USHGA Hang Gliding December 1997 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

!CARO 2000 srl · Via Verdi, 19 21038 Sangiano (Va) Italy Tel. ++39-332-648.335 · Fox ++39-332-648.079 http: //www.icaro2000.com E-Mail: staff@icaro2000.com

(USPS O17-970-20 - ISSN 0895-433X)

44 Reflex Bridle Adjustment And Maintaining Pitch Stability by Mike Meier You r glider may have gone out of factory specs all by irself

48 The 1997 Hawaii State Championship article and photos by Du/JKing Hang gliding compecicion in paradise.

56 Inverted Hang System by Charlie Baughman Charlie has invented a system co keep you from falling into the glider if you go upside down.

Columns

Departments

USHGA Director List ............................ .43

Airmail ........ ..................... .................. ........4

Product Lines, by Dan Johnson ..............63

Update....................................................... .8 Calendar ofEvents .... .................. ............. 15 Racings .......................... ........................... 19 Classified Advertising ............................. .52 Index to Advertisers ...... ...........................62

DECEMBER ·1997

Gil Dodgen, Marvrging Ecliior!Editor in Chief' Dave Pounds, ArtDiroctor

John Heiney,. Gerry Charlebois; BeUina Gray, l.emy Grannis, Mark Vaughn Phot0grap/1<;rs Harry Martin, Illustrator · Dennis l'ag1m, Mark Stucl(y, Geoff Mumford, G.W. Meadows, Jim Palmieri, 5taf/ Wrlleni

Air Mail GROWING

Phil Bachman, Executivp Director Jeff Elgart, Advertising D. Dean Lcyerle, Meml'.l'crsl1l1)ServiCE.>s. Karen Simon, Acc:ouni\ng & ,A,,,,.,h.or ~:1.,r"l,·1,c

Elaine Elgart, Wob Administratm/Momber Servirns Natalie Hinsley, Servicc;s USNG!\

Bill Bryden, Prosidont Randy Adams, Vice President Russ Locke, Secrelary Dan Johnson, 'frc•asurc r 1

2: Cazis. REGION '.3: Ken Lawless. RE(,ION 4: Mark 5: Fn1nk G,ilk1t1e. RECION REGJON 7: Bill RECION B: REGION 'l: l'c:1e Geoff /V\Ull\1()((1. REGION I 0:. G.W. Mau Taber, REGION 11: Jeff Hunt. REGION 12: DIREC TORS /\T l./\RGE: Claudia Stockwell, Paul Jphnson, Jan Johnson, Dennis HC>N()IV\R"/

DIRECTORS: Chris Dupaul, Hannah, Mat1hews, Lars Linde, Arjan Ala, Barbara U1uc1Ilate, Ed Pilm,rn, l<cn llrbwn, Sandy Moler, Kells, Fnxl M<:N,1,111"'" Micha1il Roborlson, CIO DIREC::T()RS: Arl Cire·enfir:ld (N,'.'-A),

MANG GLIDING magazine is published for hang enrhusiasrs lo create further interest in 1ho

an educational forum to advance Contributions ilte ar1id1,s, phol()s, and illustratlor1s

is concerning

activities. If the rnaterial is to bo

returned, a sf!if:.arl,:lrc,:sr,d return envelope must bo enc:\os,od .. No,tifir:ali,Jn be made of H1bmisslon ·10 othcrhc1ng HANG GLIDING magn, zinc reserves tlw to edit contribL11.iom where Sill'y. The do 1101 assume responsibility for the of contributors. HANG GLIDING editorial offices:

Pkwy., Suite A-256, Rancho Santa (714) fax (714] mu1.7,1.1,,,

Dear Editor, The strengrhs and weaknesses of any organization lie solely in rhc qualities and contributions of its members, 1n that regard the USI ICA is a very fortunate organization indeed. Our membership is composed of many dedicated and passion· ate individuals. Yo11 come from numerous, diverse backgrounds, and bring m our organization a wide variery of' skills and experiences. We now need to draw from 1his pool of' ralent to help our Association remain strong. We arc faced with a steady decline in our hang gliding membership and a stagnation in overall growth. The Board of Directors has resolved m rnake promoting and growing our sport a priority in the upcoming years. In order to accomplish this we arc seeking out professionals in marketing, advertising and other related fields. Our goal is to form a marketing advisory panel to assist the organization in rhe promorion of hang gliding and paragliding. lf you would be willing to give some of your time and talent to the Association it would be of great benefit to the membership as a whole, and will not go unappreciated. Those individuals wishing robe a pan of this panel should contact me at the address below. Chris DuPaul Chairman, Sub-Committee on Marketing and Promotion

P.O. Box 462 Nellysford, VA 22958

(804) 525-8064 The USHGA is a membcH:ontrolled dedicated to tho exploratkm ancl promiltl(Jl'I

of unpowered ultraligl1tf1ligl1t, a11d

lng and

of its

Me1n1bc:rship

Springs, CO and at acldi1ional mailing POSTMASTER: HANG CLJDING,

CHANCE Of ADDRESS TO: llOX I;no, Colorado Springs, CO

fl09()J,.,1330.

DECFMBER 1997 VOLUME

ISSUE No. ·12

Dear Editor, l would like to m:ikc note of a recent "win" in the ongoing battle to secure our ever--diminishing landing areas for hang gliding. Recently, several of' us got together ro form a non-profir corporation to purchase the primary (bailout) landing area f;x a northwest site in western Massachusetts. This site, like many others today, was in jeopardy of being developed

for housing. Development would have dosed the site to frnurc flying, with no real alternatives available. Other potential landing areas were too dangerous or far away to allow for safe flying. As I'm sure is the case with most USHCA members, we did not have the cash LO easily pursue rhis transacrion, but thanks to Randy Adams, who was ,mending a USHGA Board meeting, we heard of' a gentleman in Wyoming who might be able to help. Afrcr contacts were made and the situation explained, Mr. Dutcher Sterling stepped up ro the plate and gave us a loan that made the purchase possible. We cannot offer enough thanks and appreciation for his efforts in helping to keep our truly beautiful and unique sport "flying." 'fhanb again Dutcher! Because of'hang gliding philanthropists like Dutcher, we may yet be able to secure many of our best flying sites throughout the country! Man Carr Brooks Ellison 'rim Donovan Peter Judge Collette Carson Cirrus ( :orporation

Dear Editor, I'm stoked about my last flight, and thought I'd share my experience. No, I didn't pull off a 200-miler or anything like tfo1t. My cause frir joy was a tow to l ,800 feet above Miami, with a leisurely sled run back down into Biscayne Bay. "What's so exciting about that?" you may ask. Well, ir had been over a decade since my lasr high flight, and I'd all but forgotten about hang gliding. Rodney, Randy and the rest of the Skywackers had probably given up ou me. Other than a few episodes with friends on training hills l'd been ground-bound for the lasr 12 years. Last weekend changed that. I was in Miami visiting my girlfriend Lorraine. We were in a shopping mall in Coconut: Grove when we happened upon Miami Hang Gliding. They had a videotape running, showing their tow system. They tow from HANC GUDINC

RIGGING

AND HARDWARE l'!"RAME PAR'rS GLIDER BAGS AND X-C BAGS HARNESSES ( '.['RAINING AND KNEE HANGERS)

Ii I

Fast Turn around. I 761 Neeson Hd. #4 Marina, Ca. 93933 P.O. Box

4lnl··384-84

PO Box

1,B00,6IIJ,6a88 ushqA@usl1q11.011q

Air Mail their 24·-foor boat equipped with a 350-hp engine and a platform on the back. They've been in business Ii:ir eight years but have been towing for longer than that. After discussing the options with James 'findle, the owner, 1.orraine and I signed up for the next class. She was to take a tall·· dem flight while l went for a solo run. Even though [ have a Hang JV and many hours logged, James had me take two tandem flights with him to check me out. Needless to say, things went very smoothly for 1.orraine and me, She was able to experience high flight without the stress involved in a normal mountain launch and I got to swerp again. Boo wah! After the flight we all shared a few beers, cigars and flying stories. Just like old times. During the day I observed two other students who were in training, and one woman who was there frH a fun sled run. Everyone was smiling. It was nothing but fun. If you're ever in Coconut Grove I suggest booking some time with James 'findlc, Frank Foti and the rest of the folks

at Miami Hang Gliding. Whether it's for you or a friend with no experience, it's a gas. Fred Straccia, Kittery, ME

Dear Editor, The Women's World 1c:am would like to thank Jim and Maggie Palmieri for their donation ro us. After publishing Sky Adventures, Jim and Maggie of Sky Dog Publications donated $1,000 from the proflt of their book to the Women's World 'learn. All team members arc very grat:efi.11 for this support. 'fo some of us, it might make the difference between going and not going to the next Women's World Meet in Hungary in August 1998. 'fo all of us, it is even more incentive to compete and do our very best in iurernational meets. Thanks again to Jim and Maggie Palmieri and Sky Dog Publications.

AWESOME Dear Editor, The October 1997 cover photo impressed me. Beautiful job! Steve Rathbun, how did you mouut that camera so far out on your wing? After many years of watching my buddies take off while I mess around with camera equipment on my glider, I have a slight understanding of what it takes to get good photographs. Rcto Schacrli airhungry(rllworldnet.art.net Sacramento, CA

We'll as/, hirn to tell us.

Claire Pagen Bellefonte, PA

l?d.

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Update

Elaine Elgart, USHGA Headquarters' newest employee and Web administrator, checks out the Training Manual. (Note our stock ofthese books. Dealer inquiries are welcome.)

HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS

ang Gliding/or Beginner Pilots, by Peter Cheney, is here at last, now in ics third edi-

tion! It includes over 250 fun-filled pages and more than 200 easy-co-follow illustrations and photographs, "easily digestible" text with new chapters covering cowing and tandem, and a new special feature, "As The Pros Fly," with hints from Master-rared pilots John Heiney and Larry Tudor. This is the Official Training Manual of USHGA, still only $29 .95 (plus $4.75 shipping). Send to: USHGA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 , 1-800-616-6888, ushga@ushga.org.

INTRODUCING THE NEW USHGA HANG GLIDING TELECARD

new USHGA telecard for hang gliding has been designed and released. The relecard program generates royalties ro USH GA when you use your card. These funds are to be used exclusively for site preservation expenses. In order for the USHGA co be effective in supporting our members' rights to continue co enjoy the air, we must be prepared with the financial resources to support these efforts now and in the future. The relecard program helps provide funds for this. A telecard, so metimes known as a debit card or a prepaid calling card, is a telephone calling card which yo u pay for in advance for a specific number of minutes or dollar an1ount, typically $2 to $100. To place a call, dial an 800 num-

ber, enter your PIN number, then dial the number you wane co call. The account is drawn down as yo u talk, "spending" your time. The card allows calls to be made from any couch-tone telephone, including cellular, hotel and pay phones. When your time is running low it may be replenished immediately with your VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express card. The remaining balance is announced every time you use the card. Prepaid calls are cheaper than calls made with telephone credit cards, collect calls or cash at a pay phone. The cost per minute for all domestic cal ls is the same, regardless of the time of day or the location of the called party. As an example of the cost savings, imagine placing a call during the week from San Francisco co Tampa. You would pay 75 cents for a three-minute call with your telecard. The same call would cost $1.80 for a user of the AT&T TeleTicket card and $2.75 in coins at a pay phone. Since the telecards are prepaid, fraud, misuse and problems typically occurring with billing cuscomers are eliminated. The surcharges and additional costs necessary with conventional calling cards are not needed. Hence, one can make a 25cent-per-minute telecard call any rime, day or night, within the United States. In other words, you will save 40%-50% when using a telecard versus a calling card. An initial $ 10 cost per card includes 30 minutes of calling time. See our ad in this issue of Hang Gliding on page 42. T he concept of a telecard program for USHGA members obviously makes sense. We all make long-distance calls from rime co time. Regardless of the amount of calling we do, we can save 40%-50% of the expense. The USHGA will receive a royalty on the dollar amount of calls placed by members using their cards. Over the years this can become a significant factor coward offsetting the anticipated expenses associated with the continued protection of our flying rights, among others.

"SKY FOOLS" VIDEO ky Fools from Charlie Jose of Germany

is one of the best crowd pleasers of all time. le is full of humor, fun and unusual feats, including historic attempts co H ANG GLIDING

Update H become airborne. It includes a hang gliding glide-ratio contest over the Danube River, wacky flying machines attempting to become airborne from a platform, and rhe best of the "Coupe Icare" costume flights. This video has been a hie in Europe for years and is frequently shown at air shows to attracts crowds. It is hilarious. "Sky Fools" features 70% hang gliding, 20% paragliding and 10% ocher flying. le runs for 26 minutes. The video is $39.95 plus $4.00 shipping/handling from Paul Hamilton, Adventure Productions, 4750 Townsice Road, Reno, NV 89511, phone/fax (702) 849-9672, hamilton@advencure.reno.nv.us, www.adventurep.com.

LMFP FREEDOM MACHINE

HANG GLIDING DOG erry Clarke sends us chis photo from Mountain Wings in Ellenville, New ork. Jerry was visiting Mountain Wings to attempt his first solo alcicude flight with instructor/tandem pilot Jeff Hoff. Ac the end of the day Jeff announced chat he planned to take his dog Alex as his last tandem passenger. Alex is a fixture at the flight park, often running alongside the dolly as Jeff ascends into the sky. Alex had a slighdy puzzled expression on his face, but once airborne he really seemed to enjoy the flight. Jeff converted an old ski equipment bag to make Alex's harness. Alex and Jerry were introduced to the joys of high flying on the same day!

DECEMBER 1997

"The Freedom Machine offers pilots unlimited soaring and the freedom to fly almost anywhere, regardless of wind direction, all in a very portable package," comments Matt Taber owner of Lookout Mountain Flight Park. LMFP, known the world over as a top hang gliding school, announces the production of their new lightweight trike, The Freedom Machine. Matt's main focus is offering pilots the best in personal flight and soaring, and The Freedom Machine offers pilots unlimited soaring with an in-flight restarting engine system. Designed with the latest industry innovations, The Freedom Machine is an easily transportable package. This lighrweighc rrike comes preassembled, ready for flight, and attaches easily co many current hang gliders. Pilots enjoy a comfortable flying position, and the trike is exrremely easy to fly with excellent all-around performance and superb handling. The Freedom Machine has a very wide and usable speed range, depending on the wing used. Performance specs include: 600 fpm climb race or bener, 100-fooc takeoff and landing roll, FAR Pare 103 legal. Standard equipment includes: in-air restartable 250 Zenoa engine, 2.5 co 1 belt reduction, 54" propeller, 95 lbs. weight, 2-1/2 gallon fuel supply, heatcreated chrome-moly landing gear, rugged consrruccion and easy secup. The trike is easily transportable. The Freedom Machine sells for $5,500 FOB, Rising Fawn, GA. Contact: Matt Taber, Lookout Mountain Flight Park, 7201 Scenic Hwy., Rising Fawn, GA 30738, (706) 398-3541, fax: (706) 398-2906, airwave@voy.net.

n sept

in Laverne, Italy to enlist the help of Icaro and world..,class pilot Manfred Ruhmer to nm a series of in-flight tests which the DHV hoped to film. The goal was to obtain visual data on how hang gliders recover from extre.me high-angle, of:.attackstalk The zero~afrspeed ''whip stall" maneuvers were preceded by atailslide. The se,ries of filmed li1-flight tests were performed over a Jake near lcaro's facility, a11d a rescue boatwas available at all

11.rorn the. landing field. Manfredwas towed alqfo by;in Icaro trike. Cameras were.placed onboardtheS'T that Ma11fr~d was flyii1.g and a camera crew: was·.positio11e.d ~tra:tegica:lly·.<>n·the grotmd,. In addJti011;, Gia11ni Hotz, presi· dentoflcaro, was flying a carm:raman afongside jn a two~place uln:alight. It an elaborate show for aU, mclutlu,g the ow11ersofAV8 (karo's had ;trrived the

EurCJpe may we!] be a tail structure added to the Icaro, and other manute1ct11rers in Europe, are already ing these and applying for patents.

My question ro Martin was, "What will a tail provide?" H.is explana~ don amund negative pitch damping. He be.lieves that tumbles a.re mostly the tapid rotation of the m)se downward, and that is not enough time for .the airflow to reat:~ ta.ch to the Most tumbles occur so quickly that the pilot does not even know whRt happc:ned.Witho11t airflow att:acl11.ect .to the wing, stability devices such as luff lines, tip stnits or mid-·span struts will not worl< effectively. Considering that over the years all types of "certified" gliders have tumbled, it woi.1ld seem that Mardn is correct in his assumption. What he and the other n1anufacturets are striving for is a dcfini•• tive cure for rn111bles. By da.mping or slowing the negative rotational speeds, the airflow can reattach. to the wing. Will the tail provem bet.be answer? '.f.l.n1e will tell. What.about·pcrformance?!had a to one of che prototype glid·· ers .in both tail.and no11~rail mode. I could not . aoy deg!adation in performance. The tailed .version I flew was also "in-flight" adjustable, iildwugh the production onl may be fixed. The adjustable rnodel offered wrneincl'edtJ~ ble benefits. With aboutl0° pitchttp, the gl.ider ae.rotowed in.thermal conditions l">.irl"f!I'. !'1'1'111 cinv ,rlitl,,•;,

flown, and foll 90° pitch up deploym.ent turns the tail into a "drogue landing. Martin bdieves that, with the tail, rna1mfactt1rers should be able to get more performance out of the main wing without compromising stability. The tail to take the "whip" out of the whip stall. Recoveries on the tailed sc:erned to be much smoother, and the gilder retqmed to fllght mode in a less pitched-over attitude; even with no input from the pilot. karo plans to offer the tail as an option in 1998 and it will be retrofitable to the 1997 S'[ As to whether the tail will be tctrofitable to other gliders, that must be addressed by each manufocrurer.

For additional information John Ryan at (888) OWENS Larry Tudor at (888)

submitted by John Ryan

sceola, the hang gliding bakL eagle,

will be featured in the December 1997 of Reader's Digest and Guideposts magazines. The Reader's Digest article will be similar m the Fir.mg Gliding; magazine story, whereas Guideposts story wrn be more tlonal in nature.

ob Hastings and Keishya Salko, for.· medy associated with Morningside Flight Park, along with Luis Perez; for" merly associated with Caribbean Air Sports, announce the opening of'T¢am Spirit Hang Gliding in Puerto Rico. Shadow thewm1der dog is school rnascot!

hang gl.lding tal1,.<;leJi11 instruction, p.i.raglide

and repaits.

clinics, sales, foll Team.. Sf)idt

Gliding, l~O. Box 978, Punta 00741; pho11.e

HANG CW)ING

l)ivision) or 6 issues of PARAGLIDING

one: Par·aglidh11g $79.00 U.S. ($96.00 Non~U.S.*) ........................... .

Lf''"'"'''"u ~ $27.00 (Family Member(.v) must sign separate release from Full Member) .... C Par:,ozm:Una (Family Member(s) must sign separate release from Full Member)

1ST CLASS MAIL SERVICE HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($24.00-U.S., Canada, & Mexico only) ................ · ............--.--............... AIR MAIL Sl:RVlCE HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($30.00-Westcm Hemisphere, $40.00-Europc, $50.00-All Others) .. ".-............... ,........--·-··1ST CLASS MAIL SERVICE PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE: ($12.00-U.S., Canada, & Mexico only) ......... . AIR MAIL SERVICE· PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE: ($15.00-Western Hemisphere, $20,00-Europc, $25.00-AII Others) .. , .........,__...,......._,_.....NAA MEMBERSHIP: ($10,00 annual dues) ............... , .................... , ...............................................,..- .................,--

F'AI SPORTING LICENCE:

($18.00 annual fee)

Date ofBirth: ...... I ..... I·--··

Citizenship:..........- - - ··-·--·,-· ....•. ,............_ .....- .•,,•._

**************************************************************************************************************** Credit

**************************************************************************************************************** drawn on a l!.S. bank.

TOTAL

(03/97)

In consideration of being granted membership in the USHGA, I,_,__,_____, ___,____________,____, , .__,_·--····--·-----·' for myself, my personal representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouse and assigns, do agree as follows: The following definitions apply to terms used in this Agreement: I. means launching (and/or assisting another in launching), flying (whether as pilot in command or otherwise) and/or landing (including, but not limited to, crashing) a hang glider or paraglider. 2. ne>rc::nn::11 or sustained by me as a result of my as a result of the administration of any USHGA programs (for example: the Pilot Proficiency System). ,..,,.. ,,..,.,, means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials 3. (elected or otherwise), members, contractors, sub-contractors, lessors and lessees: a) The United States Hang Gliding Association, a California Non-profit Corporation (USHGA); b) Each of the person(s) sponsoring and/or participating in the administration of my proficiency rating(s); c) Each of the hang gliding and/or paragliding organizations which are chapters of the USHGA; d) The United Of America and each of the city(ies), town(s), county(ies), State(s) and/or other political subdivisions or governmental agencies within whose jurisdictions I launch, fly and/or land; Each of the property owners on or over whose property I may launch, fly and/or land; e) All persons involved, in any manner, in the sports of hang gliding and/or paragliding at the site(s) where I f) 11 AII persons involved 11 include, but are not limited to, spectators, hang glider and/or paraglider pilots, assistants, drivers, instructors, observers, and owners of hang gliding and/or paragliding equipment; and g) All other persons lawfully present at the site(s) during my DISCHJIUUiE the from any and all claims and liability for INJl/RifES. however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the ru:::,1.,1:::~,.1,:;v to the fullest extent allowed by law. A against any of the loss or damage on account of I If I violate this agreement by filing such a suit or making such a claim, I will pay all attorneys' fees and costs of the

matte1rs whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this Agreement U.S.A. to the exclusion of the Courts of any other State or Country. If any part, article, paragraph, sentence or clause of this Agreement is not enforceable, the affected provision shall be curtailed and limited only to the extent necessary to bring it within the requirements of the law, and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

I have

Participant's fign;mm MR-8/97

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I don't write articles about meets I run for good reason. I experience a competition ftom a completely different perspective than the pilots who fly in it, and reporting on a comp ftom my point of view just doesn't make for particularly good reading. However, in my opinion the summer of 1997 was a competition season that needs light shed on it ftom a different direction. twas a season chat had a few ups an d many downs - business-wise for me mostly downs, and for the pilots mostly ups accented wirh sharp moments of down. Hang glider pilots, in general, have a way of justifying bad things (such as fatalities and serious accidents) that happen around chem. They put chem into nice little "why char won't happen co me" categories such as: ''I'd never fly into char area co start with ... I wouldn't fly in chose conditions ... I'd never fly chat close co other people ... " and so on. This isn't without good reason. Hang gliding is a form of aviation, and aviation is more dangerous than most mainstream pastimes. We form these "justification categories" co keep ourselves in the air and feeling good about wharwe do. As I drove back from Idaho in lace August, after running the Paragliding Naes, I dwelt on the bad parts of the comp season to the point where the good pares seemed peripheral. Ir is for chat reason chat I decided to journalize the summer competition season. What you are about to read is essentially "the world according to G.W ," so take it as such. I organized and ran three USHGAsanccioned comps chis year, the King Mm. Open and Lakeview Nationals (both hang gliding) , and the King Mm. Paragliding Nationals. I've been running hang gliding meets since the 1987 Nats in Chattanooga, and since then only 1988 has gone by without a contest run by me.

I enjoy it and plan to continue into the new century. MID TO LATE MAY I've just heard chat Al Whitesell - the driving force behind me deciding co organize and run the King Mm. Open (KMO) has had a paragliding accident char nearly killed him. I feel terrible, bur it also concerns me on a selfish level because Al was going to be the "calming influence" for me during the KMO. I was counting on him to help make good cask and weather calls, and to fill in his fellow competitors on what co expect at this site. Can't dwell on how his accident affects me, the poor boy's in bad shape. TUESDAY, JUNE 17 I've been here at King for a day and a half and have gotten a lot of help from Frank Gillette (local pilot and USHGA Regional Director). He's been a tremendous asset. The road up the mountain looks really good. Ir's a true 15-minute turnaround from the LZ to the lower launch, and another three minutes co the parking for the upper launch. The weather has been really bad during the entire spring. The word from Sandia is that it was a three-day meet. I really feel for those guys. The pressure is on when you run a contest to get as many good rounds in as possible, and even though the pilots know chat the meet director/organizer can't control the weather, it's an overall bad mark not co have a good meet. My philosophy has always

been chat bad weather before the meet means good weather during - an optimise at hard work here - so I'm still hopeful there will be great weather by the weekend. FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Pilots have been signing up for the co ntest today and by evening many report an exciting practice run up the range coward Challis. Some go out to land because it's some of the rowdiest air in which they've ever flown . The forecast looks better for tomorrow - I'm optimistic. I pick my cask committee, and it's a bit bigger than usual because Al's not here. I assemble Frank Gillette, Mark Mason (another local) and John Woiwode (from Jackson, but he flies King often) as well as Gibbo, Nelson Howe, Brad Koji and my weather dude Mitch Shipley. My safety di rector, Bubba Goodman, is also part of this group.

... ... ... ... ..... ... ... ... ...

SATURDAY, JUNE 2 1, 4: 00 PM The first round go t off seemingly okay today. It was a bit windy, but the gliders penetrated well once they copped out over the mountain. T hey came back our front . . . with what appeared co be reasonable speed. John Woiwode had cold me and the rest of the task committee that the wind makes the thermals smoother ar King, something I'm sure most people ... wanted co call BS at the time, but it proved co be the case. With winds a little south cross we called a conservative ... straight-line cask co Dubois airport. T his task would allow pilots co ei ther gee high and cross directly over the mountain range, or go about eight miles south and around the corner. Chris Arai, on his WW Fusion, absolutely smoked the 60-mile ... course in only an hour and 14 minutes. Chris Muller, also on a Fusion, was sec... ond with only one minute more elapsed time. A total of 17 pilots made goal ., seemingly not a bad start fo r the comp. This morning, on the way up to the top launch, I passed what appeared to be a I fender bender. I stopped co check and it . . . . seemed that a driver had lost traction on I the steep 4WD part of the hill just before _ I the upper launch, and the vehicle slid ... back down the hill into the driver's door I of a relatively new-looking Cherokee. A woman was really upset, and I was ... instantly concerned chat she was hurt. Then I recognized her as Sheff Eaton's

wife, Barbara. I questioned her and found that she was just upset about her vehicle being damaged (that she's to drive for retrieval the whole week). I pointed out that it was only metal and no one was hurt. I was running a bit behind, so I couldn't spend much time at the accident site. I left hoping she wouldn't stay upset for long.

Will Jenkins launching a Stealth.

Approximately 6:00 PM Carol, who has been traveling with Barbara Eaton to help with retrieval, comes into headquarters to lee me know that they have been at the sheriff's office proclaiming an emergency. le seems that Sheff had said he was going over the back of the mountain, so they drove around to the next valley but made no contact with him. I go to the sheriff's office and tell Barbara as well as her son Steve (also a competitor) that this stuff happens often in competitions and not co be too concerned. "Sheff's probably walking out of no-man's land with a spent radio barcery and you'll be joking about it in no time," I say. I walk out of the sheriff's office believing every word I just said.

Around Midnight Sheff hasn't shown up, and after consulting the maps, there's nowhere within a reasonable distance of the course line that a pilot couldn't land and walk our to a paved road by now. I'm starting to gee worried. I ger together with Search and Rescue and we agree to meet at 5:30 AM co fly the course line and look for Sheff's glider. I don't sleep well. JUNE 22, 5:20 AM I stop by the sheriff's office on the way to the airport to see if Sheff has wandered in overnight. No such luck. I drive co the airport and three local Search and Rescue guys and I rake off co scan flying che course line. Danrn, there's a lot of territory he could be in. We do a surface scan and then check some of the canyons, but the air is incredibly rough and we can't gee coo close. After about an hour and a half we go back to che airport. I'm still optimistic though; we've had pilots missing overnight plenry of rimes. Usually, however, they had been in contact with their drivers or another pilot, and we knew th ey were okay. I'm worried, but the authorities assure me they'll do everything they can to find Sheff

Lakeview Nationals, from left to right: Kraig Coomber, Lany Tttdor, Chris Arai, Kari Castle, G. W Meadows.

Gliders set up on the upper utunch at King Mountain. Claire Pagen utunchinga Stealth at King Mountain.

Continued on page 30. D ECEMBER 1997

BRONZE SAFE PlLOT AWARDS RICHARD TENAN

Gor D SAFF PILOT AWARDS l'FDRO ROT)RJGlJEZ MfGUFL GUTTERREZ

2ND DIAMOND SAFE PTLOTAWARDS MIC! IAEL ROBERTSON

BRONZE LIUFNTITAL AWARDS CLYDF STEWART RICI JARD DFGEN

Rcgion 3 DRAPKIN, MARK: Van Nnys, C:A; R McKenzie/High Adventure LUTGES, SEBASTIAN: Newhall, CA; A, Becm/Windsports Im'! ZAWARSKI, ROBERT: N Hollywood, CA; A l\ccm/Windsports Jm'J Region Ii DOWLING, DIANE: Linlcron, CO; M, Windsheimer/ Airtime Above HC DUNN, STEVEN: Denver, CO; M, Windsheimer/Airtime Above I IC EASTMAN, STACEY: Salr 1.ake C:ity, Ul '; T, Webster OVERSTREET, GYPSY: Apache Jct, AZ; R Richardson/i\riwna ! IC ZASTROW, JENNIJ:ER: Aurora, C:C); M, Windsheimcr//lirtimc Above I JC Rcgion 5 TYLER, DANIEL: I !all, MT; J. Hnvvnun/1':wl,· Air

BEGINNER-TANDEM RATINGS Region 7 GAMBLE, JOHN: Forr

IN; M, Jones/Wallaby lbnch

Rcgion 9 MUNTZ, ROHl\RT: Avalon, PA; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region JO BOClJSE, JEROME: Orlando, Fl,; M, L"""rw1,,11,,1"' BROWN, RICIIARD: Tampa, Fl.; c;, Mc:l'\amc,,ll,ravl)ml FERRAR!, FRED: Sarasota, llL; !), (;/over/Wallaby Ranch FOO, JOSEPH: Pembroke Pines, FL; [), Clover/Wallaby Ranch FOSTER, CHRIS: Orlando, FL; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch HELSER, CURTIS: Tampa, FL; D, Clover/Wallaby Ranch JAEB ll, DAVlD: FL; D, C;Jover/Wallaby Ranch MARTINEZ, PETER: Dayron:1 Beach, FL;!), (;Jover/Wallaby Ranch SIMON, CALLIE: Sr Fl,; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch TAYLOR, GERALD: Tampa, FL; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch VAN ENIGE, R!CK: Clearwater, Fl,; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch WENTWORTI I, JOI IN: I.akcl:md, FL; M, )ones/Wallaby Ranch

Region l 1 JONES, MARK: Dallas, TX; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 12 FERRARI, FRFDERICK: Flemington, NJ; D, Clovcr/Wallahy Ranch

Region 13 BEATTIE, COLIN: Scorland; ]), c;Jover/W,1llaby Ranch BECKLEY,JOT!N: UK; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GLENNON, MJKE: Columbia; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch MATTOCKS, CHR!S: England; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch MSALLFTT, RICHARD: l!ngland; D, C:lover/Wallaby Ranch BEGINNER RATINGS Region l HIBBS, ANTHONY: V:mcouvcr, WA; I), JZaivbrrurn.111( KELLER, HEATHER: Washougal, W/\; S, rhc Limit SARI, BRITTA: Seattle, WA; R, Richardso11/Arizo11a SCHULTZ, ERON: Portland, OR; D. Raybourn/I IC: Pc; School of'Orcgon Region 2 BLOOME, CORY: San Francisco, CA; P, Dcncvan/Mission BURKHOLDER, DAYTON: Fremont, CA; C. Filer/Mission CARLSON, ERIC: Mm View, C:A; C:. JliJer/Mission KHANNA, RAJFSH: Fremont, CA; C. Filer/Mission MC CORMIC:J(, PAUL: Los Ca1os, CA; I', Codwin/Westcrn H(; RHUDE, ANDY: Marina, C\; I'. (;odwin/Western l!C STORCH, MATTHEW: Santa Clar:1, CA; l'. Dc11cva11/J\!lission WEST, TIMOTHY: Pacifica, CA; C Filer/Mission

DECTMBER 1997

Region 6 COLLINS, MIKE: Kansas

MO; T, Hagcr/Lookour Mm Fl'

Region 7 IL; B. Kushner/Raven ABRAMSKl, SLA WOMIR: CAPSHAW, TOM: Evansville, Thoreson/Lookout Mm 1:p CAMBLE, JOHN: Fort Wayne, lN; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch JOHNSON, JIMMIE: MN; I\, l(uslmcr/Ravcn Sky LAUFENBERG, DEREK: WI; It Kushner/Raven SPorrs LEAL, MIGUEL: Monroe, WI; B, Kmhncr/R,1ven Sky MC KEE, DAN: Fort Atkinson, WI; I',, Kmhncr/Ravcn MERIDE'Tfl, JOSEPH: C:hicago, IL; It K11shncr/Ravcn Spons OLSON, SHELDON: Franklin, WI; B, Kus/mer/Raven Sky SJJOns RICHEY, ERICH: Fon Sheridan, IL; l\, J<uslmer/Raven Sky Sports SCHNEIDER, MICHAEL: Bloomfield llls, Ml; N, I ,·snow/NL Flying Advcmun~s TOMCZYK, MICHAEL: J,akc, lL; I\ Kuslmer/Ravcn Sky Spons Region 8

AMARAL, JOAO: Fvcrcn, MA; D, 1:p !JUGO, DALE: Spri11gi1eld, VT; R. FP ROSENBERGER, KENNETH: S C1rver, D, Baxter/Morningside Fl' TOWLE, PETER: Brattleboro, VT; D, llaxtn/Morningsidc fl' WAGNER, DOUG: Levant, ME; D, Baxter/Morningside Fl' Region 9 DUNCAN,JlJLIA: Baltimore, MD; C Thorcson/Lookour Mtn FP GOULD IV, GEORGE: Arlington, VA; J. Middlcron/Silvcr Wings HENGEN, STEPHEN: Shrewsbury, PA; D, l lahcr/Kiny I lawk l<ires INC RAHM, JIM: Washingron, DC; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn Vi' KIM, ELISABETH: Arlington, VA; R. lmmordino/l(iny l lawk Kites MC ClJLLOUGIJ, JR, PAUL: New Castle, DF; D. I laber/Kiny Hawk Kires MUNTZ, ROBERT: Avalon, PA; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch POTTER, KENNETH: VA; R. Hawk Kites SCHULTZ, ROBERT: DE; A Torrington/Kirty lfawk Kites STOLAR, NEAL: Philadelphia, C Thorcson/1.ookour Mm FP VOGELSANG, JOHN: State College, Pi\; lt Crovc/Summit Airsporrs ZIMMFRMAN, MICHAEL: Philadelphia, PA; W, lligh Region JO ALMEIDA, PEDRO: Miami, FL; C Thorcson/l ,ookour Mm FP BOCUSE, JEROME: Orlando, FL; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch BREEDLOVE, ROBYN: Florence, MS; C Thoreson/Lookout Mm Fl' COUPE, DAVID: (;reenville, SC; C Thoreson/I .ookour Mm FP FERRARI, FRED: Sarasota, FL; D, Clover/Wallaby Ranch FINN, DENNIS: Kennesaw, CA; T. Hager/Lookout Mm FP J:00, JOSEPH: Pembroke Pines, FL; D, Clover/Wallaby Ranch FOSTER, CHRIS: Orlando, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch HELSER, ClJRT'IS: Tampa, FL; l). C/ovcr/Walbby Ranch JAFB II, DAVID: 1:1.; D, Glover/Wallaby Ranch KOLLMYER, ARIC: TN; C Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP

LANE, ROBERT: Pompano, FL; J. Tindle/Miami He; MARTINEZ, PETER: Daytona Beach, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch MILLER, PAUL: Nashville, TN; C. Thorcson/Lookom Mrn PP PERKINS, JAM ES: Louisburg, NC; P. Vcncsky/Kiuy Hawk Kites SIMON, CALLIE: Sr Augustine, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch SMITH, MARK: Florence, MS; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP TAYLOR, GERALD: Tampa, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch VAN ENIGE, RICK: Clearwater, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch WEEKS, ANTHONY: Greenville, SC; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP WENTWORTH, JOHN: Lakeland, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch WILSON, ELIZABETH: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami HC WILSON, JOSEPH: Miami, FL; J. 'J 'indlc/Miami I JG WONG, ALEX: Atlanta, CA; C. Thorcson/Lookour Mtn FP Region 11 GULDE, ROBERT: llouston, TX; P. Burns/Austin Air Sports JONES, MARK: Dallas, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch RAGLAND, MARGARET: Dallas, TX; D. Enterprises Region 12 ALBERT, THOMAS: Voorheesville, NY; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP COLLIER, RHETT: West Harrison, NY; J. Hoffi'Mountain Wings FERRARI, FREDERICK: Flemington, NJ; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch INGRAM, CHRIS: New York, NY; C:. Thoreson/Lookom Mm FP KIM, JUNG: Rochelle Park, NJ; J. Hoff/Mountain Wings LISANTI, NICOLE: New York, NY; D.S. Jewell/Fly I ligh I JG MARRINAN, JOE: Wyckoff; NJ; A Torrington/Kitty Hawk Kites MAZZONE, ANDREW: Brooklyn, NY; J. f-loff!Mountaiu Wings MCCULLOUGH, GREG: Wyckoff; NJ; D. TJabcr/Kiny Hawk Kites SENGER, PAUL: Rochester, NY; H. Bocssl/Rochcsrcr Arca Region 13 BEATTIE, COLIN: Scotland; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch BECKLEY, JOHN: UK; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GLENNON, MIKE: Colurnhia; M. Jones/Wallaby R:mch MATTOCKS, CHRIS: England; M. Jones/Wallai1y Ranch MSALl.[ffT, RlCHARD: England; D. c;lovcr/Wallahy Ranch ST GUDJONSSON, GlJDJON: Iceland; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn PP NOVICE RATINGS Region l HIBBS, ANTHONY: V:mcouver, WA; D. Raybourn/HG PG School of Oregon MARTELL, SHANE: Bellingham, WA; A. Torrington/Kitty Hawk Kites SCHULTZ, ERON: Portland, OR; D. Rayboum/HC PG School of Oregon Region 2 ADAMS, GARRETT: Sacramento, CA; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ALLEN, TIMOTJ IY: Fremont, CA; C. Filer/Mission Soaring DUNN, BEN: Watsonville, CA; J. Herrmann/Western HC NEOS, PERRY: Milpitas, C:A; A. Kenny POLONSKY, EUGENE: S:una Clara, CA; D. Yount/Mission Soaring RHUDE, ANDY: Marina, CA; P. (;odwin/Western HG SAVARESE, RON: Willits, CA; T. Shca/S & S Aviation Adventures SHACKELFORD, SCOTT: Orangevale, CA; C. Hamilron/Sacramento HC WEBSTER, SCOTT JAMES: Redwood !~stares, CA; J. Woodward/Narural Flying Rcgion 3 DRAPKIN, MARK: Van Nuys, CA; R. McKcmie/High Adventure WARD, MICHAEL: Visalia, CA; T. Burcar/Fly Away I IC Region 1 DIEDERJCH, BRIAN: Salt Lake City, UT: I l. Sharp/Free Sports EASTMAN, STACEY: Salr [;1ke City, UT; T. Webster GALLAGHER, LE!Gl I: Tucwn, A'/.; T. Barron/Airborne Sports

OVERSTREET, GYPSY: Apache Jct, i\'/.; R. Richardson/Arizona HG STUBS.JOEN, KARL: Phoenix, A'/.; !.. Jorgensen/NW Moyes Region 6 BASS, C RUTH: Dover, AR; T. Middleton/Soaring Wings CHISMAN, MICHAEL: Russellville, AR; T. Middleton/Soaring Wings COLLINS, MIKE: Kansas City, MO; T. f-Iager/Lookom Mtn FP Region 7 BEARD, ROBERT: Portland, JN; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP CAPSIJA W, TOM: Evansville, JN; C. Thoreson/Lookour Mtn FP GAMBLE, JOHN: Fort Wayne, IN; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch JOHNSON, JIMMJE: Stacy, MN; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Spons LAUFENBERG, DEREK: Waowatosa, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky SPorts MC KEE, DAN: Fon Atkinson, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports MERIDETH, JOSEPH: Cl1icago, l L; H. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports OLSON, SHELDON: Franklin, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Spons PETNIUNAS, ALEXANDER: Dearborn, Ml; T. Bmcar/Fly Away l JG RICIIEY, ERICH: Fon Sheridan, II.; F\. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports TOMCZYK, MJ(:J IAEL: Lake, II.; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports Region 8 JOHNSON, SHAWN: S Y;Hmouth, MA; K. Sallm/Morningside r:p SARACINO, GREG: Shelton, CT; B. Davidson/Tck Flight Products STELIT(, KAMILA: Southington, CT; B. Davidson/Tek Flight Products Region 9 CALDWELL, BILL: Charleroi, PA; R. Bachman/Kitty fTawk Kites El.CHIN, ADAM: Portage, PA; P. Vencsky/Kirry J-lawk Kites l~LICKlNGF.R, DAVID: Washington, DC; R. C:izauskas/Wasatch Wings HART, LYMAN: Chantilly, VA; R. Bachman/Kitty Hawk Ki res MEAD, SCOTT: Baltimore, MD; R. Bachman/Kitty Hawk Kites THOMPSON, LUKE: Youngstown, 01-1; D.S. Jewell/Fly High rn; TRAIN, TIMOTHY: Cockeysville, MD; R. Bachman/Ki11y Hawk Kites TRUITT IlI, LEWIS: Reistcnown, MD; R. Hays/Maryland School HG WOODY,JUSTIN: Sterling, VA; M. Taber/l.oolrnm Mm FP Region JO ALM FIDA, PEDRO: Miami, FL; C:. Thoreson/I.ookour Mm Fl' m.AUM, MARK: Manns Harbor, NC'.; C. Elchin/Kitty Hawk Kites IIOCUSE, JEROME: Orlando, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BREEDLOVE, ROBYN: Florence, MS; C:. Thorcson/1.ookom Mtn FP BROWN, RICI JARD: Tampa, fl,; G. McNamee/Craybird Airsports DWELLEY, L THOMAS: Monroe, NC; B. Bmril/Ulrralight Flying Equipment FFRRAR!, PRED: Sarasota, Fl.; D. ( ;Jover/Wallaby Ranch FINN, DENNIS: Kennesaw, GA; T. I-lager/Lookout Mm FP KOLL.MYER, ARIC: Memphis, TN; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP LANE, ROBERT: Pompano, FL; Tindle/Miami 11c; MARTINEZ, PETER: Daytona Beach, Fl.; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch MILLER, PAUL: Nashville, TN; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP ODEU ., WILLIAM: Macdill AFB, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch SMITII, MARK: Florence, MS; C. Thoreso11/f.ookou1 Mtn FP SNOW, SEAN: Lon[.,>wOod, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch SUKKERT, GLEN: Tallahassee, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch TATRO, JOI-IN: New Smyrna Bch, Fl,; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch TAYLOR, GERALD: Tampa, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch THOMPSON, RONAlD: Nw Beach, r;L; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch WEEKS, ANTHONY: Greenville, C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm Fl' WIT.SON, ELIZABEllI: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami !-re; WILSON, JOSEPH: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami I JC

Region l l BODAK!', JF.AN-CLA UDE: Wichita 1:alls, TX; C. Gmham/Crossroads Windsports SMITH, RANDY: Arlington, TX;'/.. Majors/Wasatch

1--11\NC, GLll)INC

ALBERT, THOMAS: Voorheesville, NY; (:.Thoreson/I ,ookour Mtn FP BYRNE IJJ, JOI IN: Morris, NY; R. Fl' COOK, TIMOTl IY: Rochester, NY; IL !)[ MILIA, JO! IN: Li1rlc Neck, NY; J. l loff/Moumain GILL, SARA: Mahwah, NJ; DSJcwcll/J;Jy I ligh J Jc; LISANTI, NICOLE: New York, NY; llS Jewell/Fly I I IC O'CONNELL, RICHARD: Dexter, NY; It C:lark/Susquchanna FP DEREK: New York, NY; J. I !off/Mountain SENGER, PAUL: Rochcs1cr, NY; B. Arca Region 13 BEATTIE, COLIN: Scotland; I} Clover/Wallaby Ranch BECKLEY, JOI IN: UK; JvL Jones/Wallaby Ranch BERNT, KATHRIN: D. Baxter/Morningside FF GLENNON, MIKE: Columbia; M. J011cs/Wallaby Ranch MATTOCKS, CHRIS: Fngland: M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch MSALLETT, RICHARD: 1,:ngland; D. <;lover/Wallaby Ranch ST ClJDJONSSON, GUDJON: Iceland; C:. Thorcson/1.ookout Min Fl'

TNTERMFDIATF RATINGS Region BURNETT, CRAIG: Tolll1011se, C:A; R. Soarcs/Ccntral Valley I JC DONFRA Y, DON: CA; 1J. Yount HARLOW, PAM: San Jose, C:A; A. Mclan/Mission MUELLER, MARK: Moumain View, C:A; P. Codwin/Wcstcrn I IC

5 MILLSAP, MATT: 1.andcr, WY; l

ADVANCED RATINCS Region l BROWN, LARRY: Walla Walla, WA; B. Morgan ROBERTS, RICHARD: RichLmd, WA; B. Morgan Region 2

JOJ INSON, STEVE: Fresno, CA; R Soares/Central

!IC

Region 3 HUDSON, MARK: Carlsbad, CA; S, Srackablc/UP San Region lj COX, JR, SAM: Salr Lake City, UT; D.

Flight DIEDERICH, MARK: Draper, UT; D. Sharp/hcc 1:Jight Sports MARCELO, MARLON: Draper, LJT; D. Flighr Sports

Region TAFF, LESLIE: Madison, Wl; B, Kuslmer/Raven TILLMAN, TRACY: Ann Arbor, Ml; K Brow11/Qucsr Air Region 8 LANNING, TOM: I.itdcton, MA; J. Fl' STEUK, TONY: Sou1hi11gton, Cf'; It Davidson/Tek r:tight Products TRUDEAU, CARY: Cheshire, MA; l Nicol:1y/Morni11gsidc Fl'

Region BOND, KEN: Temple CA; A. Bccm/Will(lsports Im'! RETTELE, DWA YNF: Livcrnc, CA; I'. l'hillips/Lakc Elsinore

Ii BURRIZLL, DOUG: Pleasant Crewe, UT; l

Region 13 BEATTIE, COLIN: Scotland; I} (;lover/Wallaby Ranch BECKLEY, JOHN: UK; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch FOTHERINGHAM, BRIAN: Canada; M. Robcnson/lligh 1>,,,.,m"'''""' GLENNON, MIKE: Colnmbia; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch

Center

Air

Region 9 DULLAHAN, JOHN: Ft Washington, MD; S. Kinsley Region 10 BANKS, JERRY: .\!larthcws, N( :; T. llry:rnt/Buzzard Flight School MALONEY, N ROBERT: A11hurndalc, FL; lJ, Clover/Wallaby Ranch

7 GJLLETTF, RIJANOR: lJrb:rna, IL; B. I<uslincr/Ravcn

ANDRFW: Boston, MA; M Jones/Wallaby Ra11ch

Tarenrum, Pi\; I'. Brooks/Daedalus I fC TOMUNSON, DAN: Woodbridge, VA; S, Kinsley

CRFG: Roswell, ( ;A; M, Joncs/Wallahy Ranch DAVIES, BILLY: W Palm Beach, Fl.; M. Jo11es/Wallaby Rancl1 ISRAELOV, RONI: Atlanta, CA; T I lager/Lookout Mill Fl' NOVAK, M!Cf IAFL: C:olrnnbia, SC:; It I lawk !<ires

Region I BROWN, DANNY: NY; TI .ooko111 Mtn H FANG! JANEL, KARI.: I loneoye Palls, NY; B. I.yon/Rochester Arca GRATZ, DONA VIN: New York, NY; P. Voigln!Fly I I JC O'CONNELL, RICI !ARD: Dexter, NY; D. (;uido/S11squehanna FP ORI ANDO, JOI IN: l .amhertvillc, NJ; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch RIGGS, SAM: Somerville, I'. Voight/1:[y High I IC SPANO, JOEL: Waterloo, NY; B. I.yon/Rochester Arca

DiC!MllLR 1997

Region I VET, SR, JOSFPI I: Albany, NY; F. Miller/Rochester Arca

Region 13 BECKLEY, JOHN: UK; M. Joncs/Wallahy Ranch BITTFNCOURT, ARB.TON: Brazil; M. C:011ncll/Wings of'Rogallo BLATTI, THIERRY: Smitzerland; Y. Bajulaz/ABC Airsporrs GLENNON, MIKE: Columbia; M. Jo11cs/Wall:1by Ranch

TANDEM ONE RATINGS MlCHAFL WALL TFRRY KRAMER PAUL VFNESKY

TANDEM lWO RATINGS

MARI< MUL!lOLLAND MITCHELL SIIIPLEY MIC! !AF!. VORHlS

1997 TOP 30 SCl IOOL/Cl.lJB LEADERS IN BEGINNER (l!ANG l) RATINGS ISSUED

RANK l

2 3

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Ii 5 6

7 8 ') ')

11 12 13 13 15 ]')

17 17 17 1

21 22 22 22 22 22

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27 2')

29 29 2')

SCHOOL ..................................................... Bl~G/NNRR Wallaby Rancli ............................................................ 101 Lookout Mountain Flight Park ..................................... 93 Kitty 1-Iawk Kites ......................................................... .76 Mission Soaring ............................................................ 38 Morningside ];light Park ............................................... 30 Raven Sky Sports .......................................................... 27 Windsports International .............................................. 17 Mountain Wings ........................................................... 15 1 Iigh Adventure ............................................................ 14 Miami Hang Cliding .................................................... 14 Western Hang Gliding .................................................. 12 Lai<c Elsinore Sports ...................................................... 11 Airtime Above Hang Gliding ........................................ 10 Ply Away I-Jang Gliding ................................................ 10 .Dream Weaver l fang (;liding ......................................... 9 Susquehanna Plight Park ................................................. ') Arizona Hang Cliding ..................................................... 8 Ply High llang Gliding ................................................... 8 Co ... llang c;Jiding .......................................................... 8 I Jang ( ;Jiding Center of San Diego ................................. 8 Valley Forge Hang Gliding ............................................. 7 Adventures Unlimited ..................................................... 6 Chandclle ........................................................................ 6 Silver ·1·rue Flight ...................................................................... 6 Wasatch Wings ............................................................... 6 A11srin Air Spons ............................................................. S Sacremento [ Tang Gliding ............................................... 5 Adventure Sports ·1·ours ................................................. A Northwest Instructor ( :o-op ........................................... -4 Soaring The Soaring

1997 TOP 30 SCHOOL/CLUB LEADERS IN NOVICE (HANG 2) RATINGS ISSUED

RANK l

2 3 4 5 6

6 8 ')

9 11

12 12 12 15 15 15

18 18 18 18

22 22 22 22 22 27 27 27

SCHOOi. ................................................. .......... NOV!CH Lookout Mountain Flighr Park ................................... 105 Wallaby Ranch .............................................................. 79 Kirty Hawk Kites .......................................................... 28

~·1-!igh \:~1:~Adventure 1~ Z)~~:~~~.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~ ............................................................ 15 1

Windsports International .............................................. 15 Mountain Wings ........................................................... 14 Miami Hang Gliding .................................................... 13 Qucsr Air ...................................................................... 13 Fly High Hang Gliding ................................................... ') f Jang Gliding Center of San Diego ................................. 8 Lake Elsinore Sports ........................................................ 8 Western Hang Gliding .................................................... 8 Advcnrnres Unlimited ..................................................... 7 Morningside Flight Park ................................................. 7 Sacramento Hang ,.,111u111g .................................................. ; Fly Away [fang Cliding .................................................. 6 c;o ... f-Iang Gliding .......................................................... 6 Rochester Arca 1:Jyers ...................................................... 6 True Flight ...................................................................... 6 Arizona llang Gliding ..................................................... 5 Austin Air ,~p,uns ............................................................... ..> ~'.l1a~t~1f,i;t·1~.~~·i:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::; Utah Mountain Hang Gliding ........................................ 5 Airborne Sports USA ...................................................... 4 Maryland School of Hang Gliding ................................. 4 Northwest fnst.rnctor Co-op ........................................... A The Eagle's Wings I lang Gliding .................................... 4

Ranleings were compiled from ratingr published in the January-December J997 issues of'Hang Gliding magazine.

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The First

The sun was hot but not oppressive. The air was thin but not anorexic. The sky was a curious lizard and listened to the sound ofclicking battens and rustling canopies as

ow could we manage to gee 251 pilots, flying two different classes of wi ngs and speaking a babel of languages, airborne and away safely? Why was I sitting relaxed and spectacing instead of scrambling to ready my wing? What were we al l doing in the Mideast anyway, where the only recreational flying tradition involves flying carpets of dubious veracity? The answers to all d1ese questions and more tell the tale of the First World Air Gan1es held in Turkey Mike "Doc" during d1ree weeks of Eberhardt checks September, 1997.

out the traffic prior to Launch.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN T he concept of the World Air Games grew out of frustration with the crass commercialization of d1e Olympics. A sport must 24

pay big money to become part of the O lympic scheme of things and, to date, not a single sport d1at talces place in the air (if you discount ski jumping and pole vaulting) has been able to become an Olympic event. Pause to think about all the land and water "sports" such as synchronized swimming and gymnastic ballet chat are in the Olympics and you begin to fathom our frustration. T he FAI set about righting this state of affai rs by initiating the World Air Games (WAG). The idea of the games is to bring all aerosporrs from airplane and helicopter competition to balloons, ultralights, sailplanes, RC models, hang gliders skydiving and paragliding - to the san1e area to compete simultaneously. GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN The U.S. team arrived in Turkey at the Istanbul airport. We consisted of Kari Castle, Mike Eberhardt, Russ Gel fan, Will Jenl<.ins, G.W Meadows, C lai re Pagen and Wayne Sayer. I was along as a non-flying hang gliding Jury

President. All members of che team intended to com pete as hang glider pilots, but Kari switched to paragliding when her Laminar didn't arrive in rime from Italy. Although we got a glimpse of exotic Istanbul we were still in Europe since we were on the west side of the Bosphorus, the legendary river chat separates East from West. However, we soon boarded a flight fo r Izmir, a histo ric town on che west coast of Turkey. Upon touchdown we were finally in Asia, not in Kansas anymore. Claire Pagen We sorted out our lugstrides into the gage in an hour with the airfi'om the flat launch at help of meet personnel who were sent to greet <;okelez. and transport us to die competition area. On chis

ow·

Mediterranean blue with a hint ofpromising white wisps. I sat beside 117 hang glider pilots and 134 paraglider pilots readied their wings for launch. first taste of purring our lives in the protective hands of Allah. Every vehicle we saw had written on the inside Allah peshawar which means "Allah Protect us. " Allah must be a busy man indeed, for reckless - make chat heedless - driving is pandemic. During the course of our stay we were participants in several triple bypass operations. This operation usually occurs near a double yellow line (which has some unknown meaning) and involves two cars passing the same slow vehicle at the same rime so three cars are abreast on a blind curve or hill. That Muslim heaven muse be something special to warrant such reckless abandon in the here and now. Bur we survived and were deposited in rhe posh Richmond hotel. We were located near Hieropolis, the ruins of a large Roman (formerly Greek) spa and Pamukkale, a curious, terraced calcium hot spring which was the reason for Hieropolis' and the Riclunond's existence. The principle town in the area is Denizli which is situated in the Southwest of Turkey about 60 miles from the sea along the Meander River. This is the same river D ECEMBER 1 997

Team "Amerika" at the opening ceremonies. Left to right: @zyne Sayer, Kari Castle, Mike Eberhardt (hiding in Old Glory), Em/,a the team mascot, G. W Meadows and Will Jenkins. where Alexander made his decision to conquer Asia and which gave us our word "meander" by virtue of its winding course.

THE DAILY SCHEDULE Every day we boarded mini-buses (more than 20) to ride through Denizli and up Mount Honaz, 8,300 feet MSL and 5,000 feet above the valley floor.

Occasionally we flew from Mount <:;:okelez (chok-a-lez), 5,680 feet MSL. The original concept was for the paraglider pilots co fly one of these sires while the hang glider pilots flew the other. The problem was, <:;:okelez would not handle winds in any direction other than south to southwest. The first day my lizard friend and I watched a colorful kaleidoscope of wings

./ up at the opening ceremonies.

unfolding aml unfrirling along the quarter.mile top of I lonaz. We both wondered how many mid.airs we would witness. The ulrimate ,ltlswcr: none the entire meet. The reason for this is simple. The launch system involved riming the pilots' and using a departmcs on some rcmmc start tarp 011 0Ll1cro. The lift rarely wenr very above the mountain, so when pilots were "on the dock" they would leave !t)r the comsc very quickly. When start tarps were used they were at difforem locations for para and hang glid. and the para tarp as well as the launch window started an hour earlier than d10se fcir hang gliding. No serious conllicr resulred, and many 1<'.el that the camaraderie, sharing of experiences and p,1rtying together that took place nmong the paraglider and hang glider pilots was good fcir both sports. There was some talk of running other major rnecrs together in a similar manner. The paraglidcrs popped up like a magician's bouquet of flowers while tbe slid into rhc ;1ir. Soon they were on course to a c01r1 mon goal 13 miles Four of' the U.S. hang glider pilots goal (Wayne, Claire, Mike and Will) while Kari was third in the parngliding standings, landing just short Russ would have also made goal was flying with a CPS unit for the first rime which he had mounted side ways. The arrow kept pointing at goal to the righr, so he wended his way down a side valley and didn't discover Ids error un ti! the valley nnrrowcd and the CPS started he was getting fi.trther ,ind li1rthcr from goal. His attempts to fly hack imo the wind were {i.nilc. ·!'his first day was the best showing for the U.S. team. Subsequent days became more difficulr due ro weaker conditions ;md rough task calls. We had pilots nchievc goal on various occasions, but never again in a co11solidated group. or course, the lJ .S. ream didn't consist of top-ten pilors, since without funding, team membership cm1e down to who could afl<ml the tirne :md money. But: all th: team pilots were capable and nearly all experienced at competition. lfwe win the meet, we certainly won many friends.

ACCIDENTS

HAPPEN

The most unfcirtunate incident during the

DECFM13ER 1997

entire meet was a 1(H1i collapse and spin experienced by a Ukrainian paraglider pilot above launch. He made no attempt ro correct or throw his parachme, and we watched him auger down to disappear below the hill. Whrn rescuers reached the pilot found him fatally injured rrom impact on rocks. A couple days before this incident we watched a Canadian pilot perform the same routine, but he threw foer up and walked his chute about away. A setback for the U.S. team occurred when Kari Castle sprained her ankle bad· ly while landing her paraglidcr in a sinky /kid. This random accident pur her out

of commission for the rest: of the compe· ti ti 011. '] 'he only hang gliding accidents were a 1t:w blown launches and a tree landing by a 'Ji1rkish pilot which resulted in bro ken bones. The serious result of this last accident was that the pilot hacl to be evacuated by helicopter since the ambulance rushing ro his rescue had an accident itsclfl Allah protect us. ORGANIZATION OlJTTAKES The amount of effrm rhat went into orga· this event cannot be imagined. 'There was a full retrieval crew ( 15 peo pie), launch crew (IO people), head offl. cials (3 people), scorers ancl offke personnel (6 people) and C:IVL orficials (4 people) just for hang gliding, with a duplicate for paragliding. 'l<i be retrieved all you had to do was call one of the I;M

repeaters that were assigned to the meet

and you would get headquarters. You'd them your GPS coordinates or map posi · tion and wait for a mini-bus to arrive. In the meantime you could the hospi· tality of the ritral 'forks and sample the fruit o{krcd if you dared. Unwashed frnit was definitely a :ind most pilots s11/Yi.:red some of the 'li.irkey trots, also known as Ottoman's revenge. Bm the Tiirkisl1 version of Porta-Potties on launch accommodated the most stricken. portable facilities were spacious, Ii.illy tiled and had running water with a sink and soap. The only curious m,mer was the

lack of a holding tank which was replaced by a big hole in the ground. 'l<i complete rhc launch facilities, a fiilly working bank of telephones and ;m outdoor restauram provided pilots wirh a cha nee to reach out and touch someone and clown a pre-flight goat hurgcr. I ncidcntally, rhc zenith of western cuisine has reached 'forkcy, for in Denizli there was a fast food restaurant known as the AS Burger with yellow golden arches. AS means ace in 'liirkish, bm inside, up on the menu plaque, was the offoring in English: Big AS Burger. We didn'r go for it so I can't tell you if ir was a product description or a promised resuk The intense WAC organization was fr:lr in the ceremonies presented. There were four: an opening and closing ceremony for rhc para/hang gliding meet, and a general opening and closing ceremony

for the WAG. The local opening ceremony consisted of a parade through Denizli, a plethora of speeches, a concert by a Ti1rkish rock star, a powered paraglider flag drop and an impressive fireworks show. After rhis we returned to our hotel for a party which ended up with half the pilots and officials being tossed into the pool. In mid,-wcek, team leaders and officials were flown to Ankara, Turkey's capital for the WAG opening ceremonies. Unfortunately, one plane was diverted east to pick up some stragglers from another competition. Once they finally arrived in Ankara they were too late to land, for rhc ceremony was in foll swing wirh a massive air show. When it was all over they dove radically to land, for they were nearly out offuel. After gassing up they returned to Denizli, having spenr the day sitting at airports (ask G. W. how much fo n he had). The rest of us were smart enough to take advantage of a two-day trip to the beach at the resort cown of Fethiye. This place is a throwback to tbe 19(,0's with some great coastal flying off the 6,000-foot local hill. Six or seven shops offer tandem rides to the tourists. We ate, slept, hiked

The terraced hot springs at Pamukkale u;ere a mile.from our hotel. and swam, then returned rejuvenated and ready to kick rocks.

'fHE FI:VING RESUMES The next few days presented some reasonably good flying with some intcrmittem goal crossings by our hapless heroes. Times were tough, but the brave scratchers StJC-· ceeded in excelling. This period was marred by a controversy. On d1e fifrh round a start tarp was used for the hang glider pilots. Each cornpetitor had to photograph this tarp from a specific area once it appeared. Unfortunately, the map used to pinpoint this position was faulty and

communication with the tarp crew was These whirling dervishes boldly bullied inadequate. In addition, the tarp was not their way through the setup area and partially deployed to indicate its position, trashed Mike Eberhard r's Stealth. He borand the vehicle used to provide a vertical rowed my glider and flew a good round. reference was an army jeep ... you guessed The next day] again set up in anticipation it, camouflaged! of some fine flying, but to my chagrin, As a resulr of these inadequacies, a gag.. one of the Ukrainians blew a downtube gle of top pilots were several kilometers our on a faulry launch and had to steal downwind frorn the tarp when it opened one from my glider. 'T"he following day I while one team was right on the spot since waited to set up until ;:i]] members of our their team leader had driven to the tarp. team had launched. Once they were airThis state of affairs led to a protest from borne [ assembled the Stealth with con-the French team as well as Tcimas trolled lwste when one of the sprog under .. Sucbanek (current World Champion). surfoce zippers blew out. Again I was The protest was upheld, the round can .. grounded. Finally, on the fourth day of celed and the German team promptly trying, I borrowed an XC: from the withdrew frorn t:he meet with two rounds 'Ihrkish team and performed my first and t:o go. The sad p;in is that the Cermans only flight in 'forkey. lt was a relief had two pilots in contention to from frustration and a delight win the individual ride to survey the high mounMonique Werner for the tains and complex valley women and Guido systems from aloft. I Cehrman for the men. made a resolution to My personal frus .. remm ro really trarion over this result explore this aerial was compounded hy wonderland more not heing able w {ly so d10roughly. for in the meet because I couldn't locate a glider. ENDGAME My opportunity arrived The World Air Carnes when C.W. Meadows lcfi ended with the Frencb early and kindly offi:.:red his team and a French pilot, Serge Stealth. "Yes!" I thought, and II mpless glider sporting 'Eistet, winning the hang glicJ. set it up the next day with glee. the add-on tail that is ing event, while the British did That was the first day dust dev-· becoming popular in rhe same in paragliding. The ils appeared on the mountain. Furope. 1 IANC CIIDINC

I ~y Gaire

tc~am

on was over too quickly some of us, one of the of the day was to meet locals and try to con1nrnnicate with then1. ("What's your must be phrase rarely could it in our conversations.) we .landed locals fought to help. Had I able to fly with a I could have filled it with local produce and was definitely one of the had to offor.

an one pilots.

the potential radio jam in many different uu.1µ,u,,,1,1,,,~, went fairly smoothly. d.id their best to pick np "'"'''''""'p but waiting was part of the Israeli tearn came to our rescue m.any

U.S. team placed 13th (out of and the first lJ .S. pilot was Wayne in 50th place. Bm the fim wasn't over for most of us since we toured Ephesus (ruim) and Istanbul (ruinous) for several days. In lstanbul we saw the 'fcJpkapi palace, Sama Sophi,1 and the Blue Mosque. We visited the Ga let a tower where the first successfu I human night supposedly took place. We also couldn't avoid the labyrinthine Crand Baazar largest in the world where DICFMBrn '1997

times by picking up .some of us in irs pri·· vehicle. some stable days, most of the field of would high over launch and then go on course on a smooth, lifrless glide. This retrieval easier since everyone landed pretty much in the same area a bout of gang glidBut it also made .scoring a bit of a struggle since you had to find a spot for your pin on the map which was already littered with 50 other pins within about an inch! priceless 'Ihrkish tidbits: On the way up Mount I1onaz, one U.S. team tired of being dusted through a hole in the s.idc of the .mini-bus' body, got one of our delicious, spongy lunch sandwiches pwvkled by the organization and it in the hole. Ir worked Wonders®. another long ride up the hill we all '"'''V~·~··~" due to our driver's smoking. Tired of coughing, I got up to politely our driver to stop smoking. He .looked at me, gave me the vrc,,11·0qt srnilc and lighted another ond (None spoke English.) On a possibly blown-out day, rather than everyone on a long, dusty ride to the top ofMount l:fonaz, the got picked up at the hotel by a military helicopter and flew directly to the top to confirm that the day was indeed too windy to fly a task. We suba day off to explore the sequently all area. Day afrer a short flight, Mike

every other merchant is a please" car-· pct salesman. We even managed to buy a fr:w rugs without losing our shirts or dignity. We discovered thar the only way to make a carpet fly is rn sit upon it smoking a hookah with a substance that has long been illegal in 'forkey -- the original pipe dream.

The ftrst World J\ir Carnes is recent history, but there is bound w be another in four years. At that time l hope Lo com-

Eberhardt wa.it:ed on the road until midnight to be He fin,iUy was found in a side-road restaurant where he had been playing backgammon with the .locals for hours. T'his is how Mike got so good at backgammon. On the last day I landed to the town of Odgil just before the rain reached viii.age. minutes of trying to commm1icate with a teenaf, et, he disappeared, making me think he got tired of watching my hand nals. Fie came back 15 minutes with his b.rother in a car pulling a small trailer. 'I'hey insisted on taking me to nearest paved road. We loaded half the glider in the of the car through the back door and let the other half rest on the trailer while I rode through town standing in the trailer, collecting running kids as we went by. ts Just one of the various exotic (by truck, car, scooter or nmle) we foim frkndly 'forkish people. To end this recollection of Thrkish moments I would like to thank Meadows for arranging the use of Acros gliders in Thrkey as well a.s for providing team uniforms so we could really look like a team. T'hanks to G.W:, all hang glider pilots on the U.S. tcatn but one (Wills Wing provided one Fusion) were flying kingpost:less Stealths brought to 'Thrkey straight from the Ukrainian t01y by the Ukrainian team in a militaiy airplane. This made our very convenient we didn't have to carry hang gliders on a jetliner. It also gave us (che opportunity to meet very friendly pilots from who provided service for those gliders. Thank you to the Aeros team and G.W: Meadows. II

pete rather than officiate, !cH the setup, organization, ceremonies and festivities make the meet more like a world-·class flyin than a high-pressure competition. I'm sure l can speak for the competitors in stating that the experience was most enjoyable, the country a bit exotic and the !lying challenging, bur fon. Ti.Jl'key has become a tourist destination for Furopc and it is increasingly becoming a flying destination as well. Hosting the WJ\G h;1s helped this process progress. II 29

Continuediom page 17.

While Frank Gillette and Mark Mason give a talk about flying at King, J call Jim Zeiset, Russ Locke and Chris Arai ourside to get some guidance. l 1ell them thar I don't know what to do, but that [ want 10 do the right tltiug. Afrer a hrief discussion it is decided to call the day off and set up a

listen to the radio transmissions of rescuers on rheir way to rhe site. Minutes pass like hours and then we hear that the helicopter has spotted a pilot standing up My plan for the moment is ro run a hang and waving. Jeff and f jump up and hug each other. Hardly able to believe it, I tell gliding comest and have all the pilots look Jdf that I have to wait for absolute confiras they fly to see if they can spot Sheff's mation before I tell Barbara. glider. I don't know what else to do. About five minutes later a rescuer l'vc never been in this position. I on foot reports from an adjacent send the pilots up the hill. I) Chris Arai , . , .. , , , , . . .... Fusion ridge tha1 a pilot had indeed stood 2) Jim Lee . , . , ... , ... , ...... Pusion up and waved his arms. 12:00 Noon 3) Mike: Barber , . , ........... Airwave Concept 'frars of joy srream down my I've just gotten a radio transmission 4) Robin J·fa.milton . , ... , .. , .. Lam.inar ST and Jeff and I jump into my from the authorities and they wam 5) Chris Muller . , , , ....... , , .Fus.ion v;in to go tell Barbara. As we are us to stay out of the area behind 6) Mark Gibson .... , ........ Airwavc launch (yesterday's course line) so all jumping up and down in hugs, Shannon Raby . , , ......... Fusion a very cold feeling comes over me they can use their aircraft for the 8) Rob Ka.ys , , ... , , . , . , ...... Laminar that tells me I've just screwed up search without having to dodge us. 9) Bruce Barmakian , .........WWXC BIG. f don't know why l have this Oh well, there goes my plan for the 10) Clen Volk , . . . . , . , , ... , .. Lamirn1r ST feeling; I had waited for confirma··· pilots to look for Sheff; but surely --------------------tion. I tell Barbara and Steve to the authorities will do a better job. two-pronged search one in the air and wait at the morel and that I'll come back I've half convinced myself of this. another on the ground. We set about this with more information. On the drive task in semi-military fashion. T have maps hack to the Sheriff~ office L tell Jeff that 1:00 PM to aid in the search, and we send a good something just feels wrong. [Je agrees. A wind dummy l1;is reported winds oC number of pilots up the hill to fly over the mph at 12,500'. I call the day off and areas that were most likely covered during Aj>Jiroximt1t1:ly 4:30 PM announce a 3:30 meeting at headquarters As we sit in the dispatcher's office listenthe first task. The other pilots perform a for pilots who wanr to go looking for ground search, lmrh hiking and driving. ing ro the radio Jeff and l have eye con-· Sheff Boy, do T feel that we are doing the right t·act when we hear over rhc speaker that the earlier report was erroneous and the l !:30 l'M thing. pilot has been found deceased. My heart T try to get some sleep. A lot of pilots have drops ro my feet. I could never convey Approxirrwte!y 3:00 PM driven all over the back side of the range. l ask my longtime friend and rncet scorethe fi:eling I have at this moment. Barbara Many report very thick, tall growth that had mentally prepared herself for the could swallow a pilot and glider and make keeper, Jeff Meyers, to hang out with me for moral and emotional support. You can worst· possible news, and f was causing it almost impossible to spot him from the the worst emotional roller coaster ride of air. I'm really getting worried now. hardly imagine what goes through one's mind when you feel responsible for all the her life. Jeff and I wnlk out into the parkpilots in a competition and one of them ing in silence. I walk over to my van and 6:30AM tell him 1'11 take care of ir. Glen Volk comes into headquarters and has been missing frlr going on three days. expresses his concern that we simply can't Jeff and l try to reason it out. He's a great help to me right now. We go to the sher9:30 PM run a contest with a pilot missing. We have I'm sitting on a barstool next ro two really a good conversation and 1 thank him for iff's office just as they arc notified that a glider has been spotted down in Ram's grear guys. Russ Locke and Pere Lehmann his thoughts. Other pilots fllter in and out Horn Canyon by another hang glider pilot both help pull me out of the jaws of about half rel! me we should go flying. in the air. Ram's Horn Canyon is a nasty depression. '!'hanks. I'm really torn about what's the right thing place just three miles north oflaunch that to do. Where arc my priorities supposed ro is an obvious venturi area. f drive like mad be? I'm leaning heavily toward calling the JUNE 9:00AM cby off so we can all look fi)r Sheff again. over to Barbara's motel to let her know tbat We begin the pilots meeting with a moment of silence. some wreckage has been spotted. I ask her ro stay at the morel and promise to let her Pilot Briefing ] ];()() PM know something as soon as I find om. As [ tell the pilots to go up the hill but that I don't know what l'm running on right I'm nor exactly sure yet what we'll do. A we leave, Jeff and I comment that by her now. It's sure not momentum. Haven't few voice concern that we should be lookdemeanor we can tell she has already prepared herself for the worst. l ask Jan rn stay had hardly any sleep in three nights. I ing for Sheff. [ had planned on getting with her. guess obligation is the driving force. everyone up the hill and making the call '.foday's task started out with a tremenfrom there, but the pilots seem to want dous forecast that included lighter winds Approximately 4:00 PM answers now, so l put the meeting on hold Jeff and r sit in the dispatcher's office and to do what I was going to do anyw;iy. Continued on page 35.

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page 30. and hluc:r skies. At ;1pproximately 12:30 a task of ahout 70 miles was called from l;1tmcl1 to a turnpoint (the microwave at the southern end of two valleys cast oC launch, and then to a goal on ].. ] called rhc junction." The window opened at I :00 PM but approximately 2:00 rhe wind dum· 1) 1111es wercn'r impressing anyone 2) and a wide ;1rea of high cirrus had 3) moved in to filter the sunlight. 4) 2:30, since no competition pilot 5) had yet launched, I recalled the 6) task as straight-line to l)ubois 7) I .aunch conditions at the 8) lower launch were foirly good for 9) the duration of rhe launch window, 10) hm the conditions at the upper launch were poor umil around 4:00 PM, at which rime 1he became much more launchable and all pilots who elected to were able ro fly. rhe fact that he lefr relatively Chris Muller in a Fusion was 1hc only pilot to rnake goal. S1arting at 4:00, Chris arrived at goal 1wo hours and IG minutes later. Pilots reported rhc most mellow conditions of the meet so far. The forecast fr)r tomorrow is for hluer skies. 11:00 PM 'foday's forecast was for rhc best day oC rhe meet so far. With blue skies and much lighter and consistcllt winds, the day looked to be a good one. Paraglidcrs were off and 1hcnnaling hy I I :00 /\Iv!. An 011hmd-rcrum miles was called. The task was to work north along the range fi.Jr 36 miles and return, then con· tinuc past la1mch and eventually rum off for a six.. milc glide inro the wind over the flats to the Arco airport. Mosr pilots reported headwinds in horh directions, and many pilors were up f<Jr more than six hours. In the end, seven pilots made goal with ( :hris Arai (in his Fusion) blazing across the mark in rliree hours, 'S8 minurcs. Jim Lee (Fusion also) was hot on his mil with a time of four hours, six mimttc:s. Rohin Hamilton had the second fastest elapsed Lime with four l1ours flat. Wayne was the only pig-sticker (kingposted) pilot ro make goal Some pilots reported rowdy conditions with life and big sink. The pilots rcnlly seem freaked by the wiud here. I'm finding it a strange mix of

concerns, and [ feel like I may be in the position or trying to protect sorne pilots from tl1emsclvcs. Ir's a feeling J don't like at ;ti]. There's ;1 weird "cloud" hanging over this comp rhat is very difficult to ckscrihc. Some of rhe pilots report rowdy hut acccpr:ihle conditions; others report the

or the decision and asked them to straight out to the valley ro land. This way any pilot nor on his radio could notice the 01 her pilots detouring from the course. Most of the pilots supported my dcci .. sion. A couple thought it unfair, especially one whose driver neglected to 1997 inform him of my radio transmission and subsequently flew all the Arai ........... Fusion way w goal. 'I 'his pilot was irate TLtdor ..... , ..... Laminar (and remains so to this day) Coomber ........ Moy<:s CSX because he was the first to goal, Kennett ......... Moyes CSX :md since the round didn't count Mark Bennett ......... Fusion he was11't rewarded fc)r his tremcn Volk . . . . . . ..... Laminar against only dous performance Nelson Ifowe ........ .Lan1imu: ST himself: This is the: kind of comp David Adams .......... Moyes CSX day that meet directors pray don't Burton . . ..... Laminar happen, second only to one like Mike Barber ..........Airwave Concept FR that of three clays ago. John Lindburg ended up with a rowdiest crap ever /lown in for dislocated shoulder which has since been extrnclcd periods of time. Some of the top located and he's hack flying.) pilots' horror stories arc scaring rhc other pilots; the locals all say it's a bit rowdy bur 2:00 PM that in this kind of air here a lor. I l'vc just called today's task off We've got hope there is a break in this weather cycle a weather system to rhe norrh and it's soon. building to the south. We'll try again tomorrow. fr will be the last day of rhc 5:00 PM comp. 'foday jusr sucked.] fcrnnd myself in a 110· win situation. I called a task to Challis 5:00 PM (about 65 miles). The wind wasn't roo The rncct's over. The weather looked strong as we opened rhc window, but ir questionable all day not good enough did up a bir. l was watching the field to call a rask, bm nor quite bad rnough of about 30 pilots spread out over the peak to quit, especially with only rl1rec rounds when I was notified over rhe radio that a 11ndcr our heir. Sometime after :3:00 !'Iv! a glider had rumbled :md was descending 50-mpli gust from hit us from the somh. under canopy. I switched to John Ir was like a scene out. of' some 1930's Creynald's frequency to hear a play-by-Dust Bowl movie. Clidcrs were pinned play ofJolrn Lindburg descending slowly ro the ground as were hit from on the unclcrsurfocc of his Laminar while heh ind ir wasn't pretty. It's hard 10 under his chute. Since he deployed at describe the fr:eling when you know a more than 2,000 feet ACL it was a long comp is over and all the decisions have Creynald. been made, for better or for worse. It's an monologue Airer hearing that he had impacted in a especially unburdening focling a remote area ;md that ir looked as though comp like this one. I've never seen a he was I contacted a comp pilot on comp like 1his and hope to never sec the radio ;rnd asked for a wind report. Jim another. Everything else is blamed on l·J Lee (who flies with all the cool inslTU·· Nino, so we'll blame the strange men ts) reported that his airspeed was 52 summer weather on ir 100. 'J 'he locals say mph with only six mph across the ground. this was just a tremendously bad year for · l'l1e wind seemed to be picking up, so in a King. As of right now we arc not moment ofsafoty-rni11dedncss I called the ning 011 rnnning another round off in the air. ('I '!tis, by the way, is Moun 1ain Open in 1998. something I practically never do.) ln this As for as the outcome of' the mccr, case, however, we had ,i().mph winds at Chris Arai won quite handily on his :t!ri1ude and one pilot who'd just deployed. Wills Wing Fusion with Jim Lee second I notified pilots on every frequency I had

on a Fusion. Mike Barber was a close third flying an Airwave Concept FR. The highest-placing woman was Kari Castle on a I .aminar S1~ and Claire Pagen was second on her little Stealth. Tascha McLellan ("Tish the Flying Fish") was third in the women's hang gliding division, but placed highly in the Aeros Topless Model contest! The winner of the "pig-sticker" award, given to the pilot who places highest on a kingposted glider, went to Bruce Barmakian who was ninth overall. Rob Kayes won the equipment-abuse award after smashing both of' his databack cameras while under the false impression that they didn't work. Oops.

JULY 12 After such :1 taxing competition at King Mtn., where we lost a comrade and had such unpredictable flying, Jan and I have taken a couple of weeks off, canceling our business trip to the Oshkosh fly-in. We've opted instead to get some R&R along the Oregon Coast. I surely need it; I've never had so much wind taken out of my sails. To add insult to injury, there arc some idiots on the Internet who don't know what they're ralking about, slamming the whole King meer. Sure do hope the Nats go better.

JULY 18

LAKEVIEW OREGON

The Nats start tomorrow. Both Sandia and King ended up being three-day meets, so the pilots arc really looking for some good flying. T've done a lor of preparation, and had to replace a "no-show" goal crew at the last minute. I hope that works out. Pilots seem upbeat.

JULY 19 We didn't fly today. The forecast was a tough one. We called Sugar Hill, and even though it blew down lightly all day 1 still think it was the right call. The "Burns Criterion" wasn't met; the temp only got to about 83 degrees. (The Burns Criterion refers to the thermal low that fiJrrns over Burns, Oregon, at 85 degrees or hotter, that creates a southwest flow at Sugar Hill when the air is pulled in to replace the rising air over Burns.) 'fomorrow's forecast is for 86 degrees.

JULY20 'foday worked out just fine with a goal called to Alkali Lake Rest Stop some 80 miles north of the Sugar Hill launch.

About half' the field rnadc goal, and other than some goal personnel problems rhe day was great. Happy pilots make a good contest. Chris Arai piloted his Pusion into first place with an average speed of 30 mph over an 80-mile course. He was followed by Nelson I-fowe on a Laminar and Mike Barber on a Concept. Thirty-nine pilots made the course pretty good starr for the comp. I have had problems, however, with pilots not reading the rule book and 1m1king bad decisions "because they didn't know otherwise." f let this irritare me roo much. ['m having trouble believing that pilots spend all this money to come and compete and then don't spend 30 minures reading the rules. I shouldn't let it get to me, but l do, and 1 really let one pilot know my opinion. I feel bad. I can tell I'm still on edge from King Mm. Cotta shake it.

JULY

ROUND2

The task committee decided to call Miller's Ranch, a wide spot in the road 75 miles northeast of launch. Before the contest began, Jules Gilpatrick, my safety director, who lives and flies in the area, recom-mended that we not fly this route because of the vast no-man's land that the pilots would probably choose to traverse. We relayed this information during the task committee meeting and told them there'd be some late retrieves. But, whar's life without a little adventure? Tc) Miller's Ranch it was. Eight pilots made the course. Larty ·fodor on his Laminar was the fastest pilot with an average speed of 41 mph over the 77-mile course. Kraig Coomber (an Aussie) was second on his Moyes CSX. Chris Arai must have stopped for a burger; he was way back in third on his Fusion. The real st01y, however, was what happened to the rest of the pilots, many of whom followed dirt roads that led nowhere. Others thought they saw roads, but when they got rhere found nothing but sage. Many pilots got back late and a couple spent the night out in the desert. l'wo pilots received our hang gliding marathon award for walking out 26 miles or more. It was all quite humorous if you weren't one these guys. So, after two good rounds of flying (and one good round of' walking) Chris Arai is still in first place.

JULY

ROUND3

'foday we under-called the task :md it ere--

atcd real problems. We called Doughcny Slide 50 miles cast oflaunch. We felt the wind was going to be a moderate to strong southwest, but it ended up being a moderate west which pushed everyone right into the unprepared arms of my goal crew. Fiftythrec pilots made goal. About 30 of them crossed within a sixminute time frame. I think a top-notch, experienced goal crew would have had a tough time, but my crew was completely caught ofF guard. A bit of a "timing mess" had rn be cleaned up after hours, but the vast majority of the pilots understood and were happy with the finish times they received. The fastest pilot today was Chris "Fusion Boy" Arai (smprisc, surprise) with Dave Adams (another Aussie) on his Moyes CSX a close second (six seconds later). Shannon Raby, on another Pusion, was third. Another 40-mph aver-age day was recorded. So, after three rounds Chris Arai is still fo-st, Larry T11dor is now second, and newcomer Slade Kennett (a pilot to keep your eye on in upcoming years) is third. I replace the goal crew for the rest of the contest.

JUlY

ROUND4

lc)day was a good flying day. We called a task that took the field 44 miles north to Sims Ranch, and then right back south to Hunter's Hot Springs in Lakeview. This is a 57----mile course. Tt turned out to be a great call with sometimes weak and spotty lift. Thirteen pilots made the task. One pilot, however, Nick Thomas, tumbled his HP AT and deployed about six miles north oflaunch. He got a good canopy ride but broke his ankle badly when he touched down in a ve1y remote area on rnp of the mountain range. After four and a half hours and a bit of luck, he arrived at the Lakeview hospital in good spirits but a bit of pain. The new goal crew worked out well today, making me and others very happy. As for the performance of' the pilots, Chris Arai was first with 12 orhcrs making goal. Clen Volk on his Laminar was second and Mark Bennett took third when his Fusion showed him where goal was. After four rounds Chris Arai is in first place with 3,989.9 points out of' a possible 4,000. That's incredible. Larry is still second and Slade is still hanging on to third. J\fter King Mtn. it's nice that the contest is going relatively well.

ROUND 5 Our crack team of forecasters were convinced th:11 even with light north winds the Burns Criterion would be met and we should head to Sugar Hill. This con· cerned a fow pilots but we were able to get them up the momnain anyway, only to find it blowing over the back. After evaluating all rhe scenarios [ decided to

a turnpoint to the northeast called Gu:mo Lake Cinder Pit, then directly west along highway 140 to the rnwn of Adel. On a task that Larry Ti1dor called "one of the most grueling into-the-wind last legs l've ever flown," J 1 pilots rnadc goal. After winning the day Lany said, "I just wanted to land. I'd penetrate a miles and then lose most ofit getting back up." J·Iis per-·

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stay put and wait for it to get hot at Burns. l had a fi:cling that things would turn around, and at 2:30 l'M the winds made their first move to come in at launch. Within 10 minutes we had full-blown launch Luckily, I had convinced most pilots to set up, so we didn't have to wait for everyone to get ready. A task was called that rook the pilots to

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severance paid off and he piloted his I ,aminar into goal with an elapsed time of two hours and 35 minutes. Kari Castle I ,aminatcd into a dose second and Bren Hazlett (a Canadian) was third. Chris Arai, om fearless meet leader, finished way back in 21st, landing just shon of goal by 1.5 miles. Mark Grubbs broke his arm today, but luckily saved the downtubc (they're expensive, you know) when he landed after making the turnpoint. The total task distance was 59 miles. Alier live rounds Chris is still in a commanding first place, Larry is still hanging omo second, and Kraig Coomber has slid imo third. Slade is now

fcrnrrh. ROUND6 [ had a cool surprise for everyone today and ordered the pilots to be on launch hy 11:30 AM for a special presentation. At 1 1: 15 (they were running out of li1el) two Fl G's led by Major Kyle Hook from die Klammorh Falls Air National Cuard part· ed our hair as we stood on launch. Sneaking in from behind, rhe strafing run was a surprise that the hang glider pilors really liked. With a forccasr of relatively light winds we called a task 72 miles north of launch to the Alkalai Lake rest area. As l drove back to I ,akevicw I passed about a dozen pilots breaking down in fields along the road. 'The day was obviously a light one. As the evening progressed, pilots wandered imo headquarters ro report their positions, and the "pin-in" hoard started to show a pretty even distribution of pilots along the course line. Five pilots made it to goal and Jim Lee finished about a wingspan short. Nelson Howe on his Laminar was the fastest with three hours and 37 minutes, Chris Arai was second and Kraig Coomber third. Larry Ti.1dor and Slade Kennetr rounded out the five pilots who crossed as well as myself the line. The pilots and scorekeeper Jeff Meyers, who both stayed up past midnight and got up around 5:30 AM daily were having a great time, but getting tired after all the uninterrupted flying. 'Ic)motTOW would be the last· day of the meet.

'Trxfoy's task was called as an otlt··and-hack of sorts. Pilots launched and flew 44 miles north to Sims Ranch again, then back to Hunters ]--lot Springs in Lakeview for a total of 57 miles. Even with some of the

most beautiful puffy white clouds covering about 50(J1> of the sky, even streeting in many places, gcning up at launch was quite a task. Almost all the pilots did get up a Ct er quite a hit of work, however, and a long, arduous task awaited them. It took the task winner, Richard Burton of San Diego, two hours and 48 minutes to complete the task and make goal where he would be joined hy 13 other pilots. Jim Lee was second and Clen Volk came in third. So, after seven straight I 00% valid rounds the field was led by Chris "Fusion" Arai, with Larry "the Laminator" Ti1dor in second place and Craig Koomber in a Moyes CSX remaining in third. These pilots had maintained these placing since round five. Slade Kennett ended up in fourth place. Rounding out rhe top 10 were Mark Bennett, Glen Volk, Nelson Jfowe, Dave Adams, Richard Burton and Mike Barber. Of special note was Jim Zeiser who finished l I th, his highest Nationals flnish ever! In the women's divi· sion Kari Castle won the fomininc title on her Laminar and Pagen finished second on her Stealth 130. Tish the Flying Fish was third on her Blade. The Sportsmanship Aw:ml went to Russ Locke. He came with two whole gliders to Ay and left with parts of only one. He kept laughthrough it all so did we. You'll have to ask him for the details. We had a award for the Nationals, just as at King Mrn. "fakamchi Kosaka from Japan finished first in this division Aying a Wills Wing XC Just Fly Aviation Gear sponsored a large dinner party on Samrday night at the Elks lodge in town and a splendid rime was had by all. With 81 pilots entered in the contest, a total of 19,801 miles were flown. Many pilots commented that it was the most airtime they'd ever gotten in sucb a short period of rime. [,arry ·nidor commenred, "This is one of the best rnects I've ever been to." AUGUST EASTERN UTAH I'm driving cast and hope to be home in Kitty Hawk in about three days. I've just dropped }<m off ar the ST ,C airport to fly home and take care of some business stuff I'm about as and lonely as l've been in ,I long time. We finished up the paragliding Nats at Mountain two days ago, and while it was a contest, Jeff and scorekeeper fr)r all Meyers, my

the comests I ran this year, flew imo the mmmtain near launch in his TRX on the second clay. Ile w,1s in a coma for rhc rest of the meet, but was called home the morning after the contest was over, lcaving behind the love of his lifo, wife Margarette. Jeff was with me and supported me during rhc turmoil of King Mrn., and I was so happy that he'd decided to continue to be with me at the meets I was planning ro run in the years to come. I'm having a hard time bc:lieviug f'll ncvcr sec him again. Even after the successes of both the hang gliding and paragliding Nationals, the whole summer feels like a complete bad dream right now. J ,osing Sheff, a participant in one of my conrcsts, and now Jcf{ my friend whom I taught ro fly in San Diego eight years ago, has made this probably the worst threemomh period of my lifo. I would like to thank the contributors and sponsors of the contests that J orga-· nized and ran during the summer of 1997:

Wills Wing Kitty Hawk Kircs Just Fly Wallaby Ranch Cal Clove Ball Varios Malletec Varios USJ-TGA Adventure Video

Thanks to Barb Gover the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce as well as Pixana Walker of rhe I ,ost River Tourist Bureau (King Mtn.) for all their work in the local areas. Thanks also to Cellular One and United States Cellular for their cornmimications donation and to rhe merchants of borh Lakeview, Oregon and Arco and Moore, Idaho. 'II-ophics for all my meets this year were created hy Soaring Dreams. Lisa 'fate, who used to be illvolved with the USHCA Board, is quite a crearive artist and did not disappoint. I have contacted Lisa about creating a Jeff Meyers Memorial 'frophy. for years we've been giving our Sportsmanship Award to pilots who spiral down to help comrades who crash along the course. 'fbis trophy will contain the names of pilots who do this in USHGA-sanctioned comesrs from 1998 nnt:il there is no more room for names. Ill

success since its public debut in April l 995, the new SuperFl oater offers: + Excell ent 15: l performance in sit-dow n soari ng comfort (and no harness to buy!) + Superb joystick hand ling + Very simple aero or w inch launchin g (foot launch is poss ibl e) ... . . . all fo r an amazingly low price. > Full y built and test flo wn, the SuperFloater is shippin g now. Fl y under Part 103 and thermal in close with yo ur hang gliding fri ends.

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Birds Camber Their Wings. So Can We or trul y independent soaring, the Cumulu s ultrali ght motorglider is a highl y refin ed cho ice: + Soar beyond 20: 1, sink as slow as hang gliders + Handl e with ease and authority + Zoom beyond 80 mph , or chug along at 60 fo r better than 200 miles on less than 5 gall ons of fuel. Even better . . . shut her down and soar fo r miles. Then. tap the e lectri c starter and motor home easily. >- The Cumul us is a three-year. top-tobottom des ign offering superb soaring compatib le with hang gliders.

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The Sen sor Flap"' system used by both models, boosts your climb-rate, and a lso allows slowe r, s mall er di ameter circles. Loosening the VG automatically lowers th e flaps, increasing camber into a hi gh lift, slow speed airfoil. Tightening th e VG raises th e flap s and reduces airfoil camber, transforming your wing into a blade for maximum speed-range & glide ra tio. You become airborn e soo ner with more margin and control. Landing with flaps redu ces yo ur glide s lope; flare and tou ch down speeds are noticeabl y slower!

Sensor 610 F2, New Sizes and Features ew 150,142 and 135 scaled sail forms, improved flap operation, lig hter weigh t, origi na l low drag airfoi l tub ing, new laminar flow airfoil with a turbulator bump, twelve shear ribs, control bar apex aft o f th e CG, Kevlar band & dacron cord TE Hem, and 7075 T6 LE and ribs. Tellurid e Speed G lidin g, Sensor 610 F2, 3rd Tim Osborn 150, 4th Scott Angle 135. WA T TO FLY LIKE A BIRD, GET A SENSOR WITH FLAPS

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his harness and glider arrangement enables the student and the instructor to work ji-om the center ofthe control fi"ame at a!L times. The combined weight ofthe two pilots is always in the optimum position for contro!Ling the glider, which greatly reduces the amount of energy required by the pilot to control the wing. It also eliminates the situation in which the student's Legs swing away fi"om the instructor during a turn, thus making it more strenuous to effectively control the glider. The position ofthe student and the instructor in this harness makes it possible to coach the student without having to raise one's voice. The instructor can speak normal-

way the student can accurately determine the amount of force and the proper control movements required to control the glider while on tow and during free flying. Ar rhe same rime the instructor can instantly notice if the student is starting to use coo tight a grip and correct this error caused by tension . With the instructor's coaching and assistance the student can fl y safely throughout the majoriry of the flight. The student rapidly learns the basics of controlling rhe glider through the close supervision of the instructor and hands-on training techniques. As the student cakes over more of the flying, the instructor

Ly in calm tones, keeping the student's anxiety Level Low. Gregg would Like to share some of the teaching techniques he uses in his tandem flight instruction.

assists less with the control movements. At chis point the instructor coaches and helps the student to fine tune his rapidlydeveloping pilot skills. During the flight I keep the student's attention focused on the tasks on which I am concentrating. T his serves co keep the student relaxed and teaches him about the ongoing changes involved in controlling and piloting the glider. As we approach landing altitude I have the student return his hands co the handles of the harness and explain the landing approach. I remind him to look straight out and not at the gro und, for superior descent and depth perception. I have noticed that if the instructor lets the student know what is going to happen in advance, the student is a lot less nervous about sudden changes. W ith the flight complete I question the prospective pilot as co his experiences during the flight. Usually he is hungry for more airtime or has a strong desire become a pilot. That's when I know that he wa nts to learn co fly and not just ride

•

Gregg McNamee is a USHGA Advanced Tandem Instructor. He has made thousands ofinstructional tandem flights during his flying career. Gregg is currently using the Frontrunner tandem harness and Double Vision glider for his aerotowing tandem flight instruction at GrayBird AirSports. 40

INTRODUCTORY TANDEM FLIGHT A basic understanding of the hang glider is gained when the student, with supervision, helps to set up and preflight the tandem glider. The first-time tandem passenger needs to be briefed on his responsibilities during the tandem flight and coached in the process of properly getting into the harness. I place the student in the upper harness for the first few flights so he can get oriented to the control movements and flight terminology. Once we have launched and are at a safe altitude I have the student place his hands on the downtubes, in an agreed-upon location. I have him relax his grip and hold on only enough to control the glider, then I place my hands on the student's wrists and proceed to fly the glider through the student's hands. T his

H ANG GLIDING

along as a passenger during this adventure in the sky.

FLIGHT TRAINING Ac che point where che srudem decides to become a pilot I encourage him to start ground school. I like to do two hours of ground school/ classroom instruction before they go up again. This develops the student's theoretical understanding of flight and how to control the hang glider - he can stare to learn the terminology and the basics of flight. The information covered in this part of the training empowers the scudent to learn more quickly with a beccer understanding of the

pilot's role during the flight. I guide the student to an appropriate level of understanding concerning comrol of the glider and its flight characteristics. I also work to develop the student's piloting judgment, and make him understand the importance of good judgmern in ensuring safety during his flying career. Now that the student is well rested and more aware of his part in this aerial adventure, we go back to our tandem training flights. During the next group of tandem flights the student's new awareness of flight starts to show. He grows and learns quickly as a result of the added understanding provided by the classroom training. The student's questions are more task-specific and demonstrate his progress to che instructor. After a few flights with the student above the instructor, I move the student to the lower position. I explain that we have now established good communication and an understanding of glider control. I can now allow the student more DECEMBER 1997

control during the training flights, but I can still control the glider effectively if the situation calls for it. I continue co use my "hands-on" approach during the student's flight instruction. I place my hands on the student's wrists and perform all of my control input through his hands. As the student cakes over with the proper control input, the instructor can do less help ing and more coaching. Ac chis point I praise the student for his accomplishments and advise him about the procedures needed co perfect the skills he is practicing. After a few tandems, or when I can cell the student is becoming tired, I stop the tandem flight instruction. I always stop the training before the student's performance scares co drop off, chis way he always qui ts with a positive feeling about his accomplishments. I have noticed chat students start making the same mistakes and gee frustrated if you continue flight training too long, or if they start getting tired. So, I watch for the appropriate signs and stop the training while the student is doing well. Now it's rime to lee the student rest and digest the information he has just taken in. The next thing on our training

agenda is more classroom work. The studem is now ready to develop a deeper understanding of the flight topics under discussion. This method helps the student co comprehend the techniques, conditions and procedures necessary co safely and successfully learn to pi lot the glider. With the student refreshed and ready co fly we resume the tandem flight training. He is developing a feel for flying the glider and exhibiting a more relaxed posture. This relaxation now promotes che student's ability co learn; as nerves are calmed the learning curve turns upward. The coupling of classroom and flight training help the student learn more quickly thro ughout the course. The more the student understands the less anxious he will be. The less anxious the student is, the faster he will learn, since he will be more focused on the lesson and the cask at hand. The flight training continues in chis manner until the student is doing all of the flying without any assistance from the instructor. Ac chis point I scare co induce "simulated turbulence." Th is demonstrates to me chat the student won't be thrown off course or rattled by unexpect-

ed turbulence. I simulate an accidental release co see if the student will perform properly in an unanticipated situation. We also work on anti-oscillation techniques to ensure chat the student doesn't have problems with PIO or stopping unexpected oscillations. The student is learning and developing skills co che point where the instructor is just along for the ride. Ac chis point I like the student co perform some short tandem cows so I know chat he can cake off and land safely without any problems. The student is now ready co solo. If conditions are suitable and the student is not tired, I will have him sec up the glider and make his first solo flight. If we need to wait unti l another day for che student's first solo I will insist chat he perform a couple of shore tandems co re-demonstrate co me chat he is still ready to fly alone. I usually have the studem perform three solos and stop flying. Again, I want him co quit before fatigue sets in and while still performing well. T his way the student always feels good abo ut his progress, we end on a positive note, and the tone is set for the next lesson. •

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HANG GLIDING

Jan Ala (H) 931:l N Olsen Tucson AZ 85719 (520) 327-97 41

Matt Taber (R) RF< 2 Box 215H Rising Fawn C,A 30738 (706) 398-3433 hanglide@chatt.ne1

REGION 5 Frank Gillette (R) Rt 1 Watercyn 8 Declo ID B3323 (208) 654-2615

Barbara Flynn (H) 705 E Marks St Orlando FL 32803 (407) 5

Watercyn@cyberhighway.net

Tracie Fifer-Welch (H) PO Box 8225 Jackson WY 83001 (307) 733-5835 di..wyo@cornpuserve.com

REGION 1 Bill Bolosky (Ft) 24622 SE Mirrorrnont Dr 1ssc14u,m WA 98027 557-7981 Sturtevant (R) Ave NE Nortt1 WA 98045 (206) 888-3856 georges@nwlink.com Bob Hannah (H) 9920 51st Ave S Seattle WA 98118 (206) 328-1104

Luen Miller (HG /\ccic/ent Chair) 316 Way Santa Cruz 95062 (408) 423,9919 lumiller@pacbell.net

REGION Ken Baier (R) 253 l~odney Ave Encinitas CA 92024 (61 75:s-2664 ,Joe Groblo (R) 10145 Victory Blvd Van CA 91406 (818) ..)~)..)-~)()()\) windsports@earthlink.com

REGION

Mike Meier (H) 500 Ave Orange (714) 998,6359 mike@willswing.com Rob Kells (H) 500 Blueridge Ave Orange CA 92665 (714) 991:l,6359 rob@willswing.com

Russ Locke (R) S Ave 940B7

Paul Gazis (R) 428 Madera Ave Apt 1 Sr 1rrnv11::>IP CA 94086

Ken Brown (H)

Alan Chuculate (H) PO Box 13451 La Jolla CA 92039 (619) 687-8993 uo,agEm (Editor) Margarita Pkwy Ste A·256 Rancho Santa Maraarita CA 9261:lB (714) (V\C\-lti,,, oildodoen@aol.com

REGION 4 Mark Ferguson (R) 6595 Odell Pl Ste C Boulder CO 80301 652-3496

(H) Box 1B8 Shasta CA 96087 (916) 359-2392

r,on Kenney (f~) PO Box 356 Leoti KS 67B6'1 (316) 375-2995 kenney@elkhart.com

REGION 7 Bill Bryden (R) 6608 North 100 East l~d Seymour IN 47274 (B12) 497-2327 bbryden@hsonline.net

Jim Zeiset (r,) 13154 County Rel 140 Salida CO 81201 9) 539-3335

De Wolf (H) 607 NC 27927 (919) 453-4800 DeWolf1@aol.com

REGION 11 Jeff Hunt (R) 4811 Red River Austin TX 78751 (512) 467-2529 l~RAJeff@aol.com

REGION 1

Dan Johnson (L) B Dorset St St Paul MN 55118 (612) 450-0930 CumulusMan@aol.com

Paul Voight (R) 5163 Searsville Rd Pine Bush NY 125G6 (914) 744-3317 ryanv1 OO@aol.com

REGION 8

Jan Johnson 585 E Frank Ap1)lef:1ate Jackson NJ (908) 928-B370

Rancly Adams (I~) PO Box 369 Claremont NH 03743 (603) 543-1760 bkramer@lucentcorn

Gene Matthews (H) 15308 111 th Ave NE Bothell WA 98011 488·1443 Claudia Stockwell (L) Fred Stockwell (H) 8901 River Hwy Grant's OR 97527 (541) 5B2-1467

REGION 6

McNamee (H) SE 51st Ave Summerfield FL 34491 (352) 245,8263 graybird@praxis.ne1

REGION 9 Pete Lehmann (R) 5811 Elgin St Pittsburgh PA 1:520(:l (412) 661 104410.1150@ccJrnpuservc.com

Geoffrey Mumford (R) 750 First St NE Washinoton DC 20002 (202) 336-6067 gkrn.apa@email.apa.org Dennis Pagen (L) 368 Dunkle l~d Bellefonte PA 16823 (814) 383-2569 Chris DuPaul (H) PO Box 801 Gloucester Pt VA 23062 (B04) 693-6742 Art Greenfield (X) 1815NFt DrSte700 Arlinoton VA (703) 527-0226 NAA@ids2.idsonline.com

REGION 10 G.W Meadows (R) 109 Carlow Ave Kill Devil Hills NC 27941:l (919) 480-3552 justfly@interpath.com

Paul F<ikert (L) 101 N Broadway# 2B··3 White Plains NY 10603 (914) 946,938(3 Lars Linde (H) Accident Chair) W Front St Red Bank NJ 07701 (901:l) 747-7845 larslincle@compuserve.com

REGION 1 (lnt'I) Jotmson (L) Region 12 Michael Robertson (H) Rf~ 5 865 Con 7 Claremont Ontario Canada L1Y 1A2 (905) 294-2536 flyhiol1@inforamp.net USHGA Executive [)irector

Philip Bachman PO Box 1330 Colorado (719) Uv.<.•IJ.J\JU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

KEY (R)-F~egional (L)-At (H)·Honorary (X)-Ex

I I by

Roger is tl conservative tmd safety-conscious pilot.

Meier

bought an

l!GMA-certified glider made by a reputable manufacturer. lfe repacles his parachute every six monthJ~ replaces his bottom side wires and hang loops every season or two, and has a complete tear--down and inspection

of his glider done every year, just as his oumer's manual advises. ther pilots he knows have experimented wirh bending their battens to different shapes, or lowering their reflex bridles to get more speed in acrobatic dives. But Roger would never do that; for safety he leaves every adjustment on his glider in the original factory settings. \Xlhat Roger doesn't know would shock him: For years his glider has heen readjust· ing itself, and is now so far out of adjustment relative to the original design that it wouldn't come close to passing the cenifi .. cation pitching moment tests! How could this be? For gliders thar arc equipped with them, reflex support bridles, sometimes known as "luff lines," ;ire a critical component of the glider's stability system. 'fheir function is to support the trailing edge of the wing at a minimum height relative to the rest of the wing, regardless of the air loads on the sail. They arc norm:1lly slack when the glider is positively loaded in nornrnl flight, and go tight if the glider unloads or if the sail becomes loaded nega"" tively (from above). When attached to the inboard parts of the sail they induce reflex in the wing, and when attached outboard they preserve a minimum level of washout in the swept-back outer portion of the wing. In either case, they induce a nose-up moment in the wing when engaged, help·" ing it to recover from low or negative angles of attack that may have been induced by turbulence or pilot actions. On most gliders in normal flight, as long as the pilot is loaded at one "G" or more, the bridles are slack and clo not

affect the flight characteristics. 'They are a "passive" system, designed to "kick in" only when the glider enters an unusual flight mode. Because of this, you might fly for hundreds of hours in a v:1ricty of differem types of air, and never experience the effrcts of the bridles. lf the bridles ,lt'e not functioning as should, you m:1y never know it just from flying the glider. 'J'he pitch pressures in the control bar may feel completely normal, even when flying as fast as the glider will go. However, if the bridles are significantly out of adjustment, the level of pitch stability at some combinations of angle of attack and airspeed that you don't normally cncoumer could he much lower than whar was designed into the glider originally. I-low is it that Roger's glider readjusted itself? It probably did so in several ways; minor stretching of the bottom side wires and scaring of the hardware may have allowed a little extra dihedral to set into the wing, slackening the bridles as the wing "folded upw:1rd" around the axis of the keel. The bridle cables themselves m:1y have stretched slightly. These effects are minor, however, and by themselves would probably not he ;i problem. Far more significant is the tendency of the sail to shrink over time. /\s far as we know, this tendency is probably common to all forms of polyester (Dacron) s:1ikloth. As the drawing illustrates, if the sail shrinks in the sp,mwisc direction, the bri· die attachrnent point moves inward toward the keel. Since the bridle cable docs uot also shrink, the trailing edge of the sail is supported at a significantly lower height.

For a bridle attached far outboard on the wing, the sail can be lowered as much as five times the amount that the sail shrinks. Outboard bridle locations arc a more effective way of adding pitch stability on high aspect ratio flex wings than inboard bridles because with a short roor chord reflex is not as effective as the sup·" port of a large portion of the swept-back part of' the wing. However, outboard bridles also m:1gnify the problem of the shrinkage effect in two ways. The more shallow cable angle increases the amount of trailing edge lowering for a given amount of sail shrinkage, and a given percentage of shrinkage translates into a greater amount of shrinkage over the longer span 10 an outboard bridle location. In September oft bis year, we at Wills Wing conducted a vehicle pitch test series on an HP /\T 1'58 with about 400 hours on it th:1t belongs to a local pilot. When we obtained the glider, the bridles were still at their original factory setting, and we did not adjust them. Jn our first few pitchtest rnns, we found that the glider had a positive pitching moment at the VG loose setting, though rhe pitching moment curve had a few areas where it foiled to meet I lGM/\ minimum requirements. At the VG tight setting, the sitnation was dra" matically worse the glider actually had a negative pitching moment at angles of att:1ck near zero lift. (See the pitching moment graph labeled "20 mph VGr 1.") A little explanation of pircb testing methods and pitcl1·"tcst graphs is in order. During a pitch test, the glider is mounted on the test such that it can be pivoted nose up and nose down. Electronic lo:1d cells, pressure transducers and a computer, conti11uo11sly record airspeed, angle of attack, lifr, drag and pitching moment. The entire test nm is conducted at a constant speed (in the case of the graphs shown, it is 20 mph). T'hc run starts with the glider ;nan angle of attack above trim, and as the run progresses, the angle of attack is smoothly reduced to neg:1tive 25 degrees or more. ln other words, at the HJ\NC Gl!DJNC

end of the run the keel is nose down, at least 2 5 degrees below rhe horizon, and the wing has al least a angle of arrack, to the airflow. On the graph, the horizontal or "x" axis is the geometric root angle of attack, which on the test vch iclc is csscmially rhc same as the keel angle to the horizon, since the airflow is always horizontal. 'I 'he vertical or axis is the "pitching moment codfi-ciem" or Cm, which is a measure of how strongly the nose wants to pitch 11p or down. Negative Cm's mean the nose is tTy· ing to pitch down, and positive Cm's mean it 1s to pitch up. The straight lines 011 the graph forming a triangular region represent the minimum pitching rnomcm required for lfGMA certification in the 20 mph test. The peak of the triangle is at the "zero lifr" angle of attack, where the glider is neither lifting positively nor negatively. You'll note that this does not always occur at the geometric zero angle of anack. ·!'he other line is the actual pitching moment measured. You'll note that in the first two graphs, the curve cmcrs the "prohibited region" by a substamial amount, over an extended range of angles of attack above ;md below ,.cro. One thing to keep in rnind when lookat the graphs is that rhcy do nor depict anything about what you ft:cl in terms of' pitch bar pressure when you fly the glider. On the test vehicle, airspeed is held constant, while the angle of attack is varied. As ;1 result, the load on rhc glider v;irics, becoming greater at higher angles of attack, and lower as the angle ofanack is reduced. In normal flight, (if accelerarion is kept to a minimum) what remains con· stant is the load 011 the glider. In flight, as you slowly pull in the bar from the rcla-· tivcly high angle of arrack associated with a 20 mph airspeed, rhe glider immediately picks up speed to replace the lifr lost by lowering the angle or attack. 'fo plot a pitching curve that replicates the pitch pressures you would fi.:el i11 the control bar in flight, rhe vehicle driver would need to continuously adjust his speed to maintain one "C" ofloading on the glider. Bur that's not what a tcsc vehicle is useful for. Investigating the static stability of the glider in normal flight, as rcpresemcd hy the pitch force in the control bar as a function of' flying speed, is something that can be done much more easily and more accurately by just flying the glider. What the test vehicle allows us to do is invcstiDiCJMlHR '1997

· 20

VGT 1

Uror'lll'.'.'.\

Sail ~rmnKclae Adjustment

Trailing Is LowerE:,d This Muct1

gate angles of attack outside the range we can reach in flight, as well as combinations of angles of arrack and airspeeds (a low angle of attack with a low airspeed, for example) that we can't easily achieve or sustain in flight. The 20 mph pitch test minimum rcquircrncm was originally developed in 1978 as a direct response to the problem of rurhulcncc-induced pitchovcrs, or "tumbles." (We'll use the word tumble here to refer to any turbulence-induced pitch-down rotaticm, or combination of

pitch--down and roll rotation in which the glider rotates to a past-vertical attitude and the pilot experiences a profrmnd loss of control as a result.) ·fombles have long been thought to be primarily a low-speed phenomenon, in which turbulence induces an initial nose··down pitching rotation in the glider. Mathematical analysis done by Valle in 1978 indicated that if a glider had a minimum zcm·-li/t pitching moment coefficient of at least 0.05, it should have a strong enough nose-up tendency as the angle of attack was lowered to

resist the tumbling motion and recover in

a nose-up direction. The current HGMA requirements include this 0.05 Cmo requiremem, and extend the minimum required pitching moment in either direction as defined by the triangular region. Note that at all Limes when the pitching moment is above the horizonral the glider is trying to pitch nose up. One can then think of the pitch test as a look at what the glider's pitching moment behav-ior would be during a low-speed, turhu-lence--induced, pitch-down rotation. The area under the pitching moment graph can be thought of' as the amount of work the glider is doing in trying 10 resist the pitch-down rotation. '] 'he higher the curve, the more nosc--up tendency at every angle of attack, and the greater likelihood there is that the glider will arrest the nosedown rotation and recover nose up. Clearly, the first two grnphs shown do nor have the desired character. Not only do they not have a strong nosc--up tendcn cy in the region near zero lifr, they actually show that the glider would try to pitch nose down once it entered this area. /\frer the first pitch-test run, we raised the bridle ring (where rhc bridles attach Lo the compensator cthlc at the top or the kingposr) by 1--1 /8 inches and made a second nm. 'T'he graph labeled "20 mph VGT 2" shows the results. There is some improvement, but clearly the results arc still very far from satisfactory. Latu measurements and calculations showed that the shrinkage of the sail had lowered the sail at the outboard bridles by about six inches from where it is supposed to be. There was no way to come close to compensating for this by raising the bridle ring at the kingpost. We next shortened the bridle cables themselves, until the bridles regained the original "just slack in onc-G flight at minimum sink airspeed" adjustment. This required shortening the outer bridle cables 1-3/8" ou each side! The third run depicted 011 the graph labeled "20 mph VGT shows that the original cerriflable pitching moment curve was regained once the proper bridle adjustmem was achieved. We verified in a separalc nm that the bridles were still slack at slightly less than one G ofloading at the minimum pilot weight, and would therefore be properly just slack in flight. We con-ducted ;i complete pitch-test series at this bridle setting, and found that the glider

passed all of the original HGMA pitching momenr requirements under which it was ceniftcd, and in addition, passed the slightly rnorc current pitch test standards. This is a good news/bad news story. The good news is that by readjusting the bridles to the proper scrtings, a very satisfactory pitching mornent could be recovered. The other good news is that this glider bad been flown for hundreds of' hours in midday, mid-summer thermals with these grossly maladjusted bridles, and had never experienced a tumble, or even any incident that indicated any level of questionable stability to the pilot. (Tt is imercsting to speculate what would have happened if' this same glider had been involved in a tumble, and had been tested during an official certiflcarion review process as a result. One might imagine

that the tempi-ation for the review board to conclude that the reduced pitch stabili-ty had caused the tumble would have been irresistible.) The bad news is that this glid-er was owned by a very knowledgeable pilot with direct local access Lo the factory and still had not been maintained proper-ly. The other bad news is that the normal methods for adjusting the bridles would not have been adequate to do the job properly. The final bad news is that these two observations indicate the high likelihood that there arc many other gliders in the fleld with the same problem. Since we first began using reflex support bridles on high·-aspect planform glid-ers in 1980, Wills Wing has speciHcd the "just slack in flight" criterion as the only correct flnal means of checking bridle adjustment on our gliders. We have rec-

on page 50. HANC GLIDINC

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1997 Hawaii State Hang

Gliding Championship article and photos by DuffKing

This last summer on the island of Oahu, July 19-20, the Hawaiian Hang Gliding Association held the Hawaii State Hang Gliding Championship at Makapuu ridge. We were very fortunate to have some of the best weather we've ever had for a contest. Seventeen pilots entered the competition, and came not only from Oahu, bur from Maui, Kauai, the Big Island of Hawaii, Missouri and San Francisco. Once all the pilots were airborne they had to stay behind the start line until the official start of the race was indicated by the unveiling of a tarp with a letter on ir. Everyone had the same start rime. Once

one of the rounds there were three pilots who burned out downrange. Gerry Charlebois and John Beaman were lucky enough to burn our in a large grassy field in Waimanalo, which happened to be a very nice Hawaiian's backyard. As Gerry was coming in to land, a large, very mean-looking dog came chasing after him. The owner called the dog off and Gerry had a nice landing. Then John came in and landed right behind him. The man whose property they landed on was really happy to see chem because he had seen the movie "Fly Away Home" the day before, and was very interested in hang gliding and learning to fly. Ir just so happened that this wonderful family was sitting down

a pilot got enough altitude on the main ridge he could fly out to Rabbit Island, then over to the Makapuu lighthouse and back to launch, which was one complete lap. Each point over which a pilot passed had to be photographed. The task called for three laps around the course at your fastest time, then pilots had the option of flying downrange for about eight miles to Mt. Olomana and Haiku to get bonus pylon points. If a pilot burned out downrange and could not get back to Makapuu, he would lose so many points that it would be impossible to win the contest. So there was a big risk, and this made the contest a real chess game. During the two days on which the contest was held we were able to fly three complete rounds. On

to a huge Hawaiian feast, so they asked Gerry and John if they'd like to stay for dinner. Of course, they said yes! Afrer Gerry and John totally pigged out the man helped chem load their gliders on his truck and drove chem back to the Makapuu LZ. Now that' s what you call real Hawaiian Aloha Spirit! Afrer the third round was completed on Sunday the pilots' phorographs of the pylons were turned in to the meet directors. The film was developed and results tabulated for a presentation that night ac an awards dinner. A big Mahala goes out contest organizers Greg Pierson and Jon Goldberg for a job well done. A good time was had by a.LI who flew and participated in putting on chis great event. We hope next year's contest will be as much fun and as challenging.

1997 Hawaii State Hang Gliding Championship Results

DECEMBER 1997

Puzce

Pilot

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17)

Duff King Bob McCord Jesse Forbus Paul Sussman Gene Hughes Bill Fulron Greg Puttman Mike Smith Annette Wenzler Armin Engert John Beaman Walrer Briant Jim Phillips Gerry Charlebois Darrel Williams Mike Laura Bob Franklin

Total Points 2910 2720 2390 2190 1870 1393 1230 1160 1100 1046 1003 880 803 700 640 440 133

From

Glider

Oahu Oahu Oahu San Francisco Oahu Oahu Maui Missouri Maui Maui Maui Kauai Big Island Kauai Maui Big Island Maui

RamAir 154 HPAT 158 Xrralire 145 HPAT 145

Continued from p11gc 46: ognizcd from the that, while various measurements of bridle made on the may provide a good starting point adjustment, they cannot guarantee proper adjustment as the glider changes with age. 'fhe "just slack" criterion a justification thar is both simple and powerful. Bridles arc more effr:clive the higher they support the sail. Bridles which are tight in flight seriously compromise handling and control response. 'fherefore, bridles should be as tight as can be, without tight. "jusr slack." the couple of is the realization dramatically glider can alter its dimensions over and how far out of adjustment the bridles can go as a result. We have included the information about the effect of sail shrink· age on bridle iu each owner's manual we have published since May of

1995. Wills Wing is recommending that all pilots of Wills Wing gliders carefully check the proper "just slack" their bridles criterion. A Bulletin covering bridle inspection procedures which was first published this past July is posted on our Web site (www.willswing.corn) and is available on request hy mail or fax for no Pilots should also consult their owner's manuals for proper bridle s1ght:1ng and adjustment procedures. What is not covered in the bulletin or in the owner's manuals is what we believe is the most convenient method for correct· ing bridles where the adjustment re<11m1re(J is beyond the provided for by normal method the bridle We have found that the most effective method to adjust bridles that are grossly out of adjustment due to sail shrinkage is to shim the bridles from below the sail. What is needed is short pieces of tubing which arc in outside diameter than the hole in bridle and smallthe bridle ball. er in inside diameter Pieces of 3/8" or JO mrn batten tubing work well, as will any 1/2" tubing with .065" or wall thickness. Plastic tub·· ing works as there is no significant load on the tubing during the inspection and adjustment If you cut to I I 4", l /2" J" lengths, you can make adjustments in 1/4" increments no more than three shims to obtain up to of adjustment. Wills Wing will provide a supply of these shims ro anyone

on request

Wills

Wing dealers. By the ball, the shim over the cable below the sail, the ball, you can shorten the cable in calibrated amounts. Since it is diffkult to sight the hridles in flight unless you have at it, the most accurate a lot way to achieve the "just slack" adjusrrnem is to aoually go a little roo and adjus1 the bridles to the of being snug (sec the Technical for descriptions of how to sight the bridles). hy backing off 1/4 to I /2 inch from you will have "just slack." Use caution when these adjust· right, ments, because as the bridles 11,Htdltng will deteriorate and in mind "just to rhe VG tight setthe bridles will slack. Once the proper bridle adjustment is achieved using the t:he pilot can order through his dealer a custom-rnade bridle set fabricated to the Sl1f'.CltV111iP" the total m~1n 11,n· these adjustments themselves should seek the assistance of their Wills dealer.

Although wear Wills Wing have stressed in our owner's manuals for years the to maintain proper bridle adjustment, it has dear to us thar this is not being adequately addressed on older gliders in the field. We do not know precisely what the relationship is between pitch stability as measured on a test vehicle and a glider's likely of resistance to rumbling. Gliders certifiable levels of pitch stability are likely still to be subject of air. At to tumbling in the "right" the same time, as om glider illus-· tratcs, a glider with demonstrably inadequate stability levels relative to the ccrtiflcation nurnmmns may for years withom an incidcnr. Common sense, however, indicates that it is prudent to maintain one's glider in the most ai1wortby condi. This cannor be achieved tion without continual active maintenance of the reOcx bridle ad1ustmc:nt.

mation supplied in this applicable to most hang intend to offer re11:arcJmg any models. We encourage pilots of other to seek technical advice from the manufacturer of the they fly.

HANC CLIDINC

n looking at either of the two "foiling" pitching moment presented in the article (VGT l or a pilot might be t:empwd to conclude, "Well, clearly I wouldn't want to pull in on a glider like that. Look at how the pitching moment goes at lower angles of attack!" And t:o so conclude would be a as it fails to the relationship between stability and center of mass location. illusThis relationship has often trated by noting that a paper airplane is normally folded so as to increase the amount of paper, and therefore the amount of mass, in the nose. It will generally fly with increased stability if you add weight ro the nose, yet it will try to fly backwards if you add significant weight to the tail. In other words, an aircraft is more stable when its mass is disrributed more toward the front. Airplanes have weight and balance limitations so that the pilot does not inadvertently load the airplane so as to move the center of mass too far aft for adequate stability. With the cornpmerized pitch-test vchiwe have the option of plotting the pitching moment graphs around various center of rnass locations. (In nonnal certification docurnentation, the graph is plotted about the reference point of the pilot hang point.) 'fhe first graph below is the graph of the stable (VGT' 3) replotted about ::i center location that corresponds to the pilot pulling forward about lg" from trim (bar somewhat below the pilot's waist). The glider in this conflguration is very stable. (1 has a single trim point (the place where the curve crosses the x axis) at about seven degrees keel angle, which would correspond to a fairly fast flying speed. At angles of attack below that, the nosc--up pitch pressure rises sharply, and continues to rise as the angle is reduced. A.1 of attack above seven degrees, the nose tries s1rougly to pitch down. Note that the top of the scale on the pitching moment axis in this graph is six times higher than on the original graphs in other words, had we pinned this graph on the original axes, rhe slope would have heen much steeper. The second graph shows the stability plotted about a center of mass corresponding to a pilot who has pushed out about lg" (basically frill arm extension). Note that the glider has a trim point at about 32 degrees angle of attack (this would be above the angle at which the entire wing is stalled). DECEMBER 1997

F Pilot FmwMd St~blllty

PIiot Alt· ln•tabillty

Over the range of angles of attack down to zero, the glider has a positive pitching moment, though below about 12 degrees rapidly. Afrcr positive it begins to zero the glider's pitching moment becomes negative and as the angle of attack cte,creast:s further (or increases in the nega-tive direction) the negative pitching moment increases rapidly. Note that the scale on this graph is also magnifiecl. It should be obvious which graph you'd rather be flying if you happened to be in the process of pitching down through zero angle of attack. In the first graph, you would have a strong and strongly-incrcastendency to pitch nose up, which would hecomc greater and greater the far-·

ther nose down you pitched. In the second graph, you would have a diminishing noseup tendency while still above zero degrees, butt.hen experience a strongly-increasing pitch-down tendency as you transitioned to negative angles of attack. This portion of the curve is a classic illustration of what is termed pitch divergence. Tbe glider is pitching nose down, and the farther it goes, the stronger is the tendency to pitch farther nose down. So the moral of the story is keep your center of mass forward in rough air. Fly with a little extrn speed, and don't try to max out the really violent thermals by pushing all the way out II

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SECTION U Flex Wings

Emergency Parachutes Parts & Accessories Business & Employment iJ MiscellanHous iJ Paragliders IJ Videos

Begin with

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IJ Ultralights IJ Fligid Wings lJ Publications & Organizations IJ Wanted lJ Harnesses

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SlJPFRSl'ORT I/iii (208) 1ss11in

Sl/FERSPORT 16:l Fxcdlc-111 condition, lime r,rec11/rnar_,errta, ,,5() homs $1,300 OBO. (80'i) 567.-

l,i\l,ER $79') Jl'TSTREAM $799 Both harnesses arc designed with the same body. The difkrcnccs arc in the spreader fr:tmes the I .al.er being flexible and the Je1s1rc:tm being a fi.rll back-fi·ame "comp" harness. Via a collvcrsion l<ir) either harness can be convened 10 1hc other (you virtually get two harnesses in one). i\irtirne of'Sal! Francisco (Ii 15) 751-5068

FULL SERVICE SHOP

Sales, rentals, repairs, guide service. Free hroclrmc. (520) 6:l2.-li I lrttp://www.northlink.com/ --alrgc

email: airtirnc(t1)ionix.nct

TIU

Topless, 1997, (,() hours, wlritc & bLtck M,:,oo shipped. (2/i8) :-l'Jli 1:U.7 Michigan.

50 lw11rs, very 1ra,k for Falrnn 170 or 195.

TRX 110

VIS!< lNS & l'Ul .SES l\011glr1-Sold- l'radcd. R.1vcn Sky Sports (Ii 1-i) lil.l-8800.

IJFUMlllR 1997

ARKANSAS

1llC:J ! ENFRC:Y COCOON C,'_i'' 2001b, excellent condition $/iOO 01\0. Day (20')) 983--/i') I 0, niglrr (209) 'lG2-60l6. HIC:11 FNlm_c;y POD 111\RNFSSFS - Sizes & sty ks change rnomhly, $}00-liOO. C:C 1OOO's $2'i0. Cocoo11s $200 each. Knccha11gcrs & stirrups also availabk. (If I ii) Ii Tl 8800.

01,ARK MUUNT/\IN l li\NC CI.IDERS Sales, service and inst ruction. I 60 Johnston Rd, Searcy i\R /'),Iii 3. (50 I) 27'J-7,/i80.

CALIFORNIA

ADVENTURES UNLIMITED Orange Coun1y's school. USJ-IC:A ccrril1cd ins1ruc1in11 and Ian· specialis1. New & used equipment, Wills Wing dealer. www.artnc1.nc1/ ... skydog/indcx.h1ml (7 ilt) li96 iWOO.

Airtime San Frnncisco has what· ynu need to get Airtime!

FLY AWAY I IANC CI.Jl)]N(; -~- TIJIS WINTER FLY SANTA BARBARA! ConsistcnL conditions make our mo11111ains and uaining hill 1hc best. LJSHGA cer1ifled instruc1ion. Tammy Burcar (805) 96) .. 2766 htrp://www.boclytrcnds.com/f lyaway. htm

Pilots 'Toy Store For the best selection of nmne hrand Hang Gliding equipment on 1hc Wcsl Coast visit the freshly stocked getting the right showroom of Airtime. Ile sure

HANG GLIDER EMPORIUM -- Best training hill in 1hc wes1! Frill service hang gliding/paragliding shop, cs1ablishcd 197/i. PO Box Ii 133'), Sama Barbara CA 9:l 110 1Ti'J, email: wcllyuniv~'laol.com (805) %5-

wing, harness) instru1ncnt,

T7fl

gloves, lwlrnct,

radio, etc for your flying. You will find 1he brand, model and size you need at the righr price. Hang Cliding Man

Ken Brown heads up the new J lang Cliding division at Airtime. Wirh his energy pushing l lar~ r ;Jiding f,,rward you can be sure to receive i-hc be'

vice on any-

thing related 10 I lang Cliding. Glider Outfitter Extraordinaire Ken !,as lined up Moyes, Wills Airwave to outfit you with the right ing future. Demo the best of the new conditions you like. Race the race foce :tt the race place, l'ort Funsron 1 Climb the newcsl ii,n flyer in a smooth California Thermal, Year round. Check om the XC poten1ial of 1he lates1 hot ships al top wesl coast XC si1es. Buy from a proven oudi1tcr. Yom satisfac

TIIE HANG GLIDING CENTER

l.oca1cd in beamifol San Diego. 11:mg gliding and paragliding insnuction, sales and service, conducted al TORRF.Y PINES and local 111011n1:1ins. Spend rion flying with 11s. Demo our line 1nen1 at the alwnys convcnieut·

TORREY PINES. We offer !CARO (LAMINAR ST), MOYES WILLS WING (XC) and all kinds of stuff. Makers of the DROGUJ, CHUTE. (619) 561-1009.

I l lGl I ADVEN'J'URF Hang gliding, paragliding school. Fquipme111 sales, service, remals at Somhern California's mile high site, Cresdinc. LISI IGA lnstmctor Rob McKenzie. By appoin1111cnt year round.

Our comprehensive instruc1ion program, located at the San Pr:mcisco Bay Area's premier rraining si1e, fo:nurcs gemly sloped "bunny hills," superli1e gliders and conrfonablc !raining harnesses! "FlRST FIJCHT," a video presentation of our beginner lesson progra1n, is available fi)r only $20 including shipping (mr1y /Je .rJ/JJ)//ed l,o y,,ur· future rrnurrvurwrl.\/:.11. Our deluxe rc1ail shop larcst in gliding innovations. We slock new and used Wills, Airwavc and Moyes gliders, PLUS all the hottest new harnesses. Trade-ins arc welcome. Take a fligl11 on our amaz,ing new VIRTUAi. REAl.!TY gliding /light sim11la10r! 1116 Wrigley Milpitas S1tn Jose) CA 95035. (li08) 262-1055, (408) 262 1388, MSCI lG@aol.com www.f TANG-( ;1,11 )!NG.com WfNDSPOlffS since 197-i. 1'if'1een minutes from LAX. ro Sylmar, Cresdirre, Flsinorc and 1raining si1cs. Vacation Hying and rcn1als. The glider sales packages including lodging most popular gliders and cquipmem, new and used in slock. Trade in yom old equipmenr. :125 su1111y days each year. Come lly with us! 1(,1/i'i Victory Blvd., Van Nuys CA 91 liOG. (818) 988-0111, Fax (818) 988- I 862. COLORADO AIRTIME ABOVE HANC CLIDlNC Wills Wing, lligh Fncrgy, llall, Moyes. 2ii51 Airrimcl [(;(71\wl.corn

(')09) 88,--8li88.

Fnll 1ime

lessons, sales, service. Colorado's tnost 674-

tion is our success.

Flying Safaris Arc you going to be in the San Francisco l\ay area? Want ro go flying' Sure you do l<en docs lots of rrips 10 the local flying sites and you can come along if there is room in the van. C :all or email 10 schedule. 1

31401 Riverside Dr.

CONNEC'l'IClJ'I'

Lake Elsinore, CA

MOUNTAIN WfNc;S

92530

1.ook under New York.

FLORIDA

909-674-2453

Paragliding. A dirty word? Ainimc is also honw 10 one of rhc largesr paragliding schools on 1hc wesl coas1. Aini me ex1ends a 20% discount on lessons iCynur intcrcslcd in

out this

crrmrdin11er11ary llying spmt. Offor limited to current USI ICA rated hang or above. llc Biwingual 1 C:all or email 10 schedule.

FUI.L SERVICE SHOP l.oc:11ed on !fwy ?Ii :11 the base of lir<' Santa Ana m01rn1ain range. Proudly reprc· senting ALL major brands. Rentals avail:1blc 10 qualified pilo1s. 6 days a week 9am .. 5pm, closed on Mondays. Express.

Special Clinics ft is :1 proven foct, recurrent naining keeps aviators from having as

accident. As recreational Jvi:Hors

MACIC AfR -· Located in Northern California. Lessons, sales, service. (/07) 96J.:H55.

we arc all in need training. Airri1nc has scheduled some of' 1he fine.st minds in hang gliding to prcsem seminars on tire Special Skill sign-oil; Cross ( '.ompetirio11 as well as others to be added. I )on't your ego keep you from sharpening your skills. Call or email for 1hc updated schedule,

( :orne Check us 0111 in person or visi1 ns on 1he WWW. Fither way yon will find the best thing in Hang is Airtime. .%20 Wawona SF CA 9-i 116 Phone: Ii 15 7'\') I 177 htx Ii 15 7'59 1182 Email: Air1imc~ilcarrhlinc.rrcL keitnyb711~1laol.rnrn Web Page: WWW Air-1imc.com

USl ICA CFRTJl!lED TANDEM JNSTRUCTlON

By Crcgg McNarnec. /\crotow rraining & rafings. Dealer l<ir all major !light :md aero1ow equipment, I. 5 hours from Disncyworld. Call (352) 21i5-826:l. h I tp://www .gypzi.con ii graybird

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN l'Ll< ;J IT PARK -·~ Sec

ad under Ccorgia. Nearest n1mmtain !"raining center to

Orla11do (011\y 8 hours).

Hi\NC CLIDINC

rI,c J\erntow !'light P;irl,

WF J JAVE --- The mos! advanced \raining program known to hang gliding, tc,tching yo11 in half the time it takes on the training-BUNNY IIIIJ,, and with more in/light air time. YES, WF CAN TF.ACJ-1 YOU FASTER AND SAFER. For year-routtd 1raining Jim in the .111n, call or write Miami J lang Cliding (305) 285-8978. 2550 S Bay.shore Drive, Coconut Cnwe, Florida '.l} I 'fl.

Por visif-

w/mnltiplc showcrs/ba1hrooms {,,reach. Call Greg at The Landing RV Park & Cabins I 800-80} T/881 IIAWJ\ll Bl RDS IN PARA DI SF Hang gliding & 11ltralight nying on Ka,ui. Certified tandem ins\ruc:tion. (808) 822--530') or (808) 6."l'J- J 067, birditvilaJoha.nct

Satisfo_q.ipn c;u;ua11t~cd Jus1 8 miles from Disney World

NFW BUNKl 10\ISF J\T IOOKOlJJ'I

ing pi!ots. Separate female and t111iscx dormitories,

Ccn1ral 10 J\11raclions

www.birdsinp~1radisc.com

• YEAR ROUND SOARING • Ol'F.N 7 DJ\YS J\ WEEK FOUR TUGS, NO WAITIN(; EVERY DIRECTION

ILI.INOIS RJ\ VLN SKY SPORTS Cl 12) -lG00'/00 or (Ii I ii) IJT,-8800. Please sec our ad under WISCONSIN.

~o, NlCE demos to fly: Topless Cliders: Laminar, Moyes, TR:\, Wills. Super X1ralitc, XC, ( :onccpt, Shark, Sting, Falcon, Supcrfloatcr and more;

INDIANA

JJ MITCHEU,

TANDEM. J\irwavc cbtler. CTl:l Columbia Ave., llammond, IN 4632/i (219) 8IJ5 2856.

also harnesses, varios, etc.

Ages n To Tl have learned to fly here. No one comes close to our kvcl of' experience and success with tandem acrotow instruction.

QUEST J\IR SOAR.INC; CENTER Your vacation hang location. (352) 429-0213, fox (352) li29li81J6. om website at: www.questairforcc.com or email us: qucstair(d'sundial.ner

A GREAT SCENF. FOR FAM[] Y AND FRIJ>:NDS ...

RJ\ VEN SKY SPORTS -- (ii 14) ii'13 8800. Please sec onr ad under WISCONSIN. KANSAS

GEORGI/\ PRAIRIE HANC Cl.[lJERS -- - hill service school & dealer. Crear tandem instntc:tion, rowing & XC pack, ages. (l l (,) 375 2995.

] 0 rnotcls & restaurants within mins., camping, hot showers, shade nccs) sales, srorag<.\ ratings, XC

retrievals, great weather, climhing walL trampoline, DSS TV, ping pong, bungee swing, picnic rnblcs, swinuning pool, nc.

MEXICO

Flights of over I 00 miles and more than 6 homs. Articles in I Irmy; Glidiny;, Kitplflncs, ( ,'ross G1unt1y and others. l'camred ott mtrnerous shows, inclnding FSPN2. Visit !JS on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com Please call us for references and video. 1805 Dern Srill Hoad, Wallaby Ranch, l'lorida '.\.183793'58 (9ft J) Ii 24-0070 phone & fax Conscrvarive

Reliable State of rhe J\n

F.H.C. !NC./FLYING lH)R!DA SINC:F 1971J

Nestled in the Appalachian foothills by [ .Ml'P's landing zone, Tl-IE LANDING offers private, liilly fi,r nishcd clean cabins with Dish TV and all RV Park and Campground. If you fly or are planning ro learn, lflnd in

own _fi'ont yard Call Cina i(lf reservations and

BEAUTIFUi. VAi.LE DE BRAVO Fxpericnccd, Profossional l•abulous house, ala cane service. Open to all rrnt or bring hg/pg. llasic pack$ I 00/day hg, $6')/day pg, equipment trade con· 1-800,-8(, I 198, flymcxicoGilaol com hup:// 111cm bers .aol .rn111/ nytnexico/indcx. MICHIGAN

at 1 -B00-80:3-7788. Lei's make some memories. Malcolm Jones, llavid Glover, Rhen Radford, Ryan Clover, Austin Collins, Torn Ramseur & Jim A1,plcron

DFCTMBER 1997

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FI.ICHT PJ\RK Sec our Discover why FOUR TIMES as many pilots at IJJokout than at any other school! We wrote USJ Oflicial Training Manual. Our speciallycustomer satisfaction and fim wiLh the Bl•ST FJ\CII JTIES, camping, swimming, volleyball, more! For flight or lesson packages, Lookom outside Chattanooga, your COMPl.lffE tra1nmg/scw1<:c ci,m,,r. Info? (800) 688-.f..MFP,

NORM 1.FSNOW'S FLYTNC: ADVENTURES aerotciwtng, in1T<ld11Cf()ry programs beginner to Aern1m,· cl1n1<-s & US!]( ;A appropriate ratings available. US! l( ;A certified school. Please contact Norm f ,csnow-·MasLcr Pilot, Examiner) Advanced Tandcrn

Instructor, Tow Administrator. (2.48) 3')')-94:l.3, FULi .-TIME school. www.ScriousSporrs.com nlfo~hjuno.com

.5.)

paitaALIIHang System by Charlie Baughman

The Inverted Hang System (!HS) is a system I designed to keep the pilot .from falling into the glider, and to control the pilot/CG in the event of a glider inversion. If the pilot's weight and position are controlled, the glider has a better chance offlying out ofthe inverted situation. I tumbled in 1995, and have not liked flying in strong turbulence since then. That shocking event motivated me to design this system. head is up. The rope has a loop on ilie left here are d1ree major problems side iliar must be hook~d to a carabiner when a glider gets inverted wiili a after launch, and unhooked for landing. negative load: First, ilie pilot falls This is a quick, one-handed operation. and slams into the glider, greatly When hooked up, ilie rope lengili is so increasing ilie negative load and often short mat me pilot cannot do a full flare causing serious glider damage and pilot on ilie downtubes, but can do a full flare injury. Second, the CG changes when ilie on ilie basembe. This is why the rope control bar is ripped from ilie pilot's hands should be unhooked for landing. and he falls into rhe glider or over me trailThe IHS consists of: a 7mm climbing ing edge, thereby shifting ilie CG aft of a rope, a rang, two 1/4-inch bolts, a locknut flyable position. The glider cannot fly wiili and wingnut, two-inch webbing wim four mis CG and often stabilizes inverted wim grommets, a D-shaped carabiner, one-inch the pilot hanging over ilie trailing edge. Third, many gliders are nor strong enough to wiilisrand violent tumbles. The HGMA negative 150° load rest and ilie negative 30° test are indicative of ilie negative loads that gliders can take without breaking. Under ilie negative 150° load rest, me rear leading edges of some gliders start to fail at about 32 mph. (In iliis test ilie glider is pushed backwards and rail down.) The IHS is like a rope sling that supports ilie pilot's back wiili a long rope that is attached to the control bar corners. The pilot's The !HS in normal non-inverted flight. negative load is transferred to the webbing, iliree large aluminum descending control bar, and it may need to be stronger rings, 3/16-inch bungee chord, and downco support the system. I have reinforced cube sleeving. The rope is 82 inches long my downcubes with a full-length sleeve from loop end to rang end. On ilie right and an additional short inner sleeve. side ilie rope is attached to a large gromClimbing rope is secured to ilie control met rang wiili a knot. The tang is from a bar corners and also runs over ilie top of kingpost hang system. On the left side is a the harness ilirough large rings. These knot wiili a two-inch loop. An 18-inchrings allow for complete, unrestricted pilot long 3/16" bungee is attached to the rope control movements. The rings are securely loop and has a one-inch loop on ilie oilier attached to the harness directly above ilie end of it. top hang strap position. Under a negative load, the high attachment point will allow ilie pilot's feet to touch the keel while his

Before launch, ilie bungee loop is hooked to ilie carabiner. The bungee keeps ilie rope in place and makes the rope loop easy to find for hookup after launch. The length of ilie rope should be adjusted so chat it becomes right when ilie pilot reaches full flare position on the basembe. T his rope length will not allow for a full flare on ilie downtubes. If ilie rope were longer, an inverted pilot would fall even closer to the keel. As it is, the pilot falls at least 15 inches. This is not a problem iliough, for the downrubes are always wiiliin reach. The downrubes have been reinforced wid1 sleeving. The holes in rhe downrubes that secure ilie bottom fittings have been enlarged to 1/4 inch. The right downtube has a bole and wingnut that secures ilie tang. It is attached before launch. The left downtube has a bolt and locknut iliac secures grommets and webbing. The webbing runs around a carabiner and is sewn in place to hold it rigid. The carabiner needs to be rigid so the loop can be pushed against the gate wiiliout the carabiner moving. The carabiner is positioned with the gate opening on top and to the rear. There are three rings spaced across the top of the harness just above the highest hang strap travel. The rings are two-inch aluminum descending rings used in climbing. They must be well secured with webbing, that is, attached to ilie harness webbing support points. The rings are secured so that iliey are semi-rigid, standing up, and streamlined to the airflow. If not attached properly the rings could rip off and the rope could snag the pilot's head. HANG GLIDI NG

The IHS is like a car seat belt. You don't have to wear it and you hope you never need it. If I don't need the IHS I can leave the rope in my car. IfI wane to fly with the IHS, the flight procedure is as follows: Put the left side of the rope through the rings from right to left. Puc the harness on. Hook in the harness. Reach behind the harness with both hands and slide the rope from left co right co check chat it is free and clear within the rings. Attach the right-side tang. Hook the left-side bungee loop on the carabiner. Launch. Hook the left side rope loop ro the carabiner. Hookup is accomplished by pushing the loop down on the gate and sliding it toward the rear. The system is now hooked up. Before landing there are three things ro remember: unzip the harness, release the VG, release the IHS. To release the IHS with one hand, push the rope loop down on the gate and slide it to the rear. It is now unhooked. After landing, unhook the harness and bungee and release the tang. The IHS is not a cure-all for turbulent air, but it may be a scare in improving che odds in tumble situations. Parachute deployment will not be any easier with chis system. The IHS is mostly behind che pilot, kind oflike another sec ofloose rear wires, but it is still another piece of equipment for che parachute co gee hung up on. There is a possibility chat the rope will need co be cue for a variety of reasons. A hook knife should be easily accessible for this purpose. The IHS is an untested system. An incerescing method of tumble-testing gliders and the IHS would be to drop a diving glider from a bridge or construction crane. As che glider picks up speed, it could be tumbled by pulling the nose around with a rope. I have a large supply of gliders in my boneyard that might be good to use for some initial tests. I have flight-tested a few different coy models of hang gliders. Some models will recover to normal flight after being dropped from an inverted position, as long as the hang weight is controlled. If the hang weight is free to swing, the flight is erratic and often the glider will go out of control and tumble. I have flown many times with the IHS and have not had any problems with it. One of the initial benefits of the system is chat I am more relaxed in turbulence and confident in the air. The real test of course, is how well the system will work against the dragons in the sky. • DECEMBER 1997

glider upside down.

TRAVERSE CITY HANG GLIDERS/PARAGUD, ERS FlJL[,.:rIME shop. Certified imtr11ction, foot launch and tow. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands, VISA/MASTERCARD. Come soar our 450' dunes! 1509 F 8th, Traverse City Ml 49684. Offering powered paragliding lcssorn & dealer for new & used units, including rhe Whisper and the Fly, Call Bill at (AH,) 922-284/i. Visit our paragliding school in Jackson, Wyoming. Call Tracie at (307) Tl9-8620.

FLY HIGH BANC; CLIDING, INC. Serving S. New York, C:onnccticm, Jersey areas (Ellenville Mrn.) Area's EXCLUSIVE Wills Wing dcalcr/spccialisr. Also all orher major brands, accessories, Certified school/instrnc1ion, Tcacl,ing since 1979. Area's mos1 INEXPENSIVE prices. Excellent secondary insrruc .. tion ... if' you've finished a program and wish to comin-· uc. Fly the mm1111ain! ATOI. rowing! Tandem flights! C:omact Paul Voight, 5163 Scarsville Rd, Pinc llnsb, NY l 25GC,, (914) 7M:ffll.

MOUNTAIN WINGS

Look under New York.

TENNESSEE

MINNESOTA SPORT SOARING CE\!TER/MINNEAPOUS fnstn,ction, cquipmcllt dealers for Wills Wing, Airwave &. Edel. (612) 688···0181. NEVADA ADVENTURE SPORTS

Sierra soaring tours and

l lang gliding/paragliding ins1ruc1ion. Sales and lid! service

USHGA sbop for i\lrair, i\irwavc, Moyes, US Acros, Wills 3650-22 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 883-7070 phone/fax, email: advsprs(alpyramid.net web sire: http://www.pyramid, net/advspts NEW JERSEY MOUNTAIN WINCS

Look under New York.

NEW MEXICO MOUNTAIN WEST llANG CLIDINC Farmington's only foll service school and Wills Wing dealer. Offering row and tandem flighrs. (505) 6328/ili'l.

IKAROS SPORT AVIATION & Spartan Microligh1 Manufacturing. NYC's flrsr and only certified school for gliding, paragliding and trikes. Distributors/dealers all major brands. Manufacturer for the BEST microlights in rbc world, SPARTAN. New and used equipment ar best prices, The most service in NY. For catalog send $5 to: !Si\, 3811 Ditmars Blvd /1110, Astoria NY 11105. Store: 2931 Ncwrown Ave., Astoria NY. Phone/fox (718) 7'7'7-7000, email: Ikaros11 Qilaol.com Internet: http://mcmbers.aoLcom/ikaros11 /ny.hrm SUSQUEHANNA Fl.lGHT PARK Cooperstown, NY. Certifled lnstrnction, Sales and Service for all major manufacturers. liO acre park, 5 training hills, jeep rides, hunk house, hot showers, (,OO' NW ridge. We have rhe hesr in N. New York srarc ro teach you how to fly. c/o Dan Guido, Box 293 Shoemaker Rd, Mohawk NY Uli07, (315) 866-6153. NORTH CAROLINA

Flight Park

Ul' OVER NEW MEXICO Instruction, sales, scr·" vice. Sandia Mo11111ain guides. Wills, Airwave. Albuquerque, NM ('i05) 821 "8544.

HAWK i\JRSPORTS lNC P.O. Box 9056, Knoxville, TN 37940-0056, (42.3) 212-4994. Hang Gliding and world fornous Windsoks. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FI.J(;J IT PARK ad under Ccorgia.

Sec

TEXAS AUSTIN AIR SPORTS INC. Cenified foot launch, row & tandem training. Sales/service, Steve & Fred Burns WINDEMERE (210) 693-5805. HOUSTON (281) lill-lli88.

HILL COUNTRY PARACLJ])[N(; INC-~ Learn complete pilm skills. Personalized USHCi\ cen:ified training) soaring foot & row launching in central Texas, MOTORIZED PARAGJ.!DING INSTRUCTION & EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE. (915) 3791185. Rr 1. Box l 6F, Tow TX 78672. 1

KITE ENTERPRISES Foot launch, platform launch and aerotow insrruc1ion 100. Training, sales, rentals and repair. Airwavc & Wills Wing. Dallas, Fon Wonh and north Texas area. 211 Ellis, Allen TX 75002. (977,) 390-9090 RFD RIVER AIRCRi\FT/G(LI !ANG GI.IDING!! 1 fefflfom, li811 Red River Sr., Austin Texas 78751. Ph/fax (512) 467-2529 rrajcJJi?ilaol.com

NEW YORK J\i\A FLIGI IT SCHOOL MOUNTAIN WINGS and EAST COAST PARAGLIDING in Ellenville NY. Simply the MOST PROFESSIONAL training in the NE with l years experience. 7 full rime ccnificd insrrucrors, Ii exclusive training hills. We stock available for pilo1s and sell & service AIRW i\ VE, i\V8, ALTAIR, WILLS WING and now MOYES, also SWIFT, SUPERFLOATER, KASPERWING and ALL PARAGLIDER BRANDS. Unbearable prices on gliders. Full rime randcms, ICP, clinics. We do it all. (9 lli) 150 Canal Strcer, Ellenville NY 12/i28. OUR EXPERIENCE SPEAKS roR ITSELF. ELLENVILLE FLIGHT PARK Sales, service, USHCi\ certified insrruction. Dealer for AIRBORNE, LA MOUETTE TOPLESS, APCO, instrnmcnrs, accessories. 80 llang Glider Road, Ellcnvillc NY l2ii28, Call Tony Covelli or Jane, phone/fax (914) 6li71008.

TOTAL i\lR Si'ORTS Area's OLDEST Wills Wing dealer. Ccrri/kd insrrnction available. "l only DEAL with WILLS". G'l5!f Limestone, llous10n TX T/092. (713) 956 G147. OTAH WASATCH WINGS FULL TIME USIICAcerrified HG insrn1ction at Point of rhe Mountain and regional TANDEM lNSTRlJCTION • AFROTOWING BOAT TOWING • Pi\RA(;LTDING • MOUNTAIN CI.INICS • FOOT !./\UNCH • OPEN YEAR ROlJNll • BEACH RESORT • EQUIPMFNT SAi .ES AND SFRVlCF

VIRGINIA

(800) 334-4777 NAGS In tern ct Address: http://www.ki1tyhawk.com ]•>Mail Address: hang glidc(,1lo111cr-hanks.com PENNSYI .Vi\NJi\ MOUNTAIN TOP RFCRFATfON Certified instruction, Pittsburgh. (412) 6'JT-li477. C'MON OUT AND PLAY!

mountain sires. Dealer for Aeros, Wills Wings, Moyes, Airwavc and much more. Call Zac (801) 2T/-1 Oli2.

BLUE SKY High inmuction, equipment sales, sewing, towing Glider Savers. Call S1cvc Wcnclr in Harrisonburg VA, (540) li32-6557.

HANC GLIDJNC

KITTY I IAWK KITF.S

Sec North C,rolina.

SJLVFR WINC:S, INC. C:ertif1cd insmtciion and equipment saks. (7(l:l) 533 1965 Arling,ton YA. WISCONSIN RAVliN SKY SPORTS !JAN(; GLIDJNC AND PARA(;L]])JN(; f.atgest and most popular in the Midwest. Traditional curriculum) ridge soaring, rnouu-

tain clinics, Dragonfly aerotowing & tandems by Brad Kushner. Sales/service/accessories for all major brands. PO !lox IO I, Whitewater Wl 5) 190 (Ii I Ii) liTHlBOO. PARTS & ACCFSSORIFS ABSOLUTELY TIIF BEST --- Prices for Ball varios/parachutes. (G 19) 22.<J-OO!i8, email: rcbrokcrc?Oincom.ncr AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES - - Sec J'UWING. THE WALIABY RANCTI (9ft I) 1240070,

ARMAD!LLO GLIDER BAGS-~- Prorcn your from CV and all of natures clements. Custom made polypropylene w/full length ,.ippcr $ I 05 (plus s/h.) FXC:I.USIVFI.Y through l<cnruckiana Soaring, li25 N Taggart Ave., Clarksville IN li7179. (812.) 2.88 7111, fox (812.) 2.il4-li 115. MC:/Visa.

WIIEF.I.S AYAIJ.ABLF Super tough, 1PJ11we1PJ11. a must for training, tandem Built-in bushings. Only lJSA--lmilt 12." wheel. $/i?.. 'J'i, q11an1iry discounts. Immediate delivery. Lookout Mountain, (HOO) 6881.MFI'. CJ !RISTMAS CllTS And Certificates f,,r the pilots in your lifo, fi·om the manufacturer with the largest, 111ost vah,c packed inventory of Jiang glicling accessories between $10 and $100 on the continent! C:ut Olli the middleman! C:nnnison Cliders, 1'ili9 Coumy Road 17, Cunnison CO 81230. (970) 6,i 1 <J:J 1

DIUMl31R 1997

TllE "DUST DEVIL" WIND DIRECTION IND! CATOR BY BAUER AVIATION PRODUCTS. The only CO2 ACTUATED wind direction indicator on the marke,. Simply rhe best method availal,k 10 the X(: pilot. Whcn dropped from altimdc the "Dust Devil" sends an explosion of' chalk on impact, up ro 25 feet high. Clearly visible from great disrances, the "D1ist I )evil" also aligns a bright orange streamer with the direction or the wind. Fully reusable, legal to use, and extremely reliable. Poses no threat or lire and CAN BE RELOADED POR LESS THAN 7'5 CENTS A POP. It utilizes standard CO2 cartridges and chalk. lrs small size (6" I .25") makes it c;tsy 10 store on your harness or downtnbe. For complete "Dust Devil" starter kit, send $/ili.9'i 1$5 S&I !, check or money order to: B,rncr Aviation Products, PO !lox 7.3/i62., San lliego CA ')2 I 9.'l. ((,I')) 715-M10. EXTEND TIIF. LIFE OF YOUR WING AND EQUIPMENT WITH UP TO 100% UV SUN PROTECTION. 100')1, money-back guaranrce! ".303 l'rotcctant & Cleaner" is the only 100%, guaramecd provcu s,m block which provides up to 1001)1, UV protection to sail doth. Made in USA, and field tesred, one 16oz application is IO(i'V<, gnaranrccd to extend the exist ing life· of your wing and cquipmeut up ro twice ,Ls long. Use on sail cloth, vinyl, leather, nylon and morel Each applicmion lasts :30 to IJO hours of 100 1Y<, UV sun block exposure protection. The kit includes (I) !Gm. trigger spray bot de, (I) .'l2oz refill bot tic and complete set of instrnctions. Send $:lli.'Yi (California residents add $2..53 sales tax) plus $5 shipping (outside USA-call for shipping charges) to: Banners Unlimited, PO Box 700/i, I.os Osos, California 9lli I (80':i) 52.8-50 I 8, fax (805) 528-:,'529.

IJICH PERSPFCTIVF WI !FELS Real lifo savers' 12", light, tough. Firs all gliders. Send $Ii l.95 , $4.50 shipping per pair to Sport Aviation, PO Box IOI, Mingoville l'A I (,85(1. Ask about our dealer prices.

TIJF NEW TNC:lrnl>IBI.F FARMIKE 51 Just plug it into the outlet in your car and press the pu button the control piece whrn tram Cm he fir through your sleeve and atrad, to your with Velcro. The earpiece is washable. Farmike 51 5 is Cor !com, Yacsu, Alinco and more. Farmikc 57'5 is Cor Kenwood. Introductory price for the best mic in the market is $')/i.95. ISA ph/fox (i'l8)

$149. Many other flying accessories (;ARMIN CPS 38 available. Call ( :had at (805) 569-1667 for more info or visit our web site: lmp://www.body1rc11ds.com/paraacc.h1rn

By l'light Connections. HEAVY-DUTY

CIFf'S & TROl'I !IFS Unique, unusual & creative hang gliding related and trophies. Free catalog' Soaring Dreams, 1171(1 Fairview, Boise Idaho 83713. (208) 376--7') 11.

HELMETS & Air Kevlcr, mp-of-the-line $180-$300. Discounts on small &. XS in stock. (Ii I Ii) iil.l-8800

InOlJillcd

swirch, con1m1111icatc wit b hands ou conrrol har or

brakes. Safrr !lying and more reliable comrnnnications. 90 day mfj; warranty, w/repair service available beyond warranty. i\vailablc for Yaesu, !com, Alinco, Kenwood & other compatible radios. hdl face or open helmets. $89 +$3.50 sl1ipping, MC/Visa, dealer inquires invited. Kcmuckiana Soaring, ii25 N Taggart Ave., Clarksville lN 17129. (812.) 2887111, fox (8U) 2.8/i-li 11 SPE CIAUZJNG IN COMMUNICATIONS

TEI< FLIGHT PRODUCTS

KENTUCKIANA SOARING Communications Specialist! Besr Prices & Best Service! Cusromer Satisfoction Guaranteed! VARTOS: FLIGHT DECKS NEW BAU, GRAPI lTCS PLUS ...................... $CAL!, BAIJ. M19 ...................................................... $J75.00 FI.YT'EC .......................................................... $CA!.L HELMETS PEI J .F Full Face, a frw left. .. retail$ I6(J...Clearance $95 RADIOS-AL!. MODELS AVAJJ .ABLE YAF.SU FTJ 1R ...... ., .............. 5 wan ............. $305.00 KE~WOOD TH22 ............... 5 watt. .............. $CALL F/C Fingcrswitch/J lcadset ...... .I lcavy-Dmy ...... $89.00 518 TEI .ESCOPlC ANTENNA ....................... $20.95 518 GAIN DUCK ANTFNNA ........................ $17.95 Fanalk Kenwood ..................... C:lcarance .......... $60.00 Yaesu Mobile .......................... 50 watt ........... $305.00 TUNE UP w/Warranty Intact .................... $35-50.00

,·emote

MfNJ VARIO World's smallest, simplest v:rrio! Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on batteries, () .. 18,000 ft., fast response and 2 year warranty. Creal for paragliding roo, ONLY $169. Mallettec, PO Box 1 5756, Sama Ana CA, 9?.735, (7 I Ii) %6 1240. M( :/Visa accepted.

Camera mount, several models av:iilablc $13.50. Camera rcmorc (ask about rebate) $Ii 5. Vario mount

$15. (j" wheels $2').75. S/1-1 included.

PARACHUTES WILLS WING LA RA ............. w/Paraswivd .... $(:Al.I. lllGH FNFR<;Y QUAN'l"UM ....................... $C:AJ.l. MISCELLANFOtJS ARMADILLO Cliderbag..... Regular &. XC: .... $105.00 WIND ADVISORY AIRSPFED W/Clamp .... $13.00 I !Al.I, PG AIRSPEl\l) ............ Clear:mce .......... $25.00 IIOOK KN!FE ................................................. $11.95

TEK FLIGHT PRODUCTS, Colcl,rook Stage, Winsted CT 06098. (860) 379-1668. htrp://mcmbers. rripod . com/ .. ,ekflight-/index.ht ml

KENTUC:J<l1\NA SOARINC;

The world-class XCR- l BO operates up to 3 honrs c,, Iil,000 fr. and only lilb. Complete kit with cylinder, harness, cannula and ternotc on/off flowmcter, only $:ll'i.00.

m:rn.AMITTS & CLOUDBASE HARNESSES (123) 549-705/i . BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT LMFP NEEDS FXPER!F.NCFD HELi' -~ In the sew shop. Call Alan or Man (706) 398-:151 J, MORE l'l YfN(;.MORE TIME-MORE MONEY Mark Yarnall, business mentor & SUCCESS MACAZINF Contributing Fditor, believes would fly more, if they had the time &. money. I ,earn how to have more time to fly and the money to rake care of your finances . !'lease contact (702) 88li-li030.

KIT VARIO $70 Fly high with your hand-made vario. Sensor, !Cs, PCB, CRs, manual, etc. Hi,yu Mfg., fax Ol 1-81-13-279-4627 Japan, Kc;c;o3353Ci'niftyscrvc.or.jp

WANTED -- I fang Cliding/l'aragliding instructors. Immediate full time openings available. Live the California drcam ... instrucr students at the San Francisco Bay area's premier training site. Service shop

DON'T Giff CAll<:llT LANDIN(; DOWNUV treated, 5'/i" WlND! ~ 1.5 oz. long w/1 l" throaL colors Cluoresccnl pink/yellow or flnorcscenr pink/white. $39.95 (,$Ii .75 SI! I), Send ro USHCA Windsok, P.O. Box I :330, Colorado Springs, CO 80')0 I 1330, (719) 63)-S:lOO, fax (719) 632-C,li 17. VISA/MC accepted.

employment is also avail:thk. Ask for Pat Dcncvan (108) 262- I 055. MSC! I( ;ti't>:10!.corn www.HANG-<;I.Il)JN(;.com PUI31.JCATJONS & ORGANIZATIONS

1,mn. From the Sl,immcr to the present 1!ttng Gliding. (719) (,32 8300.

HANC CLIDINC

MIS<:ELIANEOUS

DOWNWIND From rhc c:irly days of rhe 70's, to the big time air of Owen's Ys,llcy, DOWNWIND is packed with thrill and cxhilar:1tion of cross country advcntmc. The for both pilots and non· pilots. SI !ARE THE EXPERIENCE. J\ true story, well told. /\vailahlc from LJSI IC/\ I leadqnartcrs for only $10.95 (., $Ii s/h). PO Box Ll:lO, Colorado Springs CO 80'!01-1:330.

f)\JMI\O

Static winch system for hang gliders and I ,ow operating cost, precise line-tension operation. Ideal for c:lubs, schools and resorts. Operates fi·om ,1 small ncld, allows step-towing and fclOt launches. Training available by experienced trainers. For infor rnation: Disrancc Design, 725 Wiseman, ()utrcmont,

()ucbcc, Canada I 12V .lK7, (SI Ii) 3/iJ-% 1 J. Dealer inquires welcon1c. dumbowinch(a)aol.com SCOOI ER TOW SYSTEMS prices. ('!72) :390 ')090.

"AEROBATICS" hill color 23"x 31" poster fr:iruring John l kincy doing what he docs best-!.( )()Ill N( :! /\vailable throng!, lJSJ ]CA I IQ f,,r just $6.95 (, $,l.50 s/h). 1:iJI that void on yonr wall 1 Send to lJSHC/\ Acrobatics l'ostcr, I'() Box I :lOO, ( :olorado Springs CO 8093:l. (US/\ & ( :a1mb only. Sorry, arc NOT AV /\I I.ABLE on international CJ/\[,.f\croh,11ics poster & lcric Raymond poster· BO'J'I I FOR $10 (,$.1.50 s/h).

Available at various

1'1\T TOW RIC

& platform, 3,500' Spectra line, hardly used $1,500. (505) 8') 1-0078.

VIDF.OS & Fil.MS

B/\C IT! lf you don't have your copy of Dennis l'agcn's PERFORMANCE J:1.YIN<; yet, availahle through USHCA Headquarters $2').'J'i (, $5.'iO s/Yh for UPS/Priority Mail delivery).

SOJ\RINC Momhly magazine ofThe of /\mcrirn, Inc. ( :overs all aspects oC soaring $55. lnfi>. kit with sample copy .fl. SSA, 1'.( l. Box E, l lobhs, NM 8H21i 1. (50'i) 3'!2117/. TOWING /\1\RO'J'OWI N<; /\CC :ESSOR!FS

FIRST FLIGHT Follows the action ofa new pilot's nrst lessons. This video is an entertaining way to show your fricuds and family how you actnally learn to fly. VHS I minutes. $20 includes shipping (rnrty tH i1pplied to lnson purrhase 1). MISSION SOARINC CFNTFR, 11 I(, Wrigley Way, Milpitas CA 95035. (li08) 262 I 055. A hang gliding music PARTY J\T CI.OUDBASE video by Adventure Productions $19.95. POINT OJ,' Tl IE MOUNTAIN-/\ward winning by Fast ( :Cmt Video, action al this Urah mecca $29. H/\NG Gl.!D!NG F.XTREME & BORN TO l'I.Y by /\dvcnrnrc l'roductions, grcar hg action $3/i.95 each. HAW/\11/\N FLYIN by Space'), soaring in amazing laullchcs $3.\. Call US! TC/\ C/ 19) G32·8300, fox (719) 6:l2-(,ltl'1, email: l'b1sc add +$Ii domestic s/h (+$5 l,,r two or more videos).

I fe:1dquarrers

Crcat 10 impress your friends or frH those socked-in

for: The finest releases, secondary releases, Spectra "V"

,Liys. Perfrct gifi for the hunch potalO !limed couch potato. Also, ask 11s about our paragliding videos!

bridles, weak links, tandem wheels, bunch cart ki1s, etc. THEWI\ LL/\BY RANCII (9ft I) Ii 21 0070.

l'rom the first Tc:llnridc Festival in 1981, 10 rhe modern day fi'ccstylc competition. Follow the history of this dynamic gathering. $21i.95 C1!1 US! IC/\ (719) (,328:100, fax (71 ')) G:J2 .. (ilj I email: ushga<rilushga.org. Please add +$Ii domcst ic s/h.

CJ\L CJ.OVF Light weight C/\BRFTTA I.E/\THER GLOVES, world famous in equcstfrm circles, arc now gaining popularity in rlw hang paragli(ling & parach11ting markets. Available in 1nc11, women & children sizes, ') diflcrem colors and priced from $27.')5-$:l').95. For more info on these superior leather gloves conlclct: C:aJ .. Clove, 2920 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento CA 95821. (<JI Ci) liH 1 -870 I, fax (91 G) ,jg 1-1 IGB, email: cal-glovcv1ij1mo.corn

- ll/\NG GJ.IDING Cl!R!STM/\S CARDS Old black a11d white etchi11g .style. $IO per dozen, $18 f,,r dozen, $Jl /cir 50, or $(,() for I00. (Plus l O'X, f,,r Ill;[: On the shipping.) or

srnd ;1 self~addrcssed sumpcd envelope !,,r an assort· rncnt select ion shec1 to: TEK F!.IGIIT l'roducts, Colehrook Stage, Winsted CI' 060')8. Call in yonr order (8Ci0) :l79··16Ci8,

DECTMlllR 'I 997

I JOT LOOKS FOR COOL WF.ATl!FR SOAR.INC! Free Catalog. Cameron Omcrwcar, 717. Amherst SF .. Dept Gf !, Albuquerque NM 87106-l 505. (505) 2 5G-7 li06, camcron .. owG,)worldnct .arr.net VIDEOS BOOKS & POSTERS Call USJTCA for your Merchandise order form (71 ')) (,32-8300, email:

DON'T I.EAVE YOUR GROUND BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT IN THE JIANG GI.IDING CLASSIFIEDS. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATFS The rate for classified advertising is$. 50 per word (or group of characters) all(! $1.00 per word for bold or all caps. M !NJ .. MUM AD CHARGE $5.00. A fee of $15.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 for each photo. LINEART & PHOTO SIZE NO LARGER

THAN 1.'75" X 2.25". Please underline words to be in bold prinr. Special layo11ts of tabs $25.00 per column inch. Phone numbcra,2 words. Fmail or web address<lwords. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, insrructions) additions and cancellations nrnst be received in writing l J/2 momhs preceding the cov-

er dare, i.e. December 20th for the Fchrnary issue. Please make checks payable ro US] !CA, l'.O. Box 13:lO, Colorado CO 80901 l310, ('719) 6.128300. !'ax ('71 9) 7 or email: nshga<i''ushga.org your classif1cd wirh yom Visa or Mastercard.

Acme ................................................. 22

Lookout Mtn. Flight' Park ................. 13

Adventure Productions ........................ ?

Mojo's Gear ...................................... 37

Aerolighr/Kiwi ................................ ..47

Mountain Con<los ............................ .47

Altair ................................................. 31

Neilsen-Kellerman ............................. .?

Arai Design ....................................... I 5

North Wing ........................................ 5

Brauniger ............................................ 5

Safari Sky Tours .................................. 7

Flytcc ........................................... 23,37

Scedwings .......................................... 39

Hall Bros ........................................... 47

Sport Aviation Publications ................. ?

Hanwag ............................................. 37

U.S. Acros .................................... 15,50 US Aviation ..................................... .:39

High Energy

USHGA ........ 5,6, 11, 14, 18,34,42,47,51

lcaro .................................................... 2

Wills Wing .......................... Back Cover

] llSt

•Quick set up •Lightweight Launch Landing •Klngpost Hang •Fully defined leading edges •Can breakdown to 6' long •Custom Colors available •Great "towability" ! •2 sizes available

Our screamin' topless race ship has proven itself in some of the most inhospitable air known to man. Flies extremely fast and extremely straight, yet centers itself in a thermal. With it's Active CambeW this glider truly has a climb mode and a glide mode. Very easy to land simple to set up! We make one to fit you.

*Order you new Stealth or Stealth KPL by March 1st and get i 0% off the already ridiculously low price. 62

HANC CLll)li'IG

Dan Johnson S'J'. PAUL, MINN. ··· Can you believe another :1.s about to away? Sure sernned to fly by to me. I' 11 bet the same i::i true for Ken Brown. He' had a year since about thh; time last fall when we discussed act:ivi ties at Pacific Airwave. A.s you are al 1 awarc0 now, the ~,aJ.i company became history shortly afl:er that conversation in late 1996 By the Sun ain;how Florida April, Ken wan workinc;r witb Jim , a float-equ trikes. It businecls opportuniLy, business together with in making. (8rnaLler tr.:i.ke buil.de.r-s often buy Lr:om other for rnanufact:1.1re

t:hernseJves.)

tragically ul

kilJ.ed whil aircraft at company faded for rear'lorrn beyond his control. more , Brown has landed what appears ( to me) to be another excellent cl1ar1c~, to in fly biz. He will now become "the independent Mo:yes for the 1\mericas. " He takes Moyes' Vicki who spent four months the U.S. summer o 997 building the Kc:,n thanks for "pu [it] in order only to turn i l: t..:o [Brown] who shec ' d been int :.roduced to. rhis ::>ornewh.a t familiar scenario to Ken. He once was tJ1e c0nterecl U1.e wr1en that company American market. Pacl\:Lr i:mbcc,equently got with the brand, then became rnajorit:y owned by the UK firm. E]tilJ later Ken L:hem, up Presid0,nt of the company before Ai.rwave UK EJhuttered Lheir U.S. operation. long been a sutmt:antia1 seller amonq brandi; and witb Ken's experience, it could become? major player. MoyE,s might Li.LI the void Jd:t by PacAir, although h.i gh flyin(J Wil.l Wing w.i 1J ily tain overwhelming o the American hanq glider market. announced Moyes America' lineup like thi.s: Ventura * Sonic k Max Xl:ralite * Carbon Xtralite * and, level. Ventura type, fun· to··fly Jove t:hese 1

single t::he

coun t:r_y

t::hey' doubl for MoyEis' culmination of now billed an a recrc,at:ional performance flyinq machine. Moym; ' current glider if, rec:omm(?r1ded the for competi Lions country lights. iE> a perfonnance tandem tbe arriva] of Northwin9' ~: Kamron the Moyec, America team, Brown credi tc, Kamron the Ventura design, whLLe Juan will continue to work on certifying the Sonic. join me Ken and his best luck. In San K.en at DECEMBER 1997

F1yaMoyes@aol.com, an easily-remembered electronic address. of manufacturers, another quy who's b~en bu,oy i,; Florida' s Terry Reynolds, builder of the unique TR3. I can' imagine you've mi.ssed his development so far, but quickly... the 'J1 R3 .is an outgrowth of the TRX which Terry also developed yean3 aqo wit.h the" Utah-based edition of UP before the famous old brand di,mppeared from the U. . '.l'RX was taken over by Sky Aircraft whid1 them evolvE,d into Altair and its Predator. So, while the 'l'RX lives on in the and form of ~John Heiney' s highly-modi ied Predator, Reynolds went forward on his own this time with tho 'J'R3 . the company name Acme Glider Company, his 1 t:erhoad says i a Gon'rech Corporation "' 'J'he most cha.rac\.:eristic of Acnte s rrR3 is in keeping witb the performance Ho wasn't some laqgard everyone else, as he reports the TR3 155 actually won HGMA certification before any other .American topless desiqn way back in April this year. it,. 'l'his fall 1\cme sent a lettc,r to H,n1g IV pilots them purchase! on the 'J R3. Since Acme is a small manufacturer, dealer markup is lower than out LL t,; offer, so rel:.ai] busines,ies showed le,;s interest than in it gliden;. 'I'o get the 'l'R3 ball made offE,rs to 'l'erry, "The two most f:eatures of the 'J.'R3 are itc; weight and elimination of top rigging." Pilots I've spoken to express apprecial:ion for the Jj ght weight He says a comparison of ot:her brands shows many are 20% heavier than tbe TR3's current pounds. Reynolds clarifies the comparison that h:i s center cc,trucLure ir.3 actually heavic-,r but. it'c, liqhter outboard, which be says accounts for Lighter handling. Perhaps this is reason why he adds, "The 'J'R3 handles propor1y and tracks without tho added weiqht and hassle of w:inglets, or curved 'I'c"rry also boasts that the ·rR3 is " to land, " a he links to distribution which ho says makes l:he "flare window... particularly large " 'I'he performance benefits from having what Acme calls the "largest span (3':i' ") and the highest aspect ratio of any current glider. " 'rhe company also reports Lrne of the latest in sail material employed for sailboat:ci. "Extremely strong, UV-resistant fibers are bonded in transparent medium to produce a fabric approximately three time,c: as strong as sail materialB," reads U10 promotional mailer. 'I'o get still more info, you can contact Acme at 813 6··3629 (also fax) or eMai1 to 'l'RGLiders@aol.com. As with my Bent:Lments for Brown and Moye::, America, wish ':Perry Reynolds and Acme Glider succes,3. Even though Wills continues as the country's (or the world' El'?) manufacturer, need choices and I'm sure my friends at Wills agree. So, got nc0ws or Send 'em to fl Dorset, St. Paul l!IN 5'511fl. \/mail or fax to 612450··0930, or send ell/fail Lo CumulusMan@aol.com. ~ I I