in 2014—the first time I was in the air with both my parents. I launched early, then had to wait for two hours for everyone else to get airborne, and ended up flying for over four hours, in big easy thermals and light wind that turned north mid-flight. Dancing in the sky with my mom and dad, and nailing my north-field landing—flying like a girl!
flying. So Jazzy immersed herself in ABOVE Jazzy launches her Falcon from the west ramp, with Kerie and Tina high school activities: varsity cheerleadlooking on. Photo by Aaron Swepston ing, Miss Washington Teen USA, some college courses, a busy social calendar. “Flying took a back seat while I lived the flights. Like her mom, Jazzy was able to altitude. As soon as she and Aaron fly until she was six months pregnant, teenage life,” Jazzy summarizes. returned to the Pacific Northwest, they and then her family moved to Alaska. But after high school, “I got the flying were back flying tandem at Dog while “Palmer was born in March 2016, and I bug again,” she recalls, and she went Kerie worked on her foot-launch skills got back in the air when I moved back back to the training hill with her dad. on the training hill. In 1990, Kerie did to Washington when he was one month Very soon she was ready for her first her first solo altitude flight at Dog, on old,” Jazzy recalls. Soon after, she went altitude flight—“at Dog, of course!,” she a Lazor. Like Tina, she was launching through divorce, but “I’ve managed says, but while waiting for conditions from the north side and flying to the to get airborne frequently since then, suitable for a brand-new pilot, she North Field LZ, because Riffe Lake thanks to my parents Tina and Larry crashed a dirt bike on the back side of was dammed in summer, putting the and my amazing Dog family village,” she Dogpatch LZ under water until the dam Dog, fracturing her knee and tearing states. her ACL, resulting in more than a year was opened each fall. The Swepstons These days Jazzy is an uber-busy mom of casts and braces and orthopedic became Dog Mt. regulars that summer, surgeries. Once again, her flying was on to four young children, but she still camping near the lake, flying almost shows up, her blended-family kids in hold. every weekend. Once the water went tow, to fly Dog as often as she can. So, she says, “I went back to college, down in the fall, the west launch and the Dogpatch LZ defined the beginning got married and had my first baby, Major challenges in the early days: Hazel Skye, born May 5, 2012.” Hazel and end of most flights. “Truth be told,” C.J. reminisces, “when was introduced to the Dog community Thirty-three-year-old Jasmine I took my first hang gliding lessons, I when she was eight days old; she and Jorgensen has been flying at Dog, off never imagined that I’d still be flying Jazzy spent most weekends at Dog, and on, for, well, 33 years—she’s Tina 36 years later! But the more I flew—the where Jazzy enjoyed being (and was and Larry’s oldest daughter, and since more new sites I visited, new friends I much appreciated as) the driver. Tina didn’t set aside hang gliding until met, new challenges that opened as my “It was very nostalgic,” Jazzy muses, well into her pregnancy, (only because, skills advanced—the more I realized finding parallels between her young Tina says, lying on the baby bump in a that hang gliding is an activity that I, a harness made airtime more unpleasant adulthood and Tina’s. “Motherhood basically low-key-competitive outdoor brought my life full circle,” she than fun), we all consider Jazzy qualienthusiast, could really get into. On the states, “and I knew it was MY time to fied as a Legacy Dog Mt. Fly Girl! ground, I have trouble keeping the pace When she was four, Jazzy flew tandem fly. I finally had my first altitude flight of most other hikers or rock climbers off Dog Mountain in March of 2013. I with her dad; later, when she was big celebrated in the LZ by nursing my very or backpackers. But in the air, as my enough to handle a glider on her own, skills developed, I discovered that I hungry baby.” Larry taught her to fly. “We smoked the could keep up; in my tiny glider, I could Since then she and her young family course!” laughs Jazzy, but Larry deemed often outclimb the guys in the light have moved numerous times, but she’s his young daughter still too immature thermals. One of my most grin-inducmanaged to accumulate about 150 to handle the responsibilities of solo 38 US H PA P I LOT
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ing radio transmissions from my early thermaling days: ‘C.J., come down and fly with the big boys!’” Even during her years traveling and competing, Dog Mt. was the home site for C.J.’s launch and landing tune-ups, and for dialing into a new glider. Kerie had learned at the beach in California; transitioning to flying inland, on a not-steep slope with light wind, was challenging, but she credits those training-hill conditions for her developing textbook-perfect launch skills. As for landing. “The North Field LZ was typically punchy,” she recalls, but early on Aaron had advised her, “If it hits you, hit it back!” Kerie remembers coming in on a particularly rough day, getting rocked around but repeating to herself, “Hit it back! I’m going to go where I want to go, not where it turns me!” And, she adds, Tina’s presence through all of those early-years challenges was a huge confidence inspirer. “Land like a girl!” became a thing—both Tina and Kerie are renowned for consistently sticking their landings, even in tough conditions, and many guys have been heard to grumble after a not-so-graceful touchdown, “Wish I could land like a girl!” Jazzy, tongue in cheek, declares, “My biggest challenge will forever be tearing down my glider correctly in a timely fashion!” On a more serious note, she adds, “A unique challenge was, and still is, having my parents as my instructors. They are my biggest fans and my strongest critics to keep me safe.” She also spells out the motherhood challenges that she shares with Tina and Kerie: “Being pregnant, breastfeeding, and having small children definitely present some unique challenges for hang gliding moms. Your body changes but your harness does not. And does anyone else fly with a breast pump?” She’s also uber-particular about the conditions she’ll fly in—“Not only the wind and weather but also how I’m feeling physically and emotionally. I do my best to come to launch with a clear mind, in good health and ready
I don’t need them to, bu the guys are better at getting my glider on the truck, so I have no problem letting them. But they get more than paid back when we’re camping—I can cook better than most of them, and they have no problem letting me do the cooking, and they do the eating. These days, though, she no longer enjoys XC’s challenges, or “the increased risks,” she points out. “I fly for my own enjoyment—I can’t believe we can fly around for hours without power, with to focus on flying. I’m definitely very such amazing views of the beautiful cautious and want to be a really good areas where we soar.” Dog Mt. provides pilot for my own safety because those stunning vistas of two of the NW’s little people rely on me. I can’t afford a broken downtube or broken arm!” Jazzy, iconic volcanoes, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams, from just a few hundred feet like Tina and Kerie, consistently lands “like a girl!” ABOVE Cancer and chemo couldn’t keep Kerie grounded for long! Photo by Aaron.
A Decades-long Love Affair
C.J. admits that, “In truth, that downputting pilot was, back in 1982, not totally spouting groundsuck. The ‘too old’ part was clearly a crock of BS for my first three decades of flying, but being ‘too short’ has always been one of my greatest challenges. Downtubes are typically longer than I am tall, and having short arms leads to less flare authority. Landing a hang glider has never been one of my strengths as a pilot, and now that I’m 36 years older than that original ‘too old’ label, I find the H-2 friendliness of Dog Mt. to fit my current hang gliding style just fine.” Tina rolls her eyes when she looks back on those early days at Dog. “When I was finally allowed to go to the basetube en route to the North Field LZ, I freaked out!” she says. “I couldn’t do it! The perspective was so different, so weird, that I had a hard time making the change.” She eventually managed it, obviously, and went on to become an accomplished thermal pilot, and an XC enthusiast at Chelan.
When I grow up, I'm going to have pink hair, ride a motorcycle, be a mommy and fly a hang glider. over takeoff. Kerie cites the Dog community as a huge reason that she and Aaron first started going there on a regular basis: “In the beginning, it was all about the community at Dog, always about the friends. And the flying is so consistent, you can almost always count on getting a flight.” Kerie states, and we all agree, have truly shaped me in a positive way. BELOW Baby Hazel Skye Joranzen, age three, kissing Tina! that Dog Mt. is where women pilots Watching my own children have those “are acknowledged and encouraged, no same experiences in the same location patronizing or put downs. Fly like a girl! is surreal. instructors in a NW co-op, for several We never feel that we have to prove “Hang gliding is part of my self-care years spending one weekend a month ourselves as pilots—this is our place!” now as a mother,” she continues, pointwith students rather than on their own Like Tina, Kerie didn’t give up flying flying. They also started breeding and ing out that her own mother, Tina, is until near the end of both her pregshowing whippets, traveling to dog her hero, her role model. “I think it shows with their two youngsters, which makes me a better person to have such nancies; after their kids were born, a healthy hobby. I’m not just a mom, I’m also cut into their time to spend with they’d take turns flying and watching a woman, I am a pilot. It wasn’t till I was the other Dog. Still, they’d fit in weekthe youngsters. Kerie stepped aside about six that I realized hang gliding from hang gliding very briefly during end daytrips to Dog often enough to is not a typical sport in general,” she her breast cancer treatment: She was still be considered “Dog regulars.” muses, “and even less so for women and back in the air just six weeks after her Eventually the Dogpatch rowdies mothers. Flying brings me where my double mastectomy, and continued to moved elsewhere and our Dog Mt. was people are, brings me so much peace. fly through chemotherapy, as long as once again a reasonable weekend desI’m so thankful for the Fly Girls of Dog she felt physically able. Dog Mt. has a tination. A while back Tina and Larry Mt. and that standard they’ve set: FLY special place in her heart—not only for purchased property just a short drive LIKE A GIRL!” the aforementioned friends and the from Dog and parked their trailer there, community and the consistent flying, no longer camping at Dogpatch on most but also, she says, it’s “such a beautiful weekends. Both their daughters had Brief Separations setting, and the birds!” that draw her There was a period in the ‘90s when Dog learned to hang glide, so clan Jorgensen and Aaron to Dog Mt. again and again. was still a regular presence at Dog. Mt. was not such a friendly place to fly: Jazzy recalls her childhood days as the There were drugs, and guns, and freJazzy’s early flying was mainly at Dog; Princess of Dog Mt.: “My Dog Mounshe moved to Alaska with her family for quent loud altercations that overpowtain family has existed since before I ered the formerly family-friendly atmo- a few years, but now that she’s returned to the NW, she’s once again a Dog Mt. was born! I have shared more holidays, sphere at Dogpatch, and hanging out regular. birthdays, and major milestones with there with their young families didn’t And as the decades passed, Tina and my DOG PEOPLE than with my actual seem like a wise parenting choice for C.J. gradually lost their enthusiasm for relatives, or my friends outside of flying. the Swepstons and the Jorgensens. We wrestling with rambunctious thermals I had the best childhood you could ask all flew other NW sites—Chelan, Tiger, and getting back late after a long flight. for, playing like a feral orphan in the LZ Mt. Si, Rampart—sometimes camping at Dog. I’ve built incredible forts among together, strengthening our friendships Aaron and Kerie still enjoy their sumthe biggest stumps in the world. Dug along with our XC and thermal flying mer “big air” XC-focused vacations in to China. Had many mud baths. Experi- skills. C.J. and Kerie had begun comChelan, but for Tina and C.J. the “macand-cheese” air at Dog, the less demandenced some truly epic bonfires. I’ve met peting and often traveled to sites that people from all around the world, from allowed them to hone their XC skills. ing launch and landing conditions, and all walks of life, and those experiences Aaron and Kerie became hang gliding of course their Dog Mt. friends, keep 40 US H PA P I LOT
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drawing them back to where they’d begun their flying careers, almost 40 years ago.
Looking Ahead
A few years back, the dam responsible for Riffe Lake’s annual flooding of Dogpatch developed some worrisome signs of weakness, and budget constraints have precluded its repair, at least for the time being. At first we rejoiced in having the Dogpatch LZ available all year long, but it’s turned out to be a mixed blessing. The annual flood had drowned the alders that sprout in the lakebed every summer, thus preventing the trees from getting established and creating a windshadow for Dogpatch. The high water level had also limited the beach camping options, and had carried away the debris left by careless campers. Now
In the summer of 1997, I’d accumulated enough points to be part of the six-pilot US Women’s team going to Hungary in 1998. Kerie, one of my favorite flying buddies, was ranked #7. When one of the team members had to back out, I was the one who got to call Kerie: “Hey, want to go to Hungary with us?”
those alders are tall enough to disrupt the airflow in the LZ, and the site stewards Larry and Tina are in continuous discussion with the landowners, hoping to gain permission to remove the trees upwind of Dogpatch. And non-flyer campers have discovered the free lakeside camping, often arriving in large groups for weekend parties; fortunately, for the most part the campers are responsible, reasonable and respectful of our need to have our landing area remain unobstructed. After all these years, the Dog Mt. flying community remains tight-knit and strong. Although you’ll rarely find the once-common groups of dozens of hang glider pilots on launch on a west-wind day, it’d be rare indeed to show up at Dog and find you’re the only hang pilot around. Weekday fliers post their plans via email and Facebook, so H-2s can connect with a (required) mentor, and arrange ride sharing up to launch through the locked gate. The annual Frostbite fly-in, held each spring to kick off the flying season and raise funds for site-use fees, draws pilots from around the Northwest, rain or shine, to Dogpatch for a weekend of feasting and flying and sharing tales around the
ABOVE Kerie, C.J., Tina and Jazzy on Dog launch, with Tina’s glider as background, Sept. 1, 2019. Photo by Jagur Swepston. BELOW C.J. gets airborne on her Falcon at the 2016 Frostbite fly-in. Photo by Jonathan Severdia.
campfire. And there’s a new generation of Fly Girls who are becoming Dog regulars— on some days, there are as many women pilots in the air as there are men! And that’s the way it should be, at this beautiful western Washington site, where most of the guys are not embarrassed to admit that they aspire to “Fly like a girl! Land like a girl!”
MONGOLIA
by NICK GREECE 42 US H PA P I LOT
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fter reading about Roy Chapman Andrews’ exploration of Mongolia in the 1930s while studying at the same university he attended in Beloit, Wisconsin, the country remained on my lifetime adventure bucket list. Andrews, sent by the National Geographic Society, found the first-ever protoceratops and oviraptor as well as the velociraptor and the modern world’s first glimpse of dinosaur eggs. Our mission, albeit nearly 100 years later, would be to explore western Mongolia for the first time ever in paragliders, visit golden eagle hunters, and enjoy travelling through the Altai with great local guides. In this connected age we live in, many of us often try to find locales that allow us to get a break from the fast-paced world we now reside in. If I had to de-
It is impossible to not notice a complete void of clicking, whizzing, buzzing, spinning and all general forms of noise that accompany our electric lives. scribe western Mongolia, in two words as a western traveller they would be “deafening silence.” Mongolia, with one person per hundred square miles, and a landscape where massive Mongolian marmots thrive despite a complete and awe-inspiring lack of cover from trees or any other larger fauna to hide from massive continuously circling birds of prey, creates a silence that is pure. As soon as you leave a center of population in western Mongolia, it is impossible to not notice a complete void of clicking, whizzing, buzzing, spinning and all general forms of noise that accompany our electric lives that we’re continuously surrounded by in the West created by the infrastructure to support comfort and connectivity. We travelled for four days to get from San Francisco to the start of our hike
TOP One of the most useful and informative ways to plan the logistics of something like paragliding in the Mongolian Altai is simple: Ask the locals! Bek grew up in Bayan-Olgii province and although he studied abroad, he returned to his local community and now helps visitors to his country discover all it has to offer. KEEN ambassadors Nick Greece and Jeff Shapiro discuss their first launch point with Bek, located right on the borders of China, Russia and Kazakhstan. Photo by Krystle Wright. BOTTOM Przewalski’s horse has long been considered the only “true” wild horse existent in the world today, never having been domesticated. Also called the Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, it is a rare and endangered horse native to the steppes of central Asia. At one time considered to be extinct in the wild, it has since been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia. Seeing these beautiful animals in their natural environment helped to complement the sense that we were traveling through a landscape that had remained unchanged for thousands of years. Photo by Nick Greece. OPPOSITE During the long, bumpy off-road journey, the sky and clouds proved to be too much to pass up; a quick stop at the base of a promising-looking mountain led to a flight together that we will not soon forget. Photo by Nick Greece.
into the Tavan Bogd National Park: San Francisco to Beijing where we had a 12-hour layover, then to Ulaanbaatar where we had another 12-hour layover, to Ulgii on plane. Very rarely in my life have I arrived somewhere with such finality. When we landed in Ulgii, there were no connecting flights, taxis home, or any onward travels to rush off to. We all had arrived and the fact that we were suddenly not in motion any longer was profound. We started off on a 10-hour drive from Ulgii in a Russian-made 4x4 mini-van that was designed in the 1970s and produced new in 2017. It was an interesting journey as we slowly clambered over tracks made by other vans through the treeless environment.
Dos and Don’ts
Bring a great inflatable neck pillow and eye mask, as over-landing in country is very time consuming. In a pinch a shoe will work, but a neck pillow is a much better solution. Make sure you have a lot of podcasts to share with your traveling partners while in the car and a small speaker to play them. I rec-
ommend Everything is Alive for a real entertaining experience that will also create a shared vocabulary on your trip and fill some of the silence as you transition into the wilderness from the constant buzz of travel. Bring a good book and a great headlamp. Western Mongolia is one of the most untouched areas of the world in terms of light pollution so it’s dark at night, and just like in old times, once the sun goes down, you’re going to want a good book. Additional musthaves: cards, a good bottle of whisky from duty-free to share with your new friends around the table in the evenings, Patagonia Provisions smoked salmon for special treats and to diversify your diet while there, wet wipes for just about everything, and a Garmin inReach to have as an emergency backup in case you need help, because there will be no cell phone reception. Be prepared to walk a long way to use the toilet. If you are in a remote area without any facilities the long walk to use the restroom is real. There are very few if any trees in most of the western part of Mongolia so you can see
FOREVER across the terrain. If you’re a golden eagle looking for smaller marmots that is great! But if you’re trying to get a little privacy, not so much. Drink fermented mare’s milk. It’s worth a taste, but don’t go too deep too quickly or you have a decent chance of being ill.
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here are numerous guiding outfits that offer incredible experiences and an opportunity to interact with the culture in a sustainable manner. We used Altai Expeditions, who were top notch. I would recommend checking out a bunch of them, reaching out, and picking the one that resonates most with you in their responses. Most are based out of Ulgii and it seemed that they all had about the same level of comfort. Utilizing locals to engage their environments and interact with the National Parks responsibly is great for everyone involved.
More info on the group we worked with: https://altaiexpeditions.com/
BELOW Finding a reason to get excited about conservation of wild and open spaces is easy when we have the opportunity to connect with nature and are given the chance to see the planet the way it was before we changed it. Nick Greece, Krystle Wright and Jeff Shapiro traveled to the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park in northwestern Mongolia to experience one of the last, great wilderness expanses in central Asia. They all agreed that it was easy to see why it’s so important to protect such places. Photo by Krystle Wright.
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USH PA PILOT 45 TOP One of the advantages of flying a paraglider is that everything you need to fly to the clouds and land in unfamiliar places deep into northwestern Mongolia will fit in a backpack. Nick Greece and Jeff Shapiro traveled to the Altai with fellow ambassador and adventure photographer, Krystle Wright, with intentions to see this ancient and unique landscape from the air. What resulted was an unforgettable adventure. Photo by Krystle Wright. Bayan-Olgii Province, Mongolia. BOTTOM â&#x20AC;&#x153;Good morning, ladies!â&#x20AC;? Nothing like getting awakened by a noisy gang of Bactrian camels, deep in the heart of northwestern Mongolia. Altai Tavan Bogd National Park covers 6362 square kilometers of protected wilderness. Photos by Krystle Wright.
TOP LEFT Nick Greece brings his passion for paragliding to a place where reverence for flight and the cooperative hunting practice between people and eagles is centuries old. Although the aim when visiting new places is to respectfully expose ourselves to new cultures and ways of living, to be able to reciprocate while in, and high above, the mountains in western Mongolia was a privilege Nick remains grateful for. Photo by Krystal Wright. MIDDLE The Mongolian National Park system is attempting to keep places like this protected from development and resource extraction. Photo by Krystle Wright. BOTTOM In the far reaches of western Mongolia, one of the only modern ways to cover large distances across the roadless terrain is in one of the most trusted for the job, the Russian Bukhanka UAZ-452. Bukhanka is a word for â&#x20AC;&#x153;loafâ&#x20AC;? because this workhorse resembles a bread loaf as it bounces down the dirt two-tracks and rolls through the occasional river crossing. Photo by Nick Greece.
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ABOVE Descendants of Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian indigenous groups and Huns that populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea, today’s semi-nomadic Kazakh culture still practices the ancient tradition of hunting for fur and food with golden eagles. As a contemporary falconer of almost 20 years, Jeff Shapiro traveled with friends, Nick Greece and Krystle Wright, to experience and learn more about this displayed mixture of cultural heritage, practical hunting and art. Photo by Nick Greece RIGHT For a contemporary US falconer, Jeff Shapiro, traveling to the Bayan-Olgii province at the base of the Altai mountains was a dreamlike experience. Photo by Nick Greece. BELOW We had finally reached the lake that acted as summer grazing grounds for the Kazakh eagle hunter and his family. It had been a long journey by foot, van, jeep, camel and paraglider. As Nick Greece, Jeff Shapiro and I sat down at camp and reflected of what we’d seen and on the “here and now” of where we were, it was easy to see what made this place and these people so special. It’s important that we protect the last remaining open and wild places on the planet. Photo by Krystle Wright TOP LEFT Jeff Shapiro over the steppes of Mongolia. Photo by Nick Greece.
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FAR LEFT Adventure photographer Krystle Wright has dedicated her life and passion toward capturing moments and environments using light and perspective to showcase the mystery and beauty, culture and uniqueness of every corner of the world. Traveling through northwestern Mongolia with Nick Greece and Jeff Shapiro was a chance to experience some of the planet’s most raw and untouched open spaces. Photo by Nick Greece NEAR LEFT Nick Greece, Bayan-Olgii Province. Photos by Krystal Wright.
ABOVE The vastness and intact wilderness that makes up much of Mongolia is home to the only “true” wild horses that exist today. Walking through the steppes of central Asia presented a rare opportunity to go back in time and see a part of the world before “we” changed it. Photo by Nick Greece. BELOW The aimag, or province, of Bayan-Olgii shares its borders with Russia, China and Kazakhstan. For the most part, this province is made up of Kazakh people (93%), many of whom still live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, splitting their time between living in or around Olgii and in their summer ranging grounds in traditional gers, passed down through the family generations. Photo by Nick Greece.
QUOTE OF THE TRIP: Alright, enough playing with your eagles. Go milk the cows! - Eagle hunter’s wife to eagle hunter Bek Bobat, after he’d been working with Jeff Shapiro for a few hours.
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Advice to Fledglings
[ contributed by LIZ DENGLER ]
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ou’ve just received your Novice rating and have been sent off into the world imagining all sorts of flying adventures. But what comes next? What are the next steps for a brand-new pilot? Having been flying for only a couple of years myself, I don’t claim to be an expert. However, I acutely remember the daunting task of getting started after earning my P2. With ever-growing numbers of new pilots (within my couple years of flying, the community has grown exponentially at my local hill), there is now a large, active, and vocal group of pilots in the community and on our chats. Many of these pilots are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful (they fly a ton, push boundaries, pioneer new sites, and have a more detailed understanding of meteorology than anyone else around), but if you’re new to the sport, it can be difficult to pick these folks out of the group. Though (disappointingly) many of the long-time pilots tend to remain quiet on the chats and forums, I have sought their expertise for my specific questions. They’ve been around the sport long enough to have experienced more than the newer crews: more lessons learned, more time spent making flying
All pilots get frightened sometimes and yet almost nobody admits it or talks about it. decisions, more time in the air, more trips, more stories, and more beta. That said, many of our long-time flying companions have forgotten what it was like to be green and that so much of what they know “inherently” had to be learned. So in an attempt to offer some advice, before I forget the intimidation of being new, here are a few tips to get you going in the right direction.
▶Fly your own flight.
This is certainly something they tell you in school, but it doesn’t really become clear until you’re out on your own. The first and most important thing to remember is that you have to make your own flying choices. Sometimes that will mean making the choice to NOT fly. Never let anyone pressure you into air you don’t want to be in or make you feel bad about not flying. The choice to not fly, for whatever reason (you’re tired, not feeling it, the conditions feel
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beyond your skill level), should be applauded! The proper response to “I decided not to fly” is “Good choice! You gotta be feeling it.” At the same time, it’s helpful to sit down with someone more experienced than you (see #5) later that day and discuss why you weren’t feeling it. Of course, it’s OK to push yourself, but know your limits, assess your personal risk tolerances, and remember that, as new as you are, you don’t know what you don’t know. Just because another pilot is making the air look amazing at 2:00 in the afternoon in springtime, doesn’t mean the air is excellent for you. If you’re flying around and following a more skilled pilot, they could lead you into a committing line beyond your skill level, without your realizing it. Know where you are at all times, fly your own flight, and don’t blindly follow others into, or through, the sky.
▶No one else can fly that wing for you.
Remember: Once you’re in the air, no one can really help you—only you can fly that wing, and radios don’t always work. If you’re launching, you should feel confident that you can handle the flight alone, even if things don’t go as planned. The first time this became clear to me, I was at a new site and was only planning on a sled ride. I launched into a thermal and (stoked) I climbed about 1000 feet before losing it. I drifted out over the valley, expecting a smooth ride to the LZ, but was caught in a strong glass-off that pushed me up into airspace in winds stronger than I felt comfortable with at that point in my progression. When big ears, speedbar, and weight shift turns combined (the extent of my knowledge at the time) weren’t enough to stop my ascent, much less get me down, I called to other pilots for advice on my radio. All I got back was a garbled transmission. Feeling very alone, I flew back toward the mountains, hoping to get out of the lift. When I finally found some sink, I cored it, until I got low enough to feel comfortable again. Upon landing, I was a mixture of excited and shaken. I realized that I knew enough to stay calm, figure it out, and keep myself out of trouble. However, it became abundantly clear that there was still so much I didn’t know, such as how to get out of the sky when I felt I had to. From this point on, I never took my knowledge or experience for granted.
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▶Progress at your own rate.
If you follow number one, this should automatically happen. I learned with people who only want to do sled rides and others who already have their tandem ratings. I am somewhere in the middle. All pilots should be flying what they’re comfortable with and within their own tolerances. Folks with a higher risk tolerance generally get more hours faster. I tend to worry a bit about the ground (it looks hard). I also sometimes get airsick (who knew that was a thing?), so I’ve been moving a little slower. I like to think of this sport as a marathon, rather than a sprint. I love to fly and will continue to progress for a long time, but at my own pace and on my own terms.
▶Get connected to the community.
Whether by WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, or the local club website and forum, reach out to local pilots. The wealth of knowledge they offer is invaluable. Making these connections is not just about learning the local weather and when it’s OK to fly. The collective knowledge, stories, flight lines, trigger points, accidents, and successes are all pieces of a much larger puzzle that you’ll need to learn to be a successful pilot. Soak up all the available info to find your personal path forward in the sport.
to talk with about your progression. Having multiple mentors will give you perspective on the sport and your place in it. However, not all voices in the community should be given equal weight. Just because someone has a lot to say and talks a big game doesn’t mean you should listen. Find someone who’s been in the sport awhile, who flies well, and who you respect for their choices. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone you fly with all the time, but they should be someone you can have an honest and open discussion with about flying. Look for someone who is equally happy to answer all your questions and encourage you, but also call you out when you do something reckless.
▶Not all sites are created equal
As you migrate to new sites, you will encounter styles of flying, weather, and traffic patterns that you haven’t seen before. If you learned
▶Fly with people.
What isn’t always made clear to newly rated pilots is that in the beginning, you should be flying with people, not alone. First, flying with people is safer. If something happens, others are around to help. Second, flying with people will help you learn how to analyze weather, air, and your flying decisions, both good and bad. Remember, you are new, have little experience, and, in the grand scheme of things, know very little about the sport. As you progress, you’ll join in on discussing weather patterns, do some team flying, learn how to use other pilots in the air with you, and find better lines for XC flights. Plus, you’ll probably make some pretty sweet friends you would never meet otherwise. It is unlikely that anyone else in your life will understand your newfound obsession, so time spent with these pilots will likely become especially important to you.
▶Find a mentor.
It’s important to have more advanced pilots
how to fly in the mountains, keep in mind that ridge soaring is different from trying to thermal. And, ridge soaring in the high desert, where strong thermals tend to mix into the ridge lift, is different from on the coast. Flying over the ocean can be rather intimidating (there are sharks in there!). Sites at high elevation require taking the change in altitude into account, specifically how it will affect your wing handling, launches, airspeed, and flare. And, of course, there are some places where you can only get towed into the sky, which is entirely different from your standard foot launch. Point being, just because a site is rated
ABOVE Go slow and enjoy the process.
P2/H2, doesn’t mean you automatically know how to fly it. Do your research and…
▶Talk to the locals.
When you arrive at a new site, it would serve you well to reach out to the local community. Not only is it the polite thing to do, it is also wise, because they might have site rules you need to know or a waiver you must sign. They also will likely have some great tips about the site that will keep you safe and make your
The pilots I have the most respect for
are the ones who are honest about the air and how they feel about it. flight more fun and successful! Do everyone a favor and don’t poach sites. If you accidentally (or blatantly) ignore an area’s regulations, because you didn’t reach out, you can put the use of that site at risk for the local pilots. Plus, if you’re visiting a site and haven’t made contact with the local community, it’s much harder for anyone to notify your emergency contacts if you should get hurt.
▶Read everything.
Have you read Mastering Paragliding yet? How about your wing’s user manual or EN test report? Dust of the Universe? Understanding the Sky? XC Mag? Are you reading these? Read them. Read them all. Your fellow local pilots are great resources, but so are the perspectives of pilots across the globe. Read about different flying sites, competitions, adventures, and weather patterns. Anything you can learn will make you a better pilot. Remember, though, a lot of advice out there may not be quite right for a new pilot. For example, flying strategy and canopy recovery often change at least slightly as you progress as a pilot and migrate on to higher-rated wings. It is great to learn new principles, but make sure you’re applying what will work for you, at your skill level, with your knowledge, and on your gear. When in doubt, talk it over with your instructor or mentors.
▶It’s OK to get scared.
This is the one that never gets said enough. All pilots get frightened sometimes and yet almost
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nobody admits it or talks about it. Sometimes the air is scary and rowdy, and all you want is to be on the ground. Just because you get scared at some point while flying doesn’t mean you’re not a good pilot. The pilots I have the most respect for are the ones who are honest about the air and how they feel about it. This past spring, I met a knowledgeable and highly skilled pilot while in Annecy, France. We were flying a marginal day, the valley flow picked up, the air was Swiss cheese, and, frankly, I was a bit scared—so I went to land. I ran into this pilot in the LZ and was surprised to see him. When I asked him why he was on the ground, he laughed and replied, “Same as you—I got scared! That air was awful!” Hearing a much more skilled pilot confirm what I felt was incredibly refreshing (it wasn’t just me?!). I used this as an opportunity to learn more about the air we were in, why it felt that way, and how to get a different perspective from someone who has been in the game much longer than I. I knew why I was scared, but why was he? Don’t be embarrassed when you get scared out of the sky—use it as an opportunity to learn!
▶Become a weather guru.
Unless you live in a ridiculous place like Boulder, Colorado, and launch and fly in the lee side of a mountain range every day, you’ll likely be pretty familiar with the day-to-day of your local site after a few months. However, you don’t really get to “know” a site until you’ve seen it in all four seasons over multiple years. Dig into the weather, both locally and regionally. Beyond the micro-scale, look at the macro. How do large-scale systems moving across the country impact and manifest at the local scale? As you study, you’ll develop a sense for which days are going to work well, which are sledder days, and which could become downright dangerous. It’s a sense that evolves with experience and one that many long-time pilots seem to have. As you learn the principles that work for your home site, you can start applying them to other sites and your XC flying.
▶Get your gear dialed early on.
Get things set up correctly, right from the getgo. Learn the ins and outs of your devices and radios, so you can change the settings on the fly. It’s good to be familiar enough with your radio that you can adjust it easily when you
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show up at a new site. Make sure your harness is set up correctly. In paragliding, sitting position matters, and your chest strap’s width and speed system should be adjusted for a new wing. As embarrassing as it is, for a long time I didn’t even know the chest strap was a thing. It’s not the dinky secure strap on your chest that holds your shoulder straps together (this is the breast strap), but rather the piece on many (but not all) harnesses that adjusts the distance between your carabiners. Most wings come with a manufacturer’s recommendation for how wide this should be for optimal wing performance, and, ideally, you can adjust your harness accordingly. An incorrect chest strap width can significantly impact how your wing flies.
▶Take a maneuvers clinic.
Also commonly referred to as “SIV,” a maneuvers clinic is often recommended for new pilots to take to help them get a feel for their wings. This advice is a bit controversial among the flying community, largely due to the cost of these courses in the United States. Also some feel that taking a maneuvers clinic too early into one’s flying career could scare you out of the sport. However, just like your day-to-day flying, you only have to push yourself as far as you feel comfortable (during my course, one pilot only did tows and pitch control for the first day and was very excited with his progress). If you decide to take a course, make sure your instructor has a clear idea of your skill and comfort level and what you’re hoping to get out of the clinic. There are great instructors out
there who will help you learn exactly what you need for your current level. I took a course this past spring and came away with a much clearer understanding of my wing: how it flies, the brake travel, its passive safety, how it recovers from collapse, as well as its more temperamental characteristics when it is crumpled up above my head. Most importantly, I learned how I handle myself when under stress in the sky. There is no replacement for real-world experience, but a maneuvers clinic is a great place to start getting better connected to your wing.
▶It’s all about the smiles.
We all started flying for the fun of it. As you progress, occasionally step back to remember your first flights and why you took up the sport. If you find yourself getting caught up in the drive to be better than other pilots, trying to keep up with the pack that’s been flying a lot longer than you, or developing a “look at me” complex that so many pilots fall prey to, I implore you to take a moment and reflect. If you’re getting mad when you sink out or thinking you’re too good for the average sled ride, you may want to assess why you’re flying. Yes, it’s great to push yourself and improve, and it’s OK to be bummed with your flight. But remember, humans were never meant to fly, so regardless of the length of your flight, if you come away from it unharmed, it’s nothing short of amazing! As I was always told when I was learning to fly, “It’s about the smiles.”
▶Above all, flying should be fun!
2020 WALL CALENDARS are here, and they're incredible!
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Flying in Salt Lake City offers a lot of options with glorious views. Point of the Mountain, Utah.
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Wing Loading Effects
[ contributed by DENNIS PAGEN ]
We learn in ground school or by smacking the ground how important wing loading is to our favorite light form of flight. Most of us know that added poundage on our wings increases speeds and sink rate. But, that’s often as far as the understanding goes in many cases. But fact is, it’s a bit more complicated than that. And in fact, if you (and I) wish to get the maximum performance out of the equipment we can afford, it is in our best interest to scratch below the surface of this wing loading thing. For all aircraft, wing loading changes the airspeeds that the aircraft achieves at a given angle of attack. We normally expect the speed to go up if we increase wing loading, and vice versa. However, with our flexible wings matters aren’t quite as straight forward, and intuition can lead us down a crooked path. In fact, even hang gliders and paragliders have difference responses to wing loading, so we will cover their wing-loading details separately.
Hang Gliding Wing Loading
We can affect our wing loading by two main methods: We fly a different size glider or we add ballast. (of course, porking out at McDonalds is a fairly easy way to add ballast, but the payback is long-term and dire). Normally we change wing loading by flying different size gliders or change weight long-term, of course. In general, hang gliding wing-loading chang-
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es do not affect safety, unless we fly a glider too large for us in strong winds (penetration and control problems) or a glider too small for us in light wind on shallow takeoffs (can’t get airborne in the allotted space). However, wing loading can affect our performance and comfort. Here’s the main technical part we need to understand to understand wing loading effects (Note, if you start hyperventilating when reading this technical material you can skip to the next paragraph, but you’ll only vaguely understand wing loading): As we change weight we change all airspeeds by the square root of the weight change. Or, put another way, to change the airspeed a given amount, we have to change the weight by the square of the airspeed change. Here are some examples: Let’s say your all-up weight (total of you and glider) is 250 pounds (a glider of 60 lbs., a harness of 25 lbs. and a body weight of 165 lbs.). If you add 10 pounds to this all-up weight, you have increased the weight by 4%. But you increase the airspeed by the square root of that or 2%. So, if you stall at 20 mph, your stall airspeed at this new weight is 20.4 mph. If you have the bar position where it would have you flying at 30 mph with the original wing loading, you would be flying at 30.6mph. If your minimum sink rate was 200 feet per minute, your sink rate with the heavier wing loading would be
USH PA PILOT 57
204 fpm. Those are not big changes, but it should be clear that there may be a difference of 50 pounds or more between pilots flying the same glider. A 50-pound addition increases airspeed by 9.5%, and a 20mph stall speed would increase 1.9 mph to become nearly 22 mph. We can produce similar changes in the opposite direction by reducing weight or increasing the size of the glider. The previous analysis makes the big assumption that the glider maintains its exact shape and configuration despite what weight we put on it. Generally, this assumption is true for all aircraft, including an airplane, a rigid-wing hang glider or a paraglider, but not true for a normal flex-wing hang glider. The reason is, a typical hang glider changes shape as the weight on it changes. And the effects of these changes are the main point of this article, for the results can be perplexing and have an effect on our flying. The first change weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll mention is the gliderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airfoil. The airfoil is the shape of the upper and lower surface taken together as if it were cut by a plane parallel to the keel. About 2/3 of the lift force on a wing is on the upper surface, with the remaining 1/3 pushing up the lower
surface. Our upper surface is typically given its shape by battens inserted in pockets sewn to it. But these battens are flexible, with some of them (especially on older gliders) being very flexible. It was often speculated and experience seemed to bear out that when heavier pilots flew such gliders, the upper surface would distort, become more curved, thus making the airfoil able to slow a bit more and reduce the sink rate. In other words, instead of increasing sink rate with more weight, the glider would maintain the same sink rate or even reduce it. Of course, there is a limit to this effect and it was very hard to measure. In addition, modern gliders with tighter sails, internal shear webs and stiffer battens do not alter nearly so much in this manner, but this effect is an illustration of how the results of wing loading changes may be more complex than originally expected. The next wing loading effect is more important. When a heavier load is put on a glider it bows the leading edges inward and upward more, which results in more twist (washout) in the sail. This effect is shown in figure 1. The result is, a heavier pilot will typically cause the glider to actually slow down as the lifting force
becomes more concentrated in the inboard part of the glider, which is forward of the hook-in point. This effect is counterintuitive. Many think that adding weight will make the glider go faster and a heavier pilot has to move the hang point back in order to get the glider to fly hands-off at minimum-sink airspeed. But actually the opposite is true and if a pilot doesn’t know this, he or she may struggle to figure out how to get the glider to fly in trim. In addition to the above, the bowing up of the wings also creates more effective dihedral in the glider. Added dihedral increases roll stability, but slows or makes roll control harder.
of the situation now and can provide help to very small or very large pilots. But all pilots should be aware that gliders can and should be trimmed for maximum comfort, safety and performance.
Paragliding Wing Loading
Paragliding wing loading is a different story than the above—it can be a major safety factor. The technical aspects still apply (the airspeed changes with the square root of the wing loading change), but the wing doesn’t really distort because of all the lines, stiffeners, shear webs (both vertical and diagonal) and
Wing loading affects our flying no matter which of the two sports we follow. Some of the effects are unexpected, but with a little learning we avoid the unexpected. That makes us safer, better and happier! The glider is “stiffer.” Now here’s the problem we run into: Typically a designer has to set a given size glider up for the average-weight pilot flying it. If a heavier pilot flies it, the hang point may have to be adjusted forward, but more importantly he may find the glider a bit stiffer to roll due to the increased dihedral. However, his added weight may mask the roll effect. But going the other way, a much lighter pilot may find the glider has so much anhedral (the opposite of dihedral) that the glider feels “squirrely.” It wants to constantly roll to one side or the other in textured air. The glider in this situation may be easy to initiate into a roll, but the constant corrections required will be fatiguing and may affect safety in turbulence near the ground. The problem has been very apparent in the not too distant past, and probably still shows up in gliders out there in the flock. Many gliders intended for light pilots exhibited this problem because manufacturers did not have a 100-pound test pilot to help them get the setup right for very light pilots. I have personally helped many female pilots of high caliber skills set their gliders up to take care of these trim problems (both CG or hang point and dihedral adjustments). It should be clear that most gliders will accommodate a wide range of pilot weights with no problems, and it is only at the extremes of their wing-loading range that some of these effects are felt. In addition, most manufacturers are aware 58 US H PA P I LOT
battens in some cases. So the main effect of changing wing loading is to alter the airspeeds plus alter the glider’s dynamic pressurization. Dynamic pressurization occurs because the canopy moving forward causes air to move into the inside of the canopy through the front openings until it fills the canopy, then maintains enough pressure to keep it inflated. On a modern glider the canopy openings are placed precisely where the air hits the airfoil at a right angle (this is known as the stagnation point and is the place with the highest positive pressure). Because the canopy varies its angle of attack a bit, the opening is large enough to allow the stagnation point to change a bit and still maintain good pressurization. (It should be noted how much smaller the openings of today’s gliders are compared to the past. This design change is due to designers figuring out the ideal placement of the opening, and it certainly has led to better performance by reducing drag.) There is still a potential problem with the pressurization of a canopy, and that occurs when the glider is flown very fast, with a low angle of attack, especially when on the speed bar. The speed bar pulls the front part of the canopy down (lowers the angle of attack) and it may move the opening below the best point for the air to flow into the openings and thus invite a collapse. Collapses are not a severe problem for experienced pilots as long as there is altitude for the glider to recover. For
USH PA PILOT 59
that reason, the CIVL (body governing compe- flying the intermediate size gliders—their only tition) has implemented many rules to prevent choice. The above problem was dealt with by pilots from racing to goal close to the ground. requiring manufacturers who hope to certify In the earlier days without such rules we had a competition glider to produce at least four some very good pilots suffer some very bad different sizes, accommodating pilots of all accidents racing into goal. weights. This ploy has seemed to solve the But a more difficult problem was the glider problem for the time being. size availability. Not so long ago, competition The takeaway from this little discussion is gliders came in only two or three sizes. Often for all paragliding pilots to realize the effects what was left out was the smallest possible of wing loading are very important to safety. gliders. Partially this was economics. Human And even though the wing-loading problem weights follow a normal curve where most showed up in competition gliders, all pilots everyone falls in the middle with a few at the extremes of very small or very big. So, because should be aware that flying any glider with of the high cost of glider development and cer- too light a wing loading will make it prone to collapses. Even though today’s gliders are tification, the manufacturers would not produce gliders for the extremes. As a result, very more resistant than ever to such problems, the only safe approach is to follow the manulight pilots had to fly gliders too big for them (to have a chance to be competitive). Even usfacturer’s guidelines on glider sizes and thus ing quite a bit of ballast, these glider would be wing loading. too big for the pilot. The result was that pilots too light for a glider would not pressurize the ing loading affects our flying no canopy enough and it was very vulnerable matter which of the two sports we to serious collapses in thermal turbulence. I follow. Some of the effects are unexremember one European Championships not pected, but with a little learning we avoid the too long ago where we had three serious acciunexpected. That makes us safer, better and happier! dents and all three were smaller female pilots
W
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2019 CALENDAR Submit listings
online at https://www.ushpa.org/page/calendar. A minimum 3-MONTH LEAD TIME is required on all submissions. Tentative events will not be published. NOV 29 - DEC 1 & DEC 13-15 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING SANTA BARBARA CLINIC Santa Barbara, California - These clinics are aimed to get pilots familiar with the thermal triggers, and lines to take to get from lift source to lift source moving down the range. After attending this clinic you will have a better understanding of the moves necessary to get down range, and the confidence to get through the pass and fly to Ojai and beyond. Mitch Riley will lead this 3 day clinic - cost is $795. More Info: https:// paragliding.com/shop/services/clinics/ thermal-xc-clinic/
NOV 9-23 > COLUMBIA ADVENTURE Valle del Cauca, Colombia - Yoga, Fly, Relax and Repeat. Join us for two weeks of great cross country, relaxation and adventure with world Champion and Coach Kari Castle and Yoga therapist, columnist and Colombian native Sofia Puerta Webber. $4,800 fee includes lodging, breakfast, ground transportation, welcome dinner, flying fees, yoga and meditation sessions, cross country guidance, Spanish lessons, farewell dinner, snacks and visit to parks and wonderful places. We have space for seven pilots this year. P3 and P4 only. Contact shiwido@gmail.com More Info:
http://www.shiwido.com/tours.html
JAN 24 - FEB 1, FEB 1-9, FEB 9-17 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING 2020 COLUMBIA TOURS Roldanillo, Colombia. Expect 7 days of flying, daily coaching, evening debriefs, and evening presentations by each of our exceptional guides Marty DeVietti, Brian Howell, Mitch Riley, Jeff Shapiro, Rob Sporrer, and Dave Turner. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget the cross-country tandems you will take with our guides over mountains and flat lands, which are all included in the tour at no additional cost. These tandem flights are perhaps the best educational opportunity available for thermal and cross country flying. More Info: www.paragliding.com
Photo by GEORGE STURTEVANT
THE SANTA BARBARA HOEDOWN is a winter-long casual competition for hang gliders and paragliders in Santa Barbara's mountains. Whether you are an experienced comp pilot or a new pilot looking to learn about task flying and safe XC protocols from older pilots. There is something for everyone! Cost: FREE (must be SBSA member) Task Brief and De-Brief: At the SBSA club meeting at Rustyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Cabrillo at 7pm, first Thursday of every contest month. Objective: Have fun, try different challenges, and improve your skills. More info: https://freeflightcomp.appspot.com/comps/sbhoedown2019/
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CLASSIFIED RATES Rates start at $10.00 for 200 characters. Minimum ad charge is $10.00. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE PREPAID. No refunds will be given on ads cancelled that are scheduled to run multiple months. For more info, visit www. ushpa.org/page/magazine-classified-advertising CLINICS & TOURS BAJA MEXICO > La Salina Baja’s BEST BEACHFRONT Airsport Venue: PG, HG, PPG: FlyLaSalina.com. by BajaBrent.com, He’ll hook you up! Site intros, tours, & rooms. bajabrent@bajabrent.com, 760203-2658 PARACRANE Paragliding Tours > Nick Crane, USHPA Advanced Instructor, Veteran Guide | Costa Rica 2/11-2/21 | Brazil 3/4-14 | Europe 6/2-16, 9/9-19 and 9/2110/1 | www.costaricaparagliding.com | nick@paracrane.com FLYMEXICO > Valle de Bravo for Winter and year round flying tours and support. Hang Gliding, Paragliding. Guiding, gear, instruction, transportation, lodging. www. flymexico.com +1 512-467-2529 PARAGLIDE COSTA RICA > Come and enjoy your holidays and the best paragliding flights in Costa Rica. Cozy family atmosphere awaits you in this beautiful country. alexbadilla1979@gmail.com or 5-068-345-5135 for details SCHOOLS & INSTRUCTORS COLORADO > GUNNISON GLIDERS > X-C to heavy waterproof HG gliderbags. Accessories, parts, service, sewing. Instruction ratings, site-info. Rusty Whitley 1549 CR 17, Gunnison CO 81230. 970-641-9315. HAWAII > PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING > Call Dexter for friendly information about flying on Maui. Full service school offering beginner to advanced instruction, year round. 808-874-5433 paraglidemaui.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE > MORNINGSIDE > A Kitty Hawk Kites flight park. The Northeast’s premier hang gliding and paragliding training center, teaching since 1974. Hang gliding foot launch and tandem aerowtow training. Paragliding foot launch and tandem training. Powered Paragliding instruction. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Located in Charlestown, NH. Also visit our North Carolina location, Kitty Hawk Kites Flight School. 603-542-4416, www.flymorningside.com NEW YORK > SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK > 40 acre flight park; 160’ main training hill; Bunny hills in all directions; Best facility in NY; New Alphas & Falcons in stock; Trade in Trade up; www.cooperstownhanggliding.com NORTH CAROLINA > KITTY HAWK KITES > The largest hang gliding school in the world, teaching since 1974. Learn to hang glide and paraglide on the East Coast’s largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. 1902 Wright Glider Experience available. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Learn to fly where the Wright Brothers flew, located at the beach on NC’s historic Outer Banks. Also visit our NH location, Morningside Flight Park. (252) 441-2426, 1-877-FLYTHIS, kittyhawk.com/hang-gliding TEXAS > FLYTEXAS TEAM > training pilots in Central Texas for 25 years. Hang Gliding, Paragliding, Trikes. Hangar facilities Lake LBJ, Luling, Smithville www.flytexas.com 512-467-2529 VIRGINIA > BLUE SKY > located near Richmond , year round instruction, all forms of towing, repairs, sewing , tuning... Wills Wing, Moyes, Icaro, Aeros PG, Mosquito, Flylight, Woody Valley. www.blueskyhg. com WINGS & HARNESSES WILLS WING FALCON 182 (large), harness, chute, helmet, variometer, wheels, all barely used. Originally over $4000. Sacrifice for $1000. Located South FL. 561-7775335, DrHughLeavell@gmail.com
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Ratings Issued June/July 2019 RTG RGN NAME
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H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2
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Kevin Baron Eric Engerbretson Thomas Kennedy Ken Lupold Yosuke (Josh) Miyakawa Christopher S. Ogden Barton K. Ransom Raymond Sperle Jim Ayers Jonathan Seamus Blackley Livio Bognuda Steven Hickel John Jensen Doug Pilling Steven (Taylor) Couch Kaytlin Flanders Eduardo Fonseca Zach Freeman Alexander French Jim Geist Michael Gary Glanville Pedro Luzuriaga Ellen McCleskey Roger Moore Graham Porter Jonathan Blake Smith Jr Pradeep Alturi John A. Davidson Starla Diehl William Hardy-Abeloos James W. Lemon Nic Baack Eric Engerbretson James M. Ludwig John Lydic Yosuke (Josh) Miyakawa Geobio Boo Elias Lazarus Marcus Petersen Michelle Wang Livio Bognuda Steven Hickel John Jensen Doug Pilling Kyle Schumacher Steven (Taylor) Couch Elijah Edwards Kaytlin Flanders Eduardo Fonseca Zach Freeman Alexander French Jim Geist Michael Gary Glanville Ian Hicklin Jesse Lackey Pedro Luzuriaga Ellen McCleskey Roger Moore Graham Porter Jonathan Blake Smith Jr Pradeep Alturi John A. Davidson
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
WA ID MN ID WA WA WA HI CA CA CO CA CA CA TN GA TX OK VA FL GA TX TX TN TN VA NY OH PA NJ MD IA ID WA OR WA CA CA CA CA CO CA CA CA CA TN NC GA TX OK VA FL GA VA WV TX TX TN TN VA NY OH
Eric Ollikainen Malcolm A. Jones Doyle Johnson Eric Ollikainen William C. Dydo Eric Ollikainen Eric Ollikainen Wolf Gaidis Patrick J. Denevan Josh Patrick Laufer Mark A. Windsheimer John Heiney Robert Hugel John Heiney Matthew Taber Gordon Cayce Tiki Mashy Scott Schneider Ian Boughton Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Scott Schneider Gordon Cayce Ian Boughton Gordon Cayce Andy Thompson Gordon Cayce John W. Alden Gordon Cayce Greg Black Ian Boughton Wolf Gaidis Malcolm A. Jones Eric Ollikainen Patrick J. Denevan William C. Dydo Robert Hugel Robert Hugel Michael Briganti Michael Briganti Mark A. Windsheimer John Heiney Robert Hugel John Heiney Josh Patrick Laufer Matthew Taber Robert J. Hastings Gordon Cayce Tiki Mashy Scott Schneider Ian Boughton Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Robert J. Hastings Robert J. Hastings Scott Schneider Gordon Cayce Ian Boughton Gordon Cayce Andy Thompson Gordon Cayce John W. Alden
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H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1
5 5 5 5 5 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Starla Diehl Ron Kurus James W. Lemon John Lombardi Blake Stock Vincent Lynn Geer Alan Redmon Neil Perry Jeff Rader Javier Rios Edward A. Batakis Derek Gordon Jonathan Hayden Arthur Benson Matthew McCleskey Matthew Rego Isaiah Clapp Aaron Schneider Johnny Burkett Jr J Michael Cosner Steve Jones Kale Kudlacek Mike Wall Jessica Pearson Daniel C. Walker Irving Aguilar Erik Antink Michael Behrandt Clay Blackiston George Bristow Josie Marie Bunnell Asa Cates Julia Cerpe Luke Christian David Conaway Dylan Crossman Kristen Dallum Michael Dalton Lincoln DiLorenzo Matthew Erhardt Brittney Fisher Jason Flannery Samuel Fordyce Adrian Forman Jennifer Geisen Peter Green Steve Grimes Randi Harman Robert Kabel Kincaid Kawananakoa Alex Kollar Tyrus Leverich Anika Lofts David Madeira Karen Marley Jeffrey Merkley Chad Nelson Rachel Newell Joseph Nolte Thomas Norin Benjamin Norin Jonathan Pak
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
PA PA MD MD PA WA WA CA CA CA CO CA CO GA TX RI CA CA TX VA TX FL GA MA MI WY ID WY WA ID OR OR WA OR WA ID WA OR MT OR MT OR WA OR OR ID MT WA ID HI OR OR ID WY WA OR WA AK WA WA WA OR
Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Ian Boughton Ryan Salvo Robert J. Hastings Larry C. Jorgensen Larry C. Jorgensen John Simpson Eric Hinrichs Eric Hinrichs Mark A. Windsheimer Andrew T. Beem Mel Glantz David Miller Tiki Mashy Matthew Taber Eric Hinrichs John Simpson Steve Stackable Steve A. Wendt Matthew Taber Mel Glantz Gordon Cayce Jonathan Atwood Norman W. Lesnow Fred Morris E. Scott Edwards Fred Morris Denise Reed Randall Shane Kelly A. Kellar Kevin R. Lee Owen Shoemaker Daniel Randall Matt Cone Jonathan Jefferies Denise Reed Kelly A. Kellar John Hoseman Nathan Alex Taylor Lisa Dickinson Steve Roti Derek Baylor Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee E. Scott Edwards Rob Sporrer Kelly A. Kellar E. Scott Edwards Pete Michelmore Steve Roti Kelly A. Kellar Jonathan Jefferies Fred Morris Denise Reed Brad Hill Jonathan Jefferies Jake Schlapfer Denise Reed Brad Hill Maren Ludwig Maren Ludwig
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P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Tricia Patch Tyler Pennewill Christopher Remer Joshua Rigell Julian Ritchie Frederick Roth Eli Russell Jussi Saramaa Adam Seick Sarah Seick Richard Siberell Daniel J. Simon John Sperling Dennis Erik Strom Scott Thiel Rex Twitchel Hayden Waddle Jaclyn Wing Scott Wuebber Michael Zlatkovsky Sarah Adams Zane Balona Ian Bergman Elizabeth Burklee Kira Crowell Nate Crowther Daniel Cummins Matthew Dennie Amy Donovan John B. Dority Russell Field Chad M. Fleischhacker Tim Fortner Joshua Fugle Yury Gitman Steffie Gould John J. Graham II Bill Green Kyra Griffith Newlin Jonathan Hair Joseph Hastings Jase Hoover Raymond (Chase) Kabisch Bryce King Kevin Landgren Parker Landgren Kevin Lontz Chaeden Luebberke Alex Nelson Oren Nelson Nathaniel Nesiba Levi Pendleton Enrique Perez Smutny Alexander Pirozhenko Isaac Rushton Brian Selck Doreen Shew Anthony E. Smith Andre Taube Frederick Thayer Aaron Young Luigi Zevola
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
HI MT MT OR WA AK OR WA WA WA MT ID WA WA WA OR OR MT MT WA UT CA CA UT UT UT CA CA CA CA CA UT UT UT CA UT NV UT UT UT UT UT NV UT UT UT UT NV CA CA CA UT CA CA UT UT CA CA CA CA CA CA
David (Dexter) Binder Casey Bedell Casey Bedell Samuel Crocker Denise Reed Jake Schlapfer Kevin R. Lee Marc Chirico Maren Ludwig Maren Ludwig Rob Sporrer Dale Covington Steven R. Wilson Nathan Alex Taylor Denise Reed Kevin R. Lee Kelly A. Kellar John Hoseman Lisa Dickinson Matt Cone Chris W. Santacroce Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Mitchell B. Neary Rob Sporrer Ben White Chris W. Santacroce Cynthia Currie Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Wallace K. Anderson Justin White Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Dale Covington Nathan Alex Taylor Ken W. Hudonjorgensen Patrick Johnson Nathan Alex Taylor Ben White Chris W. Santacroce Zion Susanno-Loddby Stacy Whitmore Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Nathan Alex Taylor Mitchell B. Neary Jonathan Jefferies Christopher Grantham Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Stacy Whitmore Robert Posey Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Stephen J. Mayer Jonathan Jefferies Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Joseph B. Seitz Joseph B. Seitz Jesse L. Meyer
RTG RGN NAME
P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Matthew Alarie Erick Arevalo Alain Azurmendi Jeff Becker Scott S. Blake Andrew Bottolfson Kendrick A. Brown Elliot Buller Patrick Cannon Shawn Curtsinger Dennis A. Duvall Meghan Evilsizor Preston Garland Russ Gibfried Kayla Gibfried Brian Gleason Mateusz Gola Andrea Greyling Brandon Groux Jacob Heruty Benjamin Hunter Alexander Ivanov Pedro Jaramillo Amitkumar Kakkad Eric Karnezis Anthony Karnezis Mitch Keller John Kensek Scott Kent Jayden Korst Billy Krasowski Jessi Laird Chris Lorimer Shawn May Steve Mayers Eric McFarland Chase McLean Jacob Melonis Christopher Edward Mendoza Aaron Montemayor Tyler Moyer Wouter Myburgh Craig O'Brien Taylor Pardue David Patterson Alex Patterson Matthews Pereira Nicholas Rasmuson Eric Rasmuson Gary Rush Kevin (Scott) Ryan Beat Rychener Andreas Siggelkow Lane Michael Taylor Carlos Alberto Aoki Thomaz Ryan Thomson Yuki Tsuji Cole Vandenberg Shaun Wallace Chris Williams Samuel Williams Levi Wood
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
CA AZ CO CA CA CO CA CO CO CA CA CO CO CA CA CA CA CA CO CA CO CO CO CA CA CA CA CO CO CO CO CA CA CO CA CO CO CO CO CO CO CA CA NM CA AZ CO CO CO CA CO CO CA CA CO CO CO CA CA CO CA AZ
Gabriel Jebb Gabriel Jebb Stephen J. Mayer Christopher Grantham Gabriel Jebb Misha Banks Stephen Nowak Mauricio Fleitas Jonathan Jefferies Joseph B. Seitz Stephen Nowak Nathan Alex Taylor Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Rob Sporrer Philip D. Russman Gabriel Jebb Christopher Grantham Douglas Brown Gabriel Jebb Kevin McGinley Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Rob Sporrer Rob Sporrer Gabriel Jebb Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Patrick Henry-II Gregory Kelley Marcello M. DeBarros Rob Sporrer Misha Banks Gabriel Jebb Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Patrick Johnson Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb David John Hebert Brian Clark Christopher Grantham Gabriel Jebb Douglas Brown Chris W. Santacroce Chris W. Santacroce Jonathan Jefferies Etienne Pienaar Johannes Rath Marcello M. DeBarros Gabriel Jebb Misha Banks Gregory Kelley Jonathan Jefferies Rob Sporrer Gabriel Jebb Douglas Brown Gabriel Jebb Kimberly Phinney
Ratings Issued June/July 2019 (continued) RTG RGN NAME
P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P2 P2 P2
64 US H PA P I LOT
3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 1
Patrick Woodruff Bader Yousef Ghassan Al-Akwaa James Anderson Mario Andreou Sean C. Barrett Bill Beam Robert Christopher Beeman Gabriel Cantor Leah Catullo Ty Clarke Austin Cook J Michael Cosner Alayna Dickerson W Michael Ford Thomas Harvey Luke Higginbotham Austin Ibele Stefan Katz Kyle Leonard John F. Lindsay Timothy Long Linda McNulty James P. Nichol Samuel Dennis ODonnell Kit R. Patterson Kenneth Philippus Michael Retoff Derrick Riner Theron Rogers James Timothy Shirah Jr Stephan Stansbery Hart Stringfellow David Tarr Brad Allan Larry Brill Srikant Bykadi Anthony Carolei Daniel Connell Jonatas Da Silva Cardoso Brian Douglas Paul Faurschou Stephen G. Fedarcyk Jameson Flaherty Jamie Flewelling Timothy Glenshaw Michael Herring Ciara Kamahele-Sanfratello David Ayres Leland Scott Leland Kenneth Luebke Alec Milejczak John Mitchell Ruben Rodriguez Perez Jonathan Schimmel Ken Sober Mariah Villarreal Matthew Waltenberry James Wilson Irving Aguilar Erik Antink Michael Behrandt
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
CA Stephen Nowak CA Rob Sporrer DC Rob Sporrer AR Randolph Ruffin GA Stephen J. Mayer VA Gabriel Jebb AL Christopher J. Pyse GA Christopher J. Pyse NC Steven (Taylor) Couch FL Jaro Krupa TN Christopher Grantham GA Steven (Taylor) Couch VA Steve A. Wendt NC Britton Shaw TX Stephen Nowak VA Nathan Alex Taylor VA Christopher J. Pyse NC Nathan Alex Taylor GA Christopher J. Pyse FL Brian Clark TN Christopher J. Pyse FL Patrick Johnson TN Christopher J. Pyse MS Jonathan Jefferies TX Hadley Robinson TX Britton Shaw FL Gabriel Jebb TX Nathan Alex Taylor NC Nathan Alex Taylor MO Jonathan Jefferies GA Christopher J. Pyse MO Marc Noel Radloff FL Maren Ludwig VA Jonathan Jefferies NY Philippe Renaudin MI Stephen J. Mayer MD Rob Sporrer NY Nathan Alex Taylor NY Calef Letorney MA Heath Woods IL Mariyan Radev Ivanov MB Nathan Alex Taylor MD Chris W. Santacroce VT Calef Letorney MB Nathan Alex Taylor MD John E. Dunn NY Christopher J. Pyse NY Ken W. Hudonjorgensen VT John E. Dunn MA John E. Dunn WI Mariyan Radev Ivanov IN Stephen Nowak VT John E. Dunn MA John E. Dunn NY Kay Tauscher NY Calef Letorney MA John E. Dunn WI Mariyan Radev Ivanov Buckinghamshire Jerome Daoust WY Fred Morris ID E. Scott Edwards WY Fred Morris
RTG RGN NAME
P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Clay Blackiston George Bristow Asa Cates Gino Ceravolo Luke Christian David Conaway Dylan Crossman Kristen Dallum Michael Dalton Lewis England Matthew Erhardt Brittney Fisher Jason Flannery Samuel Fordyce Adrian Forman James Gardner Robert Garrett Jennifer Geisen Peter Green Steve Grimes Robert Kabel Kincaid Kawananakoa Nicolette P. Kleppelid Alex Kollar Tyrus Leverich Anika Lofts David Madeira Karen Marley Chad Nelson Jess Neuger Rachel Newell Joseph Nolte Tricia Patch Raymond L. Pearce Tom Pearce Tyler Pennewill Christopher Remer Joel Retzlaff Joshua Rigell Julian Ritchie Jason Roberts Frederick Roth Eli Russell Jussi Saramaa Richard Siberell Daniel J. Simon Whitney Skoog Vincente Sly John Sperling Dennis Erik Strom Scott Thiel Rex Twitchel Scott Wuebber Michael Zlatkovsky Ainsley Braun Elizabeth Burklee Kira Crowell Todd Crowley Nate Crowther Daniel Cummins Matthew Dennie Marie Eide
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
WA ID OR WA OR WA ID WA OR MT OR MT OR WA OR WA HI OR ID MT ID HI MT OR OR ID WY WA WA OR AK WA HI WY WY MT MT WA OR WA ID AK OR WA MT ID AK HI WA WA WA OR MT WA CA UT UT UT UT CA CA CA
Denise Reed Randall Shane Kevin R. Lee Maren Ludwig Daniel Randall Matt Cone Jonathan Jefferies Denise Reed Kelly A. Kellar John Hoseman Nathan Alex Taylor Lisa Dickinson Steve Roti Derek Baylor Kevin R. Lee Kelly A. Kellar David (Dexter) Binder Kevin R. Lee E. Scott Edwards Rob Sporrer E. Scott Edwards Pete Michelmore John Hoseman Steve Roti Kelly A. Kellar Jonathan Jefferies Fred Morris Denise Reed Jonathan Jefferies Kelly A. Kellar Jake Schlapfer Denise Reed David (Dexter) Binder Lisa Dickinson Lisa Dickinson Casey Bedell Casey Bedell Brad Hill Samuel Crocker Denise Reed E. Scott Edwards Jake Schlapfer Kevin R. Lee Marc Chirico Rob Sporrer Dale Covington Chris Reynolds David (Dexter) Binder Steven R. Wilson Nathan Alex Taylor Denise Reed Kevin R. Lee Lisa Dickinson Matt Cone Robert Black Rob Sporrer Ben White Brian Clark Chris W. Santacroce Cynthia Currie Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum
USH PA PILOT 65
RTG RGN NAME
P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Kristian Eide Chad M. Fleischhacker Tim Fortner Joshua Fugle Steffie Gould John J. Graham II Bill Green Kyra Griffith Newlin Ognjen Grujic Shobhit Gupta Jonathan Hair Joseph Hastings Jase Hoover Zayden Hunlow Raymond (Chase) Kabisch Daniel Kappler Bryce King Kevin Landgren Parker Landgren Kevin Lontz Chaeden Luebberke Oren Nelson Alex Nelson Alec Nicholson Levi Pendleton Enrique Perez Smutny Alexander Pirozhenko Isaac Rushton Brian Selck Doreen Shew David Suder Jeffrey Worsnop Luigi Zevola Atakan Aynaci Alain Azurmendi Jeff Becker Andrew Bottolfson Chris Brey Elliot Buller Echo Campbell Patrick Cannon Robert Crowder Donny Cryer Mauricio Fleitas Preston Garland Kayla Gibfried Brian Gleason Andrea Greyling Brandon Groux Brandon Hankins Peter Hudson Benjamin Hunter Alexander Ivanov Pedro Jaramillo Eric Karnezis Anthony Karnezis John Kensek Scott Kent Jayden Korst Jessi Laird Stephen Liebsch Chris Lorimer
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
CA UT UT UT UT NV UT UT CA CA UT UT UT UT NV CA UT UT UT UT NV CA CA CA UT CA CA UT UT CA CA NV CA NM CO CA CO AZ CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CA CA CA CO CA CA CO CO CO CA CA CO CO CO CA CA CA
Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Justin White Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Dale Covington Nathan Alex Taylor Ken W. Hudonjorgensen Patrick Johnson Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Wallace K. Anderson Nathan Alex Taylor Ben White Chris W. Santacroce Christopher Hunlow Zion Susanno-Loddby Jesse L. Meyer Stacy Whitmore Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Nathan Alex Taylor Mitchell B. Neary Christopher Grantham Jonathan Jefferies Jesse L. Meyer Stacy Whitmore Robert Posey Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Stephen J. Mayer Jonathan Jefferies Jesse L. Meyer Robert Black Mitchell B. Neary Jesse L. Meyer Charles (Chuck) Woods Stephen J. Mayer Christopher Grantham Misha Banks Chandler Papas Mauricio Fleitas Johannes Rath Jonathan Jefferies Patrick Henry-II Douglas Brown Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Rob Sporrer Philip D. Russman Christopher Grantham Douglas Brown Gabriel Jebb Chad J. Bastian Kevin McGinley Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Rob Sporrer Rob Sporrer Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Patrick Henry-II Marcello M. DeBarros Gabriel Jebb Rob Sporrer
RTG RGN NAME
P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5
Mahmoud "Arash" Majidi Michael Andrew Marion Shawn May Eric McFarland Chase McLean Jacob Melonis Christopher Edward Mendoza Aaron Montemayor Tyler Moyer Jennifer Mvongo Craig O'Brien Taylor Pardue David Patterson Matthews Pereira Stephen N. Phillips Nicholas Rasmuson Eric Rasmuson Gary Rush Kevin (Scott) Ryan Beat Rychener Andreas Siggelkow Daniel Steever Lane Michael Taylor Carlos Alberto Aoki Thomaz Yuki Tsuji Cole Vandenberg Jacobus Venter Dylan Warburg Chris Williams Samuel Williams Levi Wood Bader Yousef Sean Ahrens Ghassan Al-Akwaa James Anderson Mario Andreou Sean C. Barrett Bill Beam Robert Christopher Beeman Gabriel Cantor Leah Catullo Ty Clarke Alayna Dickerson W Michael Ford Thomas Harvey Luke Higginbotham Austin Ibele Stefan Katz Kyle Leonard John F. Lindsay Timothy Long James P. Nichol Samuel Dennis ODonnell Douglas B. Patrick Kit R. Patterson Michael Retoff Derrick Riner Theron Rogers James Timothy Shirah Jr David Tarr Brad Allan Glaubertt Andrade
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
CA CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CA CA NM CA CO AZ CO CO CA CO CO CA CA CA CO CO CA CO CA CO CA AZ CA PR DC AR GA VA AL GA NC FL TN NC TX VA VA NC GA FL TN FL MS TX VA TX TX NC MO GA VA NY MA
Gabriel Jebb Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Patrick Johnson Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb David John Hebert Brian Clark Christopher Grantham Douglas Brown Patrick Henry-II Chris W. Santacroce Chris W. Santacroce Jonathan Jefferies Etienne Pienaar Johannes Rath Marcello M. DeBarros Gabriel Jebb Gabriel Jebb Misha Banks Jonathan Jefferies Rob Sporrer Etienne Pienaar Jerome Daoust Douglas Brown Gabriel Jebb Kimberly Phinney Rob Sporrer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Rob Sporrer Randolph Ruffin Stephen J. Mayer Gabriel Jebb Christopher J. Pyse Christopher J. Pyse Steven (Taylor) Couch Jaro Krupa Christopher Grantham Britton Shaw Stephen Nowak Nathan Alex Taylor Christopher J. Pyse Nathan Alex Taylor Christopher J. Pyse Brian Clark Christopher J. Pyse Patrick Johnson Jonathan Jefferies Hadley Robinson Chris W. Santacroce Britton Shaw Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Jonathan Jefferies Christopher J. Pyse Jonathan Jefferies Philippe Renaudin John E. Dunn
Ratings Issued June/July 2019 (continued) RTG RGN NAME
AIRS Accident/Incident Reporting System is standing by at airs.ushpa.org If you've been injured or experienced a close call, file a report today. All AIRS reports are completely confidential.
66 US H PA P I LOT
P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
Larry Brill Srikant Bykadi Anthony Carolei Daniel Connell Eder De Souza Paul Faurschou Stephen G. Fedarcyk Jameson Flaherty Jamie Flewelling Matthew Foster Terry Frischkorn Peter Gamache Rodrigo M. Guedes Michael Herring Max Kotchouro Chase Merrill-Harris Paulo Milko Boris Paleyes Jessica Robinson Ruben Rodriguez Perez Valdir Santana Jonathan Schimmel Ken Sober Mariah Villarreal Jay C. Whitehair III James Wilson Tristan Wimmer Josiah Brubaker Oleksiy Buynytskyy Jonathan Cooper Garrett Daybell Drew Elliott Charles Fiedler Emily Garlough Claire Grover Amy (Burt) Hansen Jackson Helm Olivier Le Saux Jenna Lyons Keats Maxwell Dan McPherson James Owen Brian Ploeger Mariah Scott Brandon Sheehan Michael Patrick Sweeney Trevor Wichmann Damon Williams Sarah Adams Gabriel Beninati Dennis Bowman David Denning Ismo Karali Chaeden Luebberke James Ryan McPherson Scott OBrien Graham Pisarek Viktorija Rumpf Creedence Shaw Andrey Shvidchenko Jean Weatherwax Donald S. Broce Todd Davidson Glaucio Daniel De Oliveira
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
MI Stephen J. Mayer MD Rob Sporrer NY Nathan Alex Taylor NY Calef Letorney MA John E. Dunn MB Nathan Alex Taylor MD Chris W. Santacroce VT Calef Letorney MB Nathan Alex Taylor MA John E. Dunn CT John E. Dunn MA John E. Dunn MA John E. Dunn NY Christopher J. Pyse MA John E. Dunn ME John E. Dunn MA Patrick Johnson NY Philippe Renaudin NY Denise Reed MA John E. Dunn MA John E. Dunn NY Kay Tauscher NY Calef Letorney MA John E. Dunn VT Calef Letorney Buckinghamshire Jerome Daoust PA Brian Clark WA Marc Chirico WA Marc Chirico WA Ryan J. Taylor ID Randall Shane WA Marc Chirico OR Maren Ludwig MT Joshua Phillips WA Marc Chirico ID Justin Boer OR Maren Ludwig HI Dilan Benedetti MT Joshua Winstead MT Stefan Mitrovich WA Kelly A. Kellar WA Matt Senior WA Marc Chirico OR Brad Hill MT Joshua Winstead WA Marc Chirico OR Jerome Daoust WA Marc Chirico UT Chris W. Santacroce UT Nathan Alex Taylor CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum CA Gabriel Jebb CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum NV Mitchell B. Neary CA Jason Shapiro CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Jason Shapiro CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Jason Shapiro CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Jordan Neidinger CA Rob Sporrer CA Gabriel Jebb
RTG RGN NAME
P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Adam Dengler Eugene P. Florentino Jr Michal Gola Jonathan Jordan Tyler Langenfeld Dylan Laughlin Jason Lehel Matt Niccoli Antoaneta Opanova Said Parirokh John Quinn Stephen Russow Naya Sawah Sydney Schachter Joel St John Ethan W. Stanley Sam Stitt James Swift Samuel Williams Colby Barrett Leah Catullo Brian Keith Amir Poost Pardaz Joseph G. Schad Tanner Tillung Alexandra Xavier Chieh Yu Davidson RS Alves Lucio De Souza Dolan Paris Paul Andrews Nathan Braun Bill Brooks Chris Irish Chris Moody Josh Alger Brian Christensen Ian Gillespie Tristan Horn Arnaud J. Le Hors David Oddy Eric Rasmussen Nick Chavez Nick Constantine Benjamin Cox Charles Cozean Christopher Dewey Brian Kaiserauer Lucas Longo Benjamin Pinnell Stephen Timothy Crye Andrew Marvil Charlie Sandefer Jeff Sandefer Bora Alpay Rafael Rumiel Araujo De Faria Yerko Antonio Galeas Moya Onur Puryaz Pablo Rodas Zoe Sheehan Saldana Ugur Turkoz Daniel C. Walker Johnny Zhuni
STATE RATING OFFICIAL
CO Chris W. Santacroce NM Charles (Chuck) Woods CA Jerome Daoust CA Gabriel Jebb CA Gabriel Jebb CA Rob Sporrer CA Christopher Grantham CO Kay Tauscher CA Gabriel Jebb CA Jerome Daoust CO Christopher Hunlow CA Philip D. Russman CA Gabriel Jebb CO Etienne Pienaar CA Gabriel Jebb CA Gabriel Jebb CA Gabriel Jebb CA Jordan Neidinger CA Gabriel Jebb FL Ryan J. Taylor FL Jaro Krupa MO Stephen J. Mayer TX David W. Prentice VA George R. Huffman FL Kevin McGinley OK Jerome Daoust VA Rick Jacob MA Davidson Da-Silva NH Davidson Da-Silva MI Charles (Chuck) Woods AK Kay Tauscher OR Kevin R. Lee AK Jake Schlapfer WA Owen Shoemaker WY Scott C. Harris UT Rob Sporrer UT Chris W. Santacroce UT Chris W. Santacroce CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Robin J. Marien CA Scott C. Harris CO Chair Safety and Training Committee CO Gregory Kelley CA Stephen Nowak CO Sanders (Sam) Crater CA Philip D. Russman CA Rob Sporrer CA Rob Sporrer CO Johannes Rath TX T Lee Kortsch VA Gabriel Jebb TX Alejandro Palmaz TX Alejandro Palmaz Turkey Mert Kacmaz MA Davidson Da-Silva CT Sebastien Kayrouz Istanbul Mert Kacmaz NJ Sebastien Kayrouz NY Kari L. Castle Kocaeli Mert Kacmaz MI Norman W. Lesnow NJ Sebastien Kayrouz
USH PA PILOT 67
THE HARNESS SPECIALISTS Woody Valley harnesses have been leading the way for over 25 years consistently creating a line of harnesses to meet the demands of pilots taking their first steps in the world of free flying to those flying competitions. Woody Valley is uniquely positioned as one of the very few companies in the world specializing exclusively in the development and production of hang glider and paraglider harnesses. The harness deserves special attention as the link connecting pilot and glider.
415 W. Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101
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sunrise at unterberghorn, austria pilot: anselm rauh photo-montana.de
The combined expertise of Naviter and Flytec help pilots fly farther, safer, and beyond their expectations.
Flytec.com or 800.662.2449 68 US H PA P I LOT