USHGA Hang Gliding July 1992

July 1992 $3.95

1993 REGIONAL DIRECTOR NOMINATIONS SOLICITED USHGA is issuing its 17th annual call for nominations to the national Board of Directors. Eleven positions are open for election in October, 1992 for a two-year term beginning January, 1993.

USHGA members seeking a position on the ballot should send to headquarters for receipt no later than August 20, 1992 the following information: name and USHGA number, photo and resume (one page containing the candidate's hang gliding activities and viewpoints, written consent to be nominated and that they will serve if elected). Candidates must be nominated by at least three USHGA members residing in the candidate's region.

Nominations are needed in the following regions. The current Directors are listed and their terms expires December 31, 1992.

Ballots will be distributed with the October issue of Hang Gliding magazine. USHGA needs the very best volunteers to help guide the safe development and growth of the sport. Forward candidate material for receipt no later than August 20 to: USHGA, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933.

Reg.#

CURRENT DIRECTOR

STATES WITHIN REGION

1 2 3 4 7 8

Gene Matthews Connie Bowen Sandy King MarkMocho Scott Lesnet Randy Adams

9

Jeff Simms

10

Rick Jacob

12

Paul Rikert

Alaska, Washington, Oregon Northern California, Nevada Southern California, Hawaii Arizona, Colorado, El Paso, New Mexico, Utah Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont Washington, D.C., Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands New Jersey, New York

The following form is for your convenience.

REGIONAL DIRECTOR ELECTION, NOMINATION FORM

I hereby nominate_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ as a candidate for Regional Director for Region# . I understand that his/her name will be placed on the Official Ballot for the 1993 Regional Director Election, if three nominations are received by August 20, 1992.

I have notified the above person and he/ she has accepted the nomination.

NAME _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ USHGA # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _REGION# _ __

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TOTAL INSURANCE INFORMATION

S- - - - -

The rost of the insurance is included in the full membership fees with the member as additional insured. USHGA provides a Combined Single Limit Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Master Policy in the amount of $1,000,000 per claim which covers all recreational flying. USHGA's insurance is valid ONLY while flying in the U.S., U.S. Properties, Canada, and overseas while on USHGA approved business. *Foreign payments muat be in U.S. FUNDS drawn on a U.S. BANK.

USHGA, PO BOX 8300, COWRADO SPRINGS, CO 80933 (719) 63.2-8300

FAX (719) 632+U7

(01192}

Volume 22

CONTENTS

Issue No. 7

(USPS 017-970-20)

Features

Columns

24 The 20th Hang Gliding Spectacular

by Gen Cheyney

14 Competition Corner An international hang gliding competition sponsored by a major computer company.

by Nancy McWilliams Historic return to Kitty Hawk.

18 USHGA Reports 27 Improving Vision In Flight

NAA and the future of hang gliding, by Dennis Pagen. Instructor/observer update, by Greg Huller. Ascent of woman, by Kelly West. Paragliding and the USHGA, by Gregg Lawless.

© 1992 by Dennis Pagen The UP Thermal Optics.

31 The 1992 East Coast Championships

42 Safety Forum

by Rick Jacob

Potential harness and parachute problems.

by Betty Pfeiffer

The most prestigious east coast event of the

54 Accident Reports

year.

36 Loops Over Kyushu With Mad Mitch

Page 31

by Doug Hildreth Di.~lraction.

66 Product Lines

article and photos by John Heiney

by Dan Johnson

John and Mitch McAleer travel to Japan to impress spectators at the Paragliding World Cup.

Seedwi.ngs reappears, HOMA news, new UP harness, aero-floats, more.

39 Then And Now Weak Links ©1992 by Dave Broyles A brief history of towing and a look at the evolution of the weak link.

44 The W.W. Windividual © 1992 by Michael Robertson More on the Robertson Charts of Reliability.

47 Chapter Profile: The Sylmar HGA article and photos by Michael Warren A look at an impressive 250-member USHGA chapter club.

JULY 1992

Page 36 COVER: John Heiney geuing radical over Kitakyushu, Japan. Sec story 011 page 36. Photo by John Heiney.

CENTERSPREAD: Scott C. Wise over EUenville.

NY. Photo by Scott C. Wi~e and Photo-Pod. DISCLAIMER OP WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS: 'me material presented here is published as part of i:m information dissemination service for USHGA members. The USHGA makes no wananties or representations and assumes no liability concerning the va lidity of any advice, opinion or recommendation expressed in the material. AU individuals relying upon the material do so at U1cir own risk.

Copyright © 1992 Uoj ted States Hang Gliding Association. lnc. All rights reserved to Hang Gliding and individual con1Tibutors.

Departments 7 10 13 50 56 64

Airmail Update Calendar of Events Ratings Classified Advertising Index to Advertisers

5

THE ULTIMATE XC GLIDER BAG! Aluminum coating to block UV Waterproof (zipper down) Fits anywhere-Weighs only 19 ounces Includes carry sack

Ordinary nylon XC bags provide very little protection for the glider from sun, heat and rain. In addition to the UV damage to the glider sail, the lightweight bags erode very quickly from the sun. We use aluminized ripstop nylon, developed for high-altitude balloons. Never be without a bag again! Order now. Still only $98 plus $5 S&H. Send glider type and size, or length and girth.

Optional handles and reinforced ends. Dealer inquiries invited. California residents add sales tax.

EQUALIZER!

Still the most comfortable, safest and most streamlined harness in the world. Made by Eric Raymond.

OPTIONS INCLUDE: • BRS • Second Chantz • Liquipack Drinking System • Double Chute Container • Free Flight Enterprises Parachutes • Hook Knives Custom Designs

Available in 18 sizes. One suspension point with internal backup and chute bridle. Full back-plate for load distribution. Heay-duty zipper front entry. Footcontrolled body angle. Velcro on tail cover. Steel carabiner and many other features standard. Call or write for prices and ordering information .

Ultralight Soaring Software 33274 Baldwin Blvd.

Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 phone/FAX (714) 678-3931

Gil Dodgen, Editor/Art Director John Heiney, Leroy Grannis Photographers Harry Martin, Illustrator Dennis Pagen, Rodger Hoyt, G.W. Meadows Staff Writers Tim Rinker, Design Consultant

Office Staff Jerry Bruning, Executive Director Greg Huller, Ratings & ICP's Cindy Evans, Member Services PJ More, Special Projects & Competitions Stu Clark, Insurance & Member Services Jeff Elgart, Marketing & Advertising D. Dean Leyerle, Merchandise Services

USHGA Officers and Executive Committee: Gregg Lawless, President Paul Voight, Vice President Russ Locke, Secretary Dan Johnson, Treasurer

REGION 1: Gene Matthews. REGION 2: Lynda Nelson, Russ Locke, Connie Bowen. REGION 3: Joe Greblo, Sandy King, Gregg Lawless. REGION 4: Mark Mocha, Glen Nicolet. REGION 5: Mike King. REGION 6: Ron Kenney. REGION 7: Rod Hauser. REGION 8: Randy Adams. REGION 9: Pete Lehmann, Jeff Sims. REGION 10: Matt Taber, Rick Jacob. REGION11: Jeff Hunt. REGION 12: Paul Voight, Paul Riker!. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Dan Johnson, Jerry Forburger, Jan Johnson, Dennis Pagen. HONORARY DIRECTORS: Ken Brown, Lisa Tate, Jim Zeise!, Doug Hildreth, G.W. Meadows, Tom Kreyche, Mike Meier, Rob Kells, Fred Stockwell, Terry Reynolds. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR: Art Greenfield (NAA).

The United States Hang Gliding Association Inc. is an air sports organization affiliated with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) which is the official representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), of the world governing body for sport aviation.

The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FAI meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision o!FAl-related hang gliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions.

HANG GLIDING magazine is published for hang gliding sport enthusiasts to create further interest in the sport, by a means of open communication and to advance hang gliding methods and safety. Contributions are welcome. Anyone is invited to contribute articles, photos, and illustrations concerning hang gliding activities.

If the material is to be returned, a stamped, selfaddressed return envelope must be enclosed. Notification must be made of submission to other hang gliding publications. HANG GLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLID· ING editorial offices: 6950 Aragon Circle, Suite 6, Buena Park, CA 90620 (714) 994-3050.

HANG GLIDING (USPS 017-970) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc., 559 E. Pikes Peak Ave., Suite 101, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903 (719) 632-8300. FAX (719) 632-6417.

Second-class postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: HANG GLIDING, P.O. BOX 8300, Colorado Springs, co 80933-8300.

The USHGA is a member-controlled sport and educational organization dedicated to exploring all facets of unpowered ultralight flight. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for full membership are $49.00 per year (of which $15 goes to the publication of Hang Gliding), ($55 Canada & Mexico, $60 foreign); subscription rates only are $35.00 ($40 Canada & Mexico, $50 foreign). Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHGA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue.

JULY 1992

Volume 22, Issue No. 7

AIRMAIL Polar Correction Dear Editor, Bob Ormiston is obviously a very smart guy. Not only was his own article highly competent, but he was able to exactly identify an errnr that I made in my calculation of circular polars using a graph that could almost have fit on the head of a pin. Nice work.

The current state of affairs is as follows: I) There were two inadvertent errors in my circular polar calculations. 2) Although I had earlier corrected these errors (after the article was published), there is still an unresolved disagreement between Bob and myself regarding the nature of circular polars and their values. 3) The conclusions reached in the article that can be corrected here.

Bob is quite conect in stating that I used the "square of the cosine of the bank angle." I meant to and should have used just the cosine of the bank angle. There was a further error that led me to miscalculate the tum radius.

Bob states that, "The figure [figure 4] for sink rate versus airspeed shows the sink rate decreasing with bank angle for the higher airspeeds, which is a physically impossible result." I can't help but think that it is quite possible. For example, if you were turning in a circle at a 60° bank angle at 50 mph at a high angle of attack near minimum sink, then you would have a lower sink rate than if you were turning at a 10° bank angle and had it pulled in all the way in order to reach 50 mph.

At any given angle of attack, the higher your bank angle, the higher your speed and the higher your sink rate. At minimum sink speed, the higher your bank angle the higher your sink rate. At a given high speed your sink rate can be lower at a higher bank angle.

I have to conclude that the polar curves when graphed relative to airspeed do cross each other, much in the same manner, and for the same reasons, that the polar curves for different weights cross each other as shown in the first graph in the first part of the article.

My corTected graph (which looks similar to figure 4 in the second part of the article) and Bob's disagree on this matter.

Bob states that, "This approach does not represent, however, the actual mechanics of circling flight." If my corrected approach is still incorrect in Bob's eyes I look forward to

a further elaboration on his part of the mechanics of circling flight.

My mticle used time to goal as a measure of perfmmance. In order to calculate time to goal, circular flight (in thermals) must be conectly modeled. The enors I made in calculating the circular polars created enors in the time to goal calculations. Fortunately, the effect of these enors is in most cases small, otherwise I or my editors would have noticed.

The interested reader who wants to obtain updated versions of those graphs that had a significant change may send a selfaddressed stamped envelope to me at the address below. For those of you who have a less academic interest, but would like to know what conclusions would be changed attend to the following: In the third conclusion in the first part of the article (page 38), 200' should be changed to 100'. In the fifth paragraph under circling flight in the second part of the article (page 44), 50 mph should be 37 mph and 500 fpm should be 350 fpm. The last two sentences in the paragraph should be dropped.

Davis Straub 747 16th Ave. East Seattle, WA 98112

Heiney Paraglider Crash Dear Editor, I am an experienced hang glider pilot.

About two years ago I stmted flying paragliders on an intermittent basis when the equipment was available to borrow. I took some lessons from friends who are rated instructors, but I did not go through a proper training program.

I had a few mishaps while flying advanced canopies due to collapses, so I decided to fly only the beginner or intermediate canopies. Also, I intended to fly only in smooth ridge lift or non-turbulent, light thermal conditions.

I wanted to continue flying paragliders because it is great fun, and the equipment is convenient to use and easy to transport. I knew from personal experience and from the accidents of others that these frameless wings can collapse in turbulence. I knew from my hang gliding experience that a pilot can encounter turbulence close to the ground. The

7

AIRMAIL danger peculiar to this form of flying was obvious. I adhered to my policy of flying the more stable canopies in the less turbulent conditions. I thought I was behaving in a safe and responsible manner. I was not.

On April 11, while soaring in smooth coastal ridge lift I experienced a half-wing collapse. Although I knew what to do in this situation, I had never practiced such a serious collapse. Since I was only 15 feet up, and about three seconds from impact, there was no time to think about what to do. An instinctive reaction (resulting from much practice) was required.

I hit the ground very hard downwind. I suffered a compression fracture of a vertebra.

It turned out to be a relatively minor injury in my case. I was walking in 10 clays and will be flying again by the time you read this. Other pilots have not been so lucky.

I hope that all hang glider pilots will learn a lesson from my mistake. Since we already know how to fly, we can jump on a paraglicler and dial into the controls quickly.

But there is much more to flying these new wings than controlling them. There is the characteristic canopy collapse in turbulence that you must be able to c01Tect instinctively.

This comes only through extensive practice after a proper training program. In addition I strongly recommend a safety seminar in which collapse "repair" is supervised by an expert via radio.

I know that some of you will choose to enjoy the fun of the flying without having clone the work of learning how to be safe.

Remember that nothing worthwhile is free.

All good things must be earned. The consequences of trying to get something for nothing can be severe.

John Heiney Riverton, UT P.S. The cover of the latest "Special New Pilot Issue" of Hang Gliding magazine contains a photo of Gene Emory soaring near sunset in his UP Axis 15. I apologize to Gene for neglecting to provide caption information with this photograph, and thank him for being in the right place at the right time.

8

Your Strengths Could Kill You Dear Editor, I never would have thought I would be writing an article about a hang gliding accident involving myself. I have 25 high flights behind me and have flown at four different sites in conditions ranging from sled ride, to smooth soaring, to rough gusty soaring conditions. I am known among the people I fly with as a very safe and careful pilot. I am and have been very aware of the "Inte1mecliate Syndrome" and have read every book there is to read on hang gliding, and each has its own little section on this phenomenon.

I spent a long time on the training hill before doing my first high flight (96 training hill flights). My first mountain flight was painless-wonderful in fact. Launches were always strong, sure and uneventful.

On my 26th high flight I made my first poor launch. It was a calm day, with cross breezes that seemed to be shifting 180 degrees every minute-not ideal launching conditions. Combine this with the fact that at this particular site there is a 100'-long hill before you reach a cliff. With good lift you are usually airborne after two or three steps.

As soon as I started to run I was pulled to the left. I had not checked to see if my wings were level. I realized my left wing was down and kept running even harder to get airborne so that I could possibly roll out of the problem. Because it was so calm I had to run a long way, and when I did get airborne I did not have enough speed for effective roll control and was too low to the ground to pull in to increase my speed. I prayed that I would reach the cliff before it got worse, but then my left wing tip hit something which spun my glider around. I flew out of control into some trees next to launch, breaking my right leg and fracturing my left mm.

I look back now in total disbelief.

Somewhere in my 25 high flights I must have stopped going through the launch check list, and excellent launch conditions saved my butt. I was so careful about all aspects of hang gliding except the thing I felt I had mastered-launching. Because I perceived this to be a strength I began to ignore this aspect of hang gliding. I am convinced that it is not your weaknesses that may kill you, but your strengths.

So my advice to all intermediate pilots is to never take any aspect of hang gliding for granted, especially your strengths. If you always land well or always launch without difficulty, great! But don't let it go to your head. Always fly as if it were your first high flight; chances of something going wrong will be greatly reduced with this kind of thinking, and it won't take any more time or make you look stupid.

Norm Krannitz Vancouver, BC, Canada

USHGA Trust Fund Dear Editor, I have been following the discussions about the lack of new pilots in the sport, the high cost of getting started in hang gliding, the financial woes of USHGA, etc. I must comment that I am getting a serious case of deja vu!

I am a charter member of the USHGA having joined the Southern California Hang Gliding Assn. in 1973. I was a part of the early days of our sport, and I remember this same discussion during the late ?O's, and early 80's. The USHGA has matured, and accomplished great things for our sport, but one thing it has not done. It has never made a successful effort to implement long-range financial plans. The USHGA is still living from one crisis to another, hoping that new memberships or raises in the annual clues will save the organization from financial disaster.

There is one sure way to eliminate this problem once and for all. That is to establish a trust fund/endowment. This is not a new idea. I submitted it to the USHGA Board of Directors in a letter, circa 1975.

The idea behind a trust fund is to establish a separate fund that exists solely for the purpose of providing operating funds through interest and dividends earned on the trust fund principle. If the USHGA developed a trust with $500,000 in capital, at 10% interest, it would provide $50,000 per year in interest to the USHGA for operating expenses. This amount would go a long way toward offsetting the expenses incmTecl in the operation of the USHGA. If our current active membership is 8,000 members, and each of them were to contribute $5 per year (as part of the annual HANG GLIDING

r-----------, GONE

AIRMAIL dues) to a trust fund, there would be $40,000 per year to develop such a trust. Within 10 years (if the interest were reinvested and compounded) the goal of $SOOK would be accomplished. If this idea had been instituted in 1975 it would have reached the $SOOK level several years ago.

Nearly all universities and many major non-profit organizations use this approach to ensure financial independence. The National Geographic Society comes to mind first.

I, for one, would welcome the idea of developing a trust/endowment for the USHGA, if the membership were assured that the trust fund would be truly separate and inviolate. I believe there would be widespread support for this method of insuring the future of the USHGA. Michael G. Merickel Athens, OH

Dark Ages Of Glider Design Dear Editor, Take the top ten gliders, line 'em up, and there's not a lot of difference among them.

Okay, so the initiated among us can point out the equipment meant for different skill levels and flight objectives, but in terms of what's possible we're living in a dark age of generic gliders.

The HOMA, with the cooperation of the USHGA, has promulgated standards and specifications which have prevented designers and builders from turning ideas into products, and as a result we have generic gliders based on what the HOMA and USHGA have us believing is best for us. Are we satisfied with continual micro-refinement that passes for "new" equipment, or do we want to foster an environment in which the future generations of gliders we hope to fly are brought to market?

If we adopt the concepts that the sport grows when pilots have a multitude of choices, and that a dynamic marketplace, where new ships and ideas develop their own constituencies and contribute to a larger whole, then the sport will expand. The powers-that-be in the sport now tell us (and we're all convinced, aren't we?) that in order to protect our safety record all gliders must meet rigid safety standards. But why do these safety-standards have to stifle innovation and JULY 1992

choke growth?

My proposal is that we establish a certification program similar to the pilot rating system, with different certification levels, so manufacturers-to-be don't have such a big leap to make to get their equipment ·'blessed." A multi-level certification program is no panacea, but the system of certification we have today is a hindrance to those who want to build the coming generations of gliders. Allow pilots to make their own choices about whether to fly fullycertified equipment or try something else, guided by a certification program that informs instead of dictates, enables instead of represses.

BALLISTIC l 0.6°/o to 23.4% IN ONE YEAR! That's over l,OOOnewbuyers!

According to 1,431 USHGA member surveys from late ·91, pilots ··going ballistic" leaped from 10.6% to 23.4% since ·go_

BRS' popular "Quick Draw" CORDLESS model can be easily installed on many leading harnesses,

$499.

Chuck McGill Mercer Island, WA

Teen Soaring Dear Editor, I am 15 years old and am very interested in any aspect of soaring. I hope someday to feel the free flight of hang gliding. I know there are young people like me in this world who also have this great fascination with flight.

I would like to suggest that we have a small section in your magazine for teens.

Teens could send in their ages, addresses, and special interests in flight. We could thus start a pen pal system of flight lovers, who would share their thoughts, interests and dreams.

We will be the next generation of hang glider pilots and I want desperately to keep it a living sport. I think this is a great idea because there are many young adults like me who would really love to share their soaring dreams.

Kathy Throm Box 542 Florence, WI 54121 I encourage any young hang gliding enthusiast to contact us. There may not be enough material to justify a regular column, but perhaps we can feature some of you in our pilot profile series.-Ecl.

,.a.I

THANKS FOR YOUR BUSINESS !

Now,totheother76.6%ofyou ...

We can think of many good reasons you should go ballistic today. Here's four of our very best: JEFF WYNS (7 /89) BRS Save #35 GREG ROSSIGNOL (6/90) #40 CARL SHORTT (8/90) #44 BRUCE BOLLES (7 /91) #52 BRS has documenled 54 saves thru 12/31 /9 l

I BRS sells rocket models which

• swiftly (in under 1 sec) deploy your chest-mounted parachute.

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"11

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MAKING FLIGHT SAFER

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~-----------!/ 9

Erik Fair, former Hang Gliding magazine slaff wri1cr ("The Right Stuff') is now a pro writer and has completed a new book, California Thrill Sports, published by Foghorn Press, which covers nine sensational ways to merge with earth, water or air.

Those who arc "doers" foci the special rewards of "thrill sports" every time they core a thermal, dive through thin air or climb a vertical rock wall. But what about the "dreamers"? The ones who mutter, "Gee, I've always wanted to try that."

Calijimiia Thrill Sports is for doers and dreamers alike. It contains state-of-the-art information about instructional technique, equipment and ways to assume responsibility for your own safety. It also includes firstperson descriptions of what these sports actually feel like- in your heart, mind, body and soul~--thc first time you try them. You could say that the book is for concerned parents and adventurous children. ff you're an adventurous child and your loved ones sec your involvement in hang gliding as clear evidence or mental illness, Ca/ifi>rnia Thrill Sports will let you "share the experience" of hang gliding and other equally thrilling adventures in a non-· threatening way. Jt will also help the skeptics separate fact from fiction, and show them that your decision to face the risks involved in hang gliding is a well-considered one-- clear evidence of a healthy zest for life on your part. If you're a concerned parent whose child says he is going to lake up hang gliding, CalifcJrnia Thrill Sports will tune yonr kid up lo the reality of the risks involved. The book delineates the three best ways to get hurt in any high--risk sport, as well as specific ways lo come to harm as a beginner. Naturally, formulas ror avoiding injury or death arc included as well.

California residents should be able to find the book in local bookstores; if not, ii can ordered directly from the publisher: Foghorn Press, 555 De I lam SL, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94107 (800) 842-7477 $17 .95 includes tax if applicable and shipping.

10

SS package, presented by UP lntemational passed. Review of lhc XTC 170 DS package, presented by UP International passed.

The hang gliding public should be aware that gliders currently being marketed by Andreas Banghcri of Tirol, Austria are "Euro Sensors" and differ in some respects from the gliders manufactured by Scedwings in the U.S. Sceclwings Europe is licensed to manufacture the Sensor 610 144 design and lo market it only under the name Euro Sensor 144. Although the basic design of the Euro Sensor 144 is that of the original model developed by Sccdwings in the U.S., certain sail cloth and hardware changes have been made at Mr. Banghcri 's discretion.

Sccclwings in the U.S. has no direct input or control over the changes implemented in the Austriau-produced Sensors, and as a result seeks to distinguish these gliders from the original U.S. design.

The Sensor 610 is Seedwings' latest model, representing a 16-year commitment to performance, quality and excellence in footla11nchcd gliders. The 610, as originally developed, is now available in two sizes, the 144 and the new 152. For more information contact: Sccdwings, 41 Aero Camino, Goleta, CA USA 93117 (805) 968-7070.

On May 5, 1992 in Tehachapi, California the Hang Glider Manufacturers Association held its l 992 annual membership meeting lo review and discuss current airworthiness standards and elect lhc association's directors and officers.

Present: Brian Robins and Eric Beckman (Bright Star), Mark West (Moyes), JeanMichel Bernasconi (Pacific Airwave), Bob Trampcnau (Sccdwings), Monte Bell and Mike Haley (lJP), and Mike Meier (Wills Wing). Officers elected for I 992 President: Jean-Michel Bernasconi, Viccl'rcsidcnt: Mark West.

Review board meeting: Review of an addendum, presented by Moyes, requesting name changes for XS Easy 155 to X-C 155, and XS Easy I 65 lo X -T 16.5 passed and certificates issued. Review of lhc XTC 170

Tri-Systems of J,ake Havasu City, AZ announces immediate availability of their new Acro--f 1loats for all water-towing applications. Aero-Floats feature durable composite construction, arc available in two different sizes and arc easily attached to any glider in less than five minutes. They weigh less than 35 lbs. and provide for smooth water launches and landings. The price for a complete set or Aero-Floats is $795 and includes: one set of floats, bridle and release assembly, owners manual and instructioual video. A complete product promotional video is available for $20. Contact: Tri-Sysicms, 3901 Ravel lo Dr., Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403 (602) 680-9797.

Sport Africa Tours announces a variety of fully-catered adventure sport toms in South Africa. The hang gliding expeditions arc led by world class competition pilots and run year round. All tours last I 5 days beginning and ending at Cape Town International Airport. The $1,495 price includes all transport to flying sites and X-C retrieval. Contact: Sport Africa Tours. P.O. Box 30585, Tokai 7966 South Africa, tel.

(021) 727590 FAX (021) 72-4571.lllinois Update The flying in Illinois has finally taken off! After a miserable March and April during which continual cloud cover and rain prevented any flying of nolc, May finally provided the dry conditions necessary for

f fANC GJ.IDTNG

good cross-country soaring. On May 3, 1992, Larry Bunner static towed from a North Central Illinois site and flew !22 miles in his four-year-old Sensor C model to I ,aFayetle, Indiana. The flight took four hours and 20 minutes. Cloudbase was as high as 6,800' AGL Larry's flight was his eighth 100-miler out of lllinois with his personal best of 175 miles in 1988 . The only other pilot to have broken the century mark in Illinois is Dr. Albert Whitesell of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

On the same day, Danny I lartowicz on a K2 flew from Manteno, Illinois to Delphi, Indiana for a personal record 74 miles.

Danny's record didn't last long, however, as only six days later he flew 78 miles from Manteno to Rantoul, Illinois.

Greg Fischer launched after 4:00 PM on May 6 and flew 63 miles, landing after 7 :00 PM. Former Florida pilot Rob Howe got his first taste of Illinois X-C, flying 58 miles.

Roh reportedly commented to his wife that "it was easy." On Mother's Day, Arlan Birkett flew 82 miles on his Foil Combat, landing near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Arlan got as high as 7,800' AGT, during the flight. Frank Peterson, John Mitchell, John Licata and others have also had successful X-C flights in lhc 20-50 mile range.

The season is young and soaring in the flatlands is hot! Illinois pilots expect that there will be more flights in excess or 100 miles before the year is out.

Sky

by Dennis Pagen Sport Aviation Publications

by

$19.95

W. Meadows

icl you know that there is a 4% drop in air density per 1,000 feet, which leads lo a 2% increase in all flying speeds per 1,000 feet of allitudc? !low about the fact that surface wind direction is given based on magnetic compass readings, while upperlevel winds arc given based on true polar directions?

I didn't know either of these until I read the hot.lest new book oul for the sport aviator, Understanding The Sky by Dennis Pagcn.

Dennis has really done it this time. He's given us a book that contains practically everything we should know about the sky and the weather that's associated with it, and perhaps a few thing we shouldn't know. This excellently put-together book contains well over 200 illustrations and dozens of photographs, with tons or graphs, charts, and lots of vectors and stuff.

Unders/anding The Sky begins by jumping right into the atmosphere, explaining a plethora of things pertinent to all pilots, but especially soaring pilots: air density and how

JUI.Y l 992

il 's affected by heat and moisture, pressure systems, their rotation and the coriolis effect.

Clouds arc covered in extreme depth, and this section even includes a description of a fractostratus cloud.

There's a good sized section on moving air and wind patterns that covers such things as fronts, jct streams, North American wind patterns and old world wind pa1lcrns. There's

even a part about diurnal variation, which has nothing to do with men's rest rooms.

Turbulence is covered extremely well with great explanations of their cause, effect and avoidance.

Dennis has also included a chapter about local winds which covers a wide variety of site types, along with illustrations of each which help readers lo visualize what's happening at their sites. This chapter also includes clues lo help pilots predict the wind.

All types of winds arc explained here, including sea breeze, convergence, upslope and downslope winds and even gravity winds.

No book for soaring pilots would be complete without a section on soaring conditions. Dennis has made this book more than complete with its extensive explanation of instability, thermals, thermal heights, thermal pa11crns, thermal strengths, thermal lore, thermal streets, spacing, tracks, cycles, types, tilt and even the death or a thermal.

You could get a job on TV as a weather dude after studying the chapter on forecasting. "Weather wisdom" is explained, and a barometer and wind table arc included to assist in your forecasting. There's also a long list of weather information sources that will give you the tools you need to choose the right site on the right day. Weather map reading is explained, including all the appropriate weather symbols.

Have you ever heard a soaring forecast and had no idea what was said? Not any more. The lifted index, thermal index and K index are all covered well here. Understanding The Sky has a number of appendices with density altitude charts, coriolis effect analysis, thermal buoyancy formulas~thcrc's even a chart that al lows you to figmc the thermal trigger temperature.

This book has something for all soaring pilots, no matter how knowledgeable. Like many Pagcn books, this one cannol be considered "light" reading, but it's undoubtedly one that's a "musl read" for anyone intcrcslcd in understanding the sky. II

The hook is available from US! !Gi\ .for $19.95 plus $3.50 S&/l.-Ed.

11

UPDATE

-

•Bungee/umping • Par••4iling o Ilalloonin

• Whllcwatcr Rafting • Kayaking • Skydiving •-Rock Clhnblng • Parsglld/ng • Hang Gliding

Book Review California Thrill Sports

by Erik Fair Foghorn Press- $14.95

by Gil Dodgen Many of you undoubtedly remember Erik Fair, Hang Gliding's former wild and crazy staff writer and "The Right Stuff' columnist.

Well, he's now a professional writer, and he gives me paitial credit for pointing him down that path. (Erik says he forgives me.)

Erik's latest journalistic accomplishment is California Thrill Sports, a new book published by Foghorn Press of San Francisco.

It's an unusual and highly entertaining expose of nine "thrill" sports: bungee jumping, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, hot air ballooning, parasailing, skydiving, hang gliding, paragliding and kayaking.

I won't even attempt to describe Erik's writing style, but it makes what could have been a dry recitation a very entertaining read.

The book is unusual because it is not filled

12

with just the gee-whiz hype one might expect from an enthusiast. While it presents firsthand descriptions of the inspiration experienced by newcomers to these sports, it also presents a very realistic assessment of the risks involved. The conclusion one reaches is that although there are ways to mess up, the risks are manageable and worth it.

Erik comments: "Listen. Pointing a loaded gun at your head can't possibly hurt or kill you-unless you pull the trigger. And that's what's so great about thrill sports ...

Believe it nor not, you control the level of risk ... You control it by making your personal safety your number one priority every step of the way."

Erik divides the spo1ts into two categories: rides of passage and leaps of faith.

A ride of passage is a carefully researched decision to place your life in the hands of others (as in bungee jumping), and your responsibility is to select the right provider.

The book explains how to do just that, and each chapter concludes with a list of professional contacts. A leap of faith (hang gliding) is "a declaration of your willingness to assume direct responsibility for your own well-being. Not only must you pick the right provider, but you must also be willing to concentrate, stay focused, maintain selfawareness, and be willing to learn new skills throughout the entire process of your adventure." He emphasizes that to participate in a sport like hang gliding you must be willing to invest a significant amount of time, effort and money. No sugar-coating here.

Each chapter begins with a first-person account of what it's like to try the sport for the first time. My favorite is the author's own description of his first skydive, during which he and his tandem instructor experience a malfunction.

"The reassuring opening shock of our monster tandem canopy had just brought a smile to my lips. That's when I heard Mike say the one word I'd hoped I'd never hear while dangling underneath an inflated bag of nylon.

'Uh-oh!'

"I couldn't believe my ears. My certified, qualified and highly experienced tandem skydiving

instructor had just said: 'Uh-oh!' ... "'Yo! Mike!,' I blurted. 'You didn't just say uh-oh did you?!"'

It turns out that the malfunction is a minor one and the duo lands safely without having to deploy the reserve. The popular myth dispelled is that a malfunction in skydiving means almost certain death. The risk is manageable.

Erik obviously put a lot of time and effort into researching each sport, and hang glider pilots who are interested in kindred sports will probably learn a lot. Some may even find that myths analogous to those believed by the general public about hang gliding will be dispelled.

I recommend the book to hang glider pilots for the chapter on hang gliding alone.

You won't learn much, but it's the perfect thing to give a friend or relative to educate them on the sport. Almost every common misconception is quickly dispatched, and after reading this chapter a skeptical observer will be convinced that you are not crazy; he may even be inclined to think that hang gliding is pretty cool after all. You could even pick up a driver or two.

The following pretty well sums up the philosophical theme of the book concerning risk: "To 'them' [ordinary people], risk management means eliminating, or severely cmtailing, any activity that could conceivably result in a flurry of lawsuits ...

"To us [risk sport pa1ticipants], risk management means accepting responsibility for ourselves so we can have a good time. To us, risk management means looking risk in the eye and doing our level best to minimize it while we enthusiastically pursue the special rewards of sky, water or rock. To us, risk management means consistently behaving in a way that proves we are willing to assume full responsibility for our lives, and accept the consequences of our actions." • California Thrill Sports is available in California bookstores or directly from the publisher: Foghorn Press, 555 De Haro St., Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94107 (800) 842-7477 -$17.95 includes tax if applicable and shipping.

HANG GLIDING

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative. Please include exact information (event, date, contact name and phone number).

Items should be received no later than six weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead time for regional and national meets.

Until Dec. 1: 1992 Region 9 Year-Long X-C Contest. Fly from any site on any day.

Winner will be the pilot with the single longest flight of the year. Open and Rookie Classes. Contact: Pete Lehmann, 5811 Elgin St., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 661-3474 (before 9:00 PM) FAX -3436.

Until Dec. 31: East Coast X-C Contest. Send description of longest East Coast flight to: Randy Adams, P.O. Box 369, Claremont, NH 03743. Flights may be foot- or tow-launch and must originate east of Mississippi.

Until Sept. 30: Lakeview, OR "HG Capital of the West" 1992 Umpteenth Annual Fly-In. Lakeview Chamber offering a $100 monthly cash prize for longest X-C flight launched from a site listed in 1992 site guide, $200 for best cumulative X-C distance and $200 for longest X-C overall. Contact: Lake County Chamber of Commerce, County Courthouse, Lakeview, OR 97630 (503) 947-6040.

June 22-July 7: Cross Country Classic International (pre-Worlds). Bishop, CA. Preparatory contest for 1993 World Hang Gliding Championships. Contact: Tom Kreyche, Cross Country Classic, P.O. Box 873, Mtn. View, CA 94042 USA. tel. (415) 965-8608 FAX (415) 965-1361 Telex 49610244 Cross Country.

July 1-5: "The At/antics" HG Competition, Nova Scotia, Canada. Site guide available for $3.

Contact: Tom Bushell or Jan Taylor, 19 Pleasant St., Dartmouth NS B2Y 3P3 (902) 461-0051.

July 7-12: Chelan X-C Classic. $45 entry. Contact: Lenn Baron (206) 774-5335.

July 9-12: Texas X-C Championships, Big Spring, TX, Region 11. Hang III with towing, X-C and turbulence sign-offs, current USHGA membership. Contact: Tim Doogs (817) 9216957.

July 9-12: International HG Competition of the Montaigui/le, France. $25,000 in prizes, $5,000 1st place. June 14 registration closing date. Contact: Alain Folmer, rue Louis Ripper, 38710 Mens, France.

July 13-19: Manufacturers League Meet, Dinosaur CO. 450 WTSS points. Entry $200 before June 1, $250 on site. Refundable until July 7.

Trophies & prizes for teams and top individuals. Early registrants will be promptly

JULY 1992

sent rulebook, goal photos, local info and maps. Teams of three and individuals welcome. Hang III with X-C and TUR signoffs minimum. Race-to-goal with no photos.

For more info send legal-size SASE to: Nick Kennedy, P.O. Box 1026, Telluride CO 81435 (303) 728-3905.

July 23-Aug. 2: Yalta Cup hang gliding and paragliding competition, Yalta, Ukraine (in the Crimea on the Black Sea). Excellent flying sites and conditions, prizes and souvenirs. Contact: Yevgeniy Zozulja, Deltaclub, Stepanjana 61, 334800 Theodosia, Crimea USSR, tel 06562-76567, FAX 0656237963.

August 1-3, 1992: United States Aerobatic Hang Gliding Championships & Mount Si Hang Gliding Festival. Just outside Seattle. Practice days July 30 & 31. World Class aerobatics, duration, speed runs, spot landings, and fun!

Aerobatic entries $100. Sporting/Recreational entries $20. Contact: Aaron Swepston (206) 939-6248, or Lori (206) 454-1989, or write 2415 Forest Ridge Dr., Auburn, WA 98002 Aug. 1-3: Western Canadian Championships, Golden, BC, Canada. Hosted by the Rocky Mtn. HG League. Entry $30 (includes $5 national team levy). Contact: Ken Shackleton (403) 295-1575.

Aug. 1-7: Oshkosh Airshow, Oshkosh, WI. The largest aviation gathering in the country. If it flies, you can probably see it at Oshkosh. For more information, our USHGA Rep. is Rod Hauser (602) 636-1950.

Aug. 3-9: Verbier International Open & PreWorld, France. International teams, 15 pilots/ team. Contact: tel. 026/31 62 22 FAX 026/31 32 72.

Aug. 7-9: Region 4 Hang Gliding Championships, Paradox Valley, CO. USHGA-sanctioned event. Trophies, great prizes, computerized scoring using the 1,000-point system. Free seminars each morning on X-C and competition strategies by nationally ranked pilots. $60 entry. Contact: Colorado X-C Pilots Assn. (303) 728-3905.

Aug. 8-9: 2nd Lilienthal Meet, Point Sal, Guadalupe Dunes. Fun fly-in for beginner to advanced. Free camping, T-shirts. $40.

Contact: Santa Barbara HG & PG Center (805) 962-8999.

Aug. 16-22: Solar Wings British League Final, Laragne, France. Deadline May I, entry £50.

Contact: Jim Bowyer, 2 Lion Terrace, Gilwem, Abergavenny, Gwent NP7 OBU England, tel. 0873-831667 FAX 0873831068.

Aug. 28-30: E11d-of-summerfunfly-in, Mt. Nebo State Park, Dardanelle, Ark. 1,200' site, two launches, camping sites, swimming pool, cabins available. USHGA membership required, Intern1ediate & Advanced. Contact: (501) 229-3655 or (501) 967-8813.

Sept. 5-7: Labor Day Weekend Elsinore X-C Air Races. $75 entry, limit 50 pilots. Portion of proceeds to benefit Elsinore Seniors Assn. 3/4 of entry fees awarded in cash to top 5 pilots.

Contact: (714) 897-9076.

Sept. 5-12: 1992 U.S. Nationals, Telluride, CO. All teams and individual pilots welcome.

Trophies for teams and top individuals. For accommodations call 1-800-233-9292. Early registrants will be promptly sent rulebook, turnpoint and goal photos, local info and maps. Entry refundable until Sept. 1, includes awards banquet, unlimited oxygen, prizes, shi11s and assorted parties. For more info send legal size SASE to: Nick Kennedy, P.O. Box 1026, Telluride CO 81435 (303) 728-3905.

Sept. 14-19: 19th Telluride Hang Gliding Festival.

Speakers, dances, clinics, films, swap meet.

Contact: Hugh Sawyer (303) 728-4772 or Joel Parker (303) 728-6070.

Sept. 17-20: 10th International Hang Gliding Film Festival, and 19th Coupe Icare, St. Hilaire du Touvet, France. Contact: 38720 Saint-Hilaire du Touvet, France, tel. 76 08 33 99.

Oct. 3-11: USHGA National Fly-In, Lookout Mountain Flight Park, near Chattanooga, TN. Mountain and thermal soaring (Novice and above), aerotowing to 3,000 feet, manufacturers' Demo Days, clinics and other activities, swimming pool, volleyball and camping in the LZ. Fun for the whole family. Contact: Lookout Mtn. Flight Park (706) 398-3541.

Oct. 9-11: USHGA fall Board of Directors meeting, at Holiday Inn, Milpitas, CA. Open to the membership; come and bring an opinion. Contact: USHGA Headquarters (719) 632-8300.

Oct. 11-13: Aircraft Owners a11d Pilots Assn. 1992 Expo, Las Vegas Riviera Hotel. Seminars, new products, banquet. Contact: Tom Korzeniowski (301) 695-2162.

Dec. 11-20: American Cup, Tumut, NSW Australia. International teams invited.

Contact: Ian Jarman, 143 Wynyard St., P.O. Box 558 Tumut, NSW 2720 Australia, tel. & FAX (069) 472888.

Jan. 15-29, 1993: 2nd New Zealand Hang Gliding and Paragliding Safari. Beginner to advanced. Limited group size. Contact: Santa Barbara HG & PG Center (805) 962-8999.

13

COMPETITION CORNER

-Con1petition FlyingVenezuelan Style Campeonato Internacional de Vuelo Libre, Acer Venezuela '92

by Gen Cheyney Gen Cheyney, long-time girlfriend and sherpa of Tony Barton, has been involved in hang gliding since 1986, serving the Southern Arizona Hang Gliding Association as President or Secretary-Treasurer over this period.

She is currently traveling the competition circuit with Tony.

La Victoria, Venezuela is a city less than two hours from Caracas, offering tropical flying over enviable mountains and valleys, and more often than not, a memorable crosscountry flight.

Venezuela offers prime flying sites with favorable long-distance cross-country flying conditions almost all the time. The city of La Victoria hosts one such site, and local pilots are anxious to attract traveling pilots and international competitors to this area. Another desire, continually voiced by Meet Director Luis Aulestia and other pilots as well, was to break the national distance record of 174 kilometers set by Eric Raymond more than six years ago, and which still stood as of the opening of the meet. Acer Computers was willing to sponsor and help them do just that this year, and the result was a successful, well-rnn competition which witnessed the breaking of the distance record twice during the meet.

The Loma Lisa launch site maintains generally steady, light wind cycles and is used in three wind directions; if you drive up the road to Loma Lisa you will fly. The road to launch is paved a good portion of the way, turning into a reasonable four-wheel-drive dirt road, then opening to a large grassy hill with plenty of space for glider setup. Soaring birds hover en masse; at one point I counted 50 large buzzards soaring together above launch. Cloud streets are in good supply, and

14

the changing topography offers many areas where good thermal activity is found.

In addition to hang gliding from this launch, the mountain is well suited for paragliding, and during the competition paraglicler pilots often would attempt to fly the same tasks as those set by the competition task committee. In Venezuela cross-country is the rule for paraglider pilots as well as hang glider pilots; no one simply hovers over launch for two hours and lands at the bottom.

The pilots here are hungry for "open distance," and each flight is an attempt to set a personal best or a new distance record. In the course of this competition the national record for "parapente," previously at 74 kilometers, was broken by Venezuelan David Castillejo, and reestablished at 90 kilometers.

Day One started with an ambitious task: race to goal at El Rastro (126 km) straight south. After several pilots launched, the wind switched from southwest to n011h. Two pilots, not wanting to get too far behind the universal start time for everyone, launched off the north side. Initial! y they dove to the valley floor, but found lift away from the mountains and got up and away while most pilots waited on the hill. Pilots in the air radioed back that the wind on course was predominantly east, which would make the task more difficult than planned. The encl result of the clay's task was that no one made goal; the closest was Pablo Valencia, a well-known Colombian pilot, who landed at 124.5 km on course.

Other pilots were strewn along the countryside, several making it past Ortiz, many landing together in groups at 32 km and 15 km, and the remaining pilots having no success landed in the bail-out area, Guacamaya.

Day Two opened with a thick inversion

layer which would stay with us for days.

There had been so much burning of the mountainsides during this dry season that the brown haze hanging over La Victoria was no surprise. Cloudbase was low, and the task committee opted for a course with turnpoints.

To some pilots nothing but open distance was acceptable; they thought pilot skill should be measured by kilometers flown, not on an "easy" course where the goal destination was close to the starting point. But those competition pilots present, familiar with international format, pushed for a more typical task in an international competition, and by the end of the meet had convinced local pilots that triangle courses and out-and-returns are quite challenging and difficult.

The task for this day would be Central Tacarigua to the west, then back to goal at Casupito, near La Victoria (127 km total). At the end of the day only two or three pilots had made the turnpoint, and no one finished the course. Pablo Valencia was still in the lead, with Charles Dittmar and Emilio Fernandez, both of Venezuela, not far behind. Tony Barton (USA) was still holding his solid fourth place from the previous day. This clay many more pilots got further along the course with only a few sinking to Guacamaya.

On Day Three pilots were clamoring for a task that would put a significant number of pilots at the goal. The inversion layer was still with us, but most pilots agreed it did not hinder the flying; in fact, many of the pilots were actually getting up in the smoke, pulling off some extremely low saves simply because of the fires. However, it was not as scenic spending five hours in or above the smoke, unable to see the ground. The task was called for a race to goal ending at Tinaquillo to the west (I 17 km).

Four pilots made it to goal: Tony Baiton (with the fastest time at just over four hours), Pablo Valencia, Felipe D'Costa, and Charles Dittmar. Three other Venezuelan pilots, Emilio Fernandez, Jose Luis Pereyra and Nelson Soto, came close but did not quite reach goal.

Fires were everywhere both day and night. Driving down from launch, flames were crackling and burning across the road, and our windows were quickly rolled up to ward off some of the heat and burnt vegetation floating skyward. On the ride back to La Victoria that evening with gliders, equipment and pilots jammed together in vehicles, a HANG GLIDING

COMPETITION CORNER large traffic jam on the main highway delayed our return. Apparently a large tree next to the highway had caught fire and was blazing away when a large truck stacked high with mattresses came by. Sparks from the tree set the mattresses afire, and by the time motorists and the truck driver noticed the fire and could stop the truck, there was a fullscale four-alarm fire going. The motorists eventually extinguished the flames. Every night you could look in any direction and see hillsides burning, the lines of fires creeping up and down each hill, making more blackened countryside for the next morning.

After the long retrieval process from the prior night, with pilots and drivers returning about 1:00 AM, the task agreed upon for Day Four was a course from Loma Lisa launch south to San Juan de Los Monos, turning northwest to Magdaleno, then east to goal at Casupito (117 km total). The fornrnt this day would give each pilot his own start time.

Launch conditions were good and most pilots were off launch like planes off an aircraft carrier. Before the few remaining pilots on the hill even launched, pilots were already radioing back that the first and second turnpoints had been made. The going was good until just at the second turnpoint where a strong headwind drove pilots straight to the ground. Pablo Valencia made it the furthest, followed by Jose Luis Pereyra, Andres Moser, Rudy Gates and Charles Dittmar.

Tony Barton did not fare well this day.

Nearly reaching the second turnpoint, and knowing he would barely make the turnpoint but have to land there, Tony decided to take a chance on going back to the mountains to get higher. Unfortunately, he was working a rotor and drifting further backward on course closer to the first turnpoint. Tony had to settle for a landing short of the second turnpoint.

By Day Five the local pilots were again requesting an open distance task. At one point I counted 16 pilots hovering around the task committee attempting to decide a course for the day, and you can bet none of the extra pilots were silent. Initially the conditions looked good to the south, so the first pilots off headed straight south, but as the afternoon passed it was more obvious the direction to veer was to the west.

Rudy Gates and Tony Barton got an early start and were well out of radio range of our retrieval vehicle after the first hour. The last we heard was Parapara to the south until JULY 1992

approximately 11 :30 PM that evening when a phone call to the hotel confirmed that both had flown past San Carlos, with Rudy setting a new national distance record of 196 kilometers, bettering the prior record by 22 kilometers.

News of an exceptional flight travels fast. The hotel lobby was alive with noisy hang glider pilots inspecting the map, the scores, a funny cartoon about the Mexican who "shot down" the distance record, and even a newly-composed song (in Spanish, of course) that everyone sang amidst roars of laughter.

Day Six was underway. Both pilots and drivers would settle for a shorter task this day, since almost no one reached home before midnight the prior evening.

Today would be a race to goal at Dos Caminos (68 km), straight south from launch.

Emilio Fernandez reached the goal with the best time, followed in rapid succession by Tony Barton, Andres Moser, Rudy Gates, Felipe D'Costa, Dario Brillembourg, Nelson Soto, Charles Dittmar, Enrique Brillembourg, Jose Luis Pereyra, and Pablo Valencia.

Eleven pilots reached goal all within minutes of one another.

At one point Tony and Pablo were flying close together and so low that they were looking for a place to land. Pablo bailed out in an open field, while Tony chose to dive into a nearby fire and take his chances. Eventually that fire saved Tony's flight and he slowly climbed out, able to finish the course. Pablo was so low Tony was sure he had landed, but somehow he got back up and squeaked into goal, surprising everyone when he mTived.

On the final day of the competition, Day Seven, it was time for another long-distance task: Loma Lisa launch to San Carlos (155 km) to the west. At 4:20 PM Tony Barton was reported to have flown over the goal, announcing his intention to continue westward; this was the fastest anyone had ever reached San Carlos. It was almost an hour later before the next pilot, Rudy Gates, reached the goal and also flew past. With a considerable time spread, Andres Moser, Emilio Fernandez, Jose Luis Pereyra, Enrique Brillembourg and Pablo Valencia also made the goal and landed. Approximately 30 minutes before sundown Tony Barton landed, 205 kilometers from the launch site, again breaking the national distance record broken just two days before.

You have to wonder why more pilots haven't flown in Venezuela. The local pilots are more than willing to show you their sites, share their vehicles, point you to the good restaurants, and guarantee great, long flights over some of the most beautiful country in the world. Perhaps Venezuela really is the "best kept secret in the Caribbean." Our thanks to the Meet Director, Luis Aulestia, for his professional monitoring of the meet; to Acer Computers for their support of the meet and our sport; to the many pilots who volunteered their vehicles and drivers (especially to Nicolas Veloz and Jose Alvaro Calderon, who spent many hours, a can of Slick 50, and an engine overhaul seeing to it that Tony Barton and I always had transportation); and to the many others who made us feel welcome in Venezuela in spite of our language handicap. We are looking forward to returning to Venezuela next year and hope that many other pilots will make plans to do the same.•

FINAL RESULTS Place Pi/01 1) TONY BARTON

2)

EMILIO FERNANDEZ 3) PABLO VALEN CIA 4) CHARLES DITTMAR 5) FELIPE D'COSTA 6) JOSE LUIS PEREYRA 7) NELSON SOTO 8) ANDRES MOSER 9) RUDYGOTES 10) ENRIQUE BRILLEMBOURG

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15

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The People: At Wills Wing we love flying. All four of Wills Wing's corporate officers are active pilots, and we fly everything from paragliders and hang gliders to sailplanes and multi-engine airplanes. Our production personnel and test pilots are the most highly trained and most experienced in the industry.

The Means: Product design at Wills Wing is a synthesis of basic engineering fundamentals, advanced computer analysis, and nearly two decades of practical experience. Product development involves extensive and painstaking vehicle

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championships. Through the '91 season, HP pilots had logged 20 cross country flights of over 200 miles, nearly twice as many as all other glider models combined.

In 1990, Larry Tudor flying an HP AT 158, picked up two FAI world records by recording the first ever three hundred mile flight in a hang glider. In 1991, Jim Lee set the world triangle distance record on an HP AT 158, and Kari Castle, on an HP AT 145, made the first flight over 200 miles by a woman pilot, setting a world record in the process. Through 1991 , fifteen out of the last twenty U.S. World Team pilots had selected Wills Wing gliders as their glider of choice for world championship competition.

TSpectrum - In 1990, with the introduction of the Spectrum, Wills Wing changed the nature of entry level hang gliding. For the first time, the new pilot was given access to true high performance, along with the type of advanced technology normally

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associated with top of the line competition class gliders. Available in two sizes for pilots from 11 Olbs. to 240 lbs., the Wills Wing Spectrum offers the advancing novice and casual recreational pilot an unmatched value in quality, performance, and soaring enjoyment. ..-super Sport - Brand new in 1991 , the performance and flight characteristics of the Super Sport lie directly between those of the Spectrum and the HP AT. Designed for the intermediate and advanced soaring and cross country pilot, the Super Sport features technology derived from the HP AT, including the HP AT airfoil, airframe technology, and general sail planform. At the same time, the Super Sport's handling qualities and landing characteristics are more reminiscent of those of the Spectrum, yielding a glider of extraordinarily accessible soaring and cross country performance.

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can enjoy the benefits of Wills Wing quality service from more than 200 professional dealers in 35 countries all over the world.

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USHGA REPORTS

NAAAnd The Future Of Hang Gliding © 1992 by Dennis Fagen As we near the end of this tumultuous century it appears that sport aviation is at a critical point. At least this was the opinion expressed by many attendees of the recent meeting of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA). As your representative to the NAA, I'd like to provide a brief review of what is going on.

To begin, the USHGA is a member of the NAA so that we can patticipate on the international level in records, competition and the politics of our sport. We do this through the CIVL (Commission Internationale de Vol Libre-the international hang gliding commission) which is responsible to the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale-the international body governing all of aviation).

Since almost one dollar of your dues goes to the support of the NAA and the FAI, it is important that we review the benefits we receive from these organizations. Through our membership in the NAA we are connected with all other fmms of flying. This gives us a forum within which to work out conflicts and trade information. At the same time, we can band together with other forms of sport aviation and have a greater political voice for dealing with such matters as airspace competition, product liability and sponsorship. An ongoing project in the NAA is combining the membership of all organizations to attract more reasonable insurance rates, snag some corporate advertisers and address the question of site acquisition. It should be noted that the NAA has already helped preserve a couple of threatened hang gliding sites by writing letters expressing the importance of hang gliding to all of aviation, which in turn is an important part of this country's economy.

As of this recent meeting, the NAA has reviewed its commitment to sell the credibility of air sports. To that end, a video has been produced explaining the NAA's heritage and highlighting the excitement of each member air spmt. Did you know that you belong to 18

the same association as did Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh and Glenn Curtiss? The USHGA should receive a copy of this video which may prove to be a useful PR device.

We should note that in the future, USHGA cards will also cany the NAA logo. Furthermore, each USHGA member may become an individual member of the NAA and receive a number of benefits. Contact the USHGA office for more details. (Or see the NAA ad in last month's issue.}-Ed. The FAI itself has not been idle. A change of personnel and revitalization has recently occuned. As a result we should see greater promotion of air sports on the international level. One important ongoing project is the World Air Games. This event is intended to be an Olympics of the air. It appears that air sports will not break through the political and economic baniers of the Olympics for a long, long time, so the World Air Games is a welcome alternative. The first such event is slated for Greece in 1995, but this depends on that country funding the event to the tune of eight to 12 million dollars. This may never happen unless we all start using olive oil.

The perceived crises that we mentioned in our opening paragraph are two. First is the erosion of flying freedom through the loss of sites, increased insurance requirements, greater demand for airspace and new rulemaking. It appears that the new FAR 103 proposal (the rules we must obey) has been moved back, perhaps as much as a year or two. However, we can expect new rules eventually, and ce1tainly the other problems won't go away any time soon. For this reason it behooves the USHGA to maintain a high profile with the FAA and all legislative bodies. We are doing that through our involvement with the NAA as well as our other activities.

Insurance problems which directly relate to site preservation will not be solved until new laws (tort reform) are passed that limit

liability to a reasonable degree. If you are interested in stopping the erosion of your flying freedom and the general quality of life in this country, write your congressmen and request that we get back in touch with the rest of the planet on this matter.

The second crisis is the graying of all aviation. The average age of pa1ticipants in all forms of aviation is increasing. Some aviation sports are experiencing a tapering off as older pilots hang up their wings and no younger souls rise to replace them. It is ironic that hang gliding, a sport popularized by young people in the 70's, now has an average pilot age of over 37 years. In my view one of the most important things we can do to insure the longevity of hang gliding is to get more young people into our sport. This will take a concerted effort if we are to successfully vie with MTV and instant gratification acculturation.

Speaking to this problem, let me present two examples of possible solutions. The Experimental Avia ti on Association (EAA) has just initiated their "Young Eagles" program to take 1,000,000 youths (from eight to 18) for free airplane rides by the year 2003 (the centennial of the Wrights' maiden flight). The idea is to initiate these kids into the world of aviation with an exciting experience, a certificate, a pre- and post-flight briefing and the signing of the world's largest logbook. We cannot do a similar thing in hang gliding, due to the limitations of our exemption, but this example indicates how imp01tant a major organization considers the youth enrollment matter to be.

Across the ocean we can observe what happened in Germany in the past two years.

Despite the opposition of the majority of their members, the German hang gliding organization decided to incorporate paragliding.

Within two years the organization doubled its membership to 25,000, comprised of equal parts hang glider and paraglider pilots. As a result they were able to command lower insurance prices for everyone, and persuade the government to change the laws so they could fly on a par with sailplanes. According to one of the Gennan (DHV) directors, Charlie Yost, there are very few conflicts, and site problems have diminished because more pilots mean more site development.

As we nudge up against the second millennium AD we will find our administrative, financial and civil problems growing HANG GLIDING

USHGA REPORTS ever more complex. One way of attacking these problems is to acquire the political power of numbers. Whether we enhance our numbers by affiliation with the NAA, courting the youth of America, incorporating paragliding or a combination of all of these, the sooner we do so the better. Hang gliding will only survive as we know it if we prepare for the future now. Think about it. •

Instructor/Observer Update

by Greg Huller There are a few items that we would like to call to your attention. First, there are now new Beginner (H-1) and Novice (H-2) rating exams. These exams will be distributed to all Instmctors with the next issue of the USHGA Instructor Newsletter. These exams have been field tested at Lookout Mountain for over a year with favorable results. Upon receipt of the new exams, please discard all your old H-l/H-2 exams and use these instead. Second, it has been brought to our attention that answer #21 on the Radio Authorization Study Guide answer sheet is incorrect. The conect answer is TRUE. Please call USHGA headquarters if you would like copies of any of these documents.

ICP Administrators please take note. At the Spring 1992 BOD meeting, the Safety and Training committee made some changes to the ICP program. First, the 10 apprentice days must be competed PRIOR to attending the ICP. Second, ICP administrators are required to introduce Michael Robertson's Charts of Reliability to their students. These chart booklets are available from either Michael Robertson or from USHGA headquarters. One of these booklets will be included in the ICP kit which has increased (to cover the cost of the booklet) from $25.00 to $35.00. Finally, the minimum length of time for ICPs has been set to three days.

We also have a few "technical" requests for you. First, for all ICP Administrators, please be sure to submit ICP fmm #1 (ICP approval form) to USHGA headquarters BEFORE the ICP is held. Failure to do so will result in an invalid ICP. We're getting really strict on this one folks! Also remember to get ICP forms #2 and #3 (complete and JULY 1992

incomplete candidate report forms) to USHGA headquarters within 30 days of the completion of the ICP. ICP candidates have 90 days from the completion of the ICP to complete any remaining requirements for their instructorship.

For all the rest of the instructors: When filling out rating slips, be sure to indicate TOW or FL (or both) for the method of launch. Failure to do so will result in the rating slip being returned to you. Also, when signing off TOW ratings, be sure that you are qualified (i.e., a Tow Administrator or Tow Supervisor-call headquarters for more information on becoming one).

Some of the most common mistakes I see while processing ratings are easily avoidable and cause unnecessmy delays in processing. The main ones are listed below: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Failure to indicate method of launch (see above).

Invalid official signing off a TOW rating (see above).

Failure to indicate what rating is to be given.

Rating fee payment of $5.00 instead of $7.50 or no rating fee payment at all.

Submission of expired rating slips (older than 30 days).

Issuing CL or FSL special skills to Beginner pilots.

Issuing X-C without RLF and/or TUR special skills.

Issuing Intermediate (H-3) rating without a Novice (H-2). NOTE: This is allowable when issuing a rating to a foreign pilot only if you write "Foreign Pilot" on the rating application (See SOP Z12-6 for more details).

Submitting a rating slip without the student's and/or the Instructor's signature.

These nine mistakes make up approximately 95% of the reasons behind returned rating slips. While some of these may be beyond your control, most are not. If you can make the extra eff01t to see that as many of these enors are avoided as possible, it will result in a shorter processing time, a happier office staff, and most importantly, a happier student.

Finally, we have a slight change in policy on two matters. First, due to increasing reproduction costs, we will no longer be able

to supply mass quantities of the Part 104 (Pilot Proficiency Program) free of charge.

We will be happy to provide up to two copies at no charge; however, all subsequent copies will be available for $1.00 each plus shipping. Second, a FAXed copy of membership card for last-minute flying has become very popular lately. Since a request for "urgent" membership processing causes a slowdown in all other office functions and an increase in our long distance charges, we feel that it is necessary to attach a $5 .00 charge per membership for FAXed membership cards.

If you have any questions on any of these points, or on any rating processing matter, please feel free to contact Greg Huller at USHGA headquarters (719) 632-8300. •

Ascent Of Woman

by Kelly West Another first for hang gliding! Thanks to the foresight and vision of Jan Johnson, USHGA Board member and hang glider pilot, our national organization has been granted membership in the very exceptional Women's Sports Foundation. This year's annual conference, entitled "Ascent of Woman," was held this past April (the same weekend as the RMHGA tow meet). Through luck or fate, or a little of both, I was asked to serve as the USHGA representative at this first conference. Had I any inkling of what was to come I would have had no reservations about dropping everything to attend!

The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) was originally a dream brought to reality by Billie Jean King, as a forum for supporting and promoting women's and girls' success at all levels of the sporting world. This year's conference featured an incredible anay of keynote addresses, panel discussions, workshops, round table luncheon sessions, sports clinics, awards dinners and exhibits that truly embodied the essence of that original dream. The glittering crowd was studded with more exempla1y female talent than I have every seen in one place at one time. Numerous gold, silver and bronze Olympic medalists and professional female athletes were present. At a luncheon on

19

USHGA REPORTS Saturday I selected the discussion topic "Obtaining Sponsorship For Your Sport."

What I didn't expect was the best news of all: everyone wanted to talk about hang gliding!

Our table facilitator became jubilant when I said I was there as a USHGA representative, and I was excited to realize that they knew that we were there. As we tried to go around the table and talk with the other participants, everyone kept returning to me with question after question about hang gliding. Between scant mouthfuls I tried to answer as best I could: What were our demographics? Mean age? Mean income? Was it safe? Wasn't it expensive? What did it feel like? How long did it take to learn? Did our manufacturers market to women? Was the sport different for women than for men and in what ways? Did women compete with men?

In my own answers I made some startling discoveries about this amazing and inspiring sport. Yes, our manufacturers do market to women, which many people found very interesting since many of their sports see only limited activity in the women's market.

Yes, women do compete with men in hang gliding, and I now realize the importance of that fact. There are women pilots today who regularly fly farther and higher than many of

their male counterparts will ever fly. Gravity treats us all alike, and is not gender specific.

Hang gliding is unique in its growth and ongoing pe1fection. Partly because of natural evolution and partly because of the dedication and courage of female pilots who have gone before me, this sport is accessible to women.

Any woman with the desire to learn to fly and the commitment to persist can obtain professional instruction and properly designed equipment, and she can find her special place in the sky.

My thanks go to Linda Yocum, who could not attend any of the programs due to work constraints, yet still found time in her busy schedule to work at the hang gliding display as a woman pilot representing the USHGA. Her knowledgeable responses to unending questions were a great service to the sport. I became more educated through my participation in this conference, and I would highly recommend it to any other pilot.

The more exposure we give our sport in forums such as this, the greater our chances of obtaining grants and funding for such things as the women's world team. By our very presence, we validate the upward spiral of hang gliding in the 90's, and women's place in it.•

Paragliding And The USHGA Where We've Been, Where We Are Now, Where Do We Go?

by USHGA President Gregg Lawless There continues to be significant controversy on the subject of paragliding and the USHGA's involvement in paragliding. There is apparently a growing sentiment in some areas that the membership's feelings and wishes on the subject are being blatantly ignored by the USHGA Board of Directors.

I would like to take this opportunity to update you, the membership, on the present status of the USHGA paragliding programs, some of the historical reasons behind why we have the programs, and encourage you to think about these issues and communicate your thoughts to your regional directors.

At the March, 1986 USHGA Board of 20

Directors (BOD) meeting in Boulder, Colorado, the USHGA's paragliding committee was established to explore the potential impact on the USHGA of the then new sport of paragliding. Little was known within the USHGA about paragliders or paragliding at that time, but it was obvious that paragliding could have an impact on hang gliding and especially hang gliding sites.

In July of 1986, the CIVL (the hang gliding committee of the FAI, the international body responsible for sport aviation worldwide) adopted the position that paragliding was a form of hang gliding and

that it should be considered a separate discipline within hang gliding with its own championships.

In April of 1987, at the CIVL meeting, it was noted that paragliders had been legally defined as a form of hang glider in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

During 1987, the USHGA paragliding committee's activity was limited to recognizing their own lack of knowledge about paragliding, and adopting a wait-and-see attitude about future growth of the sport in the U.S. In July of 1988, the CIVL determined that paragliders would be considered to be a specific class of hang glider. Paragliders were defined as Class III hang gliders-hang gliders without rigid structures.

In October of 1988, at the fall USHGA BOD meeting, the newly-formed American Paragliding Association (APA) was recognized by the USHGA as the official regulatory body for paragliding in the U.S. It was also determined at this time that paragliding activities were covered under the USHGA's insurance policy for USHGA members. In addition, it was decided that the use of USHGA-insured sites by paraglider pilots would be left up to local site administrators.

It was the USHGA paragliding committee's position that paraglider pilots using USHGAinsured sites must be USHGA members (to have the insurance) and should be APA members as well. At the same time, the USHGA requested that the APA take the USHGA pilot rating and instructor programs as models, and develop similar programs of their own for paragliding. APA founder Fred Stockwell did this, and presented a draft to the USHGA at the March 1989 USHGA BOD meeting. At this meeting the paragliding committee reviewed, modified and adopted the APA rating system as "the current USHGA policy concerning paraglider ratings."

By the November 1989 USHGA BOD meeting there was significant controversy over paragliding. The 283-member AP A was going through the growing pains associated with any new endeavor of this type, and many of the APA members apparently felt they could be better served by having the USHGA take over the administration of paragliding in the U.S. However, there was also a large percentage of the AP A membership that did not want anything to do with HANG GLIDING

USHGA REPORTS what they envisioned to be a bureaucratic USHGA. The USHGA paragliding committee favored a greater degree of USHGA involvement in paragliding, but, at the same time, the USHGA directors felt ill-equipped, from an expertise standpoint, to administer programs for paragliding, and uneasy about the feelings of the membership as a whole regarding paragliding. In fact, 11 out of 20 USHGA directors, in a roll call vote, took the position that a paraglider was not a hang glider. This vote sent a message to the paragliding community that the USHGA didn't want anything to do with paragliding.

The paraglider pilots resolved to go back and try to make the AP A work.

By this time paraglider pilots had been joining the USHGA in order to obtain coverage under the USHGA insurance policy so that they could fly USHGA-insured sites.

The AP A did not have insurance, and many doubted that they would be able to get it.

(Since then, the APA has obtained insurance.

However, most hang gliding sites still have site insurance only from the USHGA, which means pilots still need to be USHGA members to fly these sites.)

At the April 1990 meeting of the USHGA BOD the APA was named as an affiliate organization of the USHGA in accordance with the Association's bylaws.

The establishment of this relationship created an affiliation similar to the one we have had with the NAA for many years. At the same meeting, the USHGA agreed, for a fee, to take on the administrative functions of AP A dues collection and member services. This plan was never executed because the AP A later believed that the USHGA fee for this administration was too high.

Finally, at the November 1990 BOD meeting, the USHGA established a "paraglider membership" and adopted paraglider pilot and instrnctor rating programs that mirror the AP A's programs.

This was done specifically to allow USHGA members to obtain Paragliding Magazine, USHGA insurance and paraglider ratings directly from the USHGA. At the same time, Peter Zimmerli, the APA President, was voted in as a USHGA director at large (with vote) and five APA directors were named as honorary directors (without vote). This was done to promote a high degree of communication between the two organizations and place individuals with paragliding expertise JULY 1992

on the USHGA's paragliding committee.

The intent and concern of the USHGA BOD in each of the decisions made regarding paragliding has been to promote, to a maximum degree, strong communication and a close working relationship between paraglider and hang glider pilots, and between the paragliding and hang gliding communities. At the same time, the Board has been continually aware of the anxiety of some of the membership regarding any association between the USHGA and paragliding. One reason for adopting the AP A pilot rating programs within the USHGA was to help to legitimize those ratings among members of the hang gliding community, in order to facilitate the rating of hang gliding sites for paraglider use, to encourage hang glider and paraglider pilots to think of each other as members of a common flying community, and hopefully, to defuse conflicts over paraglider pilot access to USHGA-insured sites. Another reason was to address the problem of "double taxation," whereby any paraglider pilot had to pay dues to both organizations in order to get ratings from one and insurance from the other. It was feared that such a situation might encourage paraglider pilots to operate outside the system and bandito USHGA-insured sites without paying for the insurance, which could in turn jeopardize the sites.

At many hang gliding sites, paragliding has been integrated with hang gliding without major problems. However, in spite of the best intentions and effo1ts of the USHGA Board and local site administrators, paragliding continues to be a problem at some sites.

Many of the problems relating to paragliding appear to be issues of site overcrowding, which any influx of new pilots intensifies, and which are sometimes made worse by the different operating parameters of modern hang gliders and the slower-flying paragliders. Some of the problems relate to the newness of paragliding, its ease of initial learning, and its perceived rapid growth.

These factors have resulted in a generally lower level of experience among paraglider pilots as compared to hang glider pilots. In addition there is a general lack of perspective by paraglider pilots on both the sensitivity of some flying sites and the issue of flying site access being a p1ivilege rather than a right.

The hang gliding community appears to be less tolerant of the mistakes being made by

paraglider pilots because we see them making the same mistakes we made years ago. Pilots on both sides of this issue are frustrated.

Beyond that, some USHGA members who are hang glider pilots are concerned about losing control of the USHGA and the magazine to paragliding and paraglider pilots.

These pilots have expressed a desire to keep the USHGA a pure hang gliding organization by keeping paragliding separate from hang gliding and out of the USHGA. They are opposed to any merger of the APA and the USHGA, or to any combining of the two magazines, Hang Gliding and Paragliding.

(NOTE: For the record, there is no effort being made at this time to merge the USHGA and the APA or to combine the two magazines.) Much of this concern is predicated on the belief that paragliding in the U.S. will grow in much the same way it did in Europe, where paragliding has grown larger than hang gliding.

At the most recent USHGA BOD meeting in Miami (March '92) it was proposed that the membership be polled directly on two questions: 1)

2)

Should the USHGA rate paraglider pilots?

Should the USHGA issue paraglider memberships?

The Board's eventual decision on this proposal was that these two questions, by themselves, were insufficient in scope to address the issue of how the USHGA should deal with the paragliding question. Unfortunately, these questions solicit simple yes or no responses. It was felt that a broader and more detailed consideration of the issues involved should be included in any discussion of the USHGA's future direction regarding paragliding. In addition, it was felt that it would require responses to several professionally developed questions to produce reliable conclusions as to the trne feelings of the membership.

One purpose of this article is to encourage you, as a USHGA member, to carefully consider these issues and make your opinions known to your regional director(s).

As you consider the two questions above, please consider also other questions which relate to these issues, such as:

21

USHGA REPORTS 3) If the answer to (1) above is no, what, if anything, should be done about tandem? Tandem paragliding is currently happening, and will probably become more widespread. The APA developed a tandem program for paragliding with the assistance of the USHGA paragliding committee. This program was subsequently reviewed and adopted as the USHGA tandem paragliding program. With this program in place, the USHGA can now issue legal paragliding tandem ratings. The APA does not have the required exemption to legally issue such a rating. Do we improve our position or make it worse, if we cancel the USHGA tandem paraglider rating program and force the AP A to deal directly with the FAA on this issue?

And if they do, what risk does the USHGA then place on its own tandem exemption if the FAA issues two different yet similar exemptions? What is our moral obligation to public safety if tandem paragliding (or paragliding in general) proceeds forward from this point without our assistance?

4) If the answer to (2) above is no, should the USHGA make any attempt to prevent paraglider pilots from joining the USHGA to obtain USHGA insurance? If yes, how would this be done? And, if yes, how does the USHGA deal with members who are both hang glider and paraglider pilots? After dealing with individual pilots, how does the USHGA then deal with USHGA chapters that may have anywhere from 1% to 100% paraglider membership?

5) Should the USHGA continue to work with and offer assistance to the APA? To what degree? Specifically, if the AP A requests, should the USHGA be willing to quote the AP A a price to provide them with membership/database management services on a contract basis? (This possibility is under consideration within the APA at this time.)

And should the APA continue to be recognized as a USHGA affiliate organization?

6) What positive actions, if any, can or should the USHGA take to address the issues and conflicts that still remain regarding paraglider flight at USHGA-insured sites?

Should we attempt to ban paragliders at USHGA sites, or require that all sites flown by paragliders be covered by APA site insurance? Will this help or hurt the situation 22

with regard to lack of cooperation between paraglider pilots and hang glider pilots where site use conflicts exist? What impact will this type of decision have on landowners who are being approached by two different groups of pilots for use of their land?

7) How should the USHGA discharge its obligations with regard to representing paragliding and paraglider pilots as the official hang gliding division of the NAA, in light of the decision by CIVL that paragliders are Class III hang gliders? (If the USHGA does not offer representation for U.S. paraglider pilots to the FAI on world records and world championship team selection, it is not acting as the hang gliding division of the NAA in conformance with the CIVL decision that paragliders are Class III hang gliders.

USHGA can perhaps delegate this to the APA if there is some official USHGA/APA relationship, which is essentially what is happening now. If there is no relationship, then NAA may have to recognize AP A directly. Is this what we want? Does this jeopardize our authority to represent hang gliding to the F AI?) 8) If the USHGA divorces itself entirely from paragliding, what should the USHGA then do about paragliding if the AP A proves unable to continue to provide representation, ratings, and a magazine to paraglider pilots?

As you can see, the paragliding issue is extremely complex and the above questions are only a few of the questions that need careful consideration. It is also a very emotional issue for some. The USHGA Board has been acting on this matter in the best interest of its members given the data it has had available. At the same time, the Board wants to provide the best possible direction for the future of the sport of hang gliding in accordance with its member's wishes. So, let your director know how you feel the USHGA should proceed, in practical terms, in dealing with the challenges paragliding presents. •

1992 Demo Schedule We will be on the road again this season, so test fly the UP glider ofyour choice.

June 6-13

Sandia Classic Albuquerque, N.M.

June 19-21

505-298-2922 Wild, Wild West Regionals Adventure Spmts Ray Leonard

August 1-3

702-883-7070 Western Canadian Championships Willi Muller Golden, BC, Canada

August 14-16

403-932-6760 Austin Air Sports Steve Bums Austin, TX

Sept 5-12

(512) 474-1669 1992 US. Nationals Telluride, CO

September 10

801-576-6458 CAN-AM Meet Vancouver, WA

Sept 14-19 Interested members are invited to attend the 1992 USHGAfa/1 Board of Directors meeting, Oct. 9-11, at the Holiday lnn,Milpitas, California. Come and bring an opinion. Contact: USHGA Headquarters (719) 632-8300.-Ed.

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Honored guests at the Rogallo dinner, May 8 during the 20th annual Hang Gliding Spectacular were, from left: .John Harris, of Hawk Kites, who was presented with an award from the U.S. lfang and a filmstrip "The Dreams of Francis from the German Ifang I 1cdcration; Charlie Jost of who presented the cup he is for !he winner of the and Vic of the who also received an award from the U.S. Hang Gliding Association.

24

the 20th year in a row, hang glider pilo1s Head, North Carolina, flew the dunes of competing in slalom courses, spot landing and duration contests.

The first three days or the meet were com-· plc1cly rained out, but the last three were sue· ccssful, and fun was stressed throughout the week, mee1 direc1or Bruce Weaver said.

More than 40 pilots from across the U.S. gathered on Jockey's Ridge for this test of' l'lying skills sponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites.

When the f'lying was done it was two Kitty lfawk area locals who took top honors: Lawrence Bnttaile or Kill Devil Hills was first in the advanced division, and Jim Eckhardt or l lead was first in the novice division. Former champion Steve Wendt or I larrisonlJurg, Vir ginia, took second in lhc: advanced division, and Jeff Williamson of Seattle, Washington, third.

Novice second place winner was Tito Chinchilla or Kitty llawk, NC, and Board of Sunland, California was third.

"This is my favorite kind of' flying," said George Reeves of Sunland, CA, 'Tm having a lot of fun competing." Woody Jones or Arling·

ton, VA has cmnpclccl in 18 Spectaculars.

"We're having fun," he said wi1h a big grin as he hooked into his glider. Ken Brown of Salinas, CA said, "l 1hink it's spectacular. h's well organized and it's fantastic to hav(: i1 filmed.

We're observing history and making history."

There were two film makers prcsenl at the Spectacular. Terry Shiels from Charlotte was making a video for Kitty I lawk Kites, aud Charlie Jiist from Germany was filming the event.

President of'Killy Hawk Kites John I larris said, 'Tm pleased lo sec everyone returning for the 201h event. We're celebrating 20 years of flight here." He predicted that the Spectacular will conti1111c to be a historical and fun event where people return 10 visit 1hc d11ncs where they learned to rty and 10 rcmembc:r the early fun flying days.

Vic Powell, founder of the Spcc1acular, said, "I 1hink i1's significant thal the f'a1hcr of' hang gliding, Frnncis Rogallo, this annual event as 1hc bir1hday of hang gliding in this coun1ry. This year is especially significant because it marks the conclusion or 1hc firs! 1wo decades or hang gliding."

At the Spectacular, pilols are flying in the same wind condilions and physical environment that the Wrighl Bro1hers !kw in. "We coming back year alkr year to renew our spiri1s and enthusiasm," Powell said.

When Vic started the Spectacular he had no idea i1 would become 1hc world's longcs1 con1in11ally held hang gliding meet. "All of the clcmcn1s contimH: 10 remain here," he said.

"The people of 1he Outer Banks have crcatc:d a friendly and courteous atmosphere and !here is access to the dunes. As long as these clements continue lo exist, flyers will continue 10 come hack."

rnnmm HANG GLIDING SAFARIS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA wi1h i1s varied flying sites and endless sun offers pristine flying conditions during the months or Oct. 10 May. IF YOU NEED AIRTIME please write or phone

JULY 1992

I

Chatlie Jost, fight, filmmaker and representative of the Genna 11 Gliding federation, presents Francis Rogallo with a copy nf his film "The Dreams of Francis Rogallo."

rm1c1:s1\oga11 <D, father of hang gliding, and his wifo Gcrtrnde were honored at a Friday dinner during the 20th annual Hang Gliding Spectacular.

German film maker Chari ic .liist, who came to the 18th annua ISpectacular and made of Rog;allo then, returned to show his film and present an award from the German Clliding Federation to tile winner of the Spectacular. .Wst's film, The Dreams of Francis f?ogal/o, won international at a European film festival and a portion of it is being played on in-flight Lunnamm Airlines.

Jiis1 bronght his film wi1h him to show to Rogallo for the firs! time. He had asked staff at Kitty Hawk Kites to reserve a 16mm movie projector for showing the film. he arrived in Nags Head he discovered that 1hc projector had the "wrong" kind of He needed magnetic sound, the projector from the local library had optical somH.L For two days, Ji\st called every Iibrary, college, media center and audjo .. vidc:o dealer North Carolina and Virginia. Finally, he found what he needed right in Kill Hills at Jim's Camera Shop, where Jim Lee had a 30,ycar-old projector with rm1gr1cti1c sound in storage . .los1 worked for several hours wiring the equipment together had it in fine working order by the time the dinner began Friday night.

Over I 00 hang glider pilots, friends and family mcmbern of !he Rogallos enjoyed w,11tcl1in1R the film and then gave a tribute to the Rogallos. It was Francis's invention of flexible wing 1hat made modern hang gliding possible.

Other honored guests were the mayor of Nags H.ead, Renee Cahoon, who welcomed tl!E: otJ1 .. ,ol ·-to 1.vncrs and presented John Harris with a proclamation naming May 3- l Ohang week in Nags Bead, and Peggy Bcrkcmeier of Priends of .Jockey's Ridge.

G.W. Meadows, representing the U.S. Hang Gliding Association, presented awards Harris and Vic Powell for their work in carrying on the Spectacular for 20 years. ln a very short. speech following the film Rogallo said, "I've had wonderful times years and met wonderful people."

At the evening's conclusion, Jost said he was glad he'd found the right projector and able 10 show the film. "Never give up," he said. II

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27

INCO/v!!NG-

LENS

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Ultraviolet radiation is not visible but passes through the atmosphere and into our eyes readily. Its short, energetic waves can knock the stuffing out of atoms and molecules and eventually do permanent damage to such things as your car's paint, your sail and your eyes. A further problem with ultraviolet radiation is that it fluoresces in the lens (gives off visible-light) which confounds visual acuity.

Obviously we want to eliminate ultraviolet from our invited guest list.

Blue light is also undesirable. It comes to our orbs somewhat scattered by the atmosphere and thereby offers less distinct images. It is also scattered within the eyeball itself. Apparently someone planned for this because the foveal area of the retina, where most focusing takes place, has fewer blue than red or green receptors.

Another problem with blue light is that due to chromatic aberration it doesn't focus precisely at the retina as shown in figure 1. It is slightly out of focus compared to other color wavelengths. As a result, any pair of sunglasses worth their label will also block blue rays for visual acuity.

The final consideration is glare. Intense light-either direct or reflected-coming from the field of vision can attenuate your vision considerably. For example, glare aniving 40° above your line of sight can reduce visual effectiveness as much as 40%. At 5° above the line

28

of sight, glare can cause a loss of up to 85%. It should be obvious that we need lenses dark enough to block glare in the piloting realm .

The Right Shades In figure 2 we illustrate what a peiiect pair of sunglasses will do. They simply prevent all ultraviolet and blue radiation from reaching the

eyes. As seen in the previous figure this prevents damage, fluorescence, scattering and chromatic abenation.

Not all sunglasses are created equal, of course. Cheap sunglasses, while they may be high camp, are of low advisability. They reduce the amount of incoming visual light but not the ultraviolet. The natural defense against excessive light, squinting, is thus prevented, and more than the nmmal amount of harmful radiation enters your eyes. If you value your eyesight, wear your cheap shades only to your favorite dim disco.

The best sunglasses for our purposes have blue-blocking yellow-amber lenses with an ultraviolet filter. NASA scientists have developed these lenses using organic dye technology to simulate the filtering effect found in the eyes of eagles. While we human eagles may encounter over 40% more blue light and 75% more ultraviolet radiation when aloft, as compared to sea level, a proper pair of sunglasses can block 98% of the blue light and 100% of the UV. One flight with a pair of blue-blocking sunglasses of proper design will tum you into a true believer. Your eyes will suffer less fatigue and images will become sharper. You will more readily spot distant gliders showing you a thermal with their circular antics. You will also find that clouds are more defined since they tend to scatter light heavily. Recognizing the initial wisps of a the1mal-based cloud can greatly aid your episodes of cross-country flight.

UV

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The UP Thermal Optics One pair of sunglasses that meets all of our requirements and then some are UP Thernrnl Optics. These fashionable specimens of eye wear are blue-blocking and are advertised to be 100% effective against ultraviolet radiation.

Their wraparound styling offers a full 220° field of vision as can be seen in the photos. Our peiipheral vision is of great importance when flying, so UP The1mal Optics are ideal for pilots in this respect.

Another feature you're sure to like is the customizing capability of the frame: it has a VG just like your glider. Little dials on the arn1s allow you to adjust the tilt of the lenses to fit any particular activity or facial oddity. Even gorillas look good in UP Thermal Optics.

The frame comes with interchangeable, adjustable ear pieces. You can use the slightly curved ones or the hooks that keep the glasses firmly in place even when you are pulling G's.

The frames are fully guaranteed against breakage or faulty workmanship-for life. The lenses themselves have a silicon hardcoat that is both scratch resistant and water repellent.

You have three choices of Thermal Optics: the Kona Pilot, the Blue Pilot and the Gold Pilot. The difference is mainly the type of iridium outer coating, which is reflected in the prices of $60, $90 and $100 respectively. If you shop around for top-drawer sunglasses you' 11 find these prices to be very reasonable. Your

JULY 1992

eyes cannot afford anything less.

The UP Thermal Optics are easy to acquire. Simply call your friendly UP America dealer or the UP factory and demand a pair.

They come in all-color-matching black and are packaged with a nice carrying pouch, a nice adjustable neck leash and removable brow foam that stops perspiration trickles and wind.

The next time you find yourself high in a blazing sun with a cramp in your squint muscles, consider the advantages of a pair of properly designed sunglasses. Then go try a pair of the UP Pilots and see if they don't make your eyes go ahhh ... •

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29

92 EAST COA T CHAMPIONSHIPS

by Rick Jacob, Meet Head

Each year, the East Coast Championships, sponsored by Sequatchie Valley Soaring, has been held during the spring, historically the best flying season for the area. Normally, pilots are prepared for cold, sometimes wet weather, but not this year, as arriving pilots found temperatures into the 80's and the only falling water associated with the Green Team.

This year's ECC featured a daily newsletter, produced each morning

by Cliff Whitney. Many pilots found, to their chagrin, that the news atop the mountain doesn't necessarily have to be true to be interesting for some people.

Each year, since the 1988 National Championships, the Tennessee Tree Toppers have allowed SYS to rent their sites for a week in the spring in order to organize the launches for the East Coast Championships. As with most Eastern sites, setup areas are limited and launches are restricted to only one pilot at a time. As the popularity of the ECC has grown and the number of entrants and free fliers have increased, it has become necessary to fine tune the setup organization, in order to allow the competitors ample opportunity to fly in similar conditions. With the exception of a couple oflocal free fliers, everyone was very cooperative, as usual, allowing the competitors access to the launches for the period of time necessary to launch the 45 pilots.

Even though the weather was beautiful, the actual flying conditions themselves left a bit to be desired; for the first time ever only four valid JULY 1992

rounds were flown. A total of six rounds were flown, but two days' short distances achieved by the majority of the contestants resulted in invalid scores for the day. We did sit atop Henson's for two days, watching the wind blow strong southwest resulting in non-flying conditions.

On day one, the task was a race from Whitwell to goal at Ninemile, a distance of 45.5 miles. Though no one was able to attain goal, Larry Tudor flew 35 miles for first place on a Wills Wing HP AT 145. Randy Adams, flying an HP AT 158 and Tony Barton on a TRX 160 tied for second, with distances of23.5 miles, while Butch Peachy rounded out the top three places. Jeny "Zoardog" Braswell got the round in motion when he announced a push. For the unknowledgeable, a push is required when a pilot is ready to launch and there are pilots ahead of him in the launch order. Pilots must be in all equipment and standing by their gliders in order to "push" the launch order, and a pilot wanting to accept the push and move to launch must also be in all gear, ready to move his glider to the launch area.

On day two the task call was to travel north to a turnpoint on the ridge above the city of Pikeville, then return to goal at Henson's LZ. An early southwest cross intimidated the task committee into making the call, but conditions changed as the round launched, until the winds were due north by the time all the competitors had launched. Trying to buck the 10-15 mph headwind resulted in many competitors landing short of the required distance needed for a valid round.

31

One competitor stayed on the ridge too long for such conditions and was unable to make a safe landing area, resulting in a tree landing while trying to land in a small field with a couple of other competitors. After hitting the trees the glider fell to the ground, with the pilot suffering a broken rib and a punctured lung. Randy Adams and Butch Peachy both reached the site almost immediately_. The Sequatchie County Rescue Squad was called and the pilot was airlifted to a Chattanooga hospital where he spent the remainder of the' 92 ECC. Once again, decisions made under the pressures of competition resulted in injury. Luckily, recovery time is expected to be reasonable.

Even though round two was deemed invalid by the scoring system, some good flights were recorded, with Pete Lehmann flying 14.7 miles of the 37.7-mile task, all of it against a strong headwind. Larry Tudor flew 9.7 miles and Chris Aria and Geffy Uchytil tied for third with 9.6 miles.

I was sure glad to have a task committee to share some of the responsibility for task calls, especially when conditions were so much different from any other spring.

Day three began with breakfast at the Lewis Chapel Fire Hall, where the decision was made to head to Whitwell. Light conditions at launch and a poor soaring forecast resulted in a task call of Whitwell to Henson's LZ, a task with a total distance of only 16.4 miles. Launching in 22nd position, Larry Tudor crossed the finish line in 54 minutes and 35 seconds, followed by defending National Champion Tony Barton who finished in 57 :33. Nelson Howe and Al Whitsell rounded out the top four with times of 1:00:51 and 1:03 :51 respectively. A total of25 pilots attained goal, with Zoardog and GeITy Uchytil landing within 200 yards of the finish line.

Again, the task call was critical, as conditions improved after the first competitor had launched.

On day four the Tennessee Valley was SUtTounded by an unusual spring high pressure area, making flying conditions iffy at best. With southwest conditions again present, Henson's was the launch and a race to Ninemile the task. Wind dummies struggled throughout the day until one finally managed to climb above the southwest face, encouraging the meet head to open the launch window at 3: 15. Again, Zoardog, launching in 27th position, got the round moving when he pushed the order. After floundering around over and under the southwest face, a few pilots managed to get high enough to head on course. Twenty-four pilots returned to launch for reflights after landing in the bailout field after their first tzy.

At the end of the day only 16 pilots reported any distance traveled on course, with Larry Tudor again flying the greatest distance with 25.3 miles. Jon Szarek and Ted Hasenfus managed only 6.7 miles after spending three hours soaring the southwest face. Boy, were their drivers iffitated. Chris Arai and Butch Peachy landed together at 6.25 miles. How does Laffy manage to continue to fly like this?

Henson's was once again the site for day five. With localized thundershowers popping up around the area, the call was once again a race from Henson's to Ninemile for a task distance of 30.2 miles. Campbell Bowen, a Disney World/Epcot hang gliding performer, climbed out over the southwest site, stuffed the bar to his knees and raced to a win, with a time of 1: 10:54. Lmy Tudor finished second with 1: 19:57 and Brad Koji third with a time of 1:27:58. Zoardog completed his first ECC task ever with a time of 1:29: 13 to round out the top four finishers. Most of the top goal finishers indicated the best lift was present on top of the plateau, with altitudes of over 7,000 feet MSL attained by many. A total of 18 competitors completed the task.

32

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366.95!

Jon Butch Erik Gus Rich Chris Rob Russell Alice Steve Ron Kevin Tony Gerry Collette 48 Meadows GN Pa en Claire 42 46 Leal Jonathan Patterson Robert 40 Barb Kramer 49 37 Cava naro Dennis 47 Fenner John 20 Rogers Ti 15 Wojnowski Greg 29 Pollock Mike 39 Sandifer Kenny 43 Caldwell Kevin 4 4 ____ Jeff ________ Williamso, __________ o.oo/

Final Results - 1992 East Coast Championships Day six was a washout, as the high pressure continued to hang around, resulting in a strong southwest flow. There was a reported sighting of Elvis at launch, wearing a Wills Wing cap, an Enterprise Wings T-shirt and UP sunglasses. Rumor has it he was evicted from the prope1ty by the TTT fashion police. Amazing things can happen on a nonHANG GLIDING

Left to

Rick Jacob, Meet head; Larry Tudor, first place; Dennis Pagen, second; Randy Adams, third; Cliff Whitney of SVS.

flying day.

Friday, day seven, began with breakfast and a photo session at the fire hall. As everyone began arriving, the Green Team broke 0111 their water balloons to liven up the gathering. As the pilots' meeting broke up and pilots began to head over to Henson's, rumblings of retaliation were heard throughout the crowd, but the Green Team wasn't listening.

Strong southwest conditions had everyone sitting around, waiting for I he 90°, 15·20 mph winds to subside a bit. Meanwhile, the plot was laid to trap the Green ones. A team photo session was called on the ramp, with the Wills Wing te;am the first to pose. As the carne;rns clicke;d, the Grce;n Team was seen running to their van for f'resh shirts, clean bandanas and the;ir new glow""in"the-dark sat in caps. As their tum came to pose, thc,y struck a fine figure of American manhood, in al I their green glory, perched on the end of the lien son's ramp wilh 40-50 or their peers, l'acing the;m wi!h cameras re;ady. On !he; coun! of three, the smile;s on their faces turnc,d lo looks of'horror as everyone in the crowd prodnce;d bucke;!s of' water and wate;r balloons galore, and they rcalize;d how trapped I hey were; as the waves of waler c,ngulfcd them . .JZ was heard to scream, "Pro!ect your leade;r!" as Zoardog managed to escape overt he side of the ramp. I •om ou! or five wasn't loo bad a we;Uing, however. Thanks to the Nc,w Hampshire e;onlingc,11! for their devious methods, which helped to offset the boredom of a non-f'Jying day.

The final day of the contest found us once again at !he Whitwell launch. Wanting a good final round, the nwct he;ad hc,ld off opening the launch window, while wind dummy l'lights showed nothing bu! a strong south cross in the valle;y, even though winds at launch we;rc straight in at 1ime;s. Finally, Chris Aria, who had schululc,d an early fliglit home, withdrew from the me;ct and offered his expe;rlisc as a wind dmnmy. When he managed lo get above launch the; (kcision was made lo open the window, with the task again a race to Ninemilc. At this point !he launch conditions became perfect, with 15 mph, straight·in winds. The wdlvcrscd, expe;ricnce;d ECC launch crew, made up ol'Dave;Schmidt, Charlie;

Jur.v 1992

Yowell and Phil llarper, launched 38 of the 42 competitors to launch in this round in 39 minutes, wi!h e;vcryone having cxecllcnt, elevator launches.

The race; was on, and whc,n il was over Larry Tudor had again won the round with a time of I :40: 13 fort he 45S·milccoursc. Miami pilot Rob Kayes finished second with a lime ol' I :41 :04, followe;d by Dennis Pagcn with I :42: 18. A total of 21 pilots completed the task. Not a bad way to finish a contcs! marred by lcss"·than-pe;rfcct we;ather conditions.

Al the evening awards ceremony beautiful trophies, produced lo· cally by Charlie Yowell, as well as cash and prizes donated by manufacturers were given lo the winners. In addition to the top !hrcc finishers receiving cash prizes, Larry Tudor was awarcfod an M-20 vario from Ball Vario, as well as a custom pair of V-mit!s from Air Wear. The; Rookie of' the meet, Tom Sturl, received a custom harness from Air Wear and Kenny Sandifer, Spor!sman of' the meet, received a gift ce;rtificate from BRS. Throughout the; meet prize;s dona!cd by local merchants and manufac!mcrs were given at tlw daily pilots' meetings. 11111

The top IO finishers were;:

Place Pilot I) Larry Tudor 2) Dennis Pagcn 3) Randy Adams 4) Nelson Howe 5) Tom Sturt 6) Al Whitsell 7) Pete Lehmann 8) Brad Ko.ii 9) Ted I lasenf'us I 0) Rob Kayes

Glider Wills Wing HP AT 145 Moyes XS 155 Wills Wing HP AT 158 Foil Combat II 152 Wills Wing HP AT 158 Various Demos Foil Combat II 152 Wills Wing HP AT 158 Wills Wing HP AT 158 UP TRX 160 33

The author al Mount Sarakura in Kitakyushu.

article and photos by ]ohn am sure you heard how the run a competition. you that it is no exaggeration. put together an staff of organizational and people. And sponsorship and that we can only dream about from local government and even the military."

36

hate to be the bearerof bacl news, but all good things must come lo an end. llang gliding enthusiasts have enjoyed the glorious although dubious social status of being the most envied, least imitated members of that tiny percentage of the population of' the planet known as avia-tors. The average Earth inhabitant to whom !he expression "fun rlying" is a contradiction in terms, highly respects our sense of free spirit, while silently qucslioning our mental health.

We hang gliding people proudly consider ourselves an elite fragment of lrnmanily representing a more noble way ortifc, despite strong evidence that we arc respected by no one except our own. This boils down lo the fact that for the past 20 years wc have been a legend in our own minds. Bui we have enjoyed being regarded as the number one lunatics of our society, which brings me lo Lhc bad news.

We are no longer the top vicarious thrill contributors to the masses. lndisputablc statistics confirm our worst fear that paragliding has taken over as the most popular form or altcma-

live aviation. World wide !here arc more paraglidcrs than hang gliders by a ratio or four to one. But let us not consider this a problem.

We must simply appreciate our flying freedom without worrying about what the non-wi11gccl life forms think ofus. Besides, pnragliding is a run way lo fly. and most ofus will probably take ii up when we get old and tired or lifting airframes.

But wait a minute. I-lave we really been pushed completely out or the limcligh1'/ You know, they cannot even do acrobatics in those inrtato-wings. In fact, tile organizers or the first Paragliding World Cup, an international com-petition held in Kyushu, Japan in late March/ early April 1992, imported Milch McAlccr and me to do an acrobalic hang gliding clcmonstra· tion al lhc opening ceremonies or their meet.

Perhaps we have not been completely forgotten after all.

My longtime friend and flying partner Dan Gilf'illan volunteered to drive Mitch and me to the airport. This was no small contribution for

r IANc curnNc

Dan,myformcrroomis a blacktop road to matc and an excellent the top, and when you pilot, since this trip look off launch a city would require arising of millions Iics in front at 4:30 am. lJndcrof you. stand that Dan likes Mitch and his sleep. His nick-started setting up our name is "Coma." gliders l'or our demo However, when the nights, but course hour arrived, Dan those smart alcck proved that he might paragliders were in the not be so deserving or air before we had our his nickname, and was bags off. Some of them up and ready to go on were landing right time. back at launch. There UP Japan very was a large carpeted graciously supplied area fort he paragliders TR.X's for us to lly to launch on. Mitch while in Japan, so we was suited up and John over Space World in Kitakyushu. Note full-scale model of U.S. space shuttle. were able to air-travel hooked in, and as he like paraglidcr pilots. picked a path through What a treat lo travel the mass of canopies without a 13-foot oversized piece or luggage. often used in the U.S. But quite the antithesis is scattered overt he carpet he was heard to mutter, We each had a paraglidcr and hang glider harthe Japanese attitude toward the visiting foreign "Outa the way you bag fags." He launched and ness along, and it was still "cake" compared to frce-l'light pilot. I am sure you have heard did some high speed, close passes that were an taking a hang glider. Those parngliders do have before about how well the Japanese run a comeducation to many or the parapenters. advantages. petition. I am here to tell you that it is no Mitch thermaled up and did some beautiBefore heading out over the watl:r, our ful loops and twisties in a I 60TRX he had never exaggeration. plane li·om LAX stopped in Portland to pick up They put together an incredible staff or flown before. I launched in the I 40, and we did more Orient-bound travelers. It was there that the best side-by-side show we could muster, organizational and opcrat ional people. And they two more paraglidcr pilots, Chuck Smith and get sponsorship and cooperation that we can having practiced no prepared routine. A reason-· Greg Smith, boarded the plane. Chuck and Greg only dream about from corporations, local busiable number of locals turned out to catch the arc not brothers despite my nickname for them. ness, government officials and even the milifestivities, and we heard that we met with their Greg has been flying paraglidcrn since the beapproval. tary. I mean nothing against the Paragliding ginning and held the U.S. open distance record World Cup, but to give credit where credit is After about 40 minutes Mitch headed out in 1990. due, I am sure it is the style of the Japanese to the dcsignatccl LZ which was an unused Chuck and Mitch, both being UP factory rather than the PWC that brought a hang gliding parking lot al an amuscrnent park called Space demo to this meet. pilots, intended to compete in the Paragliding World. We did some loops over Space World World Cup even before Etsushi Matsuo's reWhen we exited the plane in flukuoka it and landed. The lol was surrounded by tall quest for an aerobatics demo. Mitch holds the was late and raining. We had to find our way to power lines and large buildings. The air was dual distinction of being the most awesome Kitakyushu with only a vague idea as to where somewhat rowdy so I landed right where Mitch acrobatic pilot in his10ry, plus the U.S. National to go. Mitch got into deciphering Kanji, one of had !ouched down since that was the only proven Paragliding Champion. three written languages used by the Japanese. good spot in the LZ. The Paragliding World Cup is a series of Kanji is ancient and aesthetic, using drawn I agreed lo fold the gliders while Odajima eight contests held in Japan, Austria, Switzersymbols to represent words. Mitch made a stop took Mitch back to launch so he could fly in land, France and Spain, with the final meet in at the information booth and copied down some round one or the contest. By the time I returned the Owens Valley in September. Mr. Matsuo Kanji. He then went outside and started looking to launch all the competitors were gone on was instrumen!al in bringing the first or the course. I had hoped to get a photo of 4.'i of those at bus destination plates. He got us to the series to Japan. He flew the sites himself many Kitakyushu Prince Hotel in the dark as if he had "air bags" gaggled around launch. I set up again times to prove that a valid competition could be been there before. and did a side camera mount. As J launched, held there. Consequently, we were on a carbonAfter three days of no flying due to rain we Odajima's wife Mari and some other free flyers driven night to Kyushu, an island al the southawoke to good weather. Mr. Odajima of UP were preparing to fly, so I did get a few "boneeast encl or Japan. When wc arrived, the bad Japan drove Chuck, Mitch and me to the local less birds" in a glider-mounted photo. weather was wailing. launch site on Mt. Sarakura about 1,300 feet With my air show responsibility fulfilled, Our plane landed in acitynamed Fukuoka, above Kitakyushu. Sarakura is similarto Sy I mar Oclajima, Mari and l drove south toward Beppu, the pronunciation of which sounds like a curse near Los Angeles and Jmatos in Athens. There one of Japan's best flying sites, so I could do

or

JULY ]992

37

Entrance to a Japanese hang gliding flying site. They don't mess around. some photography. We stopped in Ufuin that night, a town behind the mountain from Bepu.

Ufuin is a natural hot spring tourist area. We ate at a very good restaurant of my favorite type.

There is a gas gri II in the middle of the table, and you cook your own food. You will never complain about cold food in this place.

The restaurant is part of a traditional Japa·· ncsc hot spring bath house and gift shop. This establishment is very old as evidenced by the rough timber construction. We were met there by the wi fc and son of Mr. Otome, the local UP dealer. Otome was in Kitakyushu helping with the contest, but had invited us to stay at his home in Ufuin. The Japanese are very hospitable.

The next day we drove over the mountain to Bepu, where the only way to the launch site is hyropeway (tram). It was raining so Mari and I flew paragliders at the site in Ufuin under lowering clouds. Afterwards we headed back to Kitakyushu for a trip to Osaka. We drove on board a large boat at 8:00 PM, slept in a bunk, and at 8:00 the next morning we drove off in Osaka. I went below to look at the engines driving this thing. There were two eight-cylinder diesels with cylinders the size or oil drurns.

You could sec the heads on one level, and the crankcases on the next level down.

38

Next we traveled to Nishi Fuji, a very scenic flying site west of Mt. Fuji. I had hoped for a dynamite photo with Mount Fuji in the background, and this is the place to do it. This is an excellent flying area with several launch sites used by three diffcrentclnbs. Odajima told me that a big corporation is investing $300,000,000 in a paragliding resort complete with ropeway to the top. They arc expecting a phenomenal proliferation of the sport.

On the evening of our arrival at Nishi Fuji T took a late sled nm on my Stellar paraglider.

As I approached the LZ Tnoticed a hang glider resting flat on the top of a small grove of 50-foot trees. Later we watched as the owner cut down four trees to bring the glider to the ground. I think the pilot had to pay for the four trees. l saw several young women in the LZ that night. I think that women taking up paragliding is a trend in Japan.

On the following day it looked clear in the morning, so I was excited about a photo. However, when we got to launch the sky was very hazy. I reluctantly mounted the camera and got above the mountain. There were other hang gliders and manyparagliders in the air. I pushed the button, but am not completely satisfied with the results. I got some well-composed shots with a woman pilot named Midori Olmuki in frame, but Mt. Fuji is nearly clouded in. Midori

thought J was trying to collide with her so I did not get as close as I wanted. Three paraglidcrs landed in the trees that day. I think they are throwing many students off the mountain.

After folding the glider, and saying sianara to the local pilots, we took to the road lo Tokyo.

On one street I saw school children walking, and they were all wearing helmets. I asked Odajima why. His response was "traffic." /\t the beginning or a road construction area, in place of a real live flag person, they have what they call a "flag robot." It looks like an American school crossing guard with one movable arm waving the flag. At a rest stop I noticed a hamburger vending machine. I enjoy observing the different ways in foreign countries.

Once in Tokyo I had time to spend a rainy day with my friend Reiko Kobayashi, whom I taugh1 to fly while she attended college in the U.S. I did not see Chuck and Mitch again in Japan. They finished their contest and departed the country. In case any paragliding enthusiasts are reading, Uli Wicsmeierwon the Paragliding World Cup in a UP Katana FR. I ran into Greg at the airport in Tokyo and we jetted home together.

Many thanks to Mr. Odajima and UP Japan for the great hospil.ality and effort lo get me to the beautiful flying sites. I recommend Japan to anyone wishing an exotic flying trip. Ill

HANG GurnNc

The author foot-launch towing in the mid l970's.

1

here I was, diving out of the sky with a broken arm. As I lay there on the ground afterwards, wearing my sunglasses and looking cool, a thought passed through my mind: "Strange ...

Why didn't my weak link break and save me?"

And then l thought, "Why doesn't Superman's hair glow white hot when he enters the atmosphere at 17,(JOOmph?" A lightbulblitovcrmy head, thus astonishing the emergency medical tcclmkians. "Because that ain't the way it works," T thought.

J advocated the use of weak links in towing (May and June 1977 Hang Gliding). T was soundly lambasted by the towing community at thal time because rope breaks were generally feared more than glider failure.

At the lime I was building tow bars to convert hang gliders for towing. A pilot at a meet in the cast, flying a 20' Wills Wing Swallowtail, signalled 1hc boal to tow him at execsJULY ]992

by

Broyles

sivc speeds whereupon 1he glider failed and he died. I was greatly concerned. No one had yet died while using my product, which made it possible to tow gliders not specifically designed for tow. Weak links had been suggested to me

by Jeff.lobe, of.Jobe Wing fame, and r had been using them myself' to prove they were safe.

Safety concerns about weak links were valid, because towing practice in the early and middle ?O's included the infamous pop start and deep water start. These highly stressed the tow rope. Further, early tow pilots commonly towed with fixed lines al. tow forces which could at times bend a stainless steel control bar, cspc-· cially in competition. A rope break with such high rope tension could cause a glider to whip stall or fly over on its back. A weak link had to be strong enough to withstand a pop or deep water start, yet not so strong that failure would cause inadvcrlcnt acrobatic maneuvers.

I decided on a 600-lb. test piece of 3/16" polyethylene rope in-line with my usual (at that time) J ,200-lb. l/4" polypropylene tow line.

.I had a number of failures of 600-lb. weak links. (Yes, there arc thermals over lakes) but never had a difficult recovery flying gliders from standards lo the Wills Wing XC and the Sunbird Challenger. On the other hand, I saw a UP Dragonfly 1113 tumble and break both leading edges after a weak link break-induced whip stall. I also saw a LEAF Talon perform an Jmmclmann bccansc of a weak link break.

I, myself, rode a Sunhird SupcrStrato into a lake after a lockout-induced leading edge failure where the weak link didn't break. I was also wearing a full helmet and a competition ski vest, and only got the wind knocked out of me.

But... lt was clear that the test of time was demonstrating the 600+ Jh. weak link to be too strong for many circumstances.Various people, such as Hewitt Phillip, .lcrry Forburgcr and others were advocating the use of even lighter weak links.

39

Pay-Out Winches Where are we now? Various factions recommend weak link strengths from less than 200 lbs. all the way to 400 lbs.

I personally use a 300-lb. weak link, which would put me s011 of on the strong weak link end of the spectrum. And, in fact, I received approbation because my weak link didn't fail during my "Big Fall."

Which leads back to the first part of this article. Why didn't my weak link break and save me?

Because, That's Not The Way It Works!

A pay-out winch is designed to pay out rope at a constant line tension-pay attention now-regardless of any factor except failure of proper winch function if the rope is paying out at all. The vehicle speed, the wind speed, entering a the1mal, exiting a thermal, or flying the glider in the opposite direction of the tow, don't affect line tension.

There are things which do affect line tension: 1. The difference between dynamic and static coefficient of friction.

2. The effective diameter of the drum as affected by rope wrap.

3. The airresistance of the paid out tow line.

4. Inertial effects when accelerating or decelerating line pay-out speed.

5. Change of the dynamic coefficient of friction as the brake pads of the brake heat.

6. Change of the brake pressure by the operator.

Nevertheless, a properly designed winch and a skilled operator will provide relatively constant line tension to the hang glider and pilot.

An aside about line tension. We shouldn't confuse line tension and gauge pressure on the typical winch. The gauge pressure measures the pressure in the line to the brake on the winch.

Line tension varies as a non-linear function of gauge pressure and other factors, but the only way we can be sure of line tension is to periodically test it with a line tension meter. The meter may consist of a spring scale or other device.

The line tension should be checked with the rope continuously being pulled out from 100 to 3,000 feet, and the operatorof the winch should learn how the rope wrap diameter affects line tension. (The more rope out, the higher the line tension.)

Having talked about pay-out winches and line tension a little bit, we will skip to the use of weak links. There are dramatic differences be40

tween towing with a fixed line and towing with a pay-out winch. Weak link application is different for each, so there will be a separate discussion for each.

Weak Links With Fixed Tow With a fixed line between the glider and the tow vehicle, line tension may rise to very high levels if not limited. Wind shears, gusts, excessive tow vehicle speeds, thermals and lockouts all contribute to line tensions which may easily exceed 1,000 lbs. A weak link must be used to limit ailframe loads should any of these situations arise. Further, the exceedingly high line tensions which may occur during a lockout can cause the pilot's or the vehicle's release to malfunction and fail to release, while not allowing the pilot to recover from the lockout. It is appropriate to use a weak link of about 75% of the strength of the gross weight of the glider and pilot, the goal being to have a weak link which will fail early on in a lockout. Too light a weak link will, of course, make launches dangerous, and limit climb rate under tow.

Water tow dudes will say, "Hey, that guy is full of it! You can't do a pop start or deep waterstartwitha 175-lb. weaklink."Isay, "Yo dudes, put a pay-out winch or a rear-facing throttle in your boat and use a stronger weak link. I am proof positive you can live through a lockout on water-some of the time." But one of my early tow buddies in Florida was killed in a lockout over a lake even though the 16-foot standard he was flying was much easier to tow than a modem glider. So be careful.

Weak Links With Pay-Out Winch The guiding principle with the pay-out winch is that the line tension is always less than a preset maximum, except under certain circumstances.

Those circumstances include the period during which the drum is just starting to rotate, when the delta theta is real high.

When the drum is just starting to rotate, for most pay-out winches with disk brakes, the static friction of the brake must first be overcome to start the brake sliding before the line tension stabilizes. It's s011 of like when you started pushing that big box of bricks out in the garage. It was real hard to get going, but once it started sliding, it was much easier to keep going. This effect causes the line tension to rise past the normal maximum to a peak, then recede.

What about that delta theta thing? I'm sorry my computer doesn't have Greek letters-no, that's not a college fraternity. It refers to the change of rotational velocity. Just as F=MA means that the force needed to accelerate an object depends on the product of its mass and its acceleration, the force needed to rotate an object depends on the product of its mass, angular acceleration and radius of gyration, divided by the distance away from the center of the object on which the force is exerted (at right angles). What that means is a number of things.

It takes force to stat1 the winch and winch motor spinning, or change the velocity of the spinning.

The radius of the drum is affected by the amount of rope wrapped on the drum. The more rope paid out, the smaller the radius. The smaller the radius, the more line tension needed to accelerate the drum.

Whew. In the real world, probably, winch inertia is only a factor right at launch, when the glider comes off the platfmm. The combination of static friction and delta theta tend to pop weak links when the launch is too brisk.

The weak link must be stronger than the preset line tension of the pay-out winch-probably 50% more to eliminate dangerous weak link breaks, unless the launch speed is carefully controlled and the glider angle is carefully set so that it just flies gently off the platform. This is hard to do, and requires the pilot to fly very close to the tow vehicle with a very short rope for a few seconds until the glider clears the wind shadow of the tow rig. Most tow rigs I have tested use line tensions from 150 to 200 lbs. to maximize tow altitude, but may reduce gauge pressure at launch to provide reduced line tension while down low. Most pilots I know who fly behind pay-out winches use about 300-lb. weak links.

So what protects the pilot from lockouts?

This is where the knowledgeable pay-out winch type of guy chuckles, nudges the guy next to him and says, "Yuk, yuk, the pay-out winch, of course!" And what protects the pilot from towing into themials, excessive vehicle speeds, wind shears or gusts? "Yuk, yuk, the winch!"

Then why do you need a weak link? Good question! What if the winch jams, or the rope gets tangled, or a low-flying C-47 on a reconnaissance mission flies through the tow line.

Bro, you better have a weak link.

But the weak link really just needs to be weak enough to avoid airframe damage and a strong reaction of the glider when the weak link breaks. Experience has taught us that a weak link of less than 400 lbs. breaking strength will do that.

HANG GLIDING

Measuring Weak Link Strength How do you know how strong your weak link is?

I use a loop of 9/64" leach line on the nose of my three-string release. The loop uses a single overhand knot to weaken it and a simple fishennan type of knot to fasten the ends together. The loop is placed on the end of the longest of the three strings by simply overlapping, much as you would attach two rubber bands. The weak link loop is then used in place of the third string in the three-string release. It puts the weak link on the tow bridle instead of the end of the tow rope, and relieves the tow driver of weak link maintenance.

I know that this anangement breaks at 300 lbs. ± 25 lbs. when fresh. If used continually without change the weak link will fail from wear after about 10 tows. How do I know?

Because I tested 10 weak links on a cabletesting machine at a hang glider manufacturer.

But what about yours? Hang your weak

link from a beam in the ceiling or a tree limb, then stan adding weights from your Weider Iron Man weight set until it breaks. Do it again, and again until you know you have repeatable results.

Tie a strap to a biner and to the bumper of your CJ7 Jeep or your Farmall Cub. Tie a strap to a tree. Attach a spring scale to the strap and a biner to the spring scale. Put a weak link between the two biners. Get your kid brothernot forgetting to warn him about recoil-to watch the spring scale. Put the Jeep in FWD Low, and proceed to break weak links galore, again trying for repeatability.

Build a rack out of 4" x 4" beams. Get a small car jack, and a pressure gauge. Build metal brackets, attach the gauge to the jack, build a mechanical monstrosity good only for testing weak links, calibrate, and charge your friends a lot of money to test their ideas on weak link construction.

Whatever works for you! JUST DO IT! Incidentally, three strands of 202 leach line with an overhand knot fails at about 300 lbs.

This article is sort of like what King

Ferdinand told Mozan about his opera. Too many words. So I'm going to end here. Wait!

Wait! Why doesn '!Superman's hair glow white hol on reentry? Well, honestly, herumph, just the superheated air alone should make him look like a meteorite. The answer is: Comic books don't have to obey the laws of physics. •

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41

SAFETY FORUM pilot's face when he came to the shop to have his harness mains shortened. His 10-year-old harness looked in good shape except for some slight fading. When I asked him if these were the original mains he proudly answered yes. I suggested that we put on new mains, but the pilot insisted on the old ones. After reinforcing several areas of his harness and mains, I went to the "seven-class" sewing machine, that handles all our five-cord thread and structural sewing, to reattach the mains. The first row of stitching absolutely shredded the webbing. It was like the old trick where you bake a telephone book and later impress your friends by having your six-year-old tear it in half with his bear hands. On the outside the telephone book looks like new, but in reality in falls apart like dust. When I looked up at the pilot his face was white. I am afraid I felt a little white too.

If anyone has noticed other potentially dangerous problems we would really like to hear about them. Only through this kind of information can we continue to improve our products and help to make hang gliding as safe as possible. •

Harness And Parachute Problems

by Betty Pfeiffer In the past few years we have become increasingly aware of several potential problems regarding harnesses and parachutes.

I would like to take this opportunity to address these areas.

Ballistic Parachutes Without Deployment Bags Many of the ballistically-deployed parachute systems have raw canopies packed directly into the parachute containers. The problem seems to be this: no matter how precisely the velcro is closed on the parachute container, the light parachute material can sometimes find a way to wedge itself between the hook and loop.The hook can then severely damage the canopy.

Deployment Bag Curved Pins Chris Smith of Cloudbase Harness fame reports a case in which the deployment bag curved pin rusted to the bungee loop. He thinks that the brass grommet used in the parachute container contributed to this problem.

Old, Faded Harnesses And Mains

Betty Pfeiffer may be contacted at: High Energy Sports, 2236 W, 2nd St., Santa Ana,

Everyone has now accepted the fact that ultraviolet rays are harmful to nylon, yet pilots continue to fly with faded, worn harnesses that they have used for 10 years or more. I will never forget the look on one

CA 92703 (714) 972-8186 FAX (714) 9721430.-Ed.

Deployment Bag Strength We have seen problems with parachute deployment bag handles ripping the bag. This is usually with older deployment bags. Pilots should test this by pulling on the deployment bag handle with reasonable force.

ASINGLE

- YOUR AVERAGE GtlDER MOVES 37 FEETIN SECONt\~Yifstf-:_ FEElS LIKE MOSTTHERMALS 1-!ERE ARE JUST ABOUT~- - - -- 37 FEETIN DIAMETER. IF YOU BUY ONE Of THOSE YARIOS: _

WITH~~~NtE~i~~~~~w:-:::;=r:::y:,.;f~~'

1--f

- _ ·JHEpf~OTWITH:ittEROeERTSBREADPAN, _ · HIS HASA RESPONSE TIME OF ONE_TENTHOI' A SEcotllll"- -

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Hook Knife Snaps

( '

--

fR.01,fROBBilTSOUDBRINSTRUMBNTS 31400.lfll'DIUVE · SANTABARJIARACA_93109.

-

-

,

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-

SOUUIOM

We have seen several hook knives whose snaps have rusted shut. We needed to use two hands, and in one case two people, to dislodge the snap. The problem is not always apparent with just a visual inspection. Pilots should try out their snaps on a regular basis.

42

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The W.W. Windividual The Robertson Charts Of Reliability article and chart© copyright 1992 by Michael Robertson So where do I start to describe the essence of 20 years of trying to teach good judgement. The beginning might be good. No, too hokey; we'll come back to that. Let's start with the heart of the system: the windividual. This applies to everything we do, not just flying.

Much has been written on the wind, the site and glider reliability. Most accidents though (and of course safe flights), originate with the pilot and his/her processes. G .W. Meadows led into this topic with "Intermediate Syndrome" in a recent installment of HG 101, and Colin Peny from Sonora, California suggested it as well. So here goes, let's preflight the flyer.

Having established the idea of breaking weather and sites into their component bits and scoring them each out of 10, and figuring the reliable modes in which to fly, we now move to the pilot. The Windividual RCR divides us into 20 variables in three groups: 1-5 are physical, 616 psychological and 17-20 parapsychological.

Psychological is subdivided into three subgroups: ego, complacency and proficiency.

USHGA, many schools and I have notebooks outlining the RCRs with scoring guides. Safety costs time and money (in this case a dime) and it pays-big time.

Remember that each instructor will have his own slant on many of these items, as you may. The idea is to personalize this stuff. Make it meaningful to you. Make it work. Here are a few of my thoughts; I'd love to hear yours.

As in the Wind RCR we are monitoring change as we fly, in addition to scoring the situation before launch. When breaking things down into little parts we must not lose sight of the intenelatedness of this stuff and be aware of the big picture.

44

1) Health

4) Eyesight

One of the wonde1ful side effects of flying is learning to take full responsibility for your own well-being. Never put yourself totally in the hands of a doctor or instructor. They are advisors, guides and assistants only. I lean toward holistic, natural, preventative medicine. Some preventative flying: hypoxia (come down); vertigo (look inside, alternate or stop turn); hypothermia (overdress); dehydration and blood sugar (take food and drink); and fatigue might need to be addressed. Be prepared. Good flying experiences help avoid dis-ease.

Being monocular for the last few years (I lost one to a metal ting, crewing for towing) makes it easy for me to stress the importance of eye protection. Dust, bugs and rain can adversely affect vision. Being blinded on launch or landing is bad. Seeing clearly is a boon for X-C flying, not only for spotting soaring birds (thermals) in the distance, but also watching out for wires. Conective lenses are well advised.

Be careful at dusk and over water since depth perception is impaired. I feel sorry for you folks with two eyes, trying to use parallax in those situations. My height computer has been reprogrammed to use other signals. Also remember that it gets dark earlier if you 're wearing sunglasses. Finally, a word about clouds, which make you blind even with glasses. If you are tempted to try flying in clouds (illegal, hallucinogenic and foolish), don't. Just shut your eyes.

It's about the same. If you want the imaginary cloud to go away just open your eyes, the real ones might not.

2) Conditioning Fit versus fat is a little glib. A couple of giant wrestlers who still fly taught me years ago that big people can be in shape (300 pounds has to really hurtle to get off a gentle slope). Maintaining body tone is important for everything we do.

Being out of shape doesn't preclude flying, it just lowers your score on this line and gives you an opportunity to improve.

5) Fatigue 3) Reflexes These are a little more fixed, though goalies say video games (good excuse, eh) and ping pong hone them. The ability to react quickly and correctly is greatly affected by hypothermia (cold) and fatigue (as are many other variables).

Big topic, huge. We are all kids at heart and hate to admit it when we 're tired. It affects our mood and judgement in addition to the more obvious physical impediments mentioned above. Both good and bad experiences are physically and emotionally draining. Use at least one third of your altitude or time, as appropriate, to plan your landing. X-C pilots will attest to the number of whacks that result from a combination of an unknown LZ and a greyed-out human computer. Consciously relaxing and changing posiHANG GLIDING

Watch out for the overconfidence that signals its hazardous presence, and send yourself to bed without supper or flying until it goes away.

0 M. Robtrt*'n 1979 (Rev 05/91)

li@ibHH~~@liil CCllil@IT~ @1! li®H.@lhiHft~;r (liCCli}(@j

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(Medium)

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1.

Heallh

Sick, Weak

WeU,Strong

2.

Condilioning

Fat

Fit

3.

Reflexes

4.

Eye sight

Cold Slow SJuonish Blind

Hol nuick Alen 20/10

5.

Fatigue

Tired

Fresh, Rested

6.

Ego

Egomaniac

7.

SpeclaCors

100D's

0 Friends

Cameras

ABCT.V.

Peer Pressure

Pushy

Supportive

10.

Competition

Co-operative

11.

Experience

Nega1ive Macho Intermediate

Begiru1er

Expert

12.

Confidence

Over Confident

Fearful

Balanced

13.

Time Since La.st Good Flvino

Too Long

Too Shor1

14.

Drugs

Any

Optimum (Qntimum -10x last f1ioht lime'I None

15.

Mood

Foul

Fair

16.

Maturity

Impatient

Patient

17.

rnruWon

Dense

Sixth Sense

18.

Biorhythms (optional)

19.

Self-Awareness

Triple Critic.al Low

Triple Positive High

20.

Rela.,;ation

Tense Uptight

Loose Rela.,;:ed

NOTE:

None

TOTAL SCORE=

Any 'O's reduce the overall reliability to O!

RELIABILITY =

13) Time Since Last Good Flying I

I

ID~

BY2

I

NOTES~ (listed ia ordtr ofidated Variables from alxNc.) 13. Oplfmum lime betv.-•een flights should be JO limes the duration of your la.st goOO flight.

15. Recent trauma reduces reliability. Some major examples (Birth, Marriage, Death, Divorce can affect up to 1 Yr.) 20. Visualize a perfect launch and landing before take-off, Breath.

tion in the air periodically can ease fatigue, as can fruit, food and/or drink. So can leaving the party sober and getting a good rest the night before.

Gee, how space flies when having fun, so let's skip tl1e five Ego variables until next time and spend a moment on Complacency. What is it? Who cares! Watch out for that smug, lackadaisical, familiarity-breeds-contempt attitude that we humans develop as we begin to take things we know for granted. Use the RCRs to help you recognize this cyclic phenomenon and minimize its negative effect.

JULY 1992

12) Confidence Again, too much is the worst and too little can be scary. We want just the right amount. Doing the RCRs and getting high scores can help a lot.

Progressing well within our limits, flying at flying sites with which we're familiar on a comfortable bird, getting good instruction, etc. all help. When (not if) we feel like we've got it all together and there is nothing more to learn, look out. The sky is about to fall.

l Friend

8.

Sec notes below

I

0-10

Sainl

9.

.. ---··

I

~

11) Experience This is our friend and ally except when afflicted

by Intermediate Syndrome. As beginners we are naturally cautious. There is a fine line between fear and respect. The problem with fear is that it can cause the system to lock up at extremely inopportune times, like whens- happens and a focused reaction is necessary to avoid an accident. Experts have learned a great deal through experience; these charts are from that source, but even top pilots who have flown for years get complacent from time to time.

Ah yes, the "Air Monkey" thing. Complacency can be enhanced by flying too much. (Did I say that? Is it possible?) Dudes who test fly gliders for a living have been known to get a tad casual.

My belief is that time in the air is about 10 times what time on the ground is. That is, after a onehour flight it takes 10 ground hours to get back to optimum reliability. Does this mean that we can't fly for a couple of hours, land, have an apple and take off again? Not at all. If we do though, our reliability and attentiveness to new conditions is diminished a bit, not to mention 5, I 2 and 15. Of course, the more obvious and greater problem occurs when we haven't flown for a long time-weeks, months or (God forbid) years. Adjust your scores appropriately and get that gorilla off your back.

Another point here is the low reliability that exists the first and last days when you travel to new, and especially exotic, far-away places.

Take a day to watch the locals and befriend the wind gods on anival, and reserve a day to reminisce before leaving. Remember, "one last flight" could be your last. Every flight must be the first and only one on our minds.

The rest of the related stuff on this chart will have to wait until next month. Meanwhile ponder this conundrum: How can an overconfident egomaniac recognize his condition without outside help?

For the answerto this and a myriad of other mysteries tune in next month.Until then fly safe and high-don't die.•

45

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article and photos by Michael Warren 11

We a problem 'With . hb nezg ors years ago, gliding zvas new in the neighborhood. club, 1 was a little crazier back then. then we have done a complete We are very community oriented . h.t now. rzg

1S

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47

"Sylmar is known as the hang gliding capital of the world because in almost every wind dircc1ion we have a site within a half hour's drive ··-all the way from the coast down to the desert," says association president John Bylin.

On any given Sunday as many as 70 hang gliders f'loat ofT Kagel Mountain, making hang gliding a local tourist attraction. (Even a nearby hotel, the Roxt'orcl Inn, celebrates the hang gliding history in the area and offers discounts lo visiting pilots.)

The air may be consistent, hut it's not always clear: "There arc times when it gels so smoggy you can't even sec the landing zone," Bylin says. Kagel is J,520 feet above sea level and the landing zone is at 1,450 feel.

John flylin, President of the Sylmar Hang Gliding Association, in the Kagel LZ.

The ideal conditions lrnve created a steady supply of hang gliders over the years, something that at one time caused friction in the comnrn· nity. The SHG/\ began in 198'.l, partly as a community relations tool.

"We had a problem with the neighbors years ago," B yl in says. "Jiang gliding was some· thing new in the neighborhood. The club, I guess, was a little crazier back then. Since then we have done a complete turnaround. We arc very community oriented right now."

"We wan1 toeducate the community about hang gliding, Bylin says. "They're not aware of how hang gliding has progressed. Ir you talk to people on the street now they say, 'Oh, yeah, I know somebody who was killed. I know somebody who got hurt.' But that was in the 70's and early 80's when it was pretty dangcrous.n

Member John Wickharn sends out informational flyers to the community every rcw months to keep the neighbors in touch. It's also "so they're not peering out the windows and making speculations," Bylin says.

As part of' the association's proactive approach, they've worked in local schools with Students Against Drunk Driving, "telling them there arc other ways to get high than to drink and drive, Bylin says. They've also marched in city parades, worked with United Cerebral Palsy, lhc TrccPcoplc and the forest service.

48

But their most successful program has been the aerial crime watch program. The members serve as winged lookouts, reporting fires, illegal shoot .. ing, dumping and any other villainous activities in the mountains.

Yardley says: "You actually do get the opportunity to sec things in the air that you could never sec anyplace else. However, she says, 'Tm not expecting lo sec hank robbers with masks and sacks full of booty running down there."

Now other clubs along the San Gabriel Mountains (Mt. Wilson and Crestline) arc doing it loo. Among them, they have the whole range covered. The program's chief benefit is as a deterrent to arsonists, which arc a danger and nuisance lo hang gliders as well as the general population.

John Bylin says they've reported seven fires. "It's a program that works. We get a vantage point that not everybody gets. I sec abandoned, stolen cars in the canyons all the time."

In addition, lhc club wants lo show the cornnrnnity that hang gliding is safe, that "we 're not going to be landing on houses, Bylin says.

"Sylmar has had a pretty good track record for injuries, but unfortunately in the recent past we've had a /'cw accidents, which the club as a

whole is unhappy about. We've been getting on our members and telling people, 'Don' l do these gravity checks, they're not good."' He attributes their good safety record to the local hang gliding schools, True Flight Concepts in Sylmar and Winclsports Soaring Center in Van Nuys.

Among the SHG/\ 's prominent members is Bob Lafay, a retired engineer who has more than 1,000 flights. Lafay settled on hang gliding alkrtrying out skydiving, parasailing, sailplan· ing and other adventure sports. "There was always something missing. But after one time hang gliding I stopped everything else."

Lafay is also the author of Far Gone Flying a book of hang gliding cartoons. He has flown in India, Africa, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Hawaii and the Soviet Union. But Big Tujunga Mountain, which looms over his house, was his favorite site until it was closed by the forest service because of damage to the road by off-road vehicles.

Katherine Yardley, one of only a handful of women in the club, once held the women's distance record. She took off soutl! of ML Whitney and landed 164 miles away and nine and a half hours later in Gabbs, Nevada.

HANG GLJIJINC

wash 500 feet from his condo. They fly wearing bathing suits and have a barbecue and swim party after the competition.

A

Bob Lafay, infamous hang gliding ca1·tmmist, is a l<mg .. tJme Sylmar pilot.

In 1990 Lafay and Yardley were arnong nine Americans wbo were invited to fly in the Soviet Union. "The; rlying was OK; we didn't go to the place; that was the hcsl lo fly," Yardley says. "We went because we all wanted lo mecl the Russians and they were fabulous. Plying aside, it was j11st the best time we ever had. It was like meeting a whole group or people yo11 've known fora longtime because we had so much in common."

They lkw for a week and a half in the smal I, central J\sian capital city of Alma·J\la, in Kazakhstan. "It's a bea11lifnl place," Lafay says, "It's the only place: so far that l 'd like to go back to before I go anyplace c:lsc." Before the peace cup, "no one had ever flown there before, ex· cep1 Soviet pilots."

President John Bylin began f'lying in 1988.

"Ever since I was a Jillie kid I wanted 10 fly. l had dreams lliat I could fly. Jumping off the bed didn't do i1, jumping off the roof with an um·· brclla didn '1 do it. Ten or 12 years ago I bought a photograph at a swap meet of a guy hang gliding in Yosemite with an old standard hang glider. I kept looking at it and looking at it. My girlfriend got tired of hearing about it. She said, 'Either don't say another word or go take a lesson.' So l went and look a lesson."

The cffccl was immediate;: "It ruined my home life," he says. girlfriend moved out on me. She has a valid complaint. She wanted lo JULY 1992

start a group called Hanganon, where the hus-· hands and wives that don't rly can get together and do something." (One member, Roman Dodson, actually nms such a program, charging $IO for a membership.)

Twice a year Bylin hosts an "Over the Back Party," now part of the Jeff Scott Challenge. Members rly eight miles north of Kagel into Canyon Country and land in a large sand

Now that he's prcsiclcn1, hang gliding is taking up even more of 13ylin's time. "Our biggest problem is continuously losing sites," he says.

"The major change we have had is changing our landing zone and losing launches due to dcvelopmen1. It's been a hard road to try to secure a place. J\nd that's what we're doing now is working really hard lo secure our landing zone.

We're working on our conditional 11sc permit to actually gain title. It's a tough process."

The plush landing zone below Kagel was meticulously landscaped by Edward Tadeo, .Ir. He began the work in l 983 and, he says, "I havcn 't finished yet." lie works on it every weekend and calls it "therapy."

The place is guarded 24 hours a day by "I lungary" Joe Szalia, who's lived in a van in !he parking lot for two years. I-le needed somewhere to park, he says, and the neighbors wanted lo make sure the place was sale. It turned out to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The landing zone is a haven for club mem· bcrs, who linger long after the flying is done.

"When l 'm feeling down or upset I can just go to the LZ and sit," Bylin says. "And they'll help mcoul. They'rcthctypcofpeoplewhowill stop on a highway to help you fix a flat tire." Ill

49

RATINGS SAFE PILOT AW ARDS BRONZE DANIEL GRAV AGE SUE MCGRATH WAYNE RIPLEY LYNDON THOMAS

LILIENTHAL AWARDS SILVER ERNIE ANTINORI KEITH MURRAY GOLD JOEL GODIN

BEGINNER RA TINGS PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 1 ARRIGONI, LONI: Seattle, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring BROWN, RUSSELL: Port Townsend, WA; K. DeRussy/HG Emporium BURRIS, BRETT: Bellevue, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring LYNCH, MALBRY: Talent, OR; W. Roberts/Southern OR Hang Gliding SMITH, GARY: Seattle, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring STONEBROOK, PHILIP: Ashland, OR; W. Roberts/So. OR HG WILSON, TERRY: Kent, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring Region 2 DUNN, RANDALL: Alameda, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandelle SF HANSSON, ERIC: San Francisco, CA; R. Frey/Airtime of SF HARRIS, DAN: Los Gatos, CA; P. Denevan/Mission Soaring Center MELERO, IVAN: Daly City, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandelle SF SAUNDERS, NORMA: San Geronimo, Ca; A. Whitehill/Chandelle SF VANN, RON: Windsor, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandelle SF WEBER, RICK: Sunnyvale, CA; D. Murphy ZELEZNOCK, MARK: Alamo, CA; R. Frey/Airtime of SF Region 3 CHAMPLIN, MICHAEL: Culver City, CA; D. Quackenbush/True Flight DALLAS, ROB: Bellflower, CA; A. Beem/Windsports Int'!

FROSCHAUER, DAVID: Valencia, CA; A. Beem/Windsports Soaring GERSON, TERRY: Carlsbad, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center GRANT, JAMES: Kihei, HI; A. Engert/Hang Gliding Maui KLEIN, OLIVIER: W. Los Angeles, CA; A. Beem/Windsports Soaring MELDAL, MAGNE: Goleta, CA; J. Hagemann/Santa Barbara HG Region4 BAUERS, JOE: Pueblo, CO; R. Wilkinson/Eagle's Nest HG BOUCHIER, PAUL: Colorado Springs, CO; R. Wilkinson/Eagle's Nest CORLEY, MA TT: Boulder, CO; J. Fritsche/CO HG and PG HALL, WILLIAM: Telluride, CO; G. Pollock/Wasatch Wings HENDERSON, MARK: Flagstaff, AZ; S. Mish/Bandito Action Sports LIMBACK, JEFFREY: Murray, UT; G. Pollock/Wasatch Wings O'CONNOR, DAN: Phoenix, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Sails of AZ WILKINSON, TRAVIS: Steamboat Spgs, CO; J. Fritsche/CO HG

50

Region 6 JUST, CASEY: Mountain View, MO; L. Haney/Sail Wings STUVLAND, ED: Cape Girardeau, MO; L. Haney/Sail Wings Region 7 BRIEN, BOB: N. Muskegon, MI; J. Mitchell/JI Mitchell HG CARSWELL, CHRISTOPHER: Iowa City, IA; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP MCDONALD, RAY: Carol Stream, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports RINKE, JOE: Washington, MI; N. Lesnow/Pro Hang Gliders WABST, GREG: Mukwonago, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports WHITE, STEVE: Minneapolis, MN; P. Caulfield/Sport Soaring Center Region 8 APPELL, NEAL: Avon, CT; J. Nicolay/Morningside FP SANKO, KEN: Colchester, CT; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites Region 9 ALBRIGHT, NEIL: Aurora, OH; M. Delsignore/North Coast HG BRENT, JONATHON: Roslindale, MA: B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites CAPSON, TODD: Washington, DC; J. Middleton/Silver Wings CHANTRY, GARY: Chesapeak, VA; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites HOMAN, MARK: C.H., NJ; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites KASPARIAN, RAFFI: Glen Burnie, MD; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites LENNY, E.J.: Ewan, NJ; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites LIEB, BEN: Alexandria, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings MCARTHY, PHIL: Warrenton, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings MEENACH, JOSEPH: Mansfield, OH; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites MEENACH, RICHARD: Worthington, OH; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites OVERSTREET, KEITH: Bedford, VA; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites SCHUMANN, PETER: Falls Church, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings STARNER, ALAN: New Cumberland, PA; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites SYED, OMAR: Cleveland, OH; M. Delsignore/North Coast HG WOLFE, ROBERT: HaJTisburg, PA; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites Region IO BROWN, ANDREW:Kill Devil Hills, NC; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites DEBLANC, ROBERT: Bay St. Louis, MS; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP DOW, DANA: Boaz, AL; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP GAINES, WILLIAM: Greensboro, NC; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites KAPLA, JODI: Nags Head, NC; R. Coxon/Kitty Hawk Kites MIDDLETON, MELANIE: Fairhope, AL; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP RKE, TIM: Kill Devil Hills, NC; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites ROSS, BOB: Del Ray Beach, FL; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites TOBEY, RICHARD: Oakland Pk, Fl; H. Stiriz WORKMAN, BRIAN: Orlando, FL; B. Chalmers/Lookout Mountain FP Region 11 AZZARELLO, TERESA: Houston, TX; F. Burns/Anstin Air Sports CONWAY, CRAIG: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft HEATON, KENNETH: Irving, TX; D. Broyles/Kite Enterprises JABLIN, MIKE: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft KELLEY, SEAN: Round Rock, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft LEWIS, HARTWELL: Fort Worth, TX; D. Broyles/Kite Enterprises MATTA, DEREK: Austin, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sports RADER, WILLY: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft Region 12 DULLAGHAN, JAMES: APO, AE; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites ESTES, KENNETH: New York, NY; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites FELLIN, SCOTT: Kingston, NY; W. Vaughn/Mountain Wings

HANG GLIDING

RATINGS LINDEN, EUGENE: New York, NY; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites OKLADEK, MARK: New York, NY; W. Vaughn/Mountain Wings PETRY, TERENCE: Saratoga Springs, NY; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites SZWED, JOSEPH: Saranac Lake, NY; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites YOUNG, SHANNON: Bridgewater, CT; W. Vaughn/Mountain Wings ZISKROUT, JAY: New York, NY; W. Vaughn/Mountain Wings

NOVICE RA TINGS PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 1 BARTLEY, VICI: Seattle, WA; W. Henry/Torrey FP LAPWOOD, PAUL: Seattle, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring SCHACKER, EDWARD: Bellvue, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring VAN DEEST, KORRIE: Bothell, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring WILLIAMS, JOHN: Arlington, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring Region 2 BRAINARD, ERIC: San Francisco, CA; E. Mies/Airtime of SF DOBSON, STEVE: Berkeley, CA; R. Pattcrson/BHGC DUTTON, BRIAN: Fremont, CA; B. Reem/Mission Soaring Center FERRIS, RICHARD: San Francisco, CA; R. Frey/Airtime of SF KLEIN, CHRISTOPHER: Palo Alto, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandellc MENDENCE, MARY: Sonora, CA; K. Muscio RUSHFORD, MICHAEL: Sunnyvale, CA; J. Borton SAUNDERS, NORMA: San Geronimo, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandclle SHELDEN, JAMIE: Sunnyvale, CA; J. Borton/Thin Air

GOULDMAN, CARL: Oilville, VA; A. Engert/Hanggliding Maui MILLER, RICHARD: Lexington Park, MD; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites PALMIERI, JAMES: Roanoke, VA; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mountain FP RICHMOND, MILES: Nags Head, NC; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites THORNTON, WILLIAM: Kill Devil Hills, NC; D. Glove11Kitty Hawk WHITE, TONY: Smithfield, NC; B. Weaver/Kitty Hawk Kites YOUNG, NEAL: Greenbelt, MD; J. Asher/HG School of Oregon Region 10 BASS, MARK: Ft. Lauderdale, FL; J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding DEBLANC, ROBERT: Bay St. Louis, MS; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP DOW, DANA: Boaz, AL; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP HARTE, MICHAEL: Fort Walton Bch, FL; J. Hooks/Lookout Mountain FP KAUT, THOMAS: Rutherforton, NC; B. Burrill/Ultralight Flying KROOP, STEVE: Miami, FL: J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding MIDDLETON, MELANIE: Fairhope, AL; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP OVIEDO, MARIA: Miami, FL; F. Foti/Miami Hang Gliding PEARSON, CRAIG: Kernersville, NC; R. jacob/Sequatchie Valley ROWELL, MYRA: Charlotte, NC; R. Goodman/Blue Ridge HG TOBEY, RICHARD: Oakland Pk, FL; H. Stiriz WISE, GREGORY: Orlando, FL; J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding Region 11 FLEGAL, ROBERT: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft FOGOROS, BRIAN: Ft. Worth, TX; D. Broyles/Kite Enterprises LINS, JOHN: Houston, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sports RADER, WILLY: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft

INTERMEDIATE RATINGS Region 3 CHAMPLIN, MICHAEL: Culver City, CA; D. Quackenbush/True Flight GERSON, TERRY: Carlsbad, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center GRANT, JAMES: Kihei, HI; A. Engert/Hang Gliding Maui KNUFINKE, RITA: San Mateo, CA; D. Murphy SPENCER, HITE: FPO, AP; R. Mitchell/Eagles Wings WILD, LARRY: Palmdale, CA; A. Beem/Windsports Int'!

Region 4 CUMMINGS, ROBERT: Telluride, CO; C. BaughmanNulture Gliders EASTON, AMAL: Santa Fe, NM; K. Stowe/UP Soaring Center LIMBACK, JEFFREY: Munay UT; G. Pollock/Wasatch Wings O'CONNOR, DAN: Phoenix, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Sails of AZ PETERSON, LAINE: Salt Lake City, UT; M. Knowlden/Rebel Wings SCHOFFSTALL, DUNCAN: Telluride, CO; C. BaughmanNulture Gliders Region 6 GLOVER, RY AN: Oklahoma City, OK; D. Glover/Kitty Hawk Kites KREISZ, KURT: St. Louis, MO; L. Haney/Sail Wings Hang Gliding Region 7 GROOM, KENNETH: W. Lafayette, IN; P. Hall/Purdue HG Club O'BRIEN, BOB: N. Muskegon, MI; J. Mitchell/JI Mitchell HG Region 8 LEONARD, SCOTT: Portsmouth, NH; J. Nicolay/Morningside FP WILLIAMS, MIKE: Lynn, MA: J. David Region 9 BRANGER, MIKE: Wilmington, DE; B. Umstattd/Sky High

JULY 1992

PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School

Region 1 DEHATE, TIM: North Bend, WA; R. Gelfan NELSON, GRANT: Olympia, WA; J. Reynolds Region 2 FREEDOM, MERCURY: Los Gatos, CA; B. Trevey/Wings ofRogallo HARKER, KENT: San Jose, CA; B. Ream/Mission Soaring Center KEHR, ROBERT: Weed, CA; D. Buchanan KOBAYASHI, HIROSHI: Napa, CA; J. Greenbaum/Airtime of SF LEMYRE, RICHARD: San Mateo, CA; P. Denevan/Mission Soaring MORIARTY, KENT: El Sobrante, CA; S. Seebass/Berkeley HG Club PORTER, KEST: Greenville, CA; A. Whitehill/Chandelle Region 3 HEDLEY, CHARLIE: Huntington Bch, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Sys RUBIN, LANE: Santa Barbara, CA; K. DeRussy/Hang Glider Emporium STURTEVANT, EVAN: Camarillo, CA; K. DeRussy/Hang Glider Emporium WATSON, DAVID: Glendale, CA; G. Reeves/Windsports Soaring Center Region 4 ATHEY, DA VE: Phoenix, AZ; J. Reynolds/Air-Zone-A Towsters STANTON, MIKE: Ft. Collins, CO; B. Faris/Front Range Hang Gliders STUBBENDICK, STEVE: Aurora, CO; T. Hackbart/Golden Wings TAUNT, CHRIS: Denver, CO; T. Hackbart/Golden Wings WEST, LARRY: Albuquerque, NM; C. Woods/Up Over New Mexico WITT, ROGER: Phoenix, AZ; J. Reynolds/Air-Zone-A Towsters

51

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AV-LCD VI/VII U.S. Distributor: Advanced Air Technology 29 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Made in Germany

(805) 962-8999 FAX (805) 964-3337

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HANG GLIDER HEAVEN "TUT' KITE FLIERS CLAYTON,GEORGIA30525

Hang Gliding Qualified Pilots Hang III Site Simulator Optional Exclusive Cabins - 1, 2, & 4 Bedrooms Private Baths, Fully Furnished "Tut's" Game Preserve - Complimentary Exotic Animals - Hawks, Eagles, Black Bear Llamas, Deer, & More Horseback Riding and Pony Rides For more information call 1-800-621-1 768 This year's event is October 16, 17 & 18, 1992

RATINGS Region 6 SCHULTZ, RANDALL: Kansas City, KS; G. Bitikofer

MASTER RA TINGS DEANE WILLIAMS

Region 7 PINKOWKSI, BOB: Baroda, MI; A. Mantas/Spectrum HG Region 8 ENGEL, DAVID: Portland, ME; J. Nicolay/Morningside FP Region 9 PIERCE, KELVIN: Vienna, YA; R. Millman TURNER, HENRY: Bowie, MD; J. Middleton/Silver Wings Region 10 ALVARENGA, MARCO: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding EV ANS, GREG: Jamestown, NC; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP LANE, PATRICK: Atlanta, GA; C. Thoresen/Lookout Mountain FP MOORE, JEM: Marietta, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP PEEBLES, JOHN: Marietta, GA; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mountain FP

FOREIGN RA TINGS BEGINNER: ROWBOTHAM, JULIAN: London, England; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP THORENFELDT, LARS: Oslo, Norway; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft NOVICE: THORENFELDT, LARS: Oslo, Norway; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft

CLASS ONE TANDEM RATINGS MITCHELL, ROD: San Marcos, CA; W. Henry/Torrey Pines SENK, DAVID: Milpitas, CA; E. Beckman/Adventure Sports ZMRZEL, DAVID: Loomis, CA; E. Beckman/Adventure Sports

Region 12 SPADAFORA, JAMES: Roehling, NJ; N. Price

ADVANCED RATINGS

CLASS TWO TANDEM RATINGS HAMILTON, PAUL: Reno, NV; E. Beckman/Adventure Sports SCHURRMANN, LARRY: Incline Village, NY; E. Beckman/Adv Sports

PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 2 GILLISSE, ROBERT: Fort Ord, CA; R. Canham HINEMAN, WAYNE: San Jose, CA; D. Kurpanek/Wings of Rogallo PEKIN, MIKE: Monterey, CA; T. Shea/Wings ofRogallo SEEBASS, SCOTT: Berkeley, CA; R. Patterson/BHGC

Highest Quality for Highest Demands ALIBI 2 • Altimeter • Variometer • Stopwatch • Sink Alarm • Temperature • Lightweight

Region 3 ARCIDIACONO, PETER: San Diego, CA; W. Henry/Air Sports Int'!

CHARLEBOIS, GERRY: Kauai, HI; J. Forburger/ATOL COLE, CHARLES: Morro Bay, CA; T. Kurth/SLOSA Region 4 ANDEREGG, RUBEN: Scottsdale, AZ; M. Spinelli/True Flight Concepts CROWLEY, LINDA: Albuquerque, NM; J. Wolford

Stores max. altitude, highest climb rate and duration of flights (up to 10,000 flights). AIRCOTEC & MBP, P.O. Box 1202, Mathews, VA 23109 Phone/FAX (804) 725-7079

Region 5 MASON, MARK: Idaho Falls, ID; F. Gillette/Magic Valley Sky PARHAM, MARK: Sun Valley, ID; D. Quackenbush/True Flight Concepts Region 6 NARRON, WARRE'I/: Sugar Creek, MO; R. Kenney/Prairie Hang Gliding Region 7 CAMIRE, TOM: Walkerton, IN; J. Mitchell/JJ Mitchell HG

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Airspeed Indicator with Long Bracket

Region 10 GLOVER, DAVID: Nags Head, NC; S. Wendt

JULY 1992

A precision instrument for the serious pilot.

Rugged, dependable and easy to read.

Airspeed Indicator . ... $23.50 Long Bracket . . . .. ... $7.00 Foreign & C.O.D. orders add $2.00 Control Bar Protectors 5" diameter ABS plastic wheels.

Specify 1" or 1-1 /8" control bar.

Wheels - $20.00/pair.

Region 9 MYERS, KURT: Aston, PA; J. Harper/Windriders Club

Region 12 YEADON, KEN: New York, NY; P. Voight/Fly High Hang Gliding

The Hall Airspeed Indicator

Control Bar Protectors

Hall Brothers P.O. Box 1010-H, Morgan, UT 84050 MasterCard I Visa I C.O.D. Phone Orders (801) 829-3232 FAX (801) 829-6349

53

ACCIDENT REPORTS compiled by Doug Hildreth USHGA Accident Review Chairman Event: "This was my second flight of the day. I was competing in the landing contest.

The set-up and launch areas were crowded, with plenty of distractions. I pe1iormed a walk-around inspection of the glider and did a hang check. I didn't notice during the hang check that only the side entry zipper was secure and not the buckles. In fly-down conditions I launched. At 300 feet AGL I noticed that the buckles were not attached. I made no attempt to buckle them in flight.

During final approach I rocked up to the upright landing position. It was then that the zipper failed. My body shifted relative to the harness and I lost my grip on the downtubes.

Upon landing I was able to get two feet down, but could not flare. The glider pounded into the ground and my body broke both downtubes. I suffered no injuries."

Comment: Murphy's law. If it can be forgotten, it will. The side-entry harnesses are much more convenient than the climbthrough variety, but you must make certain

that you have assembled it properly.

Although we have been doing pretty well at putting our gliders together lately, we have seen a distressing number of "harness problems." Not hooking in. Twisted straps.

Not putting legs through leg straps. Stuck zippers. Velcro that won't come loose. And now failure to buckle the buckles.

Distraction The last point is that of being our brother's keeper. How many pilots were there during that hang check? How many of them visually preflighted the glider as the hang check was occurring? How many looked at the harness lines, or asked if his legs were through the leg straps? How many looked at the buckles? The answer to that one is pretty obvious.

What do YOU look at when your buddy is doing his hang check and standing on launch waiting to go?

Ball Variometers, Inc. 6595 Odell Place, Suite C Boulder, CO 80301

(303) 530-4940

Ball Proudly Announces The Model M22.

The new standard for paragliding.

Whether you compete or not, we'll help you be a soar winner.

Comes with our standard 1 year warranty (void if submerged).

See your local Ball dealer for details.

For inquiries, call 1-800-729-2602 • Fax (303) 530-4836

54

Event: "Launched in high winds. Could not penetrate and made a tree landing on top. I wanted to fly so badly that I launched when I knew I shouldn't."

Event: "During the competition we were flying up the ridge as the wind became stronger and more parallel to the ridge. I got low and tried to continue to penetrate upwind to a small field. I didn't make it and tree landed, but the glider slipped out of the tree and fell to the ground. I sustained some pretty good chest injuries. My fellow competitors just barely made it to the field. We all agreed afterwards that the pressure of competition had clouded our judgement and caused us to do things and take risks that we normally would not. They made it. I didn't. Does that make one of us smarter than the other? I think not."•

STANDARD EQUIPMENT • 1,000 ft. or 5 MIS VSI Scale • 1 ft. or 1 Meter ALT Increments (MSL) • RF Shielding • Relative Altitude • 5 Stage Vario Damping • Barometric Pressure (Hg or Hecto Pascal) • Adjustable Audio Threshold • Choice of Piezo Audio Sound: VARI-PITCH - BEEP INTERRUPT-VARI-BEEP • 4 Stage Averager • Mount (Velcro Strap, Steel Bracket, or Ball Clamp) OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT • Barograph with Flight Linker and Software • Total Energy (TE.) Probe SPECIFICATIONS • Operation Altitude - 2,000 ft. to 27,000 ft., 609 - 8225 Meters • Operation Temperature - 13 to 113 deg. Fahrenheit - 25 to 45 deg. Celsius WARRANTY • M22 flight computer and accessories are warranted for a period of 1 year from date ol purchase (with proof of purchase via warranty card) or 1 year from date of manufacture (including so!lware updates) Submersion In Water Voids Warranty.

• Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice

M22 (Standard Model Shown)

HANG GLIDING

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QUICK SAFE WHEELS NO SLIP RUBBER BUSHINGS PREVENTS BASE TUBE ABRASION WHEN USED ALONE

PROTECT YOU AND YOUR GLIDER

• SNAP ON/SNAP OFF ANYTIME, ANYWHERE • AFFORDABLE/HIGH QUALITY • RUGGED & DEPENDABLE • 7" DIA x 2W' WIDTH EXTREMELY LIGHTWEIGHT STORE IN GLIDER BAG OR HARNESS

A must tor dealers with demo gliders.

German made, thousands flying in Europe. Sold to major dealers in U.S. and Canada.

ONLY

$4500 PER PAIR (specify 1" or t1/a" base bar) SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO:

MORNINGSIDE HANG GLIDERS ~ RFD 2 BOX 109, CLAREMONT, NH 03743 (603) 542-4416 ~

CANADIAN ORDERS ADD $3.00

DEALERS WELCOME

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Hang Gliding Lesson #1 Fly hard, fly safe, fly with High Energy Sports To reduce risk of bodily injury or death while hang gliding you need a complete safety system. From your glider to your hang straps you need to know you have the best system for you. We at High Energy Sports specialize in harness-parachute systems designed for the worst circumstances.

COCCOONS, PODS, PARACHUTES, etc.

• Flat Circular Solid Gore Construction • Vent Cap Covering Apex Hole • 1/2" Tublar Nylon Reinforcement At Apex • All Seams Reinforced With Type ill Webbing • V-Tabs At Each Line Attachment • Type XVIII Bridle FAX (714) 972-1430 • Parachute Safety Lock System • Continuous Webbing Sewn With Five Cord Thread • Each Harness Custom Sized • Safety Back Strap • Adjustable Padded Leg Straps • Two-Week Delivery • Custom Options • Your Choice Of Colors

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2236 W. 2nd St.• Santa Ana, CA 92703 • (714) 972-8186

752 Casiano Drive #B, Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Phone 805-687-4663, Fax 805-968-0059

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INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF HANG GLIDING & PARt~\:,IDJNG INTRODUCTORY SUBSCRIPTION 1 year subscription I 6 issues $30, issues: February, April, June, August, October, December Experience the world of Hang Gliding in your own home ...

Europe's most comprehensive, full color magazine.

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Payment: CHECK or MONEY ORDER to: "Schutte Sails" CROSS COUNTRY 752 Casiano Drive #B, Santa Barbara,· CA 93105 USA

CLASSIFIEDS ADVISORY Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs wilh noncircular holes, and on Rogallos, sails badly tom or tom loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges. If in doubt, many hang gliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. Buyers should select equipment that is appropriate for their skill level or rating. New pilots should seek professional instruction from a USHGA-certified school.

K2 155 - Excellent condition, 20 hours airtime. S2,900 (310) 820- 3548.

SPORT 167 AT - Black LE, spectrum, low time, all accessories. $2,200. Dwane, (805) 928-5401.

KISS - 1989 full race, extra undersurface rib, beefed-up trailing edge. $1,200 OBO, Dave (619) 582-4414.

SPORT 167 USA- 1987. Red, white, blue. Tight sail, flies nice. $750. (801) 225-7973 Utah.

MAGIC IV 155 - Full race, surfcoat LE, speedbar, pitchy.

Owners manual, always hangered. $700. (805) 648-1651.

SPORT 167 EURO - Full race, red LE, white sail, excellent condition, $1,200. (714) 628-7312.

MOYES GLIDERS - All sizes of XS gliders available under $3,300., 20 hours airtime or less. Also available are new XS's, XT's, XC's and Missions. Call Tony (805) 6441242 ext. 123, (805) 658-0958.

SPORT l 67 - Excellent condition, race cloth, 40 hours.

White and rainbow. $1,500 (703) 989-1737.

ROGALLOS AXIS 15 METER SUPERSHIP - Never looped, never towed. Sail still crinkles like new. All options, including quick set-up feature. Very high performance for larger pilot.

Tuned for handling. New Tri lam leading edge pockets. Make Offers. (415) 258-8009 leave message.

MOYES XS 155- Well cared for, 60hours, beautiful. Why pay 4K for new? $1,900 OBO, (415) 665-1520.

MYSTIC 166 VG- Excellent condition, low time, rainbow, new wires, inspected. $800 (514) 847-1017.

BALL VARIO METER - Excellent, $ 150. Reliable aircraft altimeter, $95. (503) 777-3452.

MYSTIC LITE 177 -New. 180 Excell, Airstream harness, vario, two parachutes, other extras. $2,500. Quitting hang gliding. Steve, (619) 369-0966.

COMET C-3 185 - Great intern1ediate & tandem. Low hours, very good condition. White sail, red double surface. $1,650 OBO (307) 672- 6715 or (307) 655-2562.

NO JOKE: MUST SELL! -Make offers. Sensor 5 lOCFR $993. 152 Foil Combat $1,998. 139 Combat $2,497. Chris Arai (510) 531-2261.

DOVES WANTED - Electra Flyer, Doves A, B or C, wanted by instructor for school use. Any condition. Raven Sky Sports (708) 360-0700.

PROFILE 17 -Good condition, incl. free Super Pre-Flight check with new wires and new hang strap by USHGA school/ shop, and two brand new spare safety edged uprights. Excellent glider by La Mouette in France, Europe's biggest glider manufacturer: $700. STIR-UP HARNESS-La Mouette.

Perfect for beginners: $200. PARACHUTE-Approved with the highly acclaimed German "Gutes Siegel", $150. "Going back to Europe Sale": Ernst (415) 641-4848/387-1178 or Roger (415) 755-2580.

DREAMS IN STOCK -All sizes, including 145's. Many other used gliders available, including Visions & Spectrums.

Raven Sky Sports (708) 360-0700.

HANG GLIDER SAIL REPAIR & REBUILDING BY DENNIS VAN DAM/AEROSAIL - Serving the hang gliding community for over a decade. "Integrating aesthetics with the highest orderof structural integrity." Aerosail, 1617 W 40th St, Chattanooga TN 37409, (615) 821-5945.

HP II - Red, white & blue. Little used. Sail in excellent shape. $1,000 (512) 345-0945.

HP II - Full race, clean, good condition. $880 OBO, (805) 685- 0132.

HP II - Immaculate, low UV, low hours. Minnesota glider.

New cables, never crashed. $900 OBO, (612) 559-0816.

HP II - Only 1 IO hours. Bargain basement at $750., (415) 621-5108.

HP II - Full race, magenta, blue, white. Clean, crisp, beautiful. Chattanooga area. $1,300 OBO, Gary or Alice (615) 821-4588.

HPAT 144-Excellent condition, April '92 new, magenta. $2,800 (801) 254-6141.

HPAT 158 - 1991, all options. 20 hours TT. Fuschia LE, blue& white undersurface. Excellent condition. Only $2,300.

David Ledford (704) 628-3204.

K2 - 1991, custom sail, low hours, excellent condition, $2,950. HPAT 158-1992, excellent condition, $3,100. (505) 821-8544.

K2 145 - 10 hours w/full glider sun cover and XC Bag, $3,200. CG 1000-Purplc/ycllow, woman's 5'9", 125 lbs. $150. Will pay shipping. (501) 663-3166.

56

SENSOR - NEW 160 VGB. No airtime on this beautiful glider. Dark blue LE, emerald green LS. Glider was stored since purchase. $1,000 firm. (612) 476-2026.

SENSOR E- This glider has lived in the pastured lands of Wisconsin. No dust, dirt or road rash. Meticulous pilot that took great care of his wing. Long time satisfied Sensorowner seeks home for this perfectly tuned glider. No used glider ever looked this good! Affordable performance. Call Larry at (715) 448-2213.

SENSOR 5 JOE - Full race, 1992 planform, mint shape.

Superior sink rate to any other glider on the market today.

Only $2,700. Attention Canadian pilots: I'm 2 hours south on 1-87 in Lake George NY, on your way to Ellenville NY. (518) 792-1772 eves., (518) 623- 3798 daytime.

SENSOR 51 OE - Featured on May HG cover. Fluorescent yellow LE, blue & white. Low airtime, 30 hours. Only $1,795. David Ledford (704) 628-3204.

SKYHAWK 168 - Excellent condition, rainbow sail, 2 extra downtubes. $1,100 OBO, (317) 289-2718.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USED GLIDER REFERRAL - BUY-SELL-CONSIGN, ALL MAKES, MODELS, CALL TODAY (619) 450-1894 OR (619) 450-9008.

SPECTRUM - 165 plus, with extras. Test flown & ready for immediate delivery. $2,900 (916) 241-6974.

STREAK 130 - Very good condition. $400 OBO. Call Chauncey (408) 274-9391.

TEXAS - Trades, new, used, locator service. Call RRA (512) 467- 2529.

TRX - Half season, never whacked, excellent condition, $3,600. Ball 652 deck-loaded, $500. (619) 944-3462.

UP CONDOR 269 - Larges! production glider ever built.

Excellent tandem glider. $600 OBO, (415) 665-1520.

VISION MK IV 17 -As new. $2,200 (208) 524-3782.

VISIONS & SPECTRUMS -Bought-Sold-Traded. Raven Sky Sports (708) 360-0700.

VJ-24- 80% complete with plans. $650 OBO, (402) 4233798.

COLORADO HANG GLIDING (303) 278-9566 24 HOURS. REGION IV'S OLDEST, LARGEST FULLTIME SHOP. "Celebrating Our 20th Year of Unsurpassed Safety!"

Paragliders (all brands) ...................... $800-$3,000 Helmets (all brands, styles) .............. $58-$260 Used harnesses .................................... $75-$500 Varios (demo's, all brands) ................ $75-$500 Reserve Chutes (all sizes), never used, each inspected repacked, w/new bridle and bag ......... $265 Equipment 100% Guaranteed/Major Credit Cards SPORT 167 ....................... <5 HOURS .......... $2,350 VISION MK IV 19 ........... <5 HOURS .......... $1,800 EXCEL 160 ...................... <40 HOURS ........ $1,100 VISION ECLIPSE 19 ....... <60 HOURS ........ $1,100 LT. MYSTIC 177VG ....... <40 HOURS ........ $1,000 EA. PRODAWN 155 ............... GOOD SHAPE .... $800 LT. DREAMS 185,205 ..... <60 HOURS ........ $800 EA. HARRIER I 177 ............... <20 HOURS ........ $800 PROSTAR 166 ................. <40HOURS ........ $500 COMET II 165 ................. GOOD SHAPE .... $500 PHOENIX 6D ................... GOOD SHAPE .... $450 LANCER 180 .................................................. $300 All offers considered. Equipment is 100% guaranteed, inspected, shipped anywhere. COLORADO HANG GLIDING (303) 278-9566, 24 hrs.

GOLDEN WINGS 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401 TOLL FREE ORDER PHONE 1-800-677-4449 or (303) 278-7181 Mystic 177 VG ............... Exe. cond ........ $1,300 Vision 19 (used) ............. Exe. cond ........ $1,800 Several Sport 167 ........... $1800 - $2,200 HP AT ............................ Demo .............. $2,800 Many other good used gliders $450-$1000

SPORT 150 EURO - Excellent condition. Sacrifice at $1,195 OBO. (209) 431-9698.

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIEDS HANG GLIDING CENTER SPECIALS MK IV 17 Yellow/Black, Trilam LE, 11-!etal TE ...................................................... Sl ,900 MK IV 17 Red/Yellow/White .................... $1,400 MK IV 19 Blue/Purple/Chevron Rainbow, ...... S1,800 Metal LE ....................................

SPECTRUM 165 ........................ $2,400 SPECTRUM 144 ................ .S2,500 HP AT 158 ...... .............................. . S2,300 (619) 450-9008 SANTA BARBARA HANG GLIDING CENTER (805) 962-8999 -Ce1tified School, full time shop, sales, service, rentals. VARIOS: Ball 651 $475, Ball 652 $575, Brauniger P2 $450, Brauniger P3 $595, Brauniger LCD lll Barograph $995, Flytcc 2020 $759, Flytec 2030 $995, Arro XC 8000 $895, Afro Cirrus 8000 $795. HELMETS: Aerodyne $79, Bell SI 19, Romer full face$129, Uvex full face$ 159, Carbon Fibre full face $259. HAR!\ESSES: Keller Hitcc 2 $799, CG 1000 $499, HE Sp011 $499, HE Sport Cocoon $299. PARACHUTES: BRS Rocket $795, HE 22 gore-new $345, Charly Rocket-para $755. GLIDERS: new and used, trade-ins.

TRXdemoS3600, WW ATS2800, UP Axis 15 lOhrs. $2000, UP Comet 3 1 yr. S 1500, Comet I 8 hrs. $650, Skyhawk $900, Vision Mk IV $1400, WW Sp011 $1500, WW Super Spmt $3395, Moyes XS $2900. MISC: ',,!axon FM 5 watt $259, Sylva compass S129. MC, VISA, AMEX, DISCOVER accepted, Santa Barbara Hang Gliding Center, 29 State St., Santa Barbara CA 93101 EMERGENCY PARACHUTES

PARA GLIDERS WILLS WING AT 123 1991 - and deluxe WW harness.

Perfect condition. $2,600 (818) 841-9239.

Statewide service. Tandem, towing, tours. (907) 455-6379.

Box 83305, Fairbanks AK 99708.

ARIZONA

ULTRALIGHTS

ADVENTURE SPORTS TOURS - Certified instruction utilizing the world's first man-made training hill plus other sites which all face every wind direction. Dealer for Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, Ball and High Energy, 1327 E. Bell De Mar Dr., Tempe, AZ 85283 (602) 897-7121.

AMERICAN AEROLIGHT EAGLE - Single Cuyuna.

NeYer flown or engine fired. Digital instruments, spares. $3,500 OBO (307) 672-6715 or (307) 655-2562.

DESERT HANG GLIDERS - USHGA Ce1tified School.

Supine specialists. 4319 W. Larkspur, Glendale, AZ 85304.

(602) 938- 9550.

KING COBRA B 9258.

ARKANSAS

WILLS, UP'S, ETC - S795 +up.Instruction, equipment, southern California and European tours (714) 654-8559.

2 seat, Rotax 532. $5,900 (813) 726-

LA MOUETTE/COSi\IOS- Full range or trikes & accessories. JEFFERSON AERO SPORTS (503) 327-1730,

SAIL WINGS HANG GLIDING - Instrnction, sales, service. Pacific Airwave, J\ [oyes, Enterprise Wings. Nfakers of Sun Covers/bags. P.O. Box 5593, Little Rock, AR 72215.

(501) 663-3166.

1

WANTED CALIFORNli\ SOARl\IASTER 661-0181.

ANY CONDITION! Charles. (919)

WANTED - Sunsecd, fixed wing hang glider. (503) 5354764 after 5pm.

WANTED- Used hang gliding equipment. Gliders, instruments, harnesses and parachutes. Airtime of San Francisco, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) SKY-1177.

A BEST BUY! - $265 never deployed, new bridle, bag.

Inspected and repacked, all sizes. Fully Guaranteed! Colorado Hang Gliding (303) 278-9566.

SCHOOLS & DEALERS ALABAMA

ALL BRANDS - Bought, sold, and repacked. Inspection and repack $20.00 - Parachutes, bridles, inspected and replaced. AIRTIME OF SAN FRANCISCO, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) SKY- 1177.

ROCK ET CITY AIRSPORTS -Certified instrnction, sales, service, glider rentals. Send $1.00 for brochure, directions, accommodations, etc. to 106 South Side Square, Huntsville AL 35801. (205) 533-6605 or (205) 776-9995.

ALASKA ADVENTURE WINGS Hang gliding and PARAGLIDING, certified instruction, sales, accessories.

ACTION SOARING CENTER - In Lodi near Stockton.

Personalized USHGAcertified instrnction, sales and service.

Emphasis on special skills, techniques, launching & landing.

Demo's. Ask about tow clinic. (209) 368-9665.

AIRTIME OF SAN FRANCISCO - HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING. Complete, safe & fun, USHGA &APA certified training program. Mountain clinics & ground schools.

ALL MAJOR BRANDS. Quality ai1frame and sewing by factory trained repair technicians. Parachute services. Large sc lection of 2nd hand gear (buy & sell). Rentals available.

Next to Fort Funston. The only full service shop in San Francisco! 3620 Wawona, San Francisco CA 94116. (415) 759-1177.

CHANDELLE SAN FRANCISCO, INC. - Complete hang gliding and paragliding sales, service and instruction since 1973. Northern California's most complete repair facility.

New and used equipment and demo's, lesson packages, clinics and tandem lessons. 6880 Sir Francis Drake, Forest Knolls CA 94933, (415) 488-4202.

,--------------------------------------, USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum.

Boldface or caps $1.00 per word. (Does not include first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs $25 per column inch. (phone numbers-2 words, P.O. Box-1 word) photos-$25.00 line art logos-$15.00 Deadline-20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the issue in which you want your ad to appear (i.e., June 20 for the August issue).

Prepayment required unless account established. No cancellations and no refunds will be allowed on any advertising after deadline. Ad insertions FAXed or made by telephone must be charged to a credit card. $2.00 credit card charge.

Please enter my classified ad as follows:

Number of words:._ _ _ _~@ .50 = Number of words:- - - - - ~ @ 1.00 =

Number of Months: Section (please circle) Rogallos Emergency Chutes Parts & Accessories Business & Employment Miscellaneous

Towing Wanted Schools and Dealers Ultralights Rigid Wings Publications & Organizations Paragliders

Begin with 19_~ issue and run for conseculive issue(s). My check 0, money order 0, is enclosed in the amount of $ NAME: ADDRESS: _____________________

I I I I I I I I I I I

I PHONE:~--------------~ I I USHGA, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933 (719) 632-8300 I

L--------------------------------------~ JULY 1992

57

CLASSIFIEDS COMPACT WINGS PARAGLIDING - Wills Wings, UP and others. APA & USHGA Class Il instruction. Great flying year-round. Southern California and European tours.

Located at best paragliding site (Soboba). (714) 654-8559 HANG GLIDER EMPORIUM-The best training hill in the west is in Santa Barbara, a hang gliding VACATION PARADISE. High quality PERSONALIZED instruction focusing on the skills that most affect your SAFETY. Call for vacation info and glider inventory. Tues.- Fri. 10-5, Sat. 10-4. 613 N. Mil pas, Santa Barbara, California 93103 (805) 965-3733.

THE HANG GLIDING CENTER - Located in beautiful San Diego. USHGA instruction, equipment rentals, local flying tours. Spend your winter vacation flying with us. We proudly offer Wills Wing, Pacific Airwavc, High Energy, Ball and we need your used equipment. 4206-K Sorrento Valley Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121 (619) 450-9008.

WlNDGYPSY - USHGA Certified school specializing in personalized tandem flight training. Full service sales & repair facility in Lake Elsinore - call for site info. Wide range of new & used glider & flight accessories in stock. Proudly demonstrating Moyes, Seedwings, AST (Dreams), ESS rapid deployment parachutes. Keith Lamb, 25099 Bundy Canyon Rd, Sun City CA 92586, (714) 678-5418.

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY SOARING SUPPLY W[NDSPORTS-LA's largest since 1974. Fifteen minutes from LAX. Central to Sylmar, Crestline, Elsinore and training sites. Vacation training, flying and glider sales packages including lodging and rentals. The most popular gliders and equipment, new and used in stock. Trade in your old equipment. 325 sunny days each year. Come fly with us! 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys CA 91406. (818) 988- 011 l, Fax (818) 988-1862.

COLORADO COLORADO CLOUDBASE - Guided tours, drivers, videos, accessories. (719) 630-7042. PO Box 16934, Colorado Springs CO 80935.

COLORADO HANG GLIDING/PARAGLIDING - Celebrating 20 yearsofunsurpassed safety. I st USHGA certified school in the U.S.A. Region's largest and oldest. Operating full time since 1972. (303) 278-9566.

EAGLE'S NEST SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING/ PARAGLIDING - USHGA & APA certified instruction.

Sales and service. P.O. Box 25985, Colorado Springs, CO 80936 (719) 594-0498.

HIGH ADVENTURE - Hang gliding, paragliding school.

Equipment sales, service, rentals at Southern California's mile high site, Crestline. USHGA/APA Instructor Rob McKenzie. By appointment year round. (714) 883-8488.

MISSION SOARING CENTER - Serving the flying community since 1973. Complete pilot training program with special attention to take- off and landing skills. Custom superlitc training gliders. Comfortable training harnesses!

Deluxe retail shop. Wills, PacAir, UP, demos, new gliders in stock! Best trade-in prices. Try all the new harnesses in our simulator. Large selection of specialized equipment, beginner to XC. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas (near Santee) CA 95035. (408) 262-1055.

PERFORMANCE DESIGN PARAGLIDING SCHOOL - Excalibur, Edel, UP, and many more. APA & USHGA ce,tified instructors. World wide tours, accessories. Call for free catalog. (714) 697-4466.

TORREY FLIGHT PARK, INC. - At the launch of the world famous Torrey Pines Glider Port, one of San Diego's highlights! Unmatched convenience for pilots and spectators. Refreshments and souvenirs at the C!ifflianger Cafe.

Certified Training program featuring tandem soaring lessons. New, used, rental and demo equipment by Delta Wing and UP. 2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 (619) 452-3202.

customer service and satisfaction. Lesson packages, ratings, glider rentals, AEROTOWING. Largest inventory hang gliders (all brands), equipment. Complete sail/airframe repairs. Camping, SWIMMING POOL. Send $1 for information packet. Route 2, Box 215-H, Rising Fawn GA 30738 (20 minutes from Chattanooga, Tennessee) (800) 688-LMFP, (706) 398-3541.

GOLDEN WINGS - Sales, service. USHGA certified inst,uction. Dealers for Wills Wing, PacAir. 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401. (303) 278-7181.

HAWAII MAUI SOARING-Pac Air K-2, Mk IV; Wills Wing Sport.

Rentals, sales, service. (808) 878-127 l.

IDAHO TREASURE VALLEY HANG GLIDING - Airwave, Moyes, UP. Demo's, ratings, tours, service. (208) 376-7914.

ILLINOIS RA VEN SKY SPORTS HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING - Largest and most popular in the Midwest. Traditional curriculum, ridge soaring, mountain c1inics, Dragonfly aero towing & tandem by Brad Kushner.

Sales/service/accessories for all major brands. 300 N. Green Bay Rd., Waukegan, IL 60085 (708) 360-0700.

INDIANA

JJ MITCHELL- USHGA ce,tified instruction & TANDEM. PacAir dealer. 6741 Columbia Ave., Hammond, IN 46324 (219) 845-2856.

KENTUCKIAN A SOARING - See ad under parts.

L/D ENTERPRISES -Sail and harness repair· Equipment manufacturing - Towing supplies - 5000 Butte #183, Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 440- 3579.

LOUISIANA

CONNECTICUT

MICHIGAN

MOUNTAIN WINGS - Look under New York.

GREAT LAKES HANG GLIDING, INC. - USHGA certified instructors. Dealers for Moyes gliders, new & used equipment. Located near Warren dunes (616) 465-5859.

FLORIDA

~~~--

... /

~tlOi;lutlO !)D<,%'.Ml @G.O®Olila ·"

RED RIVER AIRCRAFT- See ad under Texas.

PRO HANG GLIDERS-Congratulations Dan Dubay and Shane Lesnow on your first ridge soaring flights. Great job guys! Allow me to instruct your lessons. USHGA school since '78. Sales & service, Wills Wing specialist and other brands available. Nomi Lesnow, 569 W Annabelle, Hazel Park MI 48030, (313) 399-9433.

MINNESOTA

WE CAN TEACH YOU FASTER AND SAFER, MIAMI HANG GLIDING, INC. has the most advanced training program known to hang gliding today. USHGA certified school specializing in personalized flight training. Full service shop handling all makes and models of gliders. For more info call (305) 573-8978.

SPORT SOARING CENTER/MINNEAPOLIS - Instruction, equipment dealers for Pacific Airwave, UP & Wills Wing. (612) 557-0044.

MISSOURI

GEORGIA

SAIL WINGS - See Arkansas.

TRUE FLIGHT CONCEPTS - USHGA Certified Instruction, Sales & Service. Become a better pilot in less time with

LOOKOUTMOUNTAJNFLIGHTPARK-AMERICA'S

NEVADA

our small personalized classes & tandem instruction. Our

#1 HANG GLIDING SCHOOL, flying site. Find out why

head instructor has over 12 years teaching experience. Only minutes from our local Kagel Mountain flying site. 13185 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342. (818) 367-6050.

three times as many pilots earn their mountain wings at Lookout! Complete certified training-"bunny hill" to mountain soaring. We wrote USHGA 's OFFICIAL FLIGHT TRAINING MANUAL! Our specialties: foot-launch, tandem and tow instruction, FIRST MOUNTAIN FLIGHTS,

58

See

our ad under Tennessee

ADVENTURE SPORTS - Sierra tours our specialty USHGA & APA certified school and ratings. Dealers for Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, UP, Enterprise Wings. Fly the Sierras with a full-service shop. 3650 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 883-7070.

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIEDS NEW JERSEY MOUNTAIN WINGS -

OHIO Look under New York.

NEW MEXICO UP OVER NEW MEXICO - Instruction, sales, service.

Sandia Mountain guides. Wills, Seed wings, Pacific Airwave, Delta, Moyes. Albuquerque, NM (505) 821-8544.

SKYWARD ENTERPRISES - MARIO MANZO-Basic instructor. Frame & sail repair. Seedwings, CG-1000. Dayton/Chillicothe. (513) 256-3888 weekday evenings.

AirCraft! - RED RIVER AIRCRAFT. Turning students into pilots. USHGA certified instruction, new and preowned wings and things, towing supplies, full service repair. We're hip & cool with MC/Visa. 4811 Red River, Austin TX78751.

(512) 467-2529, FAX (512) 467-8260.

NORTHCOASTHANGGLIDING-Certifiedlnstruction.

New & used gliders. Specializing in Pacific Airwave gliders.

Mike Del Signore, 1916 W. 75th St., Cleveland, OH. 44102 (216) 631-1144.

KITE ENTERPRISES - Instruction, sales, repairs, towing and foot launch. Dallas & North Texas area. 211 Ellis, Allen TX 75002. (214) 390-9090 anytime. Dealer, Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing.

OREGON

UTAH

AIRTIME OREGON - Certified instruction. Dealer for PacAir, UP and American Windwright. (503) 998-1220.

WASATCH WINGS - USHGA certified hang gliding school, dealers for Wills Wing, Moyes and Pacific Airwave.

Flight operations at Point of the Mountain. Call Gordon (801) 277-1042.

NEW YORK AAA MOUNTAIN WINGS HANG GLIDING CENTER AND FLIGHT PARK - Now offering PARAGLIDING instruction and sales. Base of ELLENVILLE MTN. Four exclusive training hills. Area's only dealer for Pacific Airwave, UP, Seedwings and Delta Wing with demos in stock.

We are the largest, most complete H.G. accessory and repair shop of its kind in the country. Many new and used gliders in stock. R/C supplies and kits, Ultra Pod camera systems.

VISA and MASTERCARD accepted. Stop in and get your flight pass and gate combo. 150 Canal St., Ellenville, NY 12428 (914) 647-3377. In N.E. 1-800-525- 7850.

FLY HIGH HANG GLIDING, INC. - Serving S. New Yark, Connecticut, Jersey areas (Ellenville Mtn.). Area's EXCLUSIVE Wills Wing dealer/specialist. Also all other major brands, accessories. Certified school/instruction. Teaching since l 979. Area's most INEXPENSIVE prices/repairs.

ExccHent secondary instruction .. .if you've finished a program and wish to continue. Fly the mountain! ATOL towing!

Tandem flights! Contact Paul Voight, RD 2, Box 561, Pine Bush, NY 12566, (914) 744-3317.

GM! PARAGLIDING SCHOOL York, (516) 676-7599.

ls now open in New

SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK - Cooperstown, NY. Certified Instruction, Sales and Service for all major manufacturers. 40acre park, 5 training hills.jeep rides, bunk house, camping, hot showers, 600' NW ridge. We have the best facilities in N. New York state to teach you how to fly. RD 2, Box 348A, Cooperstown, NY 13326, (315) 866- 6153.

THERMAL UP, INC.-Mostcomplete hang gliding shop in area. Located on top of Ellenville Mountain. USHGA Certified Instructor and Observer. Concentrating on hang gliding instruction with emphasis on launching and landing techniques. Dealer for all major brands. Offering expert sales and service with lowest price in area. Large mail order inventory.

Tom Aguero, P.O. Box 347, Cragsmoor, NY 12420. (914) 647-3489.

KORTH CAROLINA COROLLA FLIGHT - America's most experienced tandem flight instructor, teaches utilizing ATOL and Double Vision. Call or write for information Greg De Wolf, Corolla Flight, PO Box 1021, Kitty Hawk NC 27949. (919)261-6166 KITTY HAWK KITES, INC. - P.O. Box 1839, Nags Head, NC 27959 (919) 441-4124. Learn to hang glide on Jockey's Ridge, the largest sand dune on the cast coast, just south of where the Wright Brothers' first flight took place.

Beginner and advanced lesson packages and camps offered.

Advanced tandem tow instruction, 1500 ft. plus up. Dealer for all major brand gliders, complete inventory of new and used gliders, accessories and pa11s.

JULY 1992

SOUTHERN OREGON HANG GLIDING - Certified instruction, ATV retrieval. Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, UP. (503) 479-5823.

VIRGINIA

PENNSYLVANIA

KITTY HA WK KITES -

MOUNTAIN TOP RECREATION - Certified instruction, Pittsburgh. (412) 697-4477. C'MON OUT AND PLAY!

SILVER WINGS, INC. - Certified instruction and equipment sales. Proudly representing Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, Seedwings & UP. (703) 533-1965 Arlington VA.

MOUNTAIN WINGS -

See North Carolina.

Look under New York.

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

WINDW ALKER HANG GLIDING - Certified instruction. Pacific Airwave/UP Dealer/Glider Accessories. Great Northeastern sites! RR #2 Box 2223, Schickshinny PA 18655, (717) 864-3448.

TENNESSEE HAWK AIRSPORTS - New and improved hang gliding!

Attention Novice and beginners! New 360 degree training hill designed and built specifically for you. Conveniently located. Fun! Fun! Fun! Clinch Mtn. - The longest ridge, two launches. The popular light wind indicator Windsok. Brochures available. Your satisfaction is the key to our continued growth and success. Hawk Air Sports, Inc., P.O. Box 9056, Knoxville, TN 37940-0056, (615) 453-1035.

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK under Georgia. (800) 688-LMFP.

See our ad

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY SOARING SUPPLY -Certified, two place flight instruction and first mountain flights are our specialties. Rentals, storage and ratings available. Dealers for all major brands. Located in the "Hang Gliding Capital of the East". For personal, professional service you can trust, call SYS, RT 2 Box 80, Dunlap, TN 37327. (615) 949-2301 STAY WHERE THE FLIERS STAY - Crystal Air Sport Motel. Private rooms, bunkhouse, jacuzzi, pool. (615) 8212546 Chattanooga, TN.

EASY TO USE, TOUGH TO ABUSE - Get instant response and the Litek sound. The E model is available from your full service dealer at only $249 (not incl. Ball clamp) or direct at 503-479-6633 (VISA, MC, AMEX). Available in ft/ min or meters/sec dial. Free brochure. LITEK, 4326 Fish Hatchery Road, Grants Pass OR 97527.

FLYTEC VA RIOS 40 % OFF!-Limited numberof2000scries tlight decks, brand new, full factory warranty. Call Carol (510) 490-4385.

TEXAS A.A.S. AUSTIN AIR SPORTS -Come fly with us in the scenic Texas hill country. Our new airpark is located on Lake Travis, only minutes from Austin and Packsaddle Mtn. Flight Park. USHGA certified foot-launched and tow-launched training programs. We offer hang gliding, paragliding, sky diving and ultralight flying. Dealers for UP Int 'l, Pacific Airwavc, Enterprise Wings and B.R.S. Austin Air Park has one of the finest repair facilities in the country. Services include: airframe & sail repair, parachute mounting & repacking, custom harnesses, gear bags and flying accessories. Complete tow systems available. Write to: A.A.P., Route 2 Box 49 l, Spiccwood TX 78669 or call Steve Bums at (512) 474-1669.

Sell your unused equipment with the help of a Hang Gliding classified ad.

For more details call Jeff (719) 632-8300.

59

CLASSIFIEDS

GRADE A SHEEPSKIN -hand fairings. REDESIGNED FOR SUPERIOR COMFORT, with NEW MAP POCKETS standard. Warmest hand fairings in the world. Send $47 to Wyo. Aerolites, PO Box 880, Casper WY 82602. (307) 235- 3367, add $15 for X-large. Custom orders accepted.

MINI VARIO - World's smallest, simplest vario! Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on batteries, 0-18,000 ft., fast response and 2 year warranty. Great for paragliding too.

ONLY $169. Mallettec, PO Box 15756, Santa Ana CA, 92705. (714) 541-2625, Mark Mallett.

HIGH QUALITY HELMET-at an affordable price. D.O.T. Brushed nylon liner with high strength polycarbonate shell.

ONLY $55.00 + $4.00 S/H. Great for schools. GOLDEN WINGS, 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401.

(303) 278-7181 or TOLL FREE 1-800-677-4449.

MAXON MOBILES -3 USHGA channels $295. MAXON 5 watt-3 USHGA channels 349. MAXON I watt-I USHGA channel $190. ICOM 2SAT-$369. NOHYPOXYGEN III o2 system-5 1/4 lb., 200 liter, $350. UVEX ARAMID full face helmet, l lb. 5 oz., $325. Optional visor, headset/VOX installation. X-C smoke bombs, 45 sec., as low as $4.00.

Signal mirror $8.00, Jack-the-Ripper cutaway knife $15.00, Silva compass $100.00. Pendulum Sports, Inc. I -800- WE FLY X-C. MVI SHORTY FLIGHT HELMET-Shield slides manually down covering eye area completely or up and stowed in it's protective housing. Polycarbon shield screens all UV light below 400 nanometers. Helmet DOT rated. Brushed nylon liner, polycarbon shell. Helmet sizes: S, M, L, XL. $175 ($5 S/H). Mail check or money order to: G.W. Cooper & Co., PO Box 982, Simsbury CT 06070. (203) 651-8278.

HAVE YOU Cl;lECKED EVERYTHING FOR LAUNCH? A laminated 20 point checklist might save your life! Preflight checklist on reverse side. Send$5 + SASE to: l I 5 Woolbright Rd., Ste. 710, Boynton Beach FL 33435.

THE FAMOUS "LAMBIE LID" - Aerodynamic hang glider helmet. $85 full face version, with kevlar-fiberglass guard $120. Jack Lambie, 8160 Woodsboro, Anaheim, CA 92807 (714) 779- I 877.

81,:

*

lLlg_J:J_

1:!f maxon·

HIGH PERSPECTIVE WHEELS-REAL LIFE SAVERS!-12", light, tough. Fits all gliders. Send$37 + $2.95 shipping per pair to Sport Aviation, PO Box IOI, Mingoville PA 16856. Ask about our dealer prices.

Need help writing your ad?

Call Jeff (719) 632-8300.

60

THE NEW LRJC+ - is available with a new price scale!

Save big$$$. Call: (510) 372-1337 day or (408) 263-0915 evenings. Or write Russ Douglas, 2060 Gosser St., Milpitas CA 95035. Dealers welcome!

SP-2000 Series

NEW JO-CHANNEL PROGRAMMABLE MAXON SP2000-5 watthandheld 2- way radio programmed with three USHGA and three weather frequencies. Durable, rugged, easy to use. Rechargeable nicad battery (typical 8 hour life).

Pilots #I choice! Special price: $349. Additional Maxon options available. Lookout Mountain Flight Park, (800) 688LMFP, (706) 398-3541.

Hang Gliding Classifieds FAX line (24 hours) (719) 632-6417 HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIEDS SKY-TALKER II The Sky-Talker II, 2 meter FM antenna, will boost the transmitted and received signal by 3 times, and will not interfere with your vario. Intenrnlly installs in 5 minutes and automatically scls up and breaks down with the glider. This antenna is pre-tuned and ready to go. Send S30 + S3 shipping and handling to: Sky-Corn Products, PO Box 530268, San Diego CA 92153.

PARA-SWIVEL - Don't leave the ground without one! $84.00 + $4.00 S/H. Dealer inquiries welcome. GOLDEN WINGS, 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401 (303)278-7181, 1-800-677-4449.

STOP GETTING RIPPED OFF - They can't touch this!

Save Smail orders. NEW-MAXON SP2000 10 ch. w/tone S367., VOX S74. HAM RADIOS, YAESU FT411E$309., MOD S30., ICOM 2SAT S3 l 9. MOD S40, A LIN CO DJ Fl T S285. Dealer for Aircotec Alibi varios, Ball, BRS, High Energy, Safewheels, V Mitts, Raymond, Second Chanez.

Tow rope 1/4" poly $30 per 1000', 3/16" poly S25 per 1000'.

Send S.A.S.E. for sale tlyeror call Kentuckiana Soaring, 425 Taggart Ave., Clarksville IN 47129 (812) 288-7111 Calls returned collect.

DON'T GET CAUGHT LANDING DOWNWIND! Perfect that no-step landing by watching our Windsok. Constructed with 1.5 oz. ripstop nylon. UV treated to maintain its brilliant color. 5'4" long with an 11" throat. Available colors are fluorescent pink/yellow or !luorcsccnt pink/white. $39.95 (plus S4.00 shipping/handling) Colorado residents add 3% tax. Send to USHGA Windsok, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-8300, FAX (719) 632-6417, PHONE (719) 632-8300. VISA/MC accepted.

Proven Pilots Say That ...

QUICK RELEASECARABINER-$49.95. Extra ball lock pin, $29.00. 10,000 lbs., dealers welcome, patent pending.

Thennal 19431-41 Business Center Drive, Northridge, CA 91324. (818) 701-798.l.

RAYMOND HARNESS - Brand new, many extra's-built in oxygen holder, water bladder & antenna, S450. Two Free Flight chutes-spectra line/kev Jar bridles, 18 gore, S300 each.

2nd Chanez, $400. For 6'- 6'3" pilot. SI ,300 takes all. (619) 944-3462.

". .

WlND ADV150RY

AIR/ WIND SPEED INDICATORS HELP You LAUNCH & FLY SAFE!"

I SYSTEK II VARIOMETER - Designed for thennal flying. Hang glider and paraglider pilots. Perfect for entry level pilots. Adjustable audio set-point, mount included, other options. Affordable S 185. Systems Technology Inc. PO Box 7203, Knoxville, TN 37921 (615) 531-8045.

DEPENDABLE-WINDTUNNEL TESTED & CALIBRATED-Built to last, impact & cmrnsion resistant. Easy to read. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Now only S15 (+$2 S/H), foreign orders add S2. Pacific Resources U.S.A., PO Box 9064, San Diego CA 92169.

THE SENTEK SX DIGITAL ALTIMETER/V ARIOMETER-has the quality and features pilots really need: high accuracy, quick response, ease of operation, reserve battery, a rugged case, and the crisp Sentek audio. $339. Price includes shipping, clamp, 2 year warranty. For info orto order (check or M.0.) write to: SENTEK, 16212 Bothell Way SE, #F252, Mill Creek WA 98012, (206) 338-9149.

JULY 1992

TEK 6" WHEELS - S25/pair, plus S3 S/H. Tek Flight Products, Colebrook Stage, Winsted, CT 06098 (203) 3791668.

Due to production schedules, we work two months in advance. Please place your ad early to avoid missing a particular issue.

61

CLASSIFIEDS ATOL -And tow vehicle. $2,500 OBO, Dave (616) 9438594 eves.

COMPLETE TRUCK TOWING SYSTEM-ATOL winch type, pilot controlled release, automatic pressure regulator, 5000' of line, includes vehicle. Needs minor work, must sellI've moved (system is in Delaware). Best offer over $2,000.

(415) 321-7966.

NEW LOW COST XCR-180 - Aluminum cylinder 41b system provides up to 3 hours constant service, $359.95 XCR-480 (liters) $514.95, XCR- 240 $494.95, the lightest/ lowest cost composite fiber oxygen systems available. Complete ready to install with Oxymizer, remote valve, holsters, lines and hardware. ($15 S/H). OXYMIZER-Uniquecannula w/reservoir design accumulates oxygen normally wasted during exhalation. Uses only 1/3 the oxygen over standard cannulas and masks. Works with standard oxygen systems. $19.95 ($3 S/H). 1- 800-468-8185, (801) 364-4171 eves & wknd. Major CC accepted. Mtn High E&S Co., 516 12th Ave., SLC Utah 84103.

HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS - by Pete Cheney. The Official USHGA Training Manual. Learn to fly with the world's finest hang gliding manual. Complete flying instructions from the training hill to soaring techniques. Over 260 pages, with more than l60 easy- to-understand illustrations and photos. Guaranteed to satisfy the most inquisitive pilot. NOW AVAILABLE FOR $29.95 (plus $4.00 shipping/handling) Colorado residents add 3% tax. SEND/FAX/ PHONE TO USHGA, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-8300, FAX (719) 632-6417, PHONE (719) 632-8300.

VISA/MC accepted.

BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AUSTRALIA- We need qualified hang gliding/paragliding instructors. Certified tandem with coastal site experience.

Send resume to: Chris Boyce, AERIAL TECHNIQUES, PO Box 180, Helensburg NSW 2508, Australia. Phone (042) 942-545, fax (042) 943-188.

TLS WINCH - Mounted on a sturdy 4 X 8 trailer. Practically new, due to our being "kicked out" of a local airport. Stable scat for winch operator. Excellent releases. Works like a champ and needs a new home. No place to use it in North l'lorida. $1,000 OBO. Call Michael (904) 877-0702.

FULL AND PART TIME- USHGA certified instructors.

Innovative equipment, the latest training methods. Soaring Safaris. Send resume: Mission Soaring Center, 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas CA 95035. (408) 262-1055.

TOW ROPES - Make the move to quality. Spectra-proven state-of-the- art tow rope. Available with fiber bonding synthetic finish, longer lasting, easy to use hollow braid.

Trade in your ultraline! Call David F. Bradley (215) 723l719 or fax (215) 453-1515.

WANTED - Hang gliding instructors, full and part time, must be USHGA certified. Teach on sand dunes. Call Western Hang Gliders (408) 384-2622.

PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS

PARAGLIDING -A Pilot's Training Manual. Produced

by Wills Wing and written by Mike Meier, in its revised 3rd edition. From an overview of the sport, to equipment, to flying and micromctcorology. Beginner through advanced skills covered, and much, much more. NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH USHGA. Send $19.95 (plus $3 S/H) to USHGA, PO Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-8300 We also proudly carry Dennis Pagen's "Walking On Air-Paragliding Flight" for$ l 9.95.

PARAGLIDE USA -- Subscribe to North America's most widely read paragliding magazine. l2 issues just $25. Send check or money order to 425 Rider St., Ste. B7, Perris CA 92571 or call (714) 657-2664 or FAX (714) 657-4062 with your credit card infonnation.

HANG GLIDING CARTOONS - Easy reading for HG pilots. A picture on every page! $9.95 plus $2 P/H (CA residents add 8.25% tax). Put the check in mail to: Bob Lafay, 11431 Caem Ave., Tujunga CA 91042. Dealers inquire.

SOARING- Monthly magazine ofThe Soaring Society of America, Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $45. Info. kit with sample copy $3. SSA, P.O. Box E, Hobbs, NM 8824 l. (505) 392-1177.

TOWING AIRCRAFT - From Red River. Towing supplies, bridles, releases, recovery chutes, platforms and more. (512) 4672529.

62

PAYOUT WINCH TOW TRAILER - 3000 feet 1/4 inch poly, adjustable boom for glider attachment, pilot actuated 3ring release. Boom detaches for travel, custom protective cover. Complete, ready to go on any pickup, Sl,400. Magic III glider (shown) less than 100 hours, $625. Speedrail unused $40. CB radio for glider with rechargeable C cells and charger, tuned trailing edge antenna, $40. (510) 922-5284 Arkansas.

This is the one II

IJn.sartelf

By Golden Wings

Tow line recovery System Nothing attached to pilot or bridle.

UNLIKE OTHER SYSTEMS, no deployment mechanism is required. Fu1ly self actuating when tow line is released.

Reduces wear on line & rewind motor. Reduces tum around time. Two sizes. $125/$135 incl. shipping. Check or money order. Also available, 3/16" braided Kevaler GOLDLINE towline,$99per I ,OOOfeet. Golden Wings, l 103 Washington Ave., Golden CO. 1-800-677-4449

HANG GLIDING

..

l*'fll$8re (Ila

or kecte pllllCIII) in

conJundfon with altimeter

• l root or 1 meter incremental second altim-

eter (relative) • 1000, 1500 fpm or 5 mis analog variometer with peizo audio • Adjustable audio threshold for lift and sink • Adjustable audio volume and choice of sound type (variable or beep) • 5 stage vario damping • RF shielding • Back-up battery system • Mounting system vario averager ,of color

& ln/brmed I

B11ek Issues Avt11l116/e/ 3314 w. 11400 s.

Subscriptions: $24/year U.S. $36 Canada - $44 overseas Back Issues: $5.00 each - all back issues (4) $14 (both include postage)

South Jordan, Utah 84065 Bus 801-254-7455 • Fax 801-254-7701

• Glider Reviews • Competition News • European Undate •Who's Who • Facts & Figures

f11/I Color Mt1/t1Z1ite

CLASSIFIEDS DON'T LEAVE YOUR GROUND-BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT IN THE HANG GLIDING CLASSIFIEDS.

ULTRA LINE IN STOCK-Tops in economy, strength and wear. 3/16" X 3000' delivered $105.00 From the original Ultraline source-Cajun Hang Gliding Club, l lO Kent Circle, Lafayette LA 70508, (318) 981- 8372. MC. VIDEOS & FILMS DAREDEVILFLYERSIII-THEPARAGLIDERS-by Tatum Communications. As seen on PSN (Prime Sports Network). PARA GLIDE with the Wills Wing team &friends, in scenic TELLURIDE, Colorado. Breath-taking footage, beautiful surroundings. Witness Class II maneuvers by the pros. This is a MUST HAVE for any video collection. (-50 min.) Available for $24.95 (plus $3 S/H) through USHGA, PO Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933. Colo. residents add 3% tax. (719) 632- 8300, FAX (719) 632-6417. We also proudlycany HAWAIIAN FLYIN'($33.00)&HANG GLIDING EXTREME ($34.95).

EAST COAST VIDEOS - HENSON'S GAP & WHITWELL-I 991, big air and tandems (55 min.). MICHIGAN HANG GLIDING-Video site guide, including towing (77 min.). OLD TIME MOVIE-(1975-1980) High Rock, Lookout, Warren Dunes, PA Regionals 78-79, and more.

Water & land towing. (93 min.) $29.00 EACH (+$3 S/H) Michigan add 4%. Foreign orders $10 extra. Send to: Wayne Bergman, 80 E Lincoln, Muskegon Heights MI 49444. (616) 739-5363.

USHGA LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT-Our long sleeve tshirts are colorfully screened with a "simplistic" hang gliding design across the chest and down the left sleeve, 100% cotton! Now in GRAY or WHITE. $18.95 (plus $3 S/H) Please specify color and size (S,M,L,XL) when ordering.

USHGA, ordering info. see below.

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

THE ENDLESS THERMAL-A video by award winning photographer John Blacct. Beautiful scenery, fantastic flying and original music make this high quality, feature length video a must. Fly the northern California coast, Elk Mountain, Hull Mountain, Paradox Colorado and Lakeview Oregon. See a balloon drop in closeup detail and explore a new site via helicopter. VHS 90 minutes: $33 PPD (foreign add $6 airmail),CA add 7 .25%tax. BlacetResearch, 15210 Orchard Rd, Guerneville CA 95446.

MISCELLANEOUS CHEAP T'S - Cheap in price, but not in quality. The original USHGA logo (It. blue or tan T) and "bars" design (white or yellow T). sizes: SMALL & MEDIUM ONLY! $6.00 (+$2 S/H). What a Deal! Buy one for your kids, neighbor'.s kids, pet dog, etc. USHGA, ordering info. see belo,v.

DON'T FORGET THE CHILDREN - Our most popularT shirt, the "Mtn. Glider" is available in three children sizes: Small (6-8), Medium (10-12), Large (14-16). 100% preshrunk cotton. $9.95 + $3.00 S/H. Adult sizes S-XL $12.95.

USHGA, ordering info. see below.

64

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES The rate for classified advertising is $.50 per word (or group of characters) and $1.00 per word for bold or all caps. Minimum ad charge. $5.00. A fee of $15.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 for each photo. Please underline words to be in bold print. Special layouts of tabs $25.00 per column inch.

AD DEADLINES All ad copy, instructions. changes. additions and cancellations must be received in writing I 1/2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. October 20 for the December issue. Please make checks payable to USHGA Classified Advertising Dept. HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933 (719) 632-8300 or FAX (719) 632-6417.

USHGA POSTER! -Full color, 24" X 37" poster ofEric Raymond doing oxygen at 17,000' MSL over the Sierra Nevada Range, $7.95 USHGA Poster. ordering info. sec below.

THE USHGA MTN. GLIDER DESIGN - Our most popular design, can be found on several official USHGA merchandise items.

Lapel Pin ........................ Full Color ........... $4.95 Log Book Cover ............. Reg. $9.00 .......... $6.00 Sew-On Emblem ............ Full Color ........... $4.95 Decal .............................. Full Color ........... $1.50 Keychains .................................................... $1.50 T-shirts ........................... S-M-L-XL .......... $12.95 Embroidered Caps .......... White or Navy .... $9.95 XL Shorts ...... Illue. Green, Yellow, Pink .... $8.00 SHIPPING: Orders under $9-add $2 S/H, over $9-add $3.50 S/H. Ordering info. see below.

USHGA ORDERING INFORMATION - Send your orders to: USHGA, PO Box 8300, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (719) 632-8300. FAX (719) 632- 6417. Colorado Residents add 3% tax. Don't forget to add S/H!

Adventure Sports .............................. 38 Adventure Video .............................. 67 Aircotec & MBP .............................. 53 Air Gear ............................................ 41 AirWear Sports ................................. 67 AirWorks .......................................... 29 Ball Varios .................................. 54,63 Bradley Co .................................... , .. 15 Brauniger .......................................... 52 BRS .................................................... 9 Cross Country Magazine .................. 55 Enterprise Wings .............................. 23 Eric Raymond .................................... 6 Flytec ................................................ 26 HG Federation of Australia .............. 67 Hall Bros .......................................... 53 High Energy Sports .......................... 55 Hang Glider Heaven ......................... 52 Lookout Mt. Flight Park.. ................. 29 Morningside Hang Gliders ............... 55 Mountain Condo .............................. 67 National Fly-In ................................. 30 Pacific Airwave ................. Back Cover Paragliding Magazine ....................... 63 Roberts Glider Instruments ............. .42 Sport Aviation Publications ............ .41 UP International ............................ 3,22 U.S. Aviation .................................... 29 USHGA ............................ 2,4,43,46,65 Wills Wing .................................. 16,17 Wind gypsy ....................................... 25 HANG GLIDING

1992 USHGA MERCHANDISE ORDER FORM TOTAL

ill.'{.

1992 USHGA CALENDAR 12" x 12" full pictorial of the sport you love ................................................................................................ $6.00 OTHER USHGA CALENDARS SPECIFY YEAR: 1991 1990 1989 1988 More Excellent Photography-collect them all! ....... $3.00 *'NEW** COLLEGIATE SWEATSHIRT Super heavyweight 11 oz. fleece - 95% cotton, cross-weave w/ side gusset, 3 colors on ash. SPECIFY SIZE: MEDIUM LARGE XL (Hint: Shirts are oversized. If in doubt, order smaller size) reg. $39.95 ... $34.95 **NEW'* "FREESTYLE" SWEATSHIRT 9 oz. set-in fleece - 50/50 heavyweight, beautiful multi-color design on white SPECIFY SIZE: MEDIUM LARGE EXTRA-LARGE (Hint: Shirts are oversized. If in doubt, order smaller size) ............................ $24.95 ALSO FREESTYLE T-SHIRT 100% preshrunk cotton Med. Large XL .......................... .. ................. , ....... $12.95 **NEW** "LOOP" SWEATSHIRT 9 oz. set-in fleece - 50/50 heavyweight, red and white on navy SPECIFY SIZE: MEDIUM LARGE EXTRA-LARGE (Hint: Shirts are oversized. If in doubt, order smaller size) ............................ $19.95 *'NEW** USHGA Golf Shirt 100% combed cotton. Colorfully embroidered. Colors: White Red Navy Yellow Jade Black SIZES: Medium Large X-Large XXL (in white, navy & jade only) ................................................................................................. $21.95 USHGA SCRAMBLE KNIT SWEATER by Nutmeg Mills Embroidered with Min. Glider emblem, 100% Cotton, "Natural Color" SPECIFYTYPE: CREW NECK or VEE NECK and SIZE: SMALL MEDIUM LARGE X-LARGE (Reg. $39.95) CLEARANCE $29.95 USHGA LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT 100% Cotton "Simplistic" Design SPECIFY COLOR: WHITE or GRAY & SIZE S M L XL .......... $18.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER T-SHIRT White-100% cotton. Our most popular shirt. SPECIFY SIZE: S M L XL .................................. $12.95 USHGA YOUTH MTN. GLIDER T-SHIRT For those up and coming pilots. SPECIFY SIZE: S(6-8) M (10-12) L(14-16) .................. $9.95 USHGA NEON LOGO T-SHIRT 100% Cotton Our beloved official logo, color revised of the 1990's. HOT! SPECIFY TYPE: WHITE TANK TOP or BLACK T-SHIRT & SIZE: Small Medium Large X-Large (Reg. $9.95) CLEARANCE $7.00 USHGA MTN. GLIDER CAP Embroidered SPECIFY COLOR: NAVY WHITE PURPLE RED ..................................................... $9.95 USHGA CORDUROY CAP Embroidered with "Glider Trails" design SPECIFY COLOR: ROYAL BLUE OFF-WHITE ... $9.95

$ $ $ $

$ $

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

**NEW** Hang Gliding magazine "SPECIAL NEW PILOT EDITION" launching, landing, buying a used glider, etc ............................. $4.50 **NEW** Higher Than Eagles by Maralys & Chris Wills. The story of early hang gliding and Bob Wills. Hardcover. ............................ $19.95 *'NEW** UNDERSTANDING THE SKY by Dennis Pagen Micrometeorology for pilots. Almost 300 pages, 260 photos & illustrations $19.95 '*NEW** THE ART OF SKYSAILING by Michael Robertson. Covers material used in ICPs, including Charts of Reliability .................. $10.00 PARAGLIDING· A PILOT'S TRAINING MANUAL Produced by Wills Wing. Everything you wanted to know about paragliding ......... $19.95 HANG GLIDING FOR THE BEGINNER PILOT by Pete Cheney The Official USHGA Training Manual. Over 200 pages .................. $29.95 PARAGLIDING FLIGHT - Walking on Air by Dennis Pagen Covering all aspects of Paragliding. Over 140 illustrations ................... $19.95 HANG GLIDING FLYING SKILLS by Dennis Pagen Our most popular book. For the beginner to intermediate pilot. ......................... $9.95 HANG GLIDING TECHNIQUES by Dennis Pagen Continues where FL YING SKILLS left off. For intermediate to advanced ............... $7.50 RIGHT STUFF FOR NEW HANG GLIDER PILOTS by Erik Fair Overview, humor, techniques and personalities .............................. $8.95 FEDERAL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1992 Federal Regulations covering ALL types of aviation .................................................... $8.95 USHGA DELUXE LOG BOOK 72 pages. Covering pilot ID, ratings, rules, maintenance, inspection, terminology ... and more .............. $4.95 USHGA X-C LOG BOOK 64 pages. Very clean! For those who like to document their flight. ............................................................... $3.95 USHGA FLIGHT LOG BOOK 40 pages. The official USHGA flight log book ......................................................................................... $2.95

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

Official USHGA Windsok1 " Pink/yellow or pink/white, ...................................................................................................................... $39.95 USHGA DELUXE LOG BOOK COVER Gray colored and debossed with the Min. Glider design. Show off your flights. (Reg. $9.95) .. $6.00 USHGA LAPEL PIN Beautiful multi-colored Mtn. Glider design. Custom shaped pin w/ military clutch and epoxy dome ...................... $4.95 USHGA 1988 WORLD TEAM PIN Commemorating the world meet in Mt. Buffalo, AUSTRALIA ........................................................ $2.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER SEW-ON EMBLEM The most beautiful patch you'll ever own. 12 different colors used ................................... $4.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER DECAL Full color 6" diameter vinyl decal. Guaranteed to last!............................ ... ............... .. ..... $1.50 USHGA KEY CHAIN "Soft Feel" Plastic. Custom Mtn. Glider shaped. Screened white on red."""""""" .......................................... $1.50 USHGA SEW-ON EMBLEM Our original logo, in its original colors on this 3" circular emblem ............................................................. $1 .50 USHGA EMBLEM DECAL Our original logo, in its original colors on this 3" circular sticker ................................................................... $ .50 USHGA LICENSE PLATE FRAME "I'd Rather Be Hang Gliding" PLASTIC-white with blue lettering ...................................... $5.50 METAL-(zinc) with white on blue lettering ............................ $6.50 **NEW** DAREDEVIL FLYERS Ill· THE PARAGLIDING VIDEO The Wills Wing gang paraglides at Telluride, CO (50 min.) ............ $24.95 **NEW** HAWAIIAN FLYIN' video. Hang gliding and paragliding in paradise! Awesome scenery! (46 min.) ......................................... $33.00 **NEW** HANG GLIDING EXTREME video. Let's you see some of the most spectacular sites and introduces you to some famous pilots! (50 min.) ...........................................................................................................................$34.95 MAGAZINE COLLECTOR BINDER Brown vinyl binder w/ gold lettering. Wire inserts to hold 12 issues of HG. ........... .... $9.00 'USHGA ERIC RAYMOND POSTER 24" X 37" Eric doing oxygen at 17,000 MSL over the Sierra Nevada Range ................................ $5.95 'USHGA HANG GLIDING POSTER 22" X 28" Colorful nostalgic standard Rogallo flying into the golden sunset. (Circa 1977) ............. $3.95 'Posters are NOT AVAILABLE on International Orders-SORRY!

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

PAYMENT must be included with your order. FOREIGN orders must be in U.S. FUNDS drawn on a U.S. BANK!

CHARGE MY CREDIT CARD* 'add $2.00 handling fee VISA or MASTERCARD (circle one) acct#_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _exp._ _ _~ Signature ____________

SHIPPING .01 - 9.99 ADD $3.50 10.00 - 19.99 ADD $4.00 20. - 34.99 ADD $5.00 35. - 49.99 ADD $6.00 50. + ADD $7.50 Canada & Mexico add $1.50 extra lnt'I surface add $4.00 extra lnt'I air add $15.00 extra

SUBTOTAL

$._ _ _ __

COLORADO RESIDENTS add 3% TAX SHIPPING (see chart)

$_ _ _ __

($2 handling fee') 'if applicable

$_ _ _ __

TOTAL ENCLOSED

$_ _ _ __

SHIP TO: (Street address ii possible) NAME _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ USHGA#_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ CITY/STATE/ZIP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING ASSN. P.O. BOX 8300 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80933-8300

(719) 632-8300

FAX (719) 632-6417

ST. PAUL, MINN -- After a period of relative quiet, Seedwings is communicating more vigorously. This is a good sign for (as Wills Wing put it) ... America's only other wholly U.S. -owned glider manufacturer. For the last two years, boss Bob Trampenau has been focusing his attention on Sensor-Europe.

This company has a license agreement with Seedwings and is operated by Austrian Andreas Bangheri. Bob observes that output of the two companies is slightly different; SeedwingsUSA does not build any component parts for the EuroSensors.

While consulting Bangheri, the U.S. -based business (still 100% Bob's) slipped in market presence from its peak a few years back. However, when combining both operations, production has increased so Seedwings can legitimately claim business is better than ever. The growth comes even though they offer only high performance gliders, intermediate rated. , , , reports U.S. sales are Now Trampenau accelerating, fueled by favorable response to their 610-144.

Industry-wide changes appearing on '90s gliders have squeezed more performance out of ever-smaller wings at the same time other subtle improvements have been made. In the Sensor 144' s case, the kingpost hang system -- postioned "two times higher than anyone else's," says Trampenau -- has given the new glider very responsive handling to accompany its performance. "It may even be 'too light' for some pilots," notes Bob. Seedwings feels their KP hang system simulates a double french connection so well that they plan a simple way to increase bar pressure. "We'll keep it light in roll and when you flare, forces will be light. When you dive, bar feedback will increase as many pilots prefer," explained Trampenau.

Seedwings will offer a 152 model this summer.

In fact they've declared the 610-152 "on sale" now, with deliveries following two months of certification testing. In early summer both the 144 and 152 were pursuing HGMA approval.

Speaking of the HGMA, the certification organization has new officers.

Former PacAir prez, Jean-Michel Bernsaconi, is now prez of the HGMA. He'll be assisted

by VP Mark West, who represented Moyes at the early May meeting. The industry design gurus also reviewed new applications.

Moyes

requested name changes (XS Easy 155 to X-C 155 and XS Easy 165 to X-T 165) . Hard-charging UP Int' 1 obtained approval for their XTC 170 SS and DS models. Attending the meeting were: Bright Star, Moyes, Pacific Airwave, Seedwings, UP, and Wills Wing.

UP reported that the newly certified models will retail for the "low" price of $2,995. Of course, buyers can increase the value by choosing from an options list. In support of their just-begun retail shops, UP plans to add glider accessories, apparel, and harnesses. • , , A chance arose to examine the new UP harness compliments of UP-America veep, GW Meadows. As UP obtains the product from an established harness loft, it boasts professional craftsmanship in the modern layout ( front opening, complete enclosure) .

However, the UP pod has an exceptionally workable hang pivot system that seemed to permit a lower flare posture than other pods sampled. If interested call: 800/COME-2UP (or 266-3287).

An Arizona outfit announced the Aero-Floats to facilitate boat-tow launching from water. The 35-pound floats have a shape that provides about the same drag profile as a slender pilot in a pod harness. A video tape verified the AeroFloats are very successful at permitting fully-proned-out launches even from deep water. While I can't imagine many solo pilots accepting the drag from these large floats, they should offer controlled takeoffs for tandem/training operations.

Tri-Systems owner, Nick Till, will send you a tape for $20, or sell you the floats for $795 which includes bridles and releases plus the tape.

Call 602/680-9797. •••In closing, I want to commend HG editor, Gil Dodgen, and the USHGA office staff for their efforts to produce the second edition of the "Special New Pilot Issue" of Hang Gliding. You' re probably already a sky god, but you ought to have at least one copy to show to interested nonpilots. It's jam packed with good info for a beginner and Gil did his most masterful job yet in creative layout. The issue is used by USHGA HQ for student memberships and other promotional purposes. To get your copy, call: 719/632-8300. ,, , That's it! So, got news or opinions? Send 'em to: 8 Dorset, St. Paul MN 55118. Or. .. call/fax: 612/ 450-0930. THANKS!

© 1992 by Dan Johnson

66

HANG GLIDING

The Hang Gliding Federation of Australia's calendar features extroardinary photographs of hang gliding and paragliding from all over Australia from Buffalo to Byron, from the Flatlands to Stanwell (and more) 1 It goes (rorrr_Jwy_ /992 until December 1993.

It's 16 pages, in full colour and it's twice as big as this magazine.

Why not also pick up a video copy of the 1992 Australian Open I Over 120 pilots flew 8 action packed days at T umut, NSW.

NEWS FLASH ...

Is hang gliding a hot news item in your local paper? Please send clippings of stories, photos or articles to the Public Relations Committee through the USHGA office. We want to see your name, your club or your site mentioned in print!

USHGA - Public Relations P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933

ACTION VIDEOS

TIHIER1m~K - THE ART oF FLYING

EUROPEAN VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS ALL ASPECTS OF HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING FLIGHT: FROM THE FIRST STEP TO PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION FLYING, AND FROM SAFETY ASPECTS TO METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. FOR PILOTS AND NON·PILOTS. VHS - 40 MINS. Adventure Video SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER Paul Hamilton CLOUOBASE 3 - EXTREME··· 34 ·95 10950 Silver Knolls Blvd.

SIERRA CLOUDBASE II 29.95 THERMIK 49.95 Reno, NV 89506 4.00 702-972-3518 CALL OR WRITE FOR OTHER ACTION VIDEOS

POSTAGE & HANDLING .

-----------------

! Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ ! Address: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ !,

Calendar _ _ _ Copy(s) at Aust. $30 (includes airmail) $23 (,n Aust. only - includes postage)

:

j Video

_ _ _ Copy(s) at Aust. $58 (includes air mail) $44 (in Aust. only - includes postage)

D VHS

D NTSC

D SECAM

SEND TO HG FA 143 Wynard St. TUMUT NSW AUSTRALIA 2720 J

How To Choose AHarness With all the different hang gliding harnesses being offered today. how do you find the one that's right for you7 And when you invest in a new harness. you will need to be comfortable with it for a long time Try a few on for size . you know, just like buying a new suit. After narrowing your choices by inspecting the materials, features. construction, etc., hang in a sample for at least 1 5 minutes. Feel for pressure points under the arm, at the hips and ankles. and at the suspension lines. (These will certainly irritate you after only a few flights.) Will your harness meet your needs when your flying ability matures7 One harness that deserves a closer look " is the AirFlare from AirWearSports.

The AirFlare is designed for ultimate comfort and ease of use by the new / pilot and world champion alike. It includes over 20 very special features as standard items in one total package price Contact your dealer about our "new pilot discount:· or call us for a dealer near you We know you'll be comfortable with your choice of the AirFlare.

.A. '.l!!ll(J::

ultimate bor-st.uffm9 freedom of the J\1rFlo:e

~-l~=--~-...~

J. /JJ -+{UU/NJ;i ~ ' - f - ' V ~ 403 South 28th Street, Herrin, IL 62948 Phone: 618/942-5317

R

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V

THE BEST SERVICE IN THE WORLD

Sure that's a bold claim, but at Pacific Airwave we've made it a way oflife to be the leaders in service and the rest of the industry is struggling to catch up. No other manufacturer can offer you: • One-day parts service on all models.

• The hang gliding industry's only one-year warranty.

Pacific AJRWAVE P.O. BOX 4384 SALINAS. CA 93912

• Pacific Airwave's Technician Training Program, where authorized Service Centers are encouraged to send their staff to our Salinas factory for intensive hands-on training in glider inspection, construction and repair.

• ... and the latest effort in service, the Worldwide Service System The new K3 is being produced at both Airwave factories (US and UK) to the same specifications, allowing any Airwave customer to buy any K3 part from any Airwave dealer anywhere. Our goal: to offer this unique service for every new design from the Airwave team. Imagine buying your glider in California and being able to buy a leading edge in Austria...

Pacific Airwave, the best gliders in the air, the best service on the ground. Contact your authorized Pacific Airwave dealer today.

PHONE (408) 422-2299

FAX (408) 758-3270