USHGA Hang Gliding July 1998 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

HANG GLIDING • JULY

1998

(USPS 017-970-20- ISSN 0895-433X)

AIR MAil.

FREE FLIGHT '98 article andphotos by_ Paul Hamilton The biggest hang gliding and paragliding trade fair in the world......... . . .

UPDAT&

FROM THE TRAINING H ILL To M ACH 3+ - THE M ARK STUCKY S UCCESS STORY by Roy Haggard

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Mark is probably the only pilot on earth who has flowll everything from paragliders and hang gliders to the SR-71 and the Goodyear blimp. . ...... .

HA.NG GLIDING INTERVIEWS: USHGA PRESIDENT G.W. M EADOWS by Jim (Sky Dog) Palmieri G.W fields tough questions from the membership..................... .

PG .ACCIDENT RERORTS

TREE RESCUE FOR PARAGLIDER P ILOTS article and illustrations by AnciL Nance You have managed to safely land in a tree. Now what? .... . ............. .

RATINGS

DIAECTOJl'S CORNER

FLYING THE CROWDED SKIES by Paul Kkmond Rules of the road when flying with other hang gliders and paragllders. FIVE-DIAMOND PILOTS by Steve Roti Rob McKenzie and Ken Hudonjorgensen are awarded Fifth Dfamonds i11 the USHGA Safe Pilot Award Program for completing more than 5,000 consecutive safe flights. . ...................... . ............ .

BECOMING BIWINGUAL by Rob McKenzie A summary of some points to consider and what you might encounter

should you decide to become biwingual. . ................. . .... . .... .

HG ACCIDENT REPORTS

WHERE THERE'S No HILL THERE'S A W AY by Steve Rewoiinski The design and evolution of a new cow winch. Using the Kolb Mark Ill ultralight as an aerotug for hang gliding. . .. . , ....................... .

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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PRO.D UCT LIMES JULY 1998

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Gil Dodgen, Dave Pounds, Art Heiney, Gerry Charlebois, Bettina Gray, Grannis, Mark Vaughn Photograplwrs Harry Martin, 11/ustriltor Dennis ragen, Mark Stucky, Geoff Mumford, G.W. Meadows, Jim Palmieri, Staff Writers

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Dear Editor, l attended Sun 'n' Fun this year and discovered that USHGA was not rcpre> semcd. f believe rhat promoting our sport and helping ir grow is in everyone's best interest. Educating the public, including the general aviation public, is critical to our overcoming the miscon .. ccptions that plague our sport. Our advances in safoty, training and equip·" rnent far exceed the average person's understanding. I never dreamed that hang gliding in Florida was possible until I saw acrorowing for the first time a few years ago. I mn confidcm that I am nor the only person to realize my dream because of Sun 'n' Fun. Participating in Sun 'n' Fun adds a level of legitimacy and acceptance that is difficult to come by in any orhcr way. I am more than willing to volunteer my time: rn represent our sport next year if'USHGA will have a booth.lam confi." dent that there arc plenty of other local pilots who would be willing to help.

Scott Dallon Ocala, Florida

c01ice1,·nir1g hang gliding

sdf,.arldressed

Nolific,ati<m inusl be pub Iirnt ions. to edit

l'O:STAM!,TER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: GLIDINC, P.O. BOX ·13:io, Colorado Springs, 130901,'l'J'.30.

JULY 1998

VOIUMF 28, ISSUE No. 7

Dear Editor, You must have a third person when rowing a hang glider. By ''Lhird person" l mean someone next t:o the tow winch with a hook knife. A1 the flrst sign of trouble he is rhcrc to cut the towline. lk can watch the winch, line payom pressure and the pilot. The driver is rcsponsihlc for watching the road and airspeed indicator. 'T'hat is all a driver can possibly do. There is no way he can keep track of the pilot. You may never experience a danger-· ous situation (like a lockout) in which this third person is needed to cut the l inc, but the day you do, and he's not there, you'll be in big trou hie! Peter K. Paulmann Boulder, Colorado

Dear Editor, Congrnrulations to John Johnson for his incredible 2GLJ··mile Arizona state record flight! If is particularly exciting thar this fligl11 originated, not ofI flatland tow like most recent major records, but from a mountain launch. For me, a major pan of the appeal of hang gliding is getting out in the woods. Jiligh ts like JJ's will ensure that our mountain-launch roots will never be frirgottcn! Rodger Hoyt Ccmral Point, ()R

Dear Editor, I always look fcirw:ml to receiving my copy of />amgliding magazine, especially since it only comes bimonthly. As a relatively new pilot, I have readily submersed myself in the sport, even becoming president of' our local hang and paragliding club, the North Tc:xas Hang Gliding Association.lam a great supporter of the US] lGA and enjoy being pan of rhc fly. ing community. I have ofrcn heard pilots ralki ng abom the shortage of women in the sport, and most seem to feel that the sport only benefits from the participation of women. Yet, when l read Pam.gliding or Hrmg Gliding; J dist i ncrly fed that I am reading a men's magazine. The advcniscmcnts, in particular, arc often directed specifically at men. l really only feel that I am reading a magazine mack for me when l read a woman"· amhored article or an article on safety. Ncvcrthdcss, I look forward to receiving each issue. The May/June 1998 issue, however, lefr me appalled. In it, you ran an article called "Brazilian Paragliding Magic" authored by Mark Yarnell. In his article Yarnell matterof-f:lctly states that perfect women, as exemplified by the Brazilians, arc "perfectly bronze, five feet five, with jct black liair to their waists and zero body fat," in addition to other starcrncms about womcn. I find this kind of material to be offensive in a magazine Hi\NC CLIDINC

No other flight park can match our people, facilities, diversity, dedication and history of Our only desire is to help you your flying dreams and hang gliding goals. Lookout Mountain Flight Park is the nation's #1 hang gliding school and first commercial aerotow operation. We provide the most comprehensive hang gliding instrudion available. Pilots of all skill levels enjoy consistently good flying and training at Lookout. No other flight park anywhere has this much to offer.

devoted to /lying. This type of writing objectifies women and perpetuates the unrealistic images that modern women arc expect:cd to live up to. Certainly few paragliding women can live up 10 this "perfect" image, with our hard--earned scars, helmet hair, sunburned faces and muscular bodies. In short, your job as edi10r is to remove such material as might be understandably offensive to your readers. In the future, I will expect you to show a lit-tic more awareness for the needs of rhe growing segment of female pilots in our organizarion. Marina M. Gerson Arlington, TX

Dear Editor, I own a ranch in the Lost River Valley al the base of King Moumain near Moore, ldaho. I've done everything from panicipating in rodeos ro riding motorcycles, skiing and rock climbing. However, nothing has even come close to the excitement I've come to know since f decided to follow my heart, instead of what was pretending to be my better judgment, and rook up paragliding with my son.

We observed the "hangics" off and on for years. They're fun to watch but they don't stick around long; they get up and they're gone. However, if f live to be 200 years old l'll never forget my first glimpse oC a paraglidcr pinioned up against the pines just below 1imbcrline on a bcautifol spring evening. At first I thought it was just a parachute floating in the evening air, hut it was much too graceful for a parachute. All [ could do was stand there and stare, then the "parachute" started to climb. Whoa, parachutes don't climb, they're just splatter prevention this was beauty in slow motion! At this poinr I double-timed it several miles to the neighbors to sec what this was all about. After an evening glass-off flight, out of the sky floated Frank Gillette. l Tc landed as smooth as silk, all smiles and as friendly as always. I was soon posing endless questions to both Frank and Brad Bloxham who arc ;ilmost always here. Finally T decided to take a tandem flight, and soon my sou Jeremiah and my wife llcw with Frank. Jeremiah's second /light was with Mike I lalcy, and just before the Nationals I met a super nice young pilot by the name of Will Gadd who took me on another tandem. From 1hat point on I knew that if T never did another new thing in rny life I was going

to fly a paraglidcr. I can't possibly express my gratitude to these men for their gifr to us, the indescribable experience of paragliding flight! We have met pilots from all over the world here. Frank Gillette and Brad Bloxham bavc becn our instructors and mentors, and we have had the privilege oC meeting Chris Santacroce, Bill Anderson, Nick Vitale and so many others. The hang glider and paragliclcr pilots all share a common goal, and they have all been an excellent advertisement for the sports. They don't tear things up or leave messes, and hardly make a noise. As a landowner I can tell you that f really appreciate this. They come to and when rhcy're gone you would hardly know they had been here. All of the pilots we've met have hccn quick to smile, qnicker to help, and genuinely concerned about safety. So here's a big "thank you" 10 the LJSHGA and its members, to the pilots we've met and the ones we arc going to meet. Ply safdy and come join us at the best big-air flying site in the world King Mountain.

J. D. Schwartz T'he Schwartz Ranch Moore, JD

l li\NC CLIDINC

DECISIONS

decisions

The latest composite. semi-cantilevere~ technology yields adramaticperformance increase for those pilots who require the very top of the line. measured sMility levels comparable to conventional designs with unsurpassed sinH rate.l/0and high speed performance. Winner of siH out of seven major ~.S.meets in 1997. ~ne size -Hffi6A certified. Smaller fusion under development.

....-......_.........~_.,_..~~-11 1 I' With two ~.S. and one Canadian national Championship titles. and aWoman's World Championship,the "HC" offers proven. competition class performance inamore economical, conventional configuration. Three sizes -H6ffiA certified.

I 1,

The move-up glider with all the features and performance you need. Set Vu loose. and equipped with the optional keel mounted stabilizer. it isthe perfect move-up glider from the falcon. Withthe VG engaged. it becomes acapable advanced soaring and cross country machine.The most versatile glider we·ve ever made. Two sizes -H6ffiA certified. mtra Sport 13S coming soon.

TH[ industry standard for entry level hang gliding and pure. simple. recreational soaring. ftttraordinary

soaring performance in alight weight hassle free design that isincredibly easy to fly. ijuite simply.the most enjoyable hang glider you can fly. four sizes -H6ffiA certified.

500 west blueridge ave, or ange, ca 92865 usa tel 714 .9 9 8 .63 59 fax 714.998.0647 web: www.willswing.com e-mail: com ments@willswing.com

Qu ality a ircra ft for e x c e ption a l p e ople.

PROPOSED NEW MAGAZINE

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Due to US postal regulations, a periorucal magazine is prohibited from changing its name (the cover masthead). If the decision is made to develop a magazine which covers the sports of hang gliding and paragliding in one publication, it might be an entirely new magazine with a new masthead tide and new USPS registration. Once USHGA member input for this proposal is received and summarized, results will be published in Hang Gliding and Paragliding magazines. ASPEN PARAGLIDING PHONE NUMBER CORRECTION Due to typographical errors, the telephone and fax numbers for Aspen Paragliding were listed incorrectly in the last issue of Paragliding magazine. The correct numbers are: (970) 925-7625 (voice), (970) 925-7710 (fax).

USHGA PRESS KITS AVAILABLE

A new USHGA press kit is available for members involved in promoting events and activities in their area. T he kit contains a variety of news releases which can be used as is or modified for local release. Although not included in the kit, photos are available when requested to attach co the releases. The kit irself contains color copies of the available photos. Local photos can be substituted if available. Businesses, flying schools and dubs may also take advantage of this promotional piece. There is no charge for the USHGA press kit. The fees for photos will be included in the kit and are based on cost plus mailing. Contact the office at ushga@ushga.org, (719) 632-8300 or fax (719) 632-6417.

FLIGHT DESIGN NEWS The S2-vc is the latest creation by Flight Design. This DHV 1-2 (AFNOR Standard) paraglider is designed for pilots of all skill levels and firs into the new Sport Class category (based on DHV 1-2 gliders with performance good enough for most serious

X-C pilots) and has performance rivaling any intermediate glider. The S2-vc has been tested and confirmed as the fastest production glider ever certified by DHY. It has a maximum speed of 54 km/hour (34.5 mph) at the upper wing loadi ng and a maximum speed of 49 km/hour (30.5 mph) at the lower wing loading. The S2-vt comes in three sizes with fo ur color choices, and is currently in stock with their disuiburor, North American Paragliding. The C5-vc is Flight Design's new competition glider and it is currently available in North America to serious competition pilots on contract. Triple-cell chambers work to stabilize the 6.6:I-aspect-ratio glider, making the high performance very manageable for advanced competition pilots. For advanced pilots who want great performance bur relaxing flyi ng, the B5-vc is Flight Design's newest creation designed only for current P4 pilots. The B5-vt shares some of the same features as the C5, bur is a totally different wing, not a de-tuned C5. By press date the smaller Exxtacy 135 will be DHV certified and possibly the tandem version will be completed. Flight Design is also diligently working on their trike wing, the Revolut.ion. Forecast availability for the trike is mid to late summer. North American Flight Design is planning co keep some scock gliders on hand in its Ellensburg, WA shop co reduce the rwo- co four-mond1 delivery rime that has been co mmon in the past. Contact: North American Paragliding, 1-800727-2354, napi@eburg.com.

NEW CERTIFICATES New USHGA certificates for ratings and Safe Pilot Awards are now available. If you would like to

replace your old certificate with a much more presentable and frameable one, simply mail in your old certificate and we will send you a new one: USHGA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 . Rating certificates are available for $10. AEROTOWING AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN Matt Taber, president of Lookout Mountain Flight Park, Tennessee, armounces in1mediate availab ili ty of tandem aerocow hang gliding facilities designed ro make it possible for people of all ages co fly safely co 2,000 feet on their first flight and every flight thereafier. Once proper altitude is reached, the instructor, who is always at the student's side during the tandem flight, disconnects the rowline from the specially built ultralight cow plane. Then the real fun begins. Wim me advent of modern aerorowing tl1e sport of hang gliding is now available co people of all ages. A $5 .00, seven-minute video will soon be available. Contact: Lookour Mountain Flight Park, P.O. Box 273, Lookout Mow1tain, TN 37350, 1-800-688LMFP, fax (706) 398-2906, www.hanglide.com.

Airea an nounces a new performance-in termediate paragl.ider, tl1e Shape. The Shape is ideal for pilots who already have some flying experience but who want co pursue new flying goals in a higher-performance, easy-co-fly wing. Designer Ernst Strobl set lofry goals. He comments, "I wanted ro keep all me great characteristics which have made the Aspect so successful and combine them with much more performance in the Shape." The new glider is equipped with Improved Stabilizing Technology™ (IST). Special line geometry reduces drag and increases glide and speed. The Shape is DHV-2 certified in sizes medium and large. By the time you read this a small model should be released. H ANG GLID ING

T HE

lIEW (Ge N E r a T ION )

,,,,bask neintermediate

DHV 1-2

The "Sports-Class" made by Flight Desig n: Th e perfect glider for every pilot. Incredible safety and comfort, top performance, ext reme ly pleasant handling more than satisfying

rang glide~

Airea also ann ounces chat Austrian pilot C hristian Amon recently flew his tandem Fae Willie 136 km. Karin Heimhoffer, also from Austria, recently flew a Shape co sec a new women's FAJ triangle world record of95.5 km. Contact: Airea USA, 939 Lilac Screet, Longmont, CO 80501 (303) 651-9675, Fax (303) 651-1 75 0,xgirin@ecencral .com,www.airea.de.

paragliders

even for XC-pilotsl

UVEXHELMET This German-made helmet has been a longtime favorite of hang glider and paraglider pilots throughout the world. The handmade helmet has been certified co the European norm for flying helmets and co the German motorcycle test norm (D in 4848). The shell is aircraft-qual ity lamin ated with 40% Dyneema SK-60, 40% Kevlar 49, and 20% carbon fiber. The chin guard is a kevlar/carbon sandwich for maximum impact resistance. The finish is the highest quality sailplane paint. The North American importer can be reached at (5 09) 925-5565 for ordering information. Dealer inquiries are welcome.

[ }light Design= i - J ... hang gliders, airplanes, parag liders and the exxtacy. For all pilots who drea m our dream of flyin g!

FLIGHT DESIGN North American Paragliding, Inc. Post Offi ce Box 4 • 111 East Fourth Ave. Ell ensburg, WA 98926 USA email: napi@ eburg.com • www.fu n2fly.com PH : 509.925.5565 Fax: 509.962.4827

1.800.727.2354

This year, Worldwide Advencure ToursTM will be offering several international tours along wid1 local "micro-tours" chat cake place every summer throughout western N ord1 America. Washi ngron State, Ucai1, Oregon and Canada are the planned locations for many micro-cours chis StU11111er. The trips to Chile have become famous fo r incredible X-C, and are so popular chat rwo flying trips and an additional sightseeing trip to Patagonia, as an option , are planned. Three tours to New Zealand, offering accommodations ranging from camping to deluxe lakeside condos, are planned for ch is winter. Because of political unrest in Indones ia, chat winter/spring trip location will be replaced with some ve1y enticing spots in Europe and the Middle Ease. More info will fo llow. For additional in fo rmation about a tour designed specifical ly for you, or any of the above

trips, contact: l-800-727-2354 , www.fon2fl y.com.

WILLS WING 135 ULTRA SPORT

RELEASED Wills Wi ng announces che release of the 135 Ultra Sport. All certification vehicle cescs are complete at ch.is writing and final certification is expected by che time you read chis. First production Lilli ts are expected ro ship by July. The Ultra Spo rt 135 joins d1e popular 147 and 166 Ultra Sports as the small size of d1e W ills Wing high-performance intermediate glider lineup. The 135 features the popular cam VG system, and comes standard in inventory colors with streamlined downcubes, speed bar basembe and wing-tip fair ings for $3,975 suggested retail. Available opcions and accessories include a folding speedbar upgrade ($85), customer choice of colors ($300), winglecs ($3 1O), and vertical stabilizer ($53 - stab ilize r only, keel is predrilled to accept). T he 135 Ultra Spore is optimized for pilot body weights berween 120 and 145 lbs., and will be certified for a pilot hook-in weight range of 125 to 210 lbs. T he 135 features pleasanr, easy, well-coordinated handling characceriscics, a great climb rate, and an extended VG range for maximizing cross-co unrry glide. Specifications follow. Contact: Wills Wing, 500 West Blueridge Ave., Orange, CA 92865 (7 14) 998-6359, fax (7 14) 9980647, commencs@willswing.com, www.willswing.com. Wills Wing Ultra Sport 135 Specifications Span . . ... . . . ............ . ........ .. 30' 6" Area .... . . ..... .. .. . . .. .. .... . . . 135 sq. fr. Aspect Ratio . .. .. . .... . ........ . .... . .. 6.9 Nose Angle . . .. . ... .. . . .. . .. . ... 125.5°-1 29° Glider Weight .... . . .... . ... . .... . ... 60 lbs. Pilot Hook-In Weight ....... . .... 125-210 lbs. Opcimtm1 Pilot Body We. ...... . . . 120-145 lbs. Suggested Retail ............. . ....... . $3,975

NAPINEWS Nord1 American Paragliding is asking all customers who use their products co contact the company so they can provide updates on issues pertaining to your glider and offer more effective and immediate service. Send your name, address, e-mail, glider type and serial mU11ber. T here will be a drawing for a free Flight Design care package and a NAPI shop credit. The company also annow1ces char Kristin Janosky of the annual Women's Fly-In has joined the ream. They now offer porosity checks for paraglider canopi es with an HSL porosity merer. Contact: (509) 925-5565, napi @eburg.com.

ASCUTNEY MO UNTAIN OPEN TO

FLYING! The American Free Flight Association (AFFA) is pleased to announce its registration as a USHGA Chapter and they invite yo u to celebrate their first accomplishment. Thanks to persistent efforcs by AFFA President N icola Cauchy, on July 4, 1998, Ascucney Mountain Resort (AMR) will become the H ANG GLIDING

SEX **************************************************************************************************************** Includes I2 issues Division) or 6 issues of PARAGLIDING Division), liability insurance, ratings, and other benefits.

a 1 Division $54.00 U.S. ($65.00 Non-U.S.*) ............................... . Please eheck one: a a l:'ara~:liaing a Both Divisions - $79.00 U.S. ($96.00 Non-U.S. *) ........................... . (Inelu~es all benefits except 111agu:i::lne. ·MUST reside with full t11.embtr ohame division.)

01 Division $27.00 (Family MemberM must sign separate release from Full Member) .... Please check one: a a l'ara~:11au1g (Family Member(s) must sign separate release from Full Membe,~ Both Divisions -

Cl $35.00 U.S. ($46.00 Non-U.S.*) ........................................ . $26.00 U.S. ($32.00 Non-U.S.*) ........................................ . **************************************************************************************************************** 1ST CLASS MAIL SERVICE HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($24.00-U.S., Canada, & Mexico only). . ........... ·············-··-.............-,.. AIR MAIL SERVICE· HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($30.00-Wcstcrn 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-Wcstcrn Hemisphere, $20.00-Europc, $25.00-All Others) .... NAA MEMBERSHIP: ($10.00 annual dues) ........................... . FAI SPORTING LICENCE:

($18.00 annual fee)

Date ofl3irth: .._.

I_.... I--·--

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

**************************************************************************************************************** CHARGE MY: Credit --· -" ·--..............._.,,. ...._ .._ . _ ..........-............. - ... - . - ..,. ,..._ ...........- . .-...- ... - . - ..........- . ,...._,...,-·-·- --..·-···--·--..-..... ""

**************************************************************************************************************** TOTAL

(03/97)

In consideration of the benefits to be derived from membership in the USHGA, and the parent or legal guardian of a minor, for themselves, their personal representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouses, minor children 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. or as a result of the administration of

means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials (elected or otherwise), members, independent 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 P//ot'sproficiency rating(s); c) Each of the hang gliding and/or paragliding organizations which are chapters of the USHGA; d) The United States Of America and each of the dty(ies), town(s), county(ies), State(s) and/or other political subdivisions or governmental agencies within whose jurisdictions Pi/otlaunches, flies and/or lands; e) Each of the property owners on or over whose property launch, fly and/or land; All persons involved, in any manner, in the sports of hang gliding and/or paragliding at the site(s) where D "All persons involved" 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 All other persons lawfully present at the site(s) during g) ,,..,,,,..,,,,"u,: the any and all liabilities, claims, demands, or causes of action that I INA'IIR'IJ:'li however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the n,:;11.,cJ'll.1,:;,·v may hereafter have for to the fullest extent allowed by law. I A against any of the loss or damage on account of 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 I this shall be and ,.,..,.,,.,t-..,

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. F. I at least 18 years of age, or, that I am the parent or legal guardian of am making this agreement on behalf of myself and If I am the parent or legal guardian of I the for their defense and indemnity from any claim or liability in the event that Pilot suffers even if caused in whole or in part by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the nJ1..,r.J1..#il..JI..,..,.

I have Adult Pilot's Jignat11fl!

Date

Signature ofPilot's Pareut or Legal G113rrfiw ifPilot under 18years ofage.

0;1te

MMR 12-97

fast New England ski area to officially endorse hanp, and one year after rhc Air Carnival. Located in rlic town of Brownsville, VT, AMR's ski slopes olfrr ar least three potential la11nchcs in their condition, Twin Oaks is approxinu1cly GSO directly ahove the I Zand faces norrh-northwcsL Uppn Exhihition foccs rhc same direction hm o!frrs a 1,300-foot vcn ical, wirh launch j11st below the chair lili surnmiL Five hundred /cet to irs !di, Free Fall (au appropriate n;rme for this double black diamond) foccs northwest wirh ;1 drop steep to m;1ke it a narnral launch, much easier to access rhan rhe 111011ntain sum1niL Jn a wondcrfol display of's11ppon for hang glid and para1;lidint\, Jol111 Plausteincr, owner of die resorr, has cleared rrecs to focilitare launching, gliders can ride 1hc chair lih Furthermore, pilots frc,· rhis Ii weekend, rccornmemla1ions will be soon, The main objective of rhc American hw Associarion is 10 promore hang gliding and ing activities, safo flying, and [ii,111dship :1mong pilots and There is no membership foe, and trust pilots will m:1kc volimrary contributions when Cunds arc needed, The first test of rhis is firnding the site insm:mcc for Asrnrncy, although Jolin Plaustciner is olfrring to cover halFthe cost, Conran: AHA Prcsidcnr Nicola Cauchy, NicoC:1uchy&1l;10Lcorn, (617) /i91 5/i80, or Treasurer Kla11s I<Lms(Dbpbn:.csb.yalc.cdu, (20:\) 62./iTlGG.

inst rucror, Paraso/'1, Inc 1':ll·agll 1ct1ng School is one of Americ:i's most and best-known par:igliding c:st;1blishmcnts, Parasofi has been in lrnsincss since 198') and has trained more than [,000 paragliding students, l'arasofr has held annual manc11vers clinics at Lake McC:onnaughy since J ')92, 'l'o receive yom $ I 00 cash rcbare, contact Banks at (303) 4'!/i-2820 for rates, dates

TANDEM SKYDIVING AT KITTY HAWK KITES

Producrs announces rhc Power 1<115 and Power f<'J'i, both wirh a Konig These models have standarcl interchangeable which allow you to models by exchanging outer frames and only, Tesrs have dcmonstrar· ed s1a1ic rhrnst of 52 kg for the K95 and 62 kr, for the l( 11 The has also pcrfcocd a new "protcc· rion net" for line of powered paragliders, The ncr is atrachcd w the inside of the ourcr rivets, eliminating interference dming in/farion, Contact: Fly ,."'"'"u,, rel/fox +39-73'i(,32/i86, /ly(alinsinct.ir.

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I ,cap of' Faith skydiving school 10 offer sJq1,11v1r1P, :n Curriruck C:ounty Airport, about 50 minutes nonh or Nags I lead, NC: and 70 minutes sourh of Norfolk, V!\, Since its inception in J 97 4, J<iny Hawk !<ires hao 1augh1 hang gliding ro more rhan 22'i,OOO people. The school employs 18 or more instructors who teach from 10,000 to 12,000 st11dcnts per year, Contact: (252) 4/i 1-li I 24.

PARASOFf MANEUVERS CLINIC P:irasofr, lnc. Paragliding School, in Boulder, Colorado has a1111ounced a special one·timc discou111 opportunity for pilots who up any of l'araso/i's ltmr scheduled rnane11vcrs clinics rhis sumnicr, Pilots who mention Parasofi's :id in l'11.ra,el1d.l!'l£ m:11,az1r1e will receive a $ I 00 cash rebate on their $500 clinic hmr separate maneuvers clinics will be held in July at Lake McConnaughy, Nebraska, The dares arc 10-12, L3- I 1S, I and 17-19, and c:111,11,tatcs should make reservations as as possible before all available sp:u:es arc filled, "/1 maneuvers clinic is the most csscnri:il pan of any pilot's lt can make die diffrrcnce between lilt; and in cxtrenic situations," com· nwnrs Banks, l'arasofr, Inc oV1mc·r/,1JJcT:l· tor and US! !(;/\·curiliecl advanced t:rndem

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FIREBIRD PARAGUDING X",C RECORDS Firebird announces two new X-C records: 17') miles (288 km) on a 1:ircbircl Culr and I Ii I miles (22(, km) on :1 Fi rebird Flame, Fircbird team members Will Gadd and Scou went to New Mexico ro make and succeeded. Will Cadd will sulm11tung n,1c111ne111s 10 cbim an offici,11 FAI World Open Distance Record with an incredible of 17') miles on a Fircbird Culr, Other flights in recent years have been disallowed clue to tcchni c:dit ies, hu1 Will is coniidrnt rhar his dornmcntation is in order, ] le flew from l lobbcs, New Mexico, claiming th:1t it wasn't even a good day! Scott 14 l miles from the same loca · tion is rhe longcsr ever on a DI IV 2 glider, the Fircbird i:lamc. Josh Cohn flew I Tl miles on a ,wu,.,"''" Max the previous week,

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The biggest hang gliding and paragliding trade fair in the world, now in the Olympic town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

by Paul Hamilton

video that included spectacular footage of Mike Harker flying an old srandard hang glider off che Zugspicz, 25 years ago . I could really appreciate d1e great job done by film maker Charlie Jose in assembling d1e 25-year-old footage, including some fiLned from a helicopter. This breathtaking overwre transitioned into modern hang gliding and paragliding with a derailed expose of all me performance and safety improvements over me years. Mike Harker then talked about his flight and answered questions. Organizers announced that GarmischPartenkirchen had won me bid for the Year 2000 World Paragliding Championship. The press conference room overlooked the Olympic Sports Center where hang gliders and paragliders soared above merchants' boorhs. This was a great first step in getting me Olympic village and media involved in promoting footlaunched flight and the upcoming World Championship in 2000. I plan to attend this competition and f hope you do coo. Ir will be an especially great place for you hoc paraglider pilots who would like co compete in paradise.

FLYING IN THE ALPS ABOVE GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN To make sure I wouldn't be swck on the Paul Hamilton is a Master-rated hang glider pilot, Tandem-rated hang glider pilot, and has been paragliding/or the last five years. He produces the Cloudbase hang gliding and paragliding video series through Adventure Productions. very year I travel to Europe co promote and supply my videos to the huge European market, and ro see if there are any new videos that deserve to be imported into the U.S. This year, camerawoman Loretta Hamilcon joined me to film the great flying in the scenic Alps for upcoming Adventure Productions videos. I will share with you what I saw this year from both a hang glider and paraglider pilot's point of view.

This year, the updated event was moved from the German flatlands of Augsberg to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in che German Bavarian Alps, just south of Munich and north of the Austrian border. The trade fair was held in the springtime from April 23 to 26 with the hub of activities at the Olympic Village Sport Center, built for the 1936 winter Olympic games. Ski tramways go up from the valley, where Garmisch-Parcenkirchen is located, co great hang gliding and paragliding launch sires. This allowed pilots to experience spectacular flying and offered a much better kickoff for the new flying season than the Augsberg lace-winter venue did.

TRADE SHOW UPDATED

EVENT THEME AND PARAGLIDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000

The largest hang glider and paraglider trade show in the world has taken place in the late winter for the last five years. The show, called Induga, has been held in Augsberg, 70 kilometers northeast of Munich. It is popular with dealers and pilots because manufacturers introduce their latest equipment developed over the winter. Dealers buy their new invencory for the season, and pilots are eager to kick off the upcoming flying season with the purchase of new equipment.

The theme of this year's flying event in Garmisch-Parrenkirchen was me 25m anniversary of Mike Harker's first hang glider flight from d1e Zugspitz, the highest mountain in Germany. This theme allowed the German hang gliding/paragliding organization, along wid1 local pilors, co create lots of exciremenr and merit media coverage as mey re-energized foot-launched flying for the media and Olympic town officials. The press conference began with a short

ground wishing I were in me air, I brought born my hang glidi ng harness and paraglider. It's always great to have born options. When I arrive at a new flying spot I always try to get information about where the launch sites are, when the flying is me best, and what the local conditions and protocol are. I found a site guide in German and was able to get it translated to find out much of what I needed to know. (This was no small feat!) After a trip to the visitor's center and the local paragliding school, and a few short explanations from our guest house host, Her Trenkler, we headed to the Wank (pronounced "Vonk") ski tramway. As we pulled up, paraglider pilots poured out of a large bus and headed to the tram building. I grabbed my paraglider and Loretta grabbed the video camera. We headed up me mountain by tram with mese pilots to a huge ridge wim a restaurant on top . The group was a paragliding club from Norway and chis was thei r first visit to this sire as well. This was no big deal, because several local pilots were happy to fill us in on the particulars of the site. We launched at about 11 :00 AM, the mermaling was delighcful, and we landed at me base of me lift. Since I hadn't flown in a while I was pleased with mis relaxing flight. Loretta stayed on top and shot some video. After my flight I hiked to rejoin her at the H ANG GLIDING

restaurant on rop where we watched other hang glider and paraglider pilots climb out, perform aerobatics and fly cross-country. Two paraglider pilots put on quite a show with some spectacular synchronized spins and loops. One of th e pilots mp-landed. A friend tried ro join him, only ro wang it into the gro und. He walked away but looked very diso riented. After chis great show I noticed chat co nditions were just right fo r another mellow flight in rhe lace afternoon. I launched agai n at about 5:00 PM ro fmd a liccle up air over a rock canyon, and conditions got better and better the hi gher I went. Before I knew it I was ski ed out, looking down over the Austrian Alps. The sunlight was beautiful on the mountains across the valley. T his was the first time I had eve r climbed out over the Alps in a paraglider - ir was a fantasy that had become reality for me. The Wank is one of two primary lifts serving each side of the valley. The other lift: is the Alpspirz, right nexr ro the Zugspirz where Mike Harker made his historic flight. A third lifr, Hausberg, opens for training in the summert1me. Once the event got rolling there were hundreds of pilots flying off these sites all day. I would guess char the mix was about 85% paraglider and 15% hang glider pilots. As ir turned out, I ended up keeping my hang gliding harness in the bag and flew my paraglider the whole rim e. During my en rire sray I didn 'r experience a single collapse in the mild thermals. Steep mountains with trams char operate year round to great launch sires, and consistent, mild thermals! I now understand why hang gliding and paragliding are so big in Europe.

WHAT'S NEW - THE TRADE SHOW T his is the show for new hang gliding and paragliding products ro be introduced to the wo rld. Ar the show three years ago, when most of the topless gliders were firs t introduced, I remember talking with G.W. Meadows about his idea of importing a glider called th e Aeros into the U nited Scares. I though t chis was somewhat ridiculous ar the rime, bur as ir turns our l will be flying the Stealth KPL this summer. At the show lase year the Exxtacy was unveiled, and it has now been introduced into the U.S. in a big way. What's new in 1998? I noticed char paragliding harnesses are maturing, with a wide range of choices and great back-protection padding systems. Ir looks like there are very few ri gid back prorecrors. I saw a new harness char looked like ir had rwo sears on ir, almost like an intimate tandem harness. However, upon further investiga tion ir turn ed out to be a variable-geometry system. The pilot pushes on the speed bar which allows the harness to change configuration so he can lie completely flat, minimizing drag. Topless designs are now the standard for the highest-performing hang gliders, bur I chink the kingposr will be around for some rime to come in many glider lines. An interesting development, introduced this year by the German manufacturer of th e RCS Bullet, is Automatic T uck Control. With the pilot's weight on the hang scrap, a rail on the keel of the hang glider is aligned with the air flow, producing lircle up or down force. However, when the pilot goes weightless and there is no force on the hang strap (which can happen right before a hang glider tucks) the rail rises and provides a rail-down aerodynamic force which

provides some degree of resistance ro a ruck. Another significanr piece of technology (from the U.S.) char was introduced ar this year's show was Par D enevan 's Virtual Real ity Flight Simulator. I had heard about rh e system bur rhis was the first rime l had seen ir or tried it. I muse say char I was impressed with th e way ir works and how realistic the whole setup is. Commercial airlin e pilots use fli ght simulators for training wirh great success, so I feel char Pat's VRFS would be a real asset for any training program. l e was heartening to see th e U.S. bring this technology ro the world, and I derecred great interest in it by rhe Europeans. Ir looks like Par has reamed up with leading American hang glider manufacturer Wills Wing to deli ver rhis technology ro Europe. Feedback from dealers was rhar th e event did nor produce as much business (in dollar terms) as previous lnduga shows. However, the feeling was char it was great ro incl ude flying this year, and manufacturers were able ro pass our demo gliders in the big grassy LZ ar the Alpspirz. I personally did not get as much business don e because I was flying much of the rime instead of pounding the Sports Center floor promoting video sales. Bur I really enjoyed th e opportunity ro fly and learn about a new sire.

Ir looks like the event will be held in Garmisch-Pattenkirchen again next year. Garmisch-Pattenkirchen has a Web sire as does the German DHV with a listing of the event. Both links can be found on my Web sire at hrrp://www.advencurep.com/l inks.h rm (www.advenrurep.com in the links section). Hope to see you th ere next year or perhaps at the Paragliding World Championships in 2000! •

AEROLIGHT USA, 1355 N.W. 93 Ct. Unit A-105, Miami, FL 33172 U.S.A., Tel: (305) 639-3330, Fax: (305) 639-3055, paragliding @aerolight.com, http://www.aerolight.com

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Calendar of events items WILL NCYT' be listed if only tentative. Please include exact information (event, date, conrncr name and phone number). Items should be received no later than six weeks prior to rhe event. We request two months lead time for regional and national meets.

UNT'IL DEC. 31: Second Falcon XC Contest. Wills Wing ralcons only. Four sections: West Coast, West, Central, East. Prizes in all sections and classes. Hang 2 and up. Three classes: Pro (Hang 4), Amateur (Hang 3), Recreational (Hang 2). Towing allowed with maximum release altitude of 2,000'. No entry l<x;, send SASE. Comact: Tck Flight Products, Colebrook Stage, Winsted, CT 0609S (S60) :,379-166S, fax (S60) 738-%30, tck(ii)snct.net.

JULY 6-11: Chelan since 1979, one of the nation's rop summer events. I lang glider and paraglider pilots come from all over the lJ.S. and the world. Pilots choose the tasks: straighr,,Jinc, mn,and-rcturn, rrian,, glc. T.auncli from Chelan Bune and fly over the wheat fields to the cast: across the Columbia River. Proceeds benefit the Chelan site fund. For entry information/registration comact: Tom Johns (425) 7471M7. Camping, motels, family recreation available. Mcminn the cvcnr and call the Chelan Chamber: 1-800-4Chclan.

AUG. 2-9: 1998 f?o/danillo, Colombi,1, lnternrrtionril Har~R Gliding Competition. Contact: Cram Smith, tel. 57-3,224 5974, fax 57,J,629-6474, granr/iilsmithscfair.com.co.

AUG. 3-8: International Mt1sters of'l lttnf!. Owens Valley, CA will host a points meet with cash prizes. Both Class 1 and Class 2 pilots will fly from world, renowned sites like Cuntcr, Walt's poim and Cerro Gordo. Entry foe is only $95 ($125 after July 4, $200 afrcr Aug. 1). To compete at the greatest flying sires in the world conracr: John Ryan (619) 46 J l 441. AUG. 5-10: Crmttdi,111 WorldCupXCrmd Speed Gliding events (no cmry foe), concurrent witb the Canadian Narional ! Jang Gliding Championships. Pilots should have X-C and mountain /lying experience. lnrermcdiatc ratings acceptable. Organizers arc negotiating with T'ranspon Canada and arc confidcm about a 1cmporary l [AGAR exemption for foreign pilots. Marketing inqui1·ics welcome. Television, newspaper, radio and Interncr magazine coverage guar, antecd. Anticipate a minim11m of $4,000 Canadian prize money. Contact: (250) 578, S402, fax (250) '578S409, Ian McArthur, ian1m:(thdirccr.ca. For dcmilcd i11frirmation or ro register on the Wch visir !1 ttp://www.interactivc-ad.com/hanggl iding

AlJG. 9-23: Women's \Vorld Meet, Hungary. Aug. 9-] 3 training days, 14,22 comest days, closing ceremonies on the 23rd.

JULY I 1-18: US t"ar,:rr)ttimf Ni:tt.imir,'Lr, Lakeview, OR. AUG.

Jlmericrm Summer Pt1ragliding Championships, King Mtn., ID. Comacr: http://www.justfly.com.

SEPT. 19-20: Rosarito l.if!.ht Jlirshow and Mr1ste1'., of'Freestyle Gliding Contest. Acrotow clinic Sept. 1 S. Rosariro, Mexico. Free to rhc public. Ultralights, skydiving, powc1ul paragliding, barnstorming, more.

JULY25-AUG. l: WildWest!ItmgGliding C/J,amj)zr,nrln/1s (450 pts.). $275 until June 12, afrcr. Contact: Adventure Sports (702) SS},7070, advspts(,hpyramid.nct, registration form al l1 np://www. pyramid .ner/ advsins.

AUG 1,3: Western (.'trnr1dirm Championship, Colden, BC. X-C Canada's best world-class site, Mounr $30 Canadian entry foe, includes traditional free Sul1(by night beer hash. Individual and ream scoring. lland-crnfred trophies and many prizes. Comac:r: Meet I )irccror Jc/f Runciman (403) 293-9027 (h), (40:\) 250, 907'7 (w), or Meer Coordinator Karen Keller (403) 293,4008, skyward(iilcadvision.com, www.cadvision.com/skyward/wcc I 99S.hrml

Contest eniry $250, 15 pilots max. Includes hotel, judging, prizes, T shirts, more. Got an unusual act? Call. hir aerotow clinic info comacr: Joe Szalai (8] 8) 364, 1987, For hotel reservations contact: (SOO) (<il 9) 1woL.111. Ol l-52-661,-2,0!li4. For gcncrnl info contact: Aero Events (8 J8) 715,963 J. A{JG. 20-22: J8th Jlrmur1l World Jlerofwic Hang Championships, Tcllmi<k, CO. Big transportation ro launch, scoring, awards hanqrn:r, smoke hombs, Telluride HC Festival T-shirt included in entry kc. Pracricc and qualifying round on Wed., Aug. 19. Contact: Leo Van Der Bosch (970) 72.86972. ra/Ciilinfozone.org. AUG. 22-23: Mert, Ed Levin

(;/iding WI !GS Associate Milpitas, CJ\. Comacr:

Advemurc Sports (702) S83-7070, advspts<iilpyram id. net, www.pyramid.net/advspts.

SEPT. 25-,27: \.\'lest Coast Paragliding Regionals. $100 unril Aug. 31, $125 afi:cr. Contact: Adventure Sporrs (702) S8.3-7070, advspts(tilpyramid. net, registration form at hnp://www. pyramid. ncr/aclvspts.

FEB. 1-12, 1999: Brazilian f'ttr'aftlid1112 'f!mr, Govcrnador Valadarcs. Consistent X-C flying, 3,000,ft. tnountain launchahlc in any direction with easy retrieval and accommodations. Sec May/June Paragliding magazine. $I, l 95 inclndcs room, meals, transportation ro Lmnch, retrieval. Contact: Advcnrurc Sports (702) 8SJ,7070, advsprs@>pyramid.nc1, www.pyra1nill.ncr/advspts. FEB.14-20, 1999: W!JC:SSj>eedGliding Govcrnador Valacbres, Brazil. $20,000 prize money. Contact: Adventure Sports (702) S83,7070, advspts(iilpyran1id.11ct, www.pyramid.net/advspts.

UNTIL SEPT. Yosemite Natirmtd Pttrk hang/!Jider/lying; every weekend, Memorial Day through Labor Day (sony, paragliders arc not permitted in the Park). 16 pilots per day. Meer at Glacier Poim 7:00 AM for sign, in and orientation with Site Monitor. Must show current laminated Hang 4 card. donation. Monitors :ire volumecrs from rhc Yosemite I Jang Gliding Association. Call the lJSHGA office (719) 632-8300 for reservations. Contact: Breck Betts (619) 473,,974J.

UNTIL SEPT. 30: 1998 0/ficictl Lakeview, ON/lying sr:11sm1. $ JOO each momh for the longest flight registered from an official Lakeview flying site. $1,000 to the pilot with the greatest four,-mond1 c11mularive

rota! for rhc season (paraglidcr miles doubled). per month random drawing just for showing up and registering! Beautifol and plcnti/i.d flying sites, friendly landowners, good rc1ricval roads, and flying great enough to set all the CU1Tc111 Oregon State distance records for! IC and PC. Contact: Lake Co. Chamber of Commerce l) 947,60/iO. I 0, 12: R1~~ion 5 hm Meet, near Moore, Idaho. X-C meet, $40 entry

I IANC CurnNC

Ice, Tshins, Lisa Tate (208) Zoo Iisa(icilaol .con 1.

awards. Contact: 14,

.JULY I 1-18: I'm Drsign Gf/rnes Fly-In, Hood River, OR, Over $3,000 cash and prizes, fitn flying, parties. Contact: C:.B. Schmaltz (51[ 1) 387-3106.

AUG. 7-9: 2nd !lnnual Hat Creek Rim f91-!n 1md frsti{)cd, sponsored by the Buzzard Roost Cang and the NC:FLP/\. This sitc-·improvcmcnt ftmd .. raising event promises to surpass even last year's success. ( ;uar:mrced great time for all. l ncludcs live musical performances, elllertaining colllesrs with prizes, and a chance to fly :it 011c of the most scenic sites i11 Northern C:alil<Jrnia. Contact: Pat Blackburn (530) W4-2765 or Sonny Compton (530) 2432534, 11lri n1atehigl1(i1,Jio1 mail.com.

AUG. 8: 22nd Annual Beside the {flkc I l 20 Moon h://fr Contest. Paraglidcr Restricted landing area. Adv:mced raring and insur:rnce required. $22 Can:1di:m. Barbecue, big par1y, laughs. You've gor to sec it to believe irl Contact: Dano Saunders 542-035'5.

AUG.

o/'thc All previous uc1pa11" arc invircd 10 a reunion to celebrate ye,1rs ofh:rng gliding in Telluride, ( :olorado. ( '.onract: l .uigi Chiarnni (970) 728-9525 or rhc Telluride Air Force, P.O. Box 1\')(,, Telluride, CO 81 li::15.

Gliding

AlJG. 21-2]: Mt. Nebo Dardanelle, Arkansas, now with three launches: sowh, cast and our new northeast. Campsites, cabins and swimming pool on top. Potluck cookom evening of 1hc 291h. USfl(;A Intermediate or Advanced rating required. C:onract: Mark Poustinchian (50 I) 967-70'57, mpousri(alipa.ner or Tony Middleton's pager (50 l) 858-0701. For campsites or cabins call ('50 l) 22') .. 3(,55. For more info check otlt hnp://www.ozrccl1.com/h:1 ngglidi11g/

SEPT. li-7: Kmisas l.abor Drty 1'ly1n, Leoti, KS. Prizes for spot landings, X-C tasks and more (plus parry). No entry foe! ( ;ct your row rating sign .. ofI Contact: Ron Kenney (316) 375-2995, kenncy(iilpld.com. SEPT. 4-7: Cross Country Gassic Reunion/Ply-In, Owens Valley, Bishop, C:A Remember the good o!' days in the Owens. Come rcll stories and fly with your old friends. Fun competition along with prizes,

JULY I 99B

trophies and a good party out at "Vish Lake Slew." Maybewc:'ll even gcr the Mi. Queen running Contact: Kari Castle (760) 872208/, karicasrle(fi>rclis.org. 1

SEPT. J 9.. 20: Rth !lnnur,l Pine Mm. Fly-In, Pinc Mtn., OR. Contact: Raven Young 1) 317-8300.

UNTII.OCT: Dave Sharp and Mike 1n v:mrn1s locations t hrnughout North America . Con\acr (':,09) 97.5-5"i65 for scheduling information li:ir your home sire.

SEPT. 26-27: Che/cm Ny ef !Mt Fcstivrrl. Compere in both or either. Spor landing contest at Chelan hills Park, scored on accu .. rncy and landing form. Ten-mile bike ride from Chelan hills Park up Hwy. 150 to Chelan, across [);111 Cordcn bridge ,md back. R:ice or enjoy a leisure sightseeing ride. Crcat fun flying event. Proceeds benefit Chchin sire firnd. For cmry information/registration contact: Chelan Flyers, Marilyn Raines (50<)) 682 2251 or Andrea Mulack li2J-8900. Camping, morels, fomily recreation availablt:. Mention the event and c1II rhe Chelan C:hamlier: l-800 .. 4C:heLrn. OCT'. 2-./i: Ortobcr'.1 Bes! Come to North Carnlin,1's Samawwn Mounrnin for end of year Olli, sponsored by SMI ICC. Show 11p Friday or earlier in the week. l compe1ition fraturcs X-C, duration and spot-landing, with trophies, cash ,llld entry includes T-shir1. Novice to Advanced. Conran: Doug Rice (:n<,) Mike Nester (5%) 922 2111, Vic I .cwellcn 70272. 5:', l (iilcompuscrvc.com. OC I'. J6 .. ] 8: Tut '.1 Mountain Hang Glidint, f'.x·tra'/)(!1'!,fli1z(! ,.,.,,v,u,,, CA. Bring rhe whole fornily to our annual cvcm. $1,000/day prize purse with no entry fr:e. Includes fi-cc barbecue lunch and limired dcl11xe accommodations, cooking focilitics and more. Transponation from 1./. ro launch witho11t breaking down. Prize compcririon for dura · rion, spot landing, most flights and the f:im011s "Mystery Pilot" awards. Includes Tut's exotic animal preserve, live cultural demonsnarions. ( '.ontact: Tm's Mtn. 1--80() .. 621 1768, (706) 782-6218 or Bruce I bwk 12.-4994.

OCT. 31-NOV. l: !lnmtttl Ht1lloween \:(!omen '.I for H c; and P(; pilors. Men and women invited. Costumes, camping, flying. beer, potluck. The country's largest fly-in. Saddle Mountain is a 2,000-foothigh, :10-mile ridge offering consistently good ridge and thermal flying. Contact: l<risrin Janosky (509) 925-2190, or Kristin Armstrong (509) 624-5856.

McConnaughy, NI·:. l'arasoli has been conducting succcssfi.tl maneuvers clinics using a tow hoat since 1')92. Towing inst ruction and tow included. C:omacr: (50:l) "l':J·'t-.c'..o/.u.

JULY JO .. ]

Central Oregon /Jt1rr1elid.im 'f1n1r. Polish thermal and x .. c Camping, transport, retrieval, X-C and thermal clinic, guide. C:omacr: Worldwide Advcnmre Tours (509) 925-':i56S, napi(i1,eburg.co1n.

Ihcrn1t1l nym1min l'a:rarlid,,nv /!c;tve,·1tures, Colden, BC Indudcs from any major U.S. airport to C hotel room, all C:rnadi:111 associ:1rion and sire meals, transportation, retrieval. risk management and reserve clinic. J:ivc pilots max. Conracr: (:310) 8:H-0769, rhcrmic(iDpacbcll.nct. JULY 22: P1m1chut1' Clinic. Lecture, video, care and maintenance, practice deploy .. men ts. or free with paraclmrc purchase. <.linir, 26: launch 1md Pat Dcucvan. J _cct urc, simulator Reservations required. hillside training. MilpiLas, CA Conracr: Mission (near San Jose), (408) 1055, fax (408) 262-1388, mschg01laol.com. 25-26: Paragliding Clinic, for P2 rared and above. ( :overs soar .. ing, launching, landing, right-ofway rules. Special skills sign-offs. $99. AUG. 29: Reser/Jc l?epcic/:: cmd l)tployrnent (.'linic. lnclucles l)l.F demos. All PC ratings. $50. Clinic. I.earn groumJ .. handlillg rcchniqucs ill various conditions. Obstacle course. All]>(; ratings. OCT. 17-18: 11nu Clinic off.' USHGA insrructional clinic and certification. $99. 1'2 rated and above. OCT. 30-NOV. I: Baja /'hennr1l La Salina, 40 mins. south of San Diego. lnstnicrion, soaring, fun. $ l ')'5 includes transponarion to l .Z, campsite, handouts, more. P2 rated and above. DEC. 5: Restricted l.rmding Fidd .'i'~(n . ofj:' Enhance

spot-landing skills. j;50. P2 rated and above. Comacr: David Jebb, Torrey Pines Gliclcrpon, 2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Dr., La Jolla/S;111 Diego, CA 92037 (61 ')) 4529858, aircal<'.'llnetcom.com. F'lH)AriAn<~A the

quality, fit,

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Canadian Champio!lship, which follows the clinic. Friendly competition lcmnat. Enter any till;Jc during the week. Nightly discussions on flying X-C, best strategics for X-C: in rhc Colden, I nvcnncre Valley. Prizes in many categories. Emry frc $20 Canadian. Camping available: Colden Municipal Cam1Jground :l4/i -54 l 2 (right in town, book early), Whispering Pines (2'i0) '.\!iii (J680, Whirl' 'L1il (250) :3/i4-5979. ( :omact: Geo/' Schneider (403) 2S6-3770 (h), (liO'.l) 26/i7422 ext. 1407 (w), Eix (liO:l) 286-1763, sccpter01lspors.ab.ca or gscl1ncider(trlblucrangc.com.

tubes!

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AUG. 7·9: Paragliding Thermal Clinic. OCT. 3-4: Ptmiy,liding Mountain Flying Clinic. OC r. 1T 18: Prm1giiding 7 izmlcm Clinic. NOV. 6-9: !'tzragiir:ling !nstnictor Seminar. NOV. 14-15: Pr1mgiiding

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Instructor Pro1;mm. ( :osr: · rlicrmal clinic, powered paragliding and instructor training, $:\00; x.. c: $500; Mountain Flying and Tandem $200. Location: Point of the Mountain, Draper, UT and Utah mountain sires. Ken l ludonjorgcnsen is rhe senior paragliding instructor ar Point of the Mounrain and has held die Utah X-C record. He is one offom Tandem and ICP Administrators in rhc U.S., and rhe first and only paraglider pilot to he awarded the higl1cs1 Safo Pilo1 Aw:ird (Diamond 5,000 consecutive safe flights). Comact: Ken Hudonjorgcnscn, Two-can Fly Paragliding, 474 F. Tonya Dr., Sandy, UT 8/i070 (801) 572-.')114.

OEM/Dealer inquiries encouraged

AUG. 29 .. 30: P,1rrigliding Thermal and XC Clinic in ] food River, OR, with Rick

888/530~9940

Higgins, Advanced Instructor and Oregon stare PC X-C: record holder miles). Contact: Rick Higgins, SunSporrs PC, ]<)(i Sr. Charles Pl., Hood River, OR 97031 (':i4 l) j87·2 l l 2 RSU NSPOl{l'S(,Daol.com.

2 hydrotex@pacbell .net http://home.pacbell.net/hydrotex/

3] : Norley Mountain 1fcmg ''Totr!l!y .'i;mJeed Out" X-C' BC, C:m;1da. Learn ro fly X C and place higher in comps. Cct 10 know the site and practice /c)r the Western

SEPT. 4 .. 8: New Denver, BCp,1ragliding /our. Spectacular mounrain, flights, and lake· side camping in the I .Z. 'T'ranspon and retrieval prnvidcd. Comact: Worldwide Adventure Tours (5()<)) 925 .. 5565, napi(iDcburg.com.

SEPT. 5-16: French Alps Prm1gliding Tour/Thermal and XC Clinic. 'Tour rhe French Alps with Master-rared instructor Dale Covington ;me! local guide and instruc· tor l!ansjorg Kunkler. Improve thcrmaling and X-C: skills with personalized instruction while flying sites like l.c Crand Bornand, Annccy and Chamonix. Concludes with the learns Cup Festival in St. Hilaire. Comact: Big Sky Paragliding (800) 782-920/i, (801) 474--2380, Bigskypara@aol.com.

Paragiidinglfohn Yates.frill maneuvers clinics. Sept. 18-20 rain dates. Eight years of experience, two tow boats, two rescue boats. Learn recovery rcch-

SEPT. l 1-13:

nique frJr asymmcrrictl collapse, recognize constant stall and negative tendency for spin. Lake Shasta in Northern California. Cost: Clinics traditionally fill qnickly. Contact: (41 5) 868-1330, switzer<'.'1lhooked. ner.

8th Annual with Phil Pohl. $150. Includes camping, transportation, dinner. 30 mins. m motels. Contact: Phil Pohl (541) 3fl9.. 4086.

SEPT. 12--13:

Hook

Pamgliding 'J'hermal

SEP'f...NOV.: "Owens at it, Best," XOther· rnal guide to the Owens Vtdley, witl1 Kari Casdc. Two- to nill(: .. day adventures. Private om>on-onc flying, guide service and instruc· rion also available. ( :onract: Kari Castle (760) 872-2087, karicastle@rclis.org.

OCT. 23-25: AOPA EXPO '98, Pnlm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, CA. C:omacr: Warren Morningstar (30 l) 695-2162, warrcn.morningsrar<rtlaopa.org. NOV. 12-15: lsasic/Jldvanced Httng Gliding !CP, by Ray Leonard, Adventure Sports, Carson City, NV. Contact: (702) 883-7070. NOV. 27-DF.C. 6, DEC. 11-20: Chile '98 Tour, by Worldwide Adventure Tours, in rhe Atacama desert. Additional excursion to Patagonia. Contact: 1 www.fim2fly.com. JAN. 16- 18, 1999: !n!,md Northwest Pt1mgliding Club Winter Fly-In at Saddle Mountain. H(; and PG welcome. Bring wings and skis. Contact: Denton Meier (509) 663-1460. FEB. 1999: New /',erdand Tour by Worldwide Adventure 'T'ours. ·rhrce types oF from rugged to ritq. Contact: 1-80(). www.fun2fly.com.

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ark Stucky started flying hang gliders ar age 15 in 1974. As he took chose first steps down the training hill in his Pliable Moose "standard" Rogallo, he had no idea chat he was running right toward the cockpit of an SR-71 and his drean1 job as an aerospace research pilot for NASA. I had the pleasure ofincerviewing Mark during cwo meetings. The first started in his office ac Edwards Air Force Base and ended at his home in Wrighcwood, California. Upon arrival at his office, he checked his voice mail. The message from his wife blared sarcastically from the speakerphone, "You're worthless; you'll never amount to anything." This is a Stucky family running gag that demonstrates their sense of playfulness and confidence in each ocher. I didn't fully understand it umil I arrived at their home where Joan played Mark's phone message to her, "You're worthless." This, she explained, was Mark's abbreviated version of her message. Her variation on chis theme was just coo long! Joan is charming, has a great sense of humor and home schools their three children. Mark seems like a regular guy, buc lee's face ic, regular guys don't end up as test pilots for NASA. le takes discipline, education and confidence, coupled with a real desire to push che envelope. He is probably the only pilot on earth who has flown everything from paragliders and hang gliders ro the SR-71 and the Goodyear blimp. Mark Stucky's call-sign is "Forger. " Strap in, hold on, and enjoy his incredible story.

FROM THE TRAINING HILL TOMACH3+

The Mark Stucky Success Story by Roy Haggard

RH: Introduce yourselfto us. Who is "Forger'? Forger: I am an aerospace research pilot for NASA. I work at the Dryden Flight Research Cenrer at Edwards Air Force Base. I have a great job and get paid to resr-fly new ideas and technologies on military jets. I got my start in aviation and credit my success co the sport of hang gliding. I starred hang gliding in 1974 and began paragliding in 1992. Curren rly, I paraglide more than I hang glide, largely because of the convenience of it. With my job and rl1e number of years I've been involved in the sport, most people give me more credit than I deserve. I rypically fly either type of glider just a few times per year. I have had an Advanced hang glider racing for years and, I'm ashamed to say, am still an unrated paraglider pilot. I enjoy flying both types of gliders and look forward to doing so for many years to come. RH: How old are you? Forger: I'm 39 years old. I've been married to

H ANG GLIDING

my wtfe Joan fo r 18 years and have th ree children, Sascha, Lauren and Dillon. RH: How old were you when you started thinking about becoming a test pilot? Forger: My first memory of wanting to be a NASA test pilot came with John Glenn's orbital space flight. RH: And how old were you then? Forger: COLJdn'c have been older than fo ur. RH: And then what happened? Forger: 1 remember talking co my father about becoming an astronaut and he explained that you had to first be a military test pilot. Although I grew up wanting to fly military fighters, I come from a long line of religious conscientious objectors so my anci-milicaty upbringing made it seem like an impossible dream. RH: \\7as there an event in your life that made that dream seem possible? Forger: Yes, I was languishing in my junior year in college. I had an undeclared major and no goal in life. I was often cutting classes to hang glide and my frustrated advisor finally suggested that, as much as I liked to fly, perhaps I should check into joining the Air Force. Coincidentally, a Marine recruiter had a video display set up in che srudenc union. He caught me scaring at the aviation video, ignored my long hair and scarred talking. He wasn'c a pilot but claimed that as long as I passed a few cesrs and got a degree, he could guarantee me an assignment to Naval Flight School. This promise provided a clear goal on which to focus in my life. My attendance improved and my grades went from average to straight A's. RH: So, do you remember this advisor? Forger: Yes, Dr. Nesmith was a facLtlty advisor in the CoUege of Engineering. I had not declared an engineering major, but I was raking a loc of engineering classes and crying to figu re our what to do with my life. I called him up about six years lacer when I was traveling through the town. I had jusc graduated fro m Top Gu n and said, "Hey, I don't know if you remember me, bur thanks." He was rerired at chat cirne. RH: Well we'll give him another piece ofcredit here because, obviously, his advice revitalized your dream. Thank you Dr. Nesmith. How about a list of the different aircraft you've flown? Why don't you start with the hang gliders and continue with your "work aircraft"? JULY 1998

Forger: I started flying in 1974 ac age 15 on an 18-fooc Pliable Moose standard RogaUo wing. I weighed less chan 100 pounds and got a pretty good sink race! After a couple of years I graduated co the Pliable Moose Elire which I owned umil 1 purchased my Comer 1. I haven't bought another hang glider since, although I have gotten some hours on an HP AT and a Ran1Ai r. I've flown a few rigid wings like the Q uicksilver, Fledge, Superfloater and Swift. Aside from a short seine with a Soarmaster (a power unit chat fir on the keel of a hang glider), my ini rial powered airplane experience was at age 21 with the T -34C rurboprop primary rrainer. After seleccion for jers I fl ew the T-2 Buckeye and then the TA-4 Skyhawk. My initial operational combat jet was the F-4 Phantom, and I eventually rransicioned to the F/A-18 Hornet. As a test pilot I normally fly fighrer-type ai rcraft, bur I've been able to fly a wide variety of aircraft bracketing the specrrum fro m the Goodyear blimp to rhe SR-7 1.

RH: Which aircraft was the most exciting? Forger: lfl had co pick a single routine flying experience the most exciring aircraft woLJd have to be the SR-71 Blackbird. To chis day it is an incredible airplane. RH: Describe the SR-71 experience. Try to give us the flavor ofwhat that's like? Forger: It is a real beast. The term "raped ape" comes co mind. The Blackbird has incredible power and it feels as Lfir wanes to gee away from yo u and just go faster. Virtually every ocher aircraft you fly has some official top speed which is only attainable on a perfect day with everything stacked in your favor. A case in poi nt is chat it took several years of looking for the opportunity and several attempts to eventually eke our twice the speed of sou11d in the F-4. The SR-71 is officially a Mach 3 aircraft. I will say ir has absolutely no problem accelerating to Mach 3 while climbing. If you fly it manually "on conditions" (faster than Mach 3 at 80,000 feet) it is also exrremely challenging co keep

value in climbi ng in with minimal preparation. This allows you to come to yo ur own conclusions witho ut any preconceived notions. If it is a singleplace aircraft, or you are conducting more hazardous flying, then you may need to study the fli gh t manual, rake written and oral exams, and complete several sim ulation sessions.

under control. I know astronauts who have been so busy on space walks that they never took the time to pause and rake in the view. On my SR flight I was determined to nor just enjoy the experience bur to document it as well. I took a picture of the Owens Valley from 60,000 feet while still climbing. I took photo after photo and wasn't saying much. The pilot in the rear cockpit finally couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Well ... what do you think?" I replied that we co uld blow up then and there and I would still consider it a great day.

RH: How many test pilots are there at NASA's

Dryden Flight Research Center? Forger: We have six test pilots who do aerospace research flying.

RH: How long does it take to

learn the emergency procedures for each aircraft?

Mark Stucky at age 16 in a Pliable Moose "standard" Rogallo. flying you will ever do. When you leave there yo u are probably the best ai r-to-air pilot you will ever be.

RH: You have been through both Top Gun and

the Aiiforce Test Pilot School? Forger: Yes, I went to Top Gun in 1985 when I was fl ying F4's in the Marine Corps. I attended the Air Force Test Pilot School in 1989.

RH: So, it's a lot offim. No one wins "Top Gun " as portrayed in the movie. Forger: As opposed to the movie, th ere is no Top G un trophy or any grading system char I knew of.

RH: How many pilots have accomplished that? Forger: Probably just a handful of Marine pilots have graduated from both schools. Early on I was given some great advice from one of my F-4 insrrucrors who was a test pilot school graduate. He told me char the best way to become a Marine test p ilot was to keep my desire a secret and build up the best tactical qualifications I could . So I repressed any nerd tendencies and cried to be the best tactical pilot I co uld. Fortunately, air-to-air combat train ing is a very enjoyable ph ysical ch ess game. Doing well at it go t me the Top Gun selection. And Top Gun helped open other doors that made it easier to be selected for rest pilot school. IfI wo uld have publicized my desire to be a rest pilot, I might very well never have received the background to be selected for test pilot school.

RH: What was the Air Force Test Pilot School like? Forger: Academically, that was th e most difficult year of my life. Bur still, it was interesting stuff. You get more academi cs than you have time to learn and you get to fly dozens of different aircraft.

RH: How much preparation is required to fly each aircraft type? Forger: Ir depends on what the purpose of the fli ght is. If the fli ght is just to expose yo u to a different aircraft's unique features and th ere is an experienced pilot on board, then there is

RH: What are we supposed to learn .from that? Forger: Sometimes it makes sense to hold your cards close to your chest.

RH: You made it into Top Gun with a few hundred hours and F4's. What was Top Gun like? Forger: Top Gun was a great school. Ir's a month and a half of the best day-in, day-out

Mark in a Swift being assisted by Eric Beckman ofBright Star.

Forger: To really ingrain them probably rakes a co uple of weeks of serious study and emergency procedures practi ce in th e simulator. To be safe enough for a one-rime fli gh t probably requires a couple of days of serious study.

RH: So, for each flight test you have contingency plans worked out fo r nearry every emergency imaginable? Forger: We have standard emergency procedures for engine failures, fires, and the like. We also ofren have unique research configurations that require learning what complex interactio ns could occur with compo und failures. It is cw cial to identify things chat can go wrong and have plans for dealing with them. If they are critical things that can go wro ng then you need' to know how to deal with them without referring to th e checkfot. Hopefully, knowledge of these critical action procedures will rake care of che immediate danger and allow you time ro get out the book and complete the less important seeps.

RH: Can we take that same preparedness that you appry to yourformalflight testing and apply it to hang gliding and paragliding, and ifso, do you do that automatically? Forger: I don 't do it automaticall y, bur there are little things that I do. I cry to be memal ly prepared to handle possible emergencies. Obviously, if you have a mid-air, or if you are flying a paraglider and experience a large asymmetric collapse, that is not the time to get our the book and read about how to deal with it. You have to be ab le to deal with possible contingencies without reference and, really, just by reflex, and you need to do whatever it rakes co be mentally prepared for that. I do a lot of visualization. I'll visualize emergencies happening as well as my course of action wh ile I'm safely o n the gro und. H ANG GLIDI NG

Visualization really pays huge dividends in other sports as well as day-to--day lik. When I first sLmed flying higher-aspcc1ratio hang crs f had a problem with lateral oscillations. I would litcr:illy take of'fand PIO (Pilot--lnduced Osci!Lnion) the cmirc way down the rraining hill and then pull off a miraculous landing. Afrcr a few weekends of PIO flights I sat down and really visualized flyi11g every cue rhc glider was me, how ir felt, and 111y co11trol inputs. The next rime J went out 10 demo a glider the rep said, "Wh:11 makes you think you can fly ir 11ow1•·· I said, "I know I c;m," and sure c11ough, ir was a smooth and have a game I visualize phrn for them. lf'you arc just beginning on the training hill then perhaps you don't need rn visua!i-t.c spin recovery, but you need to look at the flight you arc planning :rnd anticipate all realistic scrnarios. You shouldn'r fly cross"·country if' you haven 'r visualized a course o( action for a suddenly discovered power line or fonce during a landing approach. I also use ndcs-"ofthurnb. J like what Michael Robenson docs wirh his rules of rclia"· bility. people set pcrso11,1l limi1s or1 how strong the wind may he before they decide nor to fly. I go beyond 1har. I11 rhc military we tried ro make our mock dogfights as realistic as possible, bm we set arbitrary limits on how for we could push ourselves. These limits were called Training Rules. hll" instance, you don't do unlimited rnaneuvcring below 'S,()00 feet ACL, you brc;1k off gunnery attacks ar 1,000 feet dis"" lance, and you don't continue ,l visual clogfighr when lost of vach other. Obviously, in combat you do what it rakes, hut in peace rime if you disregard the Training Rules you increase the chances of someone dying. That is why we commonly refer to them as being "written in blood." These mies make us safer hut do not prevent all accidents. Pilots can srill get caught up in rhc moment, misjudge the situation, or jmt make a mi.,takc. Our most modern rion-sc:11-cquippcd dictate an imrncdi ate ejection if rhc aircrafr is our ofconrrol below G,000 lc:cr ;\c; I.. Even wirh this lllllCh of a buffer pilots still occasionally stay wirh an :1ir plane 100 long and too late. I sec similar in h:mg :me! paragliding. I low dose to a ridge will you soar? I low low will you allow yourself to thcrm;1l? l )o you allow yourself" ro fly X-C over areas in which a safe is highly doubrfol? I believe yo11 will increase your ifyo11 set hard limits for yomsclf:md force yomsclf to abide them. Remember the old adage, ''Don 'r fly any higher than you care LO foll. JULY 199B

hclicvc altitude is life; it's the lack 0L1lrirndc

that kills most aviators. [f"you fly at alritudcs from which you cannot recover from a stall or upset, or dose enough to a ridge rhat you can't mrn away ifa sudden gust points you down-" wind, then you arc significantly reducing your margin or I may allow my hun to skim the bushes in a paraglidcr bm I'll only do ir over friendly terrain and ar low ground speeds. 1n other words, J may fly dose to the rcrrain if I think a suddrn won't hurt and I won't mind rl1e hassle out. These conditions arc very sire ckpcndcm. If I am rhermaling in strong condi 1ions I pm a 200-foor "bubble" around that l don't allow any rcrr;1in ro penetrate. I fr:el that is ;1 reasonable lower limit for recovering from a sudden, severe npsct. If I have not rccov-· creel by rhat altitude I will stop ro avi:irc :md deploy my reserve chmc instead. I am cspc·" wary in rowdy conditions in a paraglider hccmsl'. you can pick up a rate oF descent so much more quickly. Too many paraglidcr pilots arc still to rcinflatc their wings until the moment before impact. Below /i()() fret AC[. l am spring"·loadccl to get the chute out for anything other rhan a momenrary collapse. Jr's important ro h;1vc these hard-·and"·fast mies so as to rcduo.: or di mi narc any decisionmaking. I lave you ever ;1pproachcd an intersection, had rhc light rurn yellow, and vacillated hetwcrn braking and accelerating? That kind of situation can kill you in aviation. l lave a pLrn with a scr limit for every takcolfand any rime you arc close to terrain. Know in your mind whet her you will try ro recover or try to deploy before ir happens. I physically touch the reserve handle before every flight and every so ofrcn while flying. J also try ro control risks by leaving more rhan ol\c thing between me and dying. Doing acrobatics below the minimum reserve deployso dose w terrain rhat ment alritt1dc, or your reaction rime can't overcome the laws of arc examples ofh:wing only one thing between you and dying. You may he able to survive for ;1 while, bm f believe yrn1 profoundly decrease your chances,

in restricted launch areas. 1n higher winds you have ro force yourself 10 pull up and kive room ro .11ep back under the canopy. If you can'r movc quickly 1mdcrncarh it, or if you inflate too slowly, then you increase yom chances of p11llccl off your feet. 1 guess there's another rule I .1l10uld follow. lt may well be sak to fly a co;istal dune in flip-flops and shorts, brn if 1 am launching in a jagged rock field l should have a helmet, boots, knee and elbow pads.

RH: How much hmJe? in Kans:1s I got ;1 lot ol'flights in rhc first fow years but jusr a few hours of airtime. Since those early I typically average just a fow flights per year. I seem ro he able to hold my own and have nice /lights, but I really don'r have the great level you would expect from a veteran.

RH: Descriht yourjoh r1t Drydtn F!z~ht Rcserm-h Center? It Clll rea\Jy vary. lf J'rn 1101 011 travel then 1 will normally fly several t imcs per week. Each pilot is to multiple programs. Research flights arc usually scheduled several days in advance and tend 10 come in where you hamrncr om a series o!" flights over ;1 few weeks and then have an extended down time while the data is Between you may get flights or be a chase There arc more mccrpilot f<ir other than I c:111 attend, so l prioriti·1,c and :mend what I think I should, and fo in flights around them. /fSIS.

I<orgcr: Recent projects include with an aileron powered hy a small motor instead of rhc normal hydraulic system, an electronic flight control upgrade on an 1:.1 G, and the Eclipse Project. The Eclipse Projccr consist· cd a modified 1:.106 ;mcrafr olT the runway behind ;1 1 ransport with 1,000 kct of rope. Now that was a research

RH: flow

RH: Whr1t wc1s the p111pos1' o(thc

/Jrwt?

lt was :t proofofconccpr for a patcmcd space Ll1lncl1 proposal in which the booster sragc of a rcu.,ablc space vehicle would be behind a B 7/i7 to altitude.

1 reckon I have about 90 flights and 30 hours. I've only llovm and imcrmcdi arc and a Jew diflcrcm models. favorite conditions arc "booming thermals."

RH: !Jl<e a suh-sm!t pmo/o/mmrj!f. RH: fltt})cyou tvn No, although I have twice been pulled off my leer doing higlHvind reverse inflations

FMger: Yes. In this phase we simply demonthe strated that we could to safdy n10clif1carions and procedures

tow a highly wing--loadcd delta wing behind a large aircraft.

RH: You mentioned that rtt Dryden have two pilot:, them, only hr!d one. Why wets that? Porgcr: Perhaps l was the only one srupid enough! rite program consisted of just a frw /lights and there would have been a ]01 of overhead involved in 1rying to keep two pilors qualified on such :1 unique aircr;1fi. Several times J went more than a month withom /lying the F- J06. Having to split scarce flight time with another pilot would have decreased sakry.

RH: !lndyou had towing rx;;,en,,nc,~: Forger: Yes. I've had a commercial sailplane rating for years and have some hang glider and paraglider rowing experience. It was fimny, because on someone made a sratement ro the effect rhat he wasn't even sure we could tow a delta wing. I replied,"[ know you can bccmsc I've done it." The roorn got very quiet and he looked ar me and said, "You've acrorowcd a delta I said, I've aerotowcd a hang glider." Although some people were initially skcprical in some ways, the rhings I've learned towing hang gliders were more applicable 10 the project rhan my conventional glider-lowing experiences.

RH: ft is remarkable that your rin1ce is applicr,b/e to yourjob as tt Ji>r NASA. Forger: A fimny thing happened jusr rhis afternoon. A guy came in and asked me if I rhought it would be possible 10 provide photographic chase for rhe ultra-low-speed Parhfindcr aircraft using an ultralight. I wouldn't be too surprised if I encl up getting paid to fly a powered p:1raglidcr!

RH: Iii the whmyou P!ittb!e Moosr did you fly pmtotyperf1r them? No, I never did any development flying for Pl iahlc Moosc. RH: their ntw modeh that cmne out? Forger: I cl id fly all rhci r released models of hang gliders as well as the infamous Diffusion Tip glider, but I wasn't a rest pilot for them; I was simply a kid they hcfrirndcd. They let me hang around wirh them and fly their gliders and I spcnr my summer giving hang gliding lessons to their customers. RH: Whi!cyou were

213

that,

have this

test pilot thing going on in the bade o/your mind 111 all?

Forger: No, at that time my goal in lifo was ro make a living through hang gliding. I couldn't think of anything l would rather he doing.

RH: Tell us r1/J1,,ut ;11011;1· or,1e st,J>eJ,l'tl/.Um. Forger: George Worthington was a hero of mine. He was a former pilor who starred hang gliding when most people retire, and he imrnediarcly began setting world records. When he stancd flying the Wanderer ultralight, people criticized him for not insisring on a proof loading demonstration prior ro flight res!. lie wrote a lcncr to the editor of Soaring magazine which I read rhat said he was not a careless pilm. He was confident the analysis was good enough rhat they didn't need to waste a glider by loading it to failure. Within a few short days he was dead because the aircrafr folded up on him. He had also written an article tided "Hang ln There," in whicli he talked about his history ofbirning to hang glide and how he had had repeated near-death but somehow smvived rhcm. Afrcr each incidcm he would rake ;1 srcp back and think, "Wow, I learned from that. I rhink dwt is the last rbing l can possibly learn from gliding and my dose calls arc over with." And then he would have another one! By the rime he wrote the arriclc he was an Advanced pilot and world-record holder. I think he honcsrly believed that he had learned all there was, and nothing bad would surprise hirn again. None of us should ever he so arrogant as to think it can't happen to us. I've read more military accident reports and "there l was" srories that begin with,"[ never thought it would happen ro me." ['111 incredulous that anyone could he so srnpid as to think have some spcci:d

skill or guardian angel! Historically, there have been many top-notch pilots who died because they pushed rbe limits once too often or were simply in rhc wrong place at rhc wrong rime. l think the first step in being safe is to make an honest appraisal of'thc dangers and work on mirigating them. It is of vital importance tbar we learn from accidents, no mam:r how ridiculous rhcy may sound. For insrance, in aviation, people somerimes forger to put rheir landing gear down prior to landing. Mosr people read these reports and rhink the person who did it was a fool. Bm I read them and try to understand the siruation that led to the incident and try ro ftnd ways to prevent ir from happening ro me. The equivalent in hang gliding is failme to hook in. There arc more than a handful of world--class pilots who have foiled to hook in (we won't mention any names here), therefore, it can happen to me and I need ro think about what I can do to keep ir from happening, and what I would do if ir somehow did happen. Thar is one rc;1son why I normally hold the downrubcs wirh my palms in and rllllmhs on rhc inside, because if I fail ro hook in l can hold my weight and chin up into rhe control bar. I don't think there arc many people who could do a chin--up using a rhurnhs-down, palms-out grip. All this talk about probably makes me sound paranoid, hut I'm nor. I simply love flying and want to continue doing it umil a ripe old age. l'vc hesitated 10 write an article about safr1y because my one superstition is that 1 might die in a couple of weeks and look like a fool!

RH: So, in other wordr, uH: should notfall into the "it crm t happen to me" arrogance ~v11drome and learnfrom others' rnistafa,s so as not to r11Jeat them. R1;garding the launch--grip method., palms in will prevent oneforn{tdling to his death in the event of.Jt1iling to hook in tit the possible expense of tt brohen a hLown lminch. wi1h the idea thar you have an increased chance of breaking your wrist by holding your control bar palms in. I have seen the conventional wisdom change rcpcarcdly over the years I've been hang gliding. ff you drop rhc control bar on launch rlicn just lcr go on impact and you won't break your wrist on the dowmubc. [ remember in the days people insisting that I have right harness straps prior ro my takeoff nm. Imaginc a 90-ponnd kid to balance a Rogallo from the lx:isc bar using frirc::mns for leverage! Jr was ridiculous. Even roday, techniques used sue-Continued on J>tlf'J; HO. 1-1/\NC Cur )INC

It ornctirncs

grim things come

o\ll ofa totally clear, blue sky.

LINE TANGLES

!1pril, Northwest: An Advanced pilot laid out his glider in light conditions fell' a forward launch ;md sled ride, checked his lines, and observed the wind speed for a while (0.5 mph, straight in). He chose to forward launch, pulled up the glider, and did the nsual qnick visual inspection of' the canopy. He noted 11otl1· i11g wrong and launched. Immediately he was turning to rhe ldi. J Jc tried weight shifr ;:rnd opposite brake ro correct the rurn, and then looked ar the canopy rnore carcfolly, noticing a large ranglc of B. ;md C-lines about onc--third of the way mn the involving the highest cascade. left He franrically tried to yank on the lines to break rhc knot but almost irnrnedi-ately went imo a deep stall iuco the rrccs 200 feet below. I le landed on his with his wing in the branches, and sus-taincd no injury. Summer, Noc/:.:y Mountain site: Au experienced 1·andcm instructor set up for a nowind tandem launch. Afrcr 1he launch the pilot found that rhc right brake line was knotted with a !)..]inc and the brake didn't work. He flew 011 the righ1 [).riser to the serup at the 1./. and then 1ricd rn flare using the brakes, since D--riscr loading on a rnnclcrn flight is so high. The glider veered very sharply ro the left, causing pilot ;md passenger to bang imo a vehicle p:1rked in the LZ. The passenger suffored a vertebral fracture, but no neurological damage. Octobei; Orcxon coastal silt: A pilot learning to fly tandem aucmpred ro forward launch with a passenger in about 10-mph wind coming straight in. The glider came ]LJL Y 199B

[)'f'r,.a.-

pi lots a re

doing noticing and thinking. and are the important and it is also

up well, but the pilot noticed a tangle in the C/D lines about midway om on the right wing. A1 1ha1 poim both occupants were lifted oil the ground and the glider started 10 veer to the right. Correction with left brake caused the glider to straighten out bur :1lso slow down, and stan to turn again. The pilot tried 10 nurse the glider to the LZ, bm thc right stalled and the glider spun at about The impact on sand caused a humeral fracrure and two vertebral frac· tures fclr the pilot, and one vertebral frac-tmc fcir 1he passenger, with good eventual recovery for borh. Herc arc some thoughrs on these inci. dents. Obviously, prevention is pararnoum. I .;rnnching a glider withom building a w:111, as one ofrcn docs in a forward position, involves rh is risk. When practical, reverse infla1io11 is much less likely to be associated with this type of problem, and there arc eminent instructors who feel

that all inflations, even under calm conclirions, should be done in reverse. l 'd like to believe that running reverse solves this dilemma, but I think it is still possible to miss noticing a tangle. Sometimes reverses aren't practical, and a running reverse tan· dcrn launch sounds really difficult, so 1hcrc is good reason ro flgurc our a bombproof forward technique. The key is in the layout. Care with the of a low· layout is critical to the wind forward launch, and any tandem launch. Instructors will vary on the dernils that they recommend, but the elcmcrns of a calrn--air layout include: 1) Shaking the lines loose and ing lack of visible tangles, foreign objects, etc. (A week ago l set up in zero wind fix a forward ski launch in clean snow and noted a tangle in my involving a lcfr over from my flight.) 2) Making sure that cacl1 layer oflincs (A's, B's, etc.) arc separated from each other. 3) When the glider is laid om, there is more slack in the B lines, C's and brakes 1han in the since the leading 1s farthest from the pilot. It helps to milk rhe lines down wid1 one's hands al the ris · ers, to make sure rhe nppcr lines arc straight, where they arc rhinnest, most 1111mero11s and most prone to severe tan· glcs. It's a lot easier to inspect rl1crn rhcn, and tangles will be much more obvious. When you do this, rhc lines near the pilot become a somcwhar scraggly heap of' excess B's and , hut they arc a 101 bigger and fewer than the lines higher up in the cascades, and not going 1'0 tangle. Ii) Separating the brake lines and lay· ing them either inside or outside the fan of the other lines, and pulled so the excess brake length is all near the pilot. 5) Horseshoeing the glider. Ir is only possible to be rhis critical with the hyoul when there is li11lc wind, bur luckily, that is when it is so impor rnnt. In stronger wind, it is far prdc:rablc to build a high wall and carefully inspect it prior to the committed inflation. What do ym1 do if you find yourself coping with a tangle in the air? A D&C: tangle in the middle third of your may be the worst possible launch m:1]. fimction that you can have, short a

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lincovcr. For some reason your wing is happy to launch, but Lhcrcafi:cr won't fly straight. Sec if'you can correct the heading with weight shift wh ilc you arc ancrnpting to clear rhc !f you use the opposite brake, this will the glider, leading to more directional change. If you do what away you have to clo to fly straight frorn the terrain) the glider will gradually slow down and eventually stall. So, if' weight shifr isn't enough to keep your glider straight, you arc at extreme risk of a stall. This is already a dcspcra1c siluation, and may require a desperate response. One suggestion has been LO collapse the affoc1cd wing far enough in 10 include the tangle and just fly to the ground with the asyrnmctTic. This maneuver would have 10 be mentally rehearsed before the incident. I have not heard of anyone actually trying it, and would recommend discos-· sion with advanced maneuvers instructors. Crcg Smith listened to one ofthc sto· rics dcscrihcd above and suggested cutting a line wirh a hook knife. This seems like a sufficiently desperate measure, hut it may he pretty difficult to ftgurc out which line to cut, and impossible to know the out-· come in advance. Possibly one could find oneself' in a scenario in which that would optimize the ourcome. The third option is a reserve parachute deployment. Maybe chis would be best clone prior to the actual stall or spin, since you arc inevitably dose 10 the ground, and if you still have some forward speed your chute will have more time to properly deploy befmc you go into some rapid descent mode. I think this type of incident is a some· whar hidden flaw in our sport. It may be the closest thing we have to the hang glider pilot's forgcning to hook in. It seems to plague tandem flights, pc1fo1ps because rhc very experienced pilots who arc learning tandem do few low-wind inflations as solo pilots, then suddenly find themselves doing a lot more of rhcm with their pas· scngcrs. It's an accident that awaits you when you lc:ist expect it, but I wouldn't be Aying if! didn't think it co11ld be prevented.

TRAFFIC FATAUTY The U.S. paragliding community has experienced its f1rst traffic fatality. March J, I 998, Arizona rzttve..sofl'rl~W

site, late glttss-o/fconditions. Six pilots were in the air. One recreational pilot was /lying west, approaching a Master instructor flying c;ist, perhaps 100 Ccct lower. The upper pilot experienced wmc sink and initiated a rurn away from the ridge, ostensibly ro avoid the other ,1ircrafr. The lower pilot at that moment t11mcd aggressively lcfr away from the ridge. It is folt that he was probably not aware of the higher pilot's proximity. The upper pilm then uicd to avoid the lower hy aborting his mm :rnd heading back to the ridge, hur it was too late. I-le could tell he was going to collide wirh the lower pilot's canopy, screamed, and tried to avoid catastrophe by grabbing the top of his risers, pulling his body up and rolling his feet up over his head as if to do a somcrsauli. }!is body collided with the lower pilot's leading edge, and the canopy wrapped around him. Both canopies distorted massively and both pilots plummeted ro the ground from about 150 feet. The lower pilot was unconsciolls and breathed for a few minutes. CPR was initiated but he was not revived. 'I 'he upper pilot was conscious, with severe hack pain. Both victims were evacuated by helicopter that night and the survivor had spinal surgery the next day. Cood recovery is hoped for aft.er extensive rehabilitation. 1t may be worrh noting that the surviving pilot was using current, standard back protection and a helmet; the deceased was wearing a thin plastic helmet resembling kayaking headgear, and had no back protection. This truly tragic accidcm has already caused a lot of discussion abom flying in traffic, and more articles arc planned abom safe /lying at crowded soaring sites. (See nm.! Klemond's article in this issue. Erl.) It stands as a somber reminder that no one rakes care of us hut ourselves. We need to be cons ran rly evaluating the moment ·l(Hl101l1C111 safety of our flying, and that includes proactively concerning ourselves with what other pilots arc doing, noticing and thinking. Eye contact and rules of rbc air arc very important, and it is also critical to continuously reevaluate whether a site is too crowded. As a comrrnm ity, we can think about criteria on which 10 base that judgment. II

HANC CLIDINC

Hang Gliding Interviews

USHGA President G.W Meadows by Jim (Sky Dog) Palmieri G. W (right) while running the '88 Nats at Lookout

Mtn., T.fl.

has less energy to deal with us and the ocher sideline forms of aviation. As long as we keep our noses clean, I chink we will see the FM continue its currem course relative to hang gliding. If we were ever to be involved in a midair with a more traditional aircraft, even if we were not at fault, who do you think would rake the fall? Yep, yo u got it. The FM would make an example of us because the public would want to know why the FM let chis happen and why it doesn' t have stricter regulations over chose hippies. So, the answer in a nutshell is that things are going fine right now, and as long as things on our part remain the same, my prediction is char the FM will stay away from the average hang glider pilot. (Nore: We recently had our tandem exemption renewed and tl1ere shOLild be no problem with the towing exemption being renewed in the near future.) Kevin Williams: What is the USHGA doing to

increase interest in hang gliding at the national level? Also, is the USHGA doing anything to portray the sport in a more positive manner? G.W.: Another great question, and chis is what the USHGA should be doing. Promotion ofour

sports will be on the .font burner while I'm your president. We've recently raised money for a

s mentioned in the first part of this article, I polled the hang gliding membership for questions and concerns that they might have. At no point did any pilot know who was being interviewed or to whom the questions would be given. I wanted no bias introduced into the process. What you will find below are G.W.'s unedited responses to these questions. I know that G.W. researched each question and was in communication wi th USHGA Headquarters, so that each response may best serve the hang gliding communiry at large. Many questions from the membership are quite pointed and sometimes emotional. The responses reflect this.

Thar's a hard crack co follow; and since our sociery has come co the point of expecting the government co protect it from eve1ything, the FM has been leanin g more coward becoming only a regulatory organization. This isn 't really such a good thing, because the average Joe thinks that the FM is actively in volved in all aspects of aviation . This means chat the FM has to focus more of its energy and budget on caking care of the airline industry, therefore, it

promotional video which will be completed by tl1e end of the year. This video will be available to you and anyo ne else for the price of reproduction, about five dollars per copy. We are talking about 12 minutes of fast, action-packed hang gliding with exciting footage, music and commentary. Also, our promotional committee has cleared the way for "hang gliding" bumper stickers co be given ro every pilot upon renewal of their membership. Hopefully these stickers will encourage folks imeresred in hang gliding to ask you about where they can learn to fly. Omer programs are in the early stages of

Taking author Jim Palmieri for a trike ride.

QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS OF THE MEMBERSHIP James Asher: How close is the FM to rescinding

the USHGA self-regulation agreement?Have there been any major glitches recently or are we doing okay? G.W.: What a great question. The FM is an interesting government agency that has, since its inception, been saddled with the job of nor only regulating aviation, but also promoting it.

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development, bur if you have good ideas, complete with follow-up suggestions, please send them to us at the USHGA. They will be welcomed.

been used to legally define the parameters of that particular subject. By removing them, the issue will revert to defuiition by a California court if it ever comes up.

Dave Madden: Since no insurance company

Lori Allen: What do you envision as a means of attracting women to the sport? Do you see this process as a continuation ofa grass-roots effort fi'om individual pilots or perhaps as a more visible national PR effort?

asked for a waiver, why was a new waiver drawn up? G.W.: The new waiver was drawn up to focus on some of the members' complaints about the old waiver. The items that were removed had

G.W.: T here've been a number of ideas sug-

Fax (714) 998 06 47

gested, and presumably in the works, to bring more wome n into hang gliding. The number of women in hang gliding is actually a slightly higher percentage than in general aviation. I've had a number of women offer to write articles for women's magazines. The main focus of d1e USHGA is on all pilots, regardless of gender, color or national origin. Of course, we welcome and su pport any attempt to attract any particular segment of the population. Is anyone imerested in taking on some of this? H ANG GLIDING

oft1 USl!C// mt to get

Many

cm'nr,,1u;vucr1tlnf{ on the lntanet seem con·

varirm, mpccts oftht new /Jrrr'l1r·11r1m1 Insurance. Could srmu:rme write u.r with the sti/tu.r /Jo//,:')!:' <',pr:r1/zm1·tv, I

is it diJfo:uh ro get information? Arc you for ir, or do yon expect ir 10 come to f'm i111erested in knowing this hccause I'm at the num·· bcr of members who seem to have problems with rhe lJSl!GA. When I ;1sk them called to gcr answers ro their questions or to sec what the mot ol the problem is, almost rel! me no. This absolutely floors me. If the office staff isn't you rhe answer yo11 then go up the ladder. Contact Phil l3acl1111an or me at my office and you rm rmswr:r. Mayhc it won't be the answer you were looking for, bur we will answer your quest ion to rhe best ofour ;1hili1y. The insmance is auromatic. You h:ivc it now. !r's a pan of· the same third .. party liability insurance that the c;si !(;A has provided for iLs memhcrs sincL' w;1y back when. This is just a new form of i11surnncc t:hm we from the same com1xmy that we get die other insurance from. All mcrnbcrs aurornatically have it, all the time, no matter where they {ly in tl1e U.S. Kevin frost: /Is I un,ctfr.i:tm,1r./ o/jm1plc with ti who brmd 10,~(:therfrir their mutual bmc/it; and to promote that speri1d inttrts/. Some o/thesc O/H'mtc in the rnmmcr ofrr true 11ssocir.1tion, that i,, thcy exist only to benefit the rmcrm'?cr'.l'/JJ/J. Others rli'I' rl bit more bogp;cd down in poli1ics, with mntrol Jm.>rm1t1 JW ,,,,.,11,,111· 1wu11w.,. Still othr:rs pay carry, rmd opemtc

agrnd11s. Still others pr!)! only !,j> semiff to thr: name they carry, r1s/or·pro(i1 busine.1scs. 1 bclitvc that virtwtl!y al/ o/thesr: associations slar! out as type, with the best tiom. U11jr1rtunatcly, 11s and thtir mem· hfnhip hffomcs more 1Mri1:d, S/N'Or,'t-1.nten,1·1 hcgin to/orm within the ranks, f/nd the Hefi1rr the po/i of :mvrztJd .R:r01c1/Js within the r.ts.wciation, each ,,.-, ....." ,... its own begin to rat up 11!! thc energy mid resrmrces o/the ,~roup, and the purpose oj'the m:roci11!i1m to sr:r/J/' 1t., membn:r -·.. gets lost in the shuf[Zt. !iJ their some other rtssociatirms hrwe to rwoid 1hr: )UIY 199[l

In 1/iisj1me, 1981 mrtoon,

Martin cornmented on US!!G1J mm,hmhip,

C;Jiding mr1rmi:mr· rrn'a

/!!/;<//CI/Jt1t10,>1. from /')')(, to / 9')8 thrse mnrems U)('rl' still an i.,:ruc. /)r//)e Profitt wrote rm editorial, M,,mlm:i/11(! l 1rohlrrns Clidinl', jJtlf,CS J.4, June 198'1) the

('//d o(t!>e arr i..le /{)ay. Mrryhr: rl picture i1 worth 11 thouvm,:/ worrls. (V1artin is 11 pf/rt o(mny hrmg,~!idf'l'pilot '.r perception o/th,, .,port and er pm·1

politicrrl hy rs1ab!ishing t1 mrlJ1t(~emr:nt lemn or offiffr m11Js thrtt did not rm populflr support to ret11in power, and thus, sup· could rule with impunity and /m:p the msoci,ttion on tmck ft soumf, like a gm1t t1nd the motives were cm-r/'/'t, !mt in timt this too rvolved into rm animal. Nr'eding ncithrr thl' dl'Crptrmce nor the approwd ofthe members, 1host in control rffi:ctivcly crmted rm associmion within the m.wciation, devoted only to !zeepinf, thcmselvrs in p(}!uer, rmd the members in the dr1rk. flow the 11ssoci,1tion was nm, why decisions UH'rr' m{ldc, and where the money were that were deemed betier offhcpt.fi'om the rnm1hers. 11/itr t/ll, the went; i(thcy /mew wh11t Wt/S or were given,! voice in drdsions, wouldn't WI' he in cfferl, ere• old poLitiC!ll in/~r,,:hting? Perht1ps ttu·tr1tor.1ht}JS, 1111d {//1 U/J.fW,r·IlOU,'n /)('l'.l'ion of onr'l1;1i1/1'.v mCilnt to be.

to hcne/lt the G.W.: Wow, somebody has finally canghr on to whm's been on in the USHGA for all rhesc I think I spc;ik for EVERYONE on the Board when I say that YES, I'm so power hungry and so interested in promoting my own needs and wants in a piss·anr associa .. tion of only 7,500 mcm hers, rhm J'm willing to

spend abour 1'S hours a week of my volunrecr

rime, spend ahour ,i 1,000 to $2,000 of' my own ll\oncy and take the constant at:tack on the lmcrnn by folks who really should be doing this job, just so I can retain power and make sure I can do that bendir officers and management. Yeah, Marc Whisman: When is the l!Sl!GJI tt! ask thr' rnnnhn:1 wh(.{.t they think rmd ha1Je it rrlflhc 11 mecming/14/ di/fr'rence in this so··mlled mcmber.. run 01'.{'ilni1z,£1trm' G.W.: The US! Jc;;\ is a dcmoc· racy, just like rhc U.S. government. Members have access to their Directors via phone, mail and e-mail addresses published in our m;w:1?.1r1c or available on the USI-JCA Web page. Just like with the U.S. government, when a mem· her h:1s a problem, should go to rhcir Regional Director. I rhink the average member would be surprised at how ofrcn Directors bring up the needs and desires of their con .. srirncnrs. Ir's very heartening to sec rhc system work. Problems arise when mcmhcrs don't use the system to air their concerns or gc1 fixed. This docs not guarantee that every mcm· bcr concern will be addressed in the exact man,· ner that the member might like. 'fhc welfare of rhc whole J\ssociarion must be taken into account, and Board members arc reasonable 3:i

folks who do just rhar. 1 can promise you that we will not make everyone happy. 'Tha1 is sim· ply impossible. As representatives of all pilo1s, we do what we consider ro be hcst for the whole group.

orhcr than sonic aspects of insrrucrion. All the waiver stuff has been hashed out over and over in rhe m81ga:1.rn,c. (; rah some back issues, rhe information is there.

John-·Reed Maffeo: What ttre the relative r,liding and JN11a,~iiding membership numbers over the pttst IO )'Mrs? I low h11s thr profile changed (if'any) (Ind who:t does this hrtve on how the USHG!l addresses problems brought up by pilots? Wfwt is the USHGA the nmional leuel to eliminate the requzrem.ent liabitit)I insurance thcu has been r,licler pilots by public land as the United Sttttes Forest Service? Whrtt is the payout o{the USHG!l insunmce cttrriers? Whr,t sort ofconsurner protection does the USHGA /ir1,,s/H'Ctl,1Je members? What is the o/the G.W.: In a nutshell, the numbers for hang

Uhtiuer, yet none maettzzne. h'f!en Ctlrefid01 80!) members

gliding h;1vc remained abour the same or decreased slighdy over the lasr l Oyears, while the number of paraglidcr pil01s has increased dramatically. What rhis means is rha1 we simply have two sets of potcnrial problems ro address instead (if' one. They all get the same arrention from us. The USHGA is nor attempting ro do away with any requirement fi.)r insurance by anyone. We understand why landowners would want insurance, and because ofrha1, you as a mcm .. bcr get one million dollars of liability insurance wirh your membership, ;md yon have access to specific site insurance at affordable prices. This is one of the major items that rhc US! !( ;A docs fo,· )IOU, the mcm her. Insurance pay.. our information is completely confidential. l don't understand the question bill if you mean by "consumer protection" things relative to gliders, harnesses, helmets and such, then no, the USHGA is not in the business of regulating any h,mg gliding business activities

rm,~. utr.un, even though this cost the

US!JGA a crmsidembk amount. When will US!!GA allow to the me·m/:1erstJ1/J ·; he United States Forest Service, which con· tro!r many .riles, states in its SjJecir,l [!11• Permit: "The permit holder or served to ct liabilit)I waiver fr1r the rtttivities a11thorized under this permit. " JI/though the US/ !Gil dilims thir does not conflict with its waiver, one USlS office hm made rJ decision that it does. 'f 'he fljfi:cted ren·e.eo·t?t1.t1: ils SUP to avoid the con .. without IJS!!G!l '.s help. USHG/1 has known ahout this o1ii'r six months. Why has it not infr;rmed its that their USl•S sites m(ly be 111 risk? G.W.: First of all, congramlations 10 Mark for confining his points ro three paragraphs. T'hc US! !GA did not receive I 00 lcuers protesting rhe waiver. Once rhc USHGA was involved in the lawsuit, it had to look carefolly at what it pur in print. This is the nature of the litigious beast. The USHGA will allow foir accesses IO m:igaz1r1c by members when its members aren't it. There arc criteria for getting published in rhc magazine rhar rests outside: of the legal issue. A couple of those criteria involve lcngrh and accuracy. Mark has been tiying ro get a very long and quite inaccu-· rare letter printed in the magazine for a couple of' months. Because of tl1c wordiness of the lei-

ter, I offered to put it on the USHGA Web pages, but Mark refosed to allow that. Also, because of inaccuracies, I asked him w rewrite the letter to address his two concerns. I'm pleased rhat Mark was able to address the length issue wtth this set of questions. Concerning the USFS question, the USirGA is NOT rhe holder of any permit with the Forest Service, so it is not in conflict with tbe l •oresr Service perm i ls. Dave Swanson: Would you pler,se ask Phil Bc1chrnan about the ofhis

letters on behal(of'U'i/lGA to the R.07,,dlo 1·o~ma,itton, Dr. and Mrs. Rogaflo, cmd the NAil 11cm iijJom Council? \Ylere these letters written with the President'.r cznd the Ror1rd members' approval? A ho, why is the US H C,';J membership am:l lmnintttcd yellow, and whm is the jinanciril to the me,1no,,n1;11JJ( G.W,: I was involved from day one with the

lcncr sent to the Rogallo Foundation, and much ado nbout nothing b;1s been made concerning rbis matter. For rhosc of you who arc not on the lnrcrner hang gliding !isl, the USHGJ\ received a request from the Rogallo Foundation for the USHCA's mailing list so rhat they could solicit donarions. Vic Powell, one of die flvc people who recently sued the US! I(;/\, was the Vice Prcsiden1 of the Rogallo Foundation, and Vic was at that very time involved in tryi11g to start up an organization to compete with the USH( ;/\. It was not in the best interest of the USH(;A ro send its mailing list ro a foundation whose VP was working hard againsr the USHGA. This was seen quite simply as con .. flicting with our better imcrests. Phil, with my help, wrote a lctrcr explaining exactly this to the Board o/' the Rogallo hmndation. The USHGA docs support the goals of the Rogallo Foundation. The answer is just as simple as that. There is no conspiracy. C:onccrni11g die yellow card, during the trnn .. sition year of waiver implementation there were members in the calendar year who had re-upped (and thus signed the waiver) and those who had memberships that hadn't yet expired (and who d1crcfore hadn' r signed the waiver). /\frer some site managers expressed concerns that they didn't know how ro tell rhc difference between waivcrcd members and non . waivcrcd members, the two .. color card sys .. tern was implemented. I don't have the cost of rhe new cards in front of me, but it is unlikely that yellow lamination material is sig11iflca11tly more expensive than clear. Thar's what the USHGJ\ docs, it works for the bctrcrmcnt of irs mc:ml)('rs and Chaprcrs. HANC GUDINC

Dr. Heiner Biescl: What ejfiJrts do the members oftht B()l) pltm to make individually or collectively to increase communication with the membership? What does the BOD phm to do to irnpro11e the content and policy tr/the rm1.(!az11id G.W.: Communication has been another one of the i1ems on I he top of my list. May I refer you ro "The View r:rom Herc" on p:igc 30 of the April I998 issue of Hang l have outlined the answer ro this question. Concerning magazine content, we're looking for ways ro improve ir. We invite the membership to submit wcJJ .. wrirtcn articles to Cil Dodgen, editor of our magazine.

Could the USHGA establish fl site· Dave acquiritionfimd? !Ill money collected, as wrll 11s $3. 00 per member which amid be set rzsidefrom the dues, amid go inlo a fund. A /'Of/1mittce, one .fom mch Rr~~ion, could sit on all sifc?-(lc'.'tlla'.tsi1'.//Jn requests Chapters. Sites would be 1ue~~htcd based on pria:, likelihood ofJJrice incrcc1se, usage volume and availability. llny point tie would he brol,en by committee vote. randr would he held in ti trust account, and muld produce off scmrm revenue (fr'ornfiirm lcmcs mid such). The.fimd /'ould grow exponentially. G.W.: /\ site acq11isirion hmd is a great ide;t, but very tricky 011 the \i;1bility end. This has hccn looked at fi-om several angles before and will continue to be looked into in the Future.

Utilizing the Hang ( ;liding foundation, rhc USllCJ\ has ;1lready assisted a number of sites by providing a tax-deductible way for people to donate cannarkcd funds for sire acquisition and site improvements. /\s one could well imagine, how to use fonds that were in a site· acquisition pool would he a highly controvcr sial subject, and r hope I'm not on the Board when that one comes up! This is the 1ypc of project thar the USHG/\ is always looking at so we may hencr provide ways ro prorect flying sites. Ken Ward: I've ber:n pttcl.:ing my own parr,chute

hecause ofthe lr1ck ofcertification for hrtng !!,liding /Mrttchute It seerns to me tht1t with the waiver, shop fails to pack a chute correctly, someone couki die, and there would be no recourse. When will the USHG!l issue recorn mendcttions on 11arachu1c I would like to see a rr,,uu/f ,,,,,.um zinc ahout FAIi ree'u/atim 1s 0

Recordi. fl' this possihle? 1 would also like to sec the US!JG;! certification. G.W.: There's always recourse, plain aud simple. The US![(;;\ isn'r likely 10 issue recommendations for paraclnnc repacking. If1his is

something you feel strongly about, then bring editor o/Hang Gliding maw1zme. it up with your Regional Director or send ir ro such a lcnt,thy cmd controversz;1/ intemiew. 1hc USrlCJ\ with a proposal for the next BOD Personally, more confidence in the meeting agenda. Regarding rhc FIi.A section in stability this intmJiew. 1 the magazine, yes it's possible, and will require some investigation and possibly some volunteer work. Arc you imcrcstcd? one The USHGA has talked about pilot currency we coulcl be. As a rnernher and. pilot for as long as r can remember. ft has in its proyou could hold a write an article, talk at a grams a couple of methods of attempting ro h~~h school or just plain call the lJSHGA and ask assure some currency, Inn: all an:emprs at an them what service you""''""',,,,,,,,... ahsolurc method of proving currency have IiJ the memhership, I hope you apprccictted the failed. At rl1c Board meetings it was felt that the honesty ofthe above responses. Remr:rnher, the general membership would consider it an undo {!Sl!G!I is made up ofpilots, and simply put, thttt burden ro have ro do bi,.annual checkouts or is us. '/JJe more we contribute to our sport flnd our something similar to that. We do have currency orJ:.ianzzt,/t/1,,n the better they will he. What 11reyou requirements for Tandem Pilot ratings. While I planning to do? II don't disagree with your point, l did anencled a at FAA headquarters in Washington, D( '. over a year ago, and 1hey ;ire happily satisfied NEW! SMALL HALL Circa! for hancl-hclcl wind with the scff·rcgulmion mcasurcrnc111 or paragliclcr that 1hc USHGJ\ docs /\irspcccl Indicator using within the sports of Brack cl. Small I !all. .. ........ $23.50 hang gliding and Paraglidcr Bracket ..... $6.50 paragliding. While J Now available: Small I la!\ for lrnng g!\Ckrs, 0 lo 70 rnph Hall llroHlers personally think that P.O. Box JO I0-11. Morgan, UT 84050, !JS/\ currency is important Maslcrcard YJS/\ I C.0.D and would be best for Phone (80!) Fax (801) 829.,6:WJ our sport (in rhc realm), f don't think WC have any numbers ro prove rhar non·HllTcncy Sky Publications an11ounces the is a problem. We do not publication of their second book have any indication rhat the FAA wants ro sec SKY ADVENTURES, Stories of Our Heritage this from within hang (Stories and Legc•nds Aboul t}w Early Days ofifong Cliding and Paragliding) gliding.

Jim (Sky Dog) Palmieri: G. W., 1 thanl: youforyour tirne and r1fiJrt in this intcr1Jiew You promised lo "shootjimn the hip" andyou did. I (lppretiate your mndid responses. J\1ft!11y ofthe abo1Je questions were pointed rmd I t1/Jt•rec.1t1te professional manner in which you answered them. 1 would also li!,e to thcmk the USlIG!I main office for their support ofthis interview and Gil Dodgen,

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article and illustrations l~y Ancil Nance ou :u-c in a tree, swinging in your har ncss, hanging from rhe lines with tbc glider draped over several branches. The ground is 50 foct bdow, and with a little effort you can over to die main trunk and a limb. Now what? That depends npon what you can reach. If you can reach nothing, you just wait until someone wonders where you arc and begins to search. Aren't you glad you aren't alone? If you can reach your radio, and if rhc batteries arc good, yon can radio the other pilots and tell rhem what you know, let them know you arc not injured. When they get close you can help them find you in the forest by yelling, or blow your whistle afrer your lungs wear out. The forest is thick and they could miss you 01"11c1wise. You can starr to make your situa · rion safer with a loop of nylon webbing and a carabiner, but stay in your harness unless you discover a good reason to get om. You rhrow rhc loop over a limb or around then-cc :md climb ro a branch, taking the weight off your paraglidcr lines. Now, safely clipped ro the loop, you reach frlr the I 00 feet of small-diameter line stored in a reachable pocket or bag. This you lower with a weight to rhc ground so that rhosc below (rhcy follnd you) can scnd up a strong rappel rope. ff the rope is long enough you simply loop it over a branch or through 1hc webbing that you arc di ppcd to, and then tic one end to yom harness carahincrs and drop the other end to the ground where the ground crew rigo a belay and lowers you to rhc ground, afrcr you have unclipped the risers or the quick-links. lJndoing the quick.links can make it easier to extricare the glider, and reconnecting the lines is a simple, logical process. Bur suppose yon arc too high for a belayed lowering (both ends of the rope won't reach the ground with yon holding the center)? In thu case you must know how to rig a rappel device, such as a Munter hitch. The Munter hitch works on 5-rnm to ] J .. mm climbing rope, with more or fewer wraps depending on the rope diameter and pilot weight. To :i rappel, fix one end of the rope to the tree, at a branch or on rhe nylon safety loop. Use a Agurc. ·cight knor or a bowline Imm. Take a locl,ing 'hincr from your readily available emergency Wirh rhc desccnr

'BINH{ TO THEN Tllf'lf-.J lT TOWAFW YOU 'BINf::R CLIPPED AND ROTATED ONE FULL TUFlN MUNTER HITCH WITH ONf: WllAP AFH'l:1 WF1APPING, AND '81Nl::R TO PUT WF1APS NOW, WRAPPED, LOCKED AND TO CLIP TO HAflNESS 't..oll'lt:Ht, G flAPPEL FlOF'E: ANCHOllED ()Fl LIMB, PULL AT FllGHT ANGLE IF ,JAMB. LOWEFl Hl1ND AND PULL DOWNWAHD

ILLUSTRATIONS ElY ANClL NANCE.

rope in your right hand (lcliies do the opposite) and the 'bincr in your lcfr hand, gate open, up and tow:lrd the rope, clip the opcn 'biner ro the rope from rhc back Now twist the: 'bincr to the left, wward you. With one ltill 1wist you have .1/4 of the Munter hitch tied. Wirh your right hand add a wrnp oF the descenr portion of the: rope (the part hanging down) around the 'bincr next' ro the Munter hitch. Wrap hy taking d1c rope tlmmgh the 'bincr gate and turning it np and over the 'biner next to the hitch, clockwise. Add two, rhrcc, or even four of these wraps to make your descent slower on 5-mm or 6-mm rope. One wrap is all that is necessary on an l I -mm rope. Afrer the hitch is made, rotate the 'biner so that the gate is on the opposite side of the descent rope. With your right hand, or even both hands, hold the down-portion of the descent rope off at a right angle from the 'biner. Sir back and weight the hitch. If you

move the rope upward ir can jamh. To free the jamb, simply lower the rope and jiggle your weight around. The hitch will nnjamb with a bit of a hump, but it is still safe. Don't reach up to grab the upper portion of the rope. Never let go of t:hc down .. hanging portion of rope. Keep it M right angles and allow it to pass through your hands, and then let the hitch apply friction to slow your descent. "Walk" down the tree:, or descend hanging free. Tighten your grip on the rope ro stop, loosen to proceed. Do nor wrnp the descent rope around your hand; rhc 'bincr will "cat" your hand. This description will make more sense if you have practiced. You would be: nuts to try this without practice. A rappel is one of the mosr dangerous aspects ofclimhing. Ir must be practiced, especially if you arc new to I he idea. 'This situation [ described is a basic tree

Continued on page 61. l{'\NG CLIDINC

aving a whole moumain co soar over by yourself can be a glorious, solitary experience. Most of us prefer having at least a couple of flying mares up there with us. At the other extreme, so me competition pilots actually love fl ying in a dense gaggle of gliders, all sharing a thermal. But most of us don' t really enjoy fl ying in a thick swarm of gliders. Paragliding is becoming popular here in the Pacific No rd,west and elsewhere. At my home sire (Tiger Mountain in Washington) we' re seeing some real problems caused by overcrowdin g. Some of the hang glider pilots have been fl ying here for decades, and sometimes they understandably feel invaded by the hoards of paragliders. In the long term we need co open more fl ying sites, but meanwhile I think there are some easy solutions that will ease so me of me tension . First, let's look at so me of d1e specific problems. Maybe these are familiar co you at yo ur sires coo:

! )Midairs: Collisions become more likely as more ai rcraft fly in the sam e airspace. It's more tense and less fun. 2)Boxed In: Ir's stressful when a bunch of other fl ye rs "box yo u in" against the terram . 3) Thermaling Versus Ridge Soaring. T ension mounts as thermaling pilo ts and ridgesoaring pilots fl y in traffic patterns that conflict wi th each other. 4)Hang Gliders Versus Paragliders: Tempers flare as hang glider pilots and more and more paraglider pilots of varying experience share the air. Cooperation and harmonious fl ying is made diffiCLJt by differences between the mindsets of some paraglider and so me hang glider pi lots, bm also by inherent differences between their respective aircraft. 5) Landing Squeeze: The LZ stares looking dangero usly small when two, three or more gliders all descend co set up approaches and land at th e same time. G)Launch Etiquette: The wind dummy is "corin g up" and 20 pi lots al l want co get into the air RIGHT N OW, but some bozo has laid out his wing right in from on launch, and he isn 't even clipped in! 7) Conflict in the LZ and on Launch: Some pilors are used to crowded sires, but some are new to it and it sucks. Tempers flare as pilots blame oilier pilots. No one likes to rake the blame. Egos butt heads. The resulting caveman behavior is just not acceptable.

photo by Gerry Charlebois

Most of these problems and more occur at other sires al l over the world. Besides making flying more stressful and less fun , some of these problems create dangers and may even lead ro injuries, fatalities and the loss of flying privileges at some sires. So, what do we do abour it? I have a few ideas. (I hope you'll write to this magazine to fill in the holes in this list!)

ATTITUDE 1) Everyo ne wants to enjoy flying. We're nor defending our country or our honor, we're recreating. So don't get too serious. Be more lighthearted . 2) W e all share th e same privileges of flyin g at a site, no matter what kind of aircraft we Ay, and no matter how much or little experience we have. (Pilots must still meet sensible minimum requirements fo r some sires.) 3) Scare with respect fo r yo ur fellow pilots. Ass ume that they care as much about safety as yo u do. G ive the other pilot the benefit of the doubt, and stay calm as yo u discuss incidents. Confrontations cl ose minds; respect and cooperation open chem . Defensiveness may cost you a valuable learning oppormnity. Don 't ass ume yo ur point of view is the only correct one. 4) Wake up! Go ahead and indulge those pro found feelings yo u get from flying, bur above all, remain alert and aware of everything in the air around you . You are flying, and fl ying requires responsibility and awareness. 5) N ever put your lust for life ahead of safety. 6) Be mentally prepared. C hallenge yourself

HANG GLIDERS VERSUS PARAGLIDERS Hang glider and paraglider pilots often encounter problems when sharing the air together. This might be an understatement: Sometimes the rift between the more hotheaded members of the "airbag" and "plumber" communities makes the fe ud between the Hacfields and the McCoys look like a group hug in comparison. Unde rstanding some basic differences and correcting some bad habits can reduce conflict and tension. The big differences between hangs and paras are speed, turning speed, aircraft size, pitch control and blind spots. Let's look at these. Tandem and competition flying aside, most recreational paraglider pilots generally fly at remarkably similar speeds. They have a relatively narrow speed range, and they rarely pass each other, so chey often don't readily empathize with those who pass them. Hang gliders generally fly faster than paragliders, forcing the hang gliders into a passing situation - all the rime, when flying with paragliders. Passin g someo ne requires more care and responsibility than being passed by someo ne else. Paragliders generally react more slowly to turn ini tiation, and rotate more slowly into a cmn . These speed and curning differences often result in paraglider pilots feeling like they can't react fast enough to stay out of a hang gliders pilot's way, so some paraglider pilots resign themselves to watching the hang glider guys do all the collision avoidance. This isn't fair; it's just something I see happening. Paraglider pilots need to w1derstand this and co fly more courteously, to do what they can, especially when it comes to initiating evasive maneuvers early. Hang glider pilots need to recognize these differences and nor expect paraglider pilots co do the things that only a hang glider pilot can do. The worst paraglider pilots go so far as to blow off the right-of-way rules, partly because honoring chem would require a lot of foresight and initiating yielding action much earlier cl1an they are used co. Some use this as an excuse to rudely hog the lift. This is unacceptable behavior and needs to change. Next difference: Hang gliders can be controlled in pitch; paragliders really can't. This gives the hang gJjder pilot a bit more liberty and more opcions (and, therefore, respo nsibility) when sharing the air and avoiding collisions. Blind spots. (Thanks to Cory Stevens for sharing this!) Pilots of hang gliders and paragliders have this in common: neither can see through their wings. Bur because a hang glider pilot's wing is of comparable size and is much closer to che pilot - a few feet vers us 20 to 30 feet for a paraglider - the hang glider pilot's "blind spot" occupies a much larger volume. Paraglider pilots need to become aware of whecl1er or not they are fl ying within a hang glider pilot's blind spot. If yo u can't see the hang glider pilot's head, then it's safe to assume he can't see you. Ir's always safest to assume the hang glider pilot did not see you before you encered the blind spot. Also note that when a hang glider pilot is thermaling, his w ing is banked toward the inside of a thermal. So is the blind spot. It's common for a paraglider to tighten a cum into the core. When thermaling with a hang glider, be awa re that they may be particularly unable to see yo u there. Last difference: W hen I fly my tandem paraglider, my aircraft is a whopping 33 feet call. I've often seen hang glider pilots flying very close together in a thermal - cl1ey love it. There's just no way to put a 33-fooc-call, slower paraglider in there without causing so me disruption. I'll avoid it if there's other lift to be had, and when I can 't avoid it we both need to just calmly work around each ocher. We have a choice: We can maintain a "clan mentality" and complain about each other, or we can adapt, go fly and make the best of it - and enjoy it! If you really want to understand another type of aircraft, talk to so meone who flies both and is passionate about it. I have a standing offer to give any rared hang glider pilot a tandem paragliding fli gh t, free of charge. I hope we'll all benefit from more understanding and courtesy.

H ANG G LI DING

Rush hour: Rob von Zabern (top), Len Szafaryn (right), Joe Gluzinski (centei) and Gary Beese (left). Photo by Paul Kkmond.

co identify potential problems way ahead of time, and make contingency plans. This will help you co avoid panic when things go wrong quickly. Ac every moment ask yo urself, "What wo uld I do if.. . ?" ("What would I do if the glider 30 feet above me hie big sink, or rook a left or right collapse? What would I do if chat guy continued his turn without seeing me?) SKILLS 1) Fly under the radio supervision of an instructor until yo u have the required minimum rating for the site you' re flying. Don't jeopardize ochers by flying wi thout this qualification. 2) C lear yo ur turns. This means turn yo ur head co look where yo u' re go ing befo re you start co turn your glider. Looking 90 degrees co th e side is not enough, you must look 135 co 180 degrees behind you co be sure yo ur turn w ill not create a hazard, eve n if yo u have the right-of-way. 3) Learn and obey th e rules: th e cardi nal rule, the rules of the ridge, and th ermal rules (see sidebar) . 4) Be aware. Your life depends on knowing exactly where all the aircraft: arou nd you are at each moment - where they' re heading, and how fast. Look around and tune in. Don' t be caught off guard. 5) Make eye co ntact. Ocher pilots need co know whether or not yo u see chem and are predicting thei r actio ns. Turning your head helps. 6) Respond early and obviously. If yo u don ' t have che right-of-way, don ' t wa.ic until the JULY 1998

lase moment co begin yo ur yield actions. Try co turn gradually, not abruptly. Give ochers clues about what yo u' re going co do, and time co alter their course smoothly. Hang gliders fl y fas ter than paragliders. If paraglider pilots don't yield early eno ugh when a hang glider pilot has the right-of-way, the hang glider guy will be forced co yield co avo id an accident. The hang glider pilot gets justifiably angry. Do your part and yield early.

T H ERMAL VERSUS RIDGE RULES When chermalers and ridge-soarers cross paths, who has the right-of-way? Som e sites feature both thermal and ridge life. If yo u enter a thermal and can safely 360 or S-turn in it without distupting traffic, go for it. If it's coo crowded, let it go. If ocher pilots are rurn.ing in a thermal , don 't barge through in ridge pattern. Adapt co both the air and the aircraft around you. Tf ic's coo crowded at the "house thermal" or a known life area, go check our someplace else. Sometimes it's better co explore an unfamiliar area and risk sinking our. LAUNCH ETIQUETTE 1) If ochers are wa.i ring, choose a clear space well away from areas used for launching and cop-landing co prepare your wi ng and clip in. Then carry your glider co where people are wa.icing co u e the launch areas. (Paraglider pilots: If necessary, just ask ochers co help you lay o ut your wing after yo u' re clipped in.) 2) If you don ' t intend co launch immediately after laying o ut or setting up yo ur wing,

RULES FOR SHARING THE AIR CARDINAL RULE Do not fo rce ano ther pilot co avo id a crash . Keep yo ur options o pen and actively avo id th e crash yourself, no matter who has the "righc-of-way." RULES OF T HE RIDGE 1) The pilot with che ridge o n his ri ght has th e ri gh t-of-way. 2) Yield to any pilot turning away fro m che ridge. 3) An y p ilo t lower than you has cl1e righcof-way. Yield co anyone below yo u. 4) Ma.inta.in at least 50 feet of separation in all directions from all o ther a.ircrafc. 5) Passing: WARNING! This rul e vari es between sites and even between a.ircraft rypes! Learn the local protocol before flyi ng any site. At so me sites, fas ter aircraft sho uld p ass on the o utside (away from the ridge). Be prepared co yield in case anyo ne yo u're pass ing cums away from the ridge. le co uld happen sud denly! At other sites, fas ter a.i rcrafc pass o n the inside (between the ridge and the aircraft yo u' re pass ing). THERMAL RULES 1) Any p ilo t lower than you has the righcof-way. Yield to anyo ne below yo u. 2) The first pilot in the th erm al sets the cum directio n - right (clockwise) o r left (co unterclockwise). 3) When people are curning in diffe rent direct ions (such as w hen separate th ermals me rge), be fl exible. Try to do what the majo ri ty is doing, and do n' t swi tch di rectio ns often . GENERAL RULES 1) When yo ur path crosses th e path of ano ther pilot, yield to the ocl1er pilo t if he is co ch e right of yo ur path. 2) If yo u' re on a head-on collisio n co urse, break right (cum away co your left). T his is just Wee driving a car; yo ur "lane" is always co che ri ght of on co ming uaffic. ore co travelers: Some co un tri es o r sires use variations cl1at differ fro m these rules. Whe n in Rom e, learn how the Romans fly.

Clear the LZ as soon as you land. Photo by Gerry Charlebois. honor others' requests to "push. " Gather your wing and move aside. 3) If someone else is trying to top-land while you're setting up, try to use only space that isn't needed for their top-landing. (Sometimes top-landings are emergencies!)

LANDING T IPS !)Anticipate Rush Hour. If there are a lot of

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gliders in the air, think how crowded (and scary!) a small LZ will be if everyone gets "flushed" at the same time. Sometimes it's wise to leave lift early in order to beat the rush hour in the LZ. 2) Vertical Separation: As yo u descend, look around. If there are other gliders at or near yo ur altitude, no matter how far away they are, you'll likely be squeezed as you converge on the LZ. If the other flyers don't beat you to it, consider increasing yo ur descent rate to gain some vertical separation. Do this early! Talk to your instructor if yo u don't know how to safely descend quickly. 3) Share the LZ: It can be tense, but sometimes you just have to land at the same time as so meone else. If so, rem ain calm . Most sites have some standard landing pattern, if not, the "aircraft approach " pattern is strongly recommended. Look all around! Inadvertently cutting someone off can cause an accident. You will probably land side-by-side, so give your buddy room. Try to do a long, straight final glide instead ofl ots oflow, late turns. (This is easiest when tl1ere is no wind gradient over the LZ. Talk to yo ur instructor.) 4) Contingencies: In general, always try to

land in the LZ, but if the LZ is looking really crowded, don 't force yo urself to land there if it's not safe! As a last resort, think abou't other places where you can safely land. Do this early while yo u're high enough co have some options. Consider checking out other fields on foot beforehand so yo u know which fields are safe and unsafe . In an emergency, land where yo u can. 5) Clear the LZ: As soon as yo u land, secure your wing and immediately move co the side co maximize open LZ space for your incoming comrades. These things are all worthwhile, but ultimately a site can really only host so m any pilots at one time. If crowding results in accidents, it may become necessary to impose a higher minimum rating for flying there. This may seem unfai r, but it is a practical way of dealing with a demonstrated safety problem and is common at numerous sites. There is one more solution that we all should put effort into: opening new sites nearby. I'm working on two sites near Seattle Washington : Rattlesnake Mountain and McDonald Mountain. More sites mean less crowding, a variety of scenery, and maybe the ability to fly in more kinds of weather such as different wind directions chat render your home site unflyable. Have fun and fly smart! I hope this article will cultivate positive discussion about these issues at your site, and reduce some of problems associated with flying the crowded skies.

Paul Klemond is a Tandem Instructor in Seattle, Washington. • H ANG GLIDING

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BEGINNER-1.'ANDEM RATINGS Region EVONTCH III, RUDY: Lansing, MT; N. Lesnow/l:JyingAdvcnture HUNT, I.AURIE: Lansing, MT; N. Adventure I.EE, EUNICE: Urbana, TL; J. Prahl/Quest Air LEE, MICHAEL: Urbana, JL; J. Pr:ihl/Quesr Air TI IITIPRASERTH, ROY: Urbana, JL; J. Prahl/Quest Air WAI.SH, JOHN: Sterling Hglrn, M[; N. Lcsnow/Flying Advc:nnHc

BEGINNER RATINGS Region l BERKA, GEORGE: Kem, WA; J. Reynolds/Far Up HG FOY, MICHAEL: Trout Lake, WA; J. Reynolds/Far Up HG GORSKI, THOMAS: Salem, OR; D. Raybourn/He; PG School WALSTAD, DON: Pnyallup, WA; K. Cosley/NW[C " Region 2 CAP EWELL, DALE: San Pablo, CA; C. l larnilwn/Sacram.cnro [ TC, LAWSON, BRENT: Monterey, CA; P. Godwin/Western HG Region3 DAWLEY, CTJRIS: Vcnrma, CA; T. Burcar/Fly HG FOOTCH, JOHN: Santa Ana, CA; K. Harrison/Adventures Unlimited IVEY, .JOHN: 1.ong Beach, CA; R. McKcnzic/H igh Adventure JOHNSON, KATHLEEN: Encinitas, CA; R. Mircl1cll/The OS'T'ERFEI .I), BRETT: Newport Beach, ( :A; K. Harrison/Adventures Unlimited Region Ii KEATING, PATRICK: Farmingron, NM; M. Franci.1/Mou111ain West HG PE.JCINOVIC, MIROSLAV: Tucson, AZ; E. Smith/Arizona Airfoils WINKLEY, JOHN: Farmington, NM; M. Francis/Mountain West l IG Region 7 BRYNGELSON, BEA: Shoreview, MN; R. Richardson/ Arizona l IC Center EVONJCH fIJ, RUDY: Lansing, MT: N. I.csnow/Flying Advcuture HUNT, LAURIE: Lansing, MI; N. Lesnow/Flying Advcnrure NIENHAUS, JAMES: 1-lilberr, WT; T. Burcar/Fly Away l JC; WALSH,JOHN: Sterling Hghts, Ml; N. Lesnow/FlyingAdvcnturc Region 8 HANLON, GREG: Leominster, MA; D. Baxrcr/Morningsiclc PP ROOT, DAN: Falmouth, ME; D. 1-fohcr/Kitty Hawk Kites WALTERS, CAREY: Westfield, MA; J Nicolay/Morningside FP Region 9 . BEEBE, MARK: Newport News, VA; A. Hawk K,rcs BULIN, BRUCE: Arlington, VA; A. Torrington/Kitty Hawk Kites MACKLIN, SCOTT: Apollo, PA; P. Vcncsky/Kiny Hawk Kites Region 10 AGOSTO MOLJNA, LUIS: Canovanas, PR; K. Salko/Team Spirit BC FLEEHARTY, DAVE: Kill Devil His, NC; I'. Venesky/Kirty Hawk Kites MALATRASI, CIRO: Carolirw, PR; R. Hastings/Team Spirit HG MULDOON, JOHN: Chapel Hill, NC; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm PP PEREZ CRUZ, LUIS: Rio Blanco, PR; K. Salko/Tc:1111 Spirit HG

Region 12 DALE, JASON: Hopewell Jct, NY; G. HladdM011ntain Wings DE HLASIO, TONY: Flushing, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings DELANEY, JOHN: Lyndhurst, NJ; G. l\lack/Monntain Wings GENAUD, ALEXANDER: Lake l-loparcong, NJ; J. Nicolay/Morningside FP Region 13 DAWLEY, RICHARD: ; T. Burcar/Fly

NOVICE RATINGS Region l GORSKI, THOMAS: Salem, OR; D. Raybourn/I JG PC School of Oregon Region 2 YANG, JUSTINE: El Cerriro, CA; W. Herzd/Bcrkcley HG Region 3 GUNTER, TIM: Pasadena, CA; A. Becm/Windsports JVEY, JOHN: Long Beach, CA; R. McKenzie/High Advcnmrc SCOLARI, MARIO: San Diego, CA; R. Mirchcll/Thc Eagle's

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JONATI ION I IOVIS

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Region 8

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Region 10

SANTIAGO, RICI 1/\RD: Salinas, PR: R. I lastings/Team Spirit! IC Region l l LEE, PETER: Plano, TX; I<. Robinson/Clouds1rcers Region 12

MURPHY, DAVID: J\rlamic Beach, NY; P. Voighi/Hy I

JIG

ADVANCED RATINGS Region I

FRAZER, DAVTD: Roseburg, OR: M. Srcvcr1s0111/l''hl1•1rn• Phacrory Region PROS! TOLD, BYRON: Mou111ain View, CJ\; B. Rhvmcs/01:,scrvcr Region .3

EDWARDS, URSULA: Crestline, O\; J. Prahl/Quest Air MORRISON, BRIAN: Corona, C:J\; M. llcll/Discovcr Flight Region Ii I IOLM ES, PAULA: Phocnix. AZ: B. l lolmcs/Sky Mas1crs

Region I BAI.SER, TERRY: Kent, W J\; D. Reinhard/Personal Flight CAMPBELi., S DOUC: N Sumner, WA; C. Mlllack/Chelan PC CAMPBELL, WENDY: Sumner, WA; C. MuLick/< :J,cl:m pc; HOLZGROVE, BILL: Maple Valley, W J\; D. Whitc/DixOJt's Airplay pc; J-JUGHES, MURDOCI !: Marysville, W /\; M. Smith/Dixon's Airplay PC; KEI.LER, FORREST: Vashon, WA: M. Raviv/UP San llicgo LEMKE,AUD!E: Sc:mlc, WJ\; I\. lla1111ah/PC; W:ts11111,;ton LOCOCO, DAN: Eugene, OR; I<. Lcc/Thcrmal Tracker PC LONG, CORWIN: l.ynnwoocl, WA; D. White/Dixon's pc; MOHR, LARS: Redmond, W J\; D. Whi1c/Dixon's Airplay PC 0 HALLORAN, JAMFS: Scarrle, W J\; M. Fbcrlc/Norrh American PC WOLF, CllRIS: Seattle, WA: H. Mmphy/Smf the pc; Region BOSTIC, JOF: Las Vegas, NV; K. Biernacki/Upper Limits CONGER, RICI<: Oakland, CJ\: II. Mmphy/Surftlw pc; I !AMl!;J'ON, LORETTA: Reno, NV: I<. Munn/Adventure I JORN, MICHAEL: Bakersfield, CJ\; K. dcRussy/l IC PC l''.mporium JOI INSON, MARK: San hancisco, C:J\: J. Lncas/Clidcll KUCAN, JOSEPI I: I.as NV; K. llicrnacki/Uppcr ! .imits NELSON, MIC! IAEL: Wa1sonvillc, C:/\; I I. Murphy/Sur/' rhe PC ROBINSON, JIM: Redwood C:i1y, CJ\; R. Ost/lllackwing PC; SMOTHERS, JAMES: Morro l\ay, C:J\; 11. Murphy/Sm/' the pc;

Rcgion 6

WALDMAN, ED: Overland Park, KS; R.

Rcgion 3

BERROTH, KARL: Sama Barhara, C:/\: I<. dcRussy/11(; PC Fmporillm Rcgion 7

ClHJNJIFNC, MD, ANDRFW: Chicago, IL; J. Ryan/! IC Center Region 10

GATTONE, RICI JARD: C:hananooga, TN; M. Taber/I ,00Jwm Min J:I' Region 12

BA(;DONAS, MARIUS: New York, NY; P. Voightff!y I ligh I IC

TANDEM ONE RATINGS RICHARD DEVLIN MARK JOI lNSON DOUC JOHNSON NEAi. ROI.AND

TANDEM lNSTRlJCTOR RATINGS JF.FF HARPER NELSON FRANQlJIZ

BURCAR, TAMMY: Sama Barhara, CJ\: R. Leonard/Adventure Spons CASTALDO, JOSEPI I: Palos Vrdcs Est, CA; T. Nclson/Thcrn1al Dynamics DUNLAP, CLAYTON: Newport Beach, CJ\; M. Dcllarros/Atmosphcrc PC KAMOCSJ\K, LAJOS: Los i\ngcb, CA; M. DcBarros/J\rmosphcrc PC MULROY, JIM: Santa Barbara, C:J\; I<. dcRussy/1 f(; PC Emporium ORRICK, ALFC: Lakewood, CJ\; T. Nelson/Thermal """"""'·' PEITERMANN, SZIMONElTA: I nsi\ngcb, C:A; .\11. DcB:1rros/A1mosplicre PC Region Ii BRODBECK, TODD: Durango, C:O: S. Maycr/Clo11d 9 pc; BROWN, WFSLEY: Salr Like City, UT; l<.l ludonjorgcnscn/J\hovc & Beyond PC

CRANE, TILLMAN: Sandy, UT; l l. C:omf,m/Thc Center HALL, THOM: Sandy, UT: S. Maycr/Cloml 'J l'C HART, DARREN: Aspen, CO; S. Maycr/Clo11d 9 P(; IIAVENS, CREC: Aspen, C:O; M. Taggart/Aspen PC l ll LI., ALLAN: Tcmp:1, /\!'.; ]). Whirc/Dixon's Airplay PC OBERLE, DICK: Winier Park, C:O: J(.! ll!donjorgcmen/Two Can Fly OBERLE, NICI<: Wimer Park, C:O; l<.1 ll!donjorgrnsen/Two C:an Fly PICKERING, KENT: Phoenix, J\J:; M. S111id1/I )ixo11's Ai1viay PC; RUi:I 1NER, TOD: Salr Lake C:i1y, UT: S. Mayer/Cloud 9 l'C STOUTENBURG!-!, PAUL: C:rcsred Burtc, CO; R. l<ocurek/J\ir Link pc; WALDROP, JOSH: C:0; S. ') PC -----·-·---··--·---

]LJIY 19911

A.t·" 'I.)

Region 5 HARNESS, PRED: Jackson, WY; S. Harris/Peak PC MC DANIEL, CHRIS: ldaho Palls, ID; B. Bloxham/Paramcric:a PG VOORHEES, JASON: l'olso11, MT; D. Covington/Big PG Region 7 FOWLER, BRIAN: Madison, WI; S. MILLER, IAN: Waukesha, WI; W. Lattrcr,cc/t'ly RAANAN, GABI: West Bloomfield, Ml; B. I JG PG THOMAS, DAVID: Richland, Ml; B. Fifer/Traverse City HG PG ZOETER, ONNO: Madison, WI; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 pc; Region 8 CLOUD, STEVEN: Westport, CT; C. Bowles/Sourhcrn Skies PG FRANTZ, L SCOTT: Riverside, CT; R Sharp/Para fly P(; HILL, STANLEY: Shelton, CT; R. l'C TYLER, STEVEN: Boston, MA; K. J\JCT!l;!lClG/l TYSZKA, GEORGEANNE: Monroe, CT; R.

Region 9 DAUS, ClIARLES: lmlcr, PA; N. Stanford/Hill PG DUNSTON, MICHAEL: Hayes, VA; C. Bowles/Southern Skies PG Region 10 CLOUD, GREG: Bonifoy, FI.; C. Bowles/Southern Skies PC KOVACS, GABOR: Charlotte, NC; C. Bowlcs/Sourhcrn Skies PG KOVACS, ll.DIKO: Charlortc, NC; C. Bowlcs/Somhcrn Skies PC MAUPIN, MARK: Suwanee, ( ;A; C Bowlt:s/Soutlicrn Skies PG Region] I ALTHANS, KIM: Austin, TX; N. Stanford/l-lill Country PG l3ERTOVICH, FRANK: Houston, TX; N. Stanford/! lill Counrry PG l30NGIORNO, FRANK: Austin, TX; N. Stanford/Hill Coull try PG CORRY, TOM: Rockport, TX; N. Stanford/Hill Coumry PG SMITH, DENEAN: Taylor 1.k Villg, TX; M. Smith/Dixon's PG VOi.I, ANBERTO: Plano, TX; D. Broyles/Kite lc111em1·1scs Region 12 DACJ-Il.ER, NTF.LS: Brooklyn, NY; P. Rcnaudin/CMl PG HUMPHREY, PETER: New York, NY; l .. l .indc/Eastcoast PC PEARSE, DAVID: New York, NY; L. l.indc/Eastco:isr l'G PEARSE, REBECCA: New York, NY; L. Liudc/Fastcoas1 PC SARUIHlE, KEVlN: Glen Cove, NY; P. Rcnauclin/C;Mr pc; SYED, SADIQ: Harrison, NJ; R. pc; Region 13 HERCZ, LAURENT: France; K. dcRussy/HC PC Emporium LOEBL, ODED: Israel 63'50/i; J. Nirnlay/Momingside Y:P MELJSSI, PANAGTOTA: M. Ravi/UI' San Diego MEI.ISSI, PANAGIOTA: Germ:rny; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 pc; MORTON, ANDREW: England; l ). Jchh/UP San Diego RAGAISIS, ROIANDAS: 1.irhu:mia; C. Bowb/Somhcrn Skies PC

NOVICE RATINGS Region l BALSER, TERRY: Kent, WA; D. Reinhard/Pcrson:il Hight CHRISAPE, JEFFREY: Seattle, WA; M. Eberle/North American PC EADES, CHRIS: Marcola, OR; P. Pohl/Sky Hook GRAD DON, GAIL: Beaverton, OR; L. Pindar/Over the Hill PG HEBDIGE, DUANE: Seat de, WA; M. Eberle/North American PG LEMKE, AUDIE: Seattle, WA; II. I hnnah/PG Washington LOCOCO, DAN: Eugene, OR; K. Lee/Thermal Tracker PG MOF.STL, SYLVIA: Redmond, WA; D. Wl1itc/Dixon'sAirplayPG 0 HALLORAN, JAMES: Searrle, WA; M. Ebcrlc/Nonh American PG

OLSON, CHARLES: Rcnron, WA; L. DoChirico/Chirico's Fright School WOLF, CHRIS: Seaulc, WA; H. Mmphy/Surf the PG Region 2 CONGER, RICK: Oakland, CA; H. Mmphy/Surfrhe Sky PG HORN, MICHAEL: Bakersfield, CA; K. dcl{ussy/HG PG Emporium JOHNSON, MARK: San haucisco, CA;]. Lucas/Glidcll MAJOURAU, GARY: San Francisco, CA; J. VanMcrcr/Wcstcoast PG OTIU.AR, BOBBY: San 1:rancisco, CA; J. VanMeter/Wesrcoasr PC RANDO I ,PH, DUANE: Reno, NV; R. l .eonard/ Adventure Sports SMOTHERS, JAM ES: Morro Bay, CA; H. Murphy/Surf the Sky PG WILLIAMS, RICHARD: Corre Madera, CA; P. Hirsr/Wcstcoasr PG Region 3 BER.ROTH, KARL: Santa Barbara, CA; K. dcRussy/J !G PG Emporium BURCAR, TAMMY: Santa Barbara, CA; R. Leonard/Adventmc Sports CASTALDO, JOSEPH: Palos Vrdes Est, CA; T. Nelson/Thermal Dynamics CHRISTY, DON: Sama Barbara, CA; T. Truax/Sky Sports CLARK, JOHN PERLEY: San Diego, CA; L. I .ovc/UP San Diego DRURY, TOM: r<ailua, HI; Steve Amy/Pro Flyghr !fl FAIRBAIRN, ANDREW: San Diego, CA; I .. Love/LP San Diego GARBER, HOWARD: Shcrrn:m Oaks, CA; M. Del3arros/Atmosphcrc PG J-IJX, KEN: Torrance, CA; J. Williams/Air America PG MATSON, KEN: Kub, Hl; Steve: Amy/Pro Flyght HI MULROY, JIM: S:mra Barbara, C:A; K. dcRussy/HG PG Emporium PIAZZA, DESIREE: Kula, Hr; Scevc Amy/Pro Flyght Hl PlAZZA, TONY: Kula, HI; Steve Amy/Pro Plyghr 1-ll TORRES, PAULINA: Tumon, C;TJ; J. Meyers/Ainck San Diego Region Ii ANDERSON, ANTHONY: Lake Havasu, AZ: M. Smith/Dixon's Airplay PG BRODBECK, TODD: Durango, CO; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PC BRUNNEMER, KEN: Longmont, C:O; G. Banks/Parasofr PG HALL, THOM: Sandy, UT; S. Mayer/Cloud') PC HART, DARREN: Aspen, C:0; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PC MEYER, MATT: West Jordan, UT; D. Covington/Big PC PICKERING, KENT: Phoenix, J\'/.; M. Smith/Dixon's Airplay PG STOUTENBURGH, PAUL: Cresred Bunc, CO; R. Kocurek/Air Lin!, PC TAYLOR, DAVID: Westminster, CO; G. Banks/l'arasofr PG WALDROP, JOSH: Aspen, CO; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PG Region 5 DEIGNAN, JODIE: Bozeman, MT: D. Coving1on/Big PC HARNFSS, FRED: Jackson, WY; S. I larris/Peak PG RICE, m,:CKY: Jackson, WY; C. Warren/Wind Dance SMJTTI, GREGORY: Lewiston, lD; FS. Johnson/US AirBorne VAN HASSEL, 1lelcna, MT; D. Covingron/Big pc; VOORHEES, JASON: Polson, MT; D. Covington/Big Sky PC; ZUBER, ERIC: l'oca1dlo, II); J•.S. Johnson/US AirBornc Rcgion 7 FOWLER, BRIAN: Madison, WJ; S. Mayer/C:lornl 9 PG MILLER, IAN: Waukesha, Wl; W. Laurence/Fly PG RAANAN, GABI: West Bloomfldd, Ml; B. Fifrr/Travcrse HC PG TIIOMAS, DAVID: Richland, Mf; B. Fifor/Travcrse HG PG ZOETER, ONNO: Madison, WJ; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PG Rcgion 8 HILL, STANLEY: Shelton, C:T: R. PG SOCQUF.T, ALEX: Planrsville, CT; Bowles/Southern Skies PG TYSZKA, GEORGEANNE: Monroe, Cl'; R. Liggen/Ea.rn:oast PG

H/\NC CUDINC

The

dependable intermediate

DHV-Giitesiegel Kl.

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Northwest Distributor Alpine Marine Phone (425) 432-8900 FAX (425) 432-2876

Email: alpmar@compuserve.com

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KIWI HYPE HELMET Composite fibers. Only 22 ounces pointed in color White, Block or lead wilh lhin waler demls and prolecled clear cooling. USS 210

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KEYS, JOANNE: Colden, CO; W. l .aurcncc/Fly Away PG WALDROP, JOSH: Aspen, CO; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PG

CHARLES: Imler, PA; N. St:rnford/Jlill PG DUNSTON, MICHAEL: Hayes, V1\; C. Bowles/Southern Skies PG EMRICK, GARY: Easton, PA; D. Rcinh:ml/Pcrsonal WILLEY, THOMAS: Norfolk, V /\; C:. Bowlcs/Sourhcrn PC lO

GABOR: C:harlonc, NC; C. Bowles/Southern Skies PG KOVACS, JLDIKO: Charlonc, NC; C:. Bowlcs/Somhcrn Skies PG MAUPIN, MARK: Sumncc, CA; C Bowlcs/Somhcrn Skies l'C

Region 5 DALY,JOHN: Eagle, JD; D. [$ridges/Aspen PG WATSABAUGH, BRAD: Jackson, WY; T. Bartlett/Peak PG Region 7 GEST, DAVJD: Midlorhian, lL; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PG LEATHAM, DYLAN: Miuncaplois, MN; C. Warren/Wind Dance MENZIES, BRIAN: Evans1on, [L; L. Love/UP San Diego Rcgion 8 SELIG, MARTIN: Boston, M/\; R. Sharp/Par:ifly PG

'-A""'", TOM: Rockport, TX; N. Stanford/I I ill

GERSON, MARIN/\: /\rlington, TX; D. l\rrlvlc:s/l',1te 1,11rcnlnscs PUCKFTT, KENT: I lousron, TX: N. Stanford/Hill YOU, /\NBERTO: Plano, TX: D. lfrovic.c:/Kttc 1,,11"1·11n,:c.,

9 ..,,, "·"'' BRICE: Mclean, VA; C. Bowles/Southern Skies PG

ADVANCED RATINGS Region 12

•

DACIIUJl, NIELS: Brooklyn, NY; P. Renaudm/(,Ml I(, HUMPHREY, PETl•]l: New York, NY; L. f ,imle/l'.astcoast PC; MEEKS, CASEY: Ithaca, NY; J. Smith/Colorado pc; PEARSE, DAYID: New York, NY; L Linde/Eastcoast pc; PEARSE, REBECCA: New York, NY; l,. l ,indc/l<:asrrnast PC SARUBBF, !<EVIN: Clcn C:ove, NY; P. Renaudin/CMI l'G SYED, Harrison, NJ; R. l'C Region 13 . . . . . LOEBL, ODED: Israel C,3504; J. N1colay/Mon1111gs1dc J,p MELISSI, PANAGIOTA: Ccnnany; M. Ravi/UP San Diego MELISSI, PANAGTOTA: c;cnnany; S. Mayer/Cloud 9 PC MORTON, ANDREW: Fngland; D. Jebb/UP San Diego RAGAIS!S, ROLANDAS: Litllll:rnia; C. Bowles/S0ml1crn Skies PC

INTERMEDIATE RATINGS BC)NNl.!AlJ. PAUL: North Bend, WA; M. Chirico/Chirico's BOUCIIE, RICHARD: Brier, WA; M. C:hirico/C:hirico's Dcsccms HAYNES, NORMAN: Scanle, WA; W. LEONARDI, DANTE: Scatlc, WA; M. Chirico/( School MCCUNE, THOMAS: Issaquah, W/\; M. Chirico/Chirico's School SIMONE DALY, DON: Richland, WA; D. PC; SM!TII, KATHY: Issaquah, WA; B. l WT(](, Cl IIUS: Jacksonville, OR; S. l l:isscll/Ainck San

CLARK: S:m Diego, C/\; D. Jebb/UP S:m BURC/\R, TAMMY: Santa Barbara, C:A; R. l .ccma11·cJ/,1\cl\rcn11urc DONOVAN, DAU:: Turnon, < ;u; S. I Lisscll/Ainck San DOWDALL, MICHAEL: San C:A; K. l\aicr/Airjunkies FINAZZO, VINCE: l.:ihaina, l ll; Amy/Pro J:lyghr Ill GOLIA, DAVF.: Encinitas, CA; K. llaicr/Airjunkics J/\NCIC, CHARLIE: Fscondido, C:/\; K. Fl:1ier/Airjunkics . MEETER, JONATHAN: I.a Jolla, C'.A; I. l.ovc/Ul' San l)1ego MICHEL, BLAINE: Lcmo11 Crove, C:A; I<. Baicr/Airjunkics MUIR IV, DOWNIE: Newport Beach, CA; S. Mayer/( :loud 'JP(; ROBINSON, ROBERT: Kuh, llf; Steve /\my/Pro Flyghr HI SHRUM, DON: Sama Barbara, C:A; I<. dcRussy/JJ(; Pc; Emporium STEELE, GREGORY: Santa Barhara, CA; l<. dcRussy/1 IG PG Emporium VIKTORA, RIM/\S: Redondo Beach, C:/\; l .. l .ovc/\Jl' San Region 4

BINDER, DAVID: Draper, UT; S.

9 Pc; HART, CRAIG: Aspen, CO; E. 1'1e11aa11·t1\1:pet: HILLWIG, BONAVIA: Snowm,1ss, CO; :im1r11,11\s11ien Pc;

]ULY 199B

Region 1 BENEDICT, JOHN: l'orrland, OR; S. Rori/Cascade PG BERGER, JOSEPH: Portland, OR; S. Rori/Cascade PG Region 2 . AillCHT, DON: SI .akc Tahoe, CA; R. Leonard/ Adventme Sports KA BASAWA, IHDEKI: Santa Clara, Cl\; J. Lucas/Glide!! WALTON, JAN: Redwood Ciry, CA; E. Srcin/EA Stein & Assoc. Region 3 . . .. DOMOKOS, DOUG: Lake Elsinore, C:A; M. Bell/Discover Hight fACOBSON, DANE: Goleta, CA; T. Truax/Sky Sports °sCJ-IOYEN, ROLF: Goleta, CA; T. Truax/Sky Sports SPORRER, ROH: Sama Barbara, CA; T. Truax/Sky Sports TRIVAS, ROSS: Makawao, Ill; Steve Amy/Pro Flyght HJ Rcgion 4 COMFORT IIT, HARTLEY: Draper, UT; K.T Tudonjorgenscn/Two C:an Fly IKEDA, MASAH!RO: Sandy, UT; C. Santacroce/Super Fly Boyz Region 5

CRAHAM, ROBERT: Jackson, WY; C:. Warren/Wind Dance

MASTER RATINGS Region 2

LEONARD, RAY: Carson

Region :l JFBB, DA V!D: San Diego, CA Kl-HONG, KYOUNG: C:mlcm1, CA

TANDEM ONE RATINGS KEVIN LEE JOIIN SAL:JVEIT

UEUMONA PETE MICHELMORE MARCELO RA.TIS HARTLEY COMFORT llT MASAHIRO IKEDA

TANDEM INSTRUCTOR RATINGS KELLY KFLLAR MICHAEL SMITH PAUL SCHALLER FRANCO

1998 TOP 30 SCHOOL/CLUB LEADERS IN BEGINNER (PARA J) RATINGS ISSUED

1998 TOP 30 SCHOOL/CUJB LEADERS TN BEC;INNFR (HANG 1) RATINGS ISSUED RANK SC'l !OOJ..

... .. BHC/INNFR

..................... .Ii Ii

J.ookout Mounrai11 J,'Jiglir Park. Wallaby H:mch Kitty Hawk I<ircs. Mission Soaring ( :cnfcl

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10 JO 10 10

II II 11 II 11

II 11 JI 1J 1I 12 17. I

12. 12

12.

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Miami I lallg ( ;Jiding. ..... 12 Morningside Flight Park ... 8 Aclvcnrurcs Ulllirnitcd ... ....... / ....... .. J, Team Spirit J Jang Cliding Lake Flsillore Sports .. ................. ':i Wasatch Wings ....................... . . .................. 5 Boringuen Airtime ........ Ii Fly Away J Jang Cliding. ................ .Ii Mountain West Hang Cliding .. ................... ........ ..Ii Air. ............................. Ii I Lmg Cliding. .......... J Fly I Hang c;Jiding .. .. 3 Flying /\<lvc:nturc: ....................................................................... :5 Mo11111ain Wings .. .3 ..;) NWIC ............... . Sacramento I Jang ( ;Jiding ... J Silver Wings ........... . ..3 The Faglc's Wings !Jang Cliding. ....... 3 Western Hang Cliding. ..... :l Windsporrs International ........................ . ................ .... :3 Arizona I fang ( :Jiding Cemcr. ............... .2 Austin Airsports. ......... 2 1 1.volucion ..... ..... 2 l'ar lip I Jang 11 C: PC School Raven ....... 2 Rocket

NANI< SOJ()OL ........ BH,'JNNFT? Dixon's Airplay Paragliding ...................... 38 Eastcoast Paragliding ............ . ..... 20 ..... 19 Cloud ') Paragliding ............... . :l ,i Torrey Pines c;Jidcrpon/UP San I )icgo 17 I(, llill Country Paragliding ... . 5 J(i Southern Skies Paragliding .. . 5 (i Morningside ],Jight Park ..... . 13 11 Clidcll ................. . Over The I !ill ....... . ................. ! I ...... 9 8 Sur/'Thc Sky Paragliding. Adventure Sports .................... . ... 8 9 ') I fang Glider J,'.mporium ......................... . ... 8 10 Fly Away Paragliding ............. .. .... <i 10 [IC/PG School of Oregon ....................... . 10 Two Can Fly................... . ................ . . .... <i US Airborne ........................... . .... <i 10 11 Atmosphere Paragliding ........................ . . ... .Ii Il Norrh American Paragliding ................ . . ..A JI Personal Flighi-. ..... .Ii Traverse City I](; PC ........... . ...................... Ii l l 12 Above & Beyond Paragliding .. ....... 3 .... ;) 12 Airplay Paragliding ............. . Big Sky Paragliding ............ . ......... 3 12 ... ;) Chandclle ........ .. 12 Chirico's !'right School ... . .3 12 CM! Paragliding ................ . ..:l lligh Advcnmre .................. . .3 Valley C:lidcrs .. . .. J 12

... ..r,

12 l

12 12

1998 TOP :10 SCHOOL/CUJB LEADERS TN NOVICE (PARA 2) RATINGS ISSUED

1998 TOP 30 SCIIOOI./CUJB LEADERS IN NOVICE (HANG 2) RATINGS ISSUED R!IN1< SO!OO! .. . ... .................. NOV/Cl:' Looko11t Mountain Flight !'ark ......... 35 2 Miami I Jang C:liding ...... .20 Wallaby Ranch ..... 18 3 J'v1ission Sonring (\~111Tr.. 4 ................. l 5 Kiny I lawk Kites .............................. . ................... 9 5 (i Team Spirit I Jang Gliding .... . ... 8 Qucsr Air .............. . .... .7 7 8 Bori11gue11 Aini me ................... . ... '5 8 Go ... I la11g Gliding ....... 5 8 Windsports International ..... 5 Airtime /\hove I Jang C:liding .. ................ Ii 9 Berkeley I Jang Cliding . ..A 9 ') Lake Elsinore Sports ..... Ii ') Morningside l'light Park .... .Ii Rocker ( :ity Airsports. ....................... Ii 9 ') The Eagle's Wings I Jang Cliding .. ... . .Ii JO Ariwna I fang Gliding C:emer .. ......... 3 JO l'lyi11g Advent urcs. .:l JO Raven Sky Spons ... .. :3 JO Wasatch Wi11gs. ... :) IJ .. 2 Arizona Airfoils 11 Austin Air Sports .2 JI Fagle Airspons. .2 11 Far Up J Jang Gliding .................... 7. 1l Fly Away I Lmg Gliding ............... 2 11 J IC PC: School of' Oregon ...... . ................. 2 J 1 Maryland School of'l Jang Gliding ... 2 11 Rainy I I Jang C:liding ... 2 11 Silver 11 Susquehanna !•light Park ... 2 11 Valley Forge I Jang Gliding .... 2 t<11·1111·m.,{.r UJCl'I' cmnpiledfi'mn rttting, puhlishcrl in the

.......... 3 .... 3 . ........... 3

Pro l'lyghr Hawaii .................... . Upper l.imirs ............................ . West coast l'arngliding ............. .

....... NOV/CF Dixon's Airplay Paragliding..... . ... 2H Eastcoasr P:nagliding. . .... 22. Cloud') Paragliding....................... . .... 21 Somhcrn Skies Paragliding..... . ................... 20 Torrey Pines Glidcrpon/UI' San Diego ............................. 1 l West coast Paragliding................... . ............ 10 Adventure Sports................ . ........ 8 Ainek Paragliding............... . ....... 8 Over The Hill l'araglidi11g .. . ... 8 I Jang C:lidcr Emporium ....... . ....... / Morningside Flight Park. . ............. . . ............ .? (;Jiddl. .... .. <i I I ( ;;pc; School of Oregon ... ... <i ... <i Nmrl1 i\merica11 Paragliding ..<i Pro Flyghr Hawaii .............................. . Big Sky Paragliding ................................. . ... 5 Fly Away Paragliding ............................... .. . ................. 5 Surf the Sky P:iragliding ........... . ........... 5 Aerolight USA ................ . ............... . .................. ..Ii Chirico's !'right School .. . ... .4 Magic Valley Gliders ...... . ............. .4 ....... .Ii Personal !'light ..... Ii Two Can Fly ............................ . Above & Jkyond Paragliding ...... 3 ....... 3 Airworks Paragliding ..... .. .... 3 At mosphcre Paragliding ........ . ..... 3 c;MJ Paragliding ................... . [ligh Aclvcntnre .................. . . ..... :3 ........ 3 I Jill ( '.mrntry Paragliding .... . Paradox .............................. . ........ 3

RANK SCHOO! .. .

.) tj

7 8 g 9 ')

9 9

JO 10 10 11

11 11 11

12 17. I

12 12. 1

l<d11f?1111rc Wl'YC /'0111jJi/edfrom rating< published in the /1111U1lry/h:hr·u1try,/u/Jt 1998 issues o/Paragliding mt1gazine.

/tl!?U,'tn,•-/1/lv / <J98 issues o/ll:mg Gliding n1ttgm:.iru'.

HANG GIIDINC

REGION 5 Erank Cillette (R 99) r~t 1 Watercyn 8 Declo ID 83323 (208) 654-2£315 Watorcyn@cyberhighway not Tracie Fifer-Wolch (H 99) PO Llox B225 Jackson WY l'\3001 (307) 733-6B23 cli _wyo@compuserve.corn

USHGA BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGION 1 Bill Bolosky (I~ 24622 S[: Mirrorrnont Dr Issaquah WA 98027 (425) 557-7981 bolosky@rnicrosoft.corn Steve f~oti (I~ 3024 N 18 11 Ave Portland or~ 9721 (503) 284-0995 paragliding@compuserve.com Bob Hannah 98) 9920 51s' Ave Seattle WA 98118 (20Cl) 328-1104 paraskr@aol.corn

Sandy King (H 1425 Dunbar Ln Carson City NV 89704 (702) 849-3851 slark@worldnet. atL net REGION 3 Ken E3aier (I\ 253 F~oclney Ave Encinitas CA 92024 (760) 753 2Cl64 Tammy Burcar PO Box 3274 Santa Barbara CA 93130 (805) 692-990ll tbt I rcar@j uno. corn Cregg Lawless W ml) 9127 Bittcrcreek L.n CASl2129

Paul Klernoncl (H

Acciclent Chai!) 2 Nl" 4'.3'' 1 St Seattle WA 98105 (20Cl) 525S7Cl5 paul@kurious.org

Mike Meier bOO Orange (714) 998-6359 rnike@willswing.corn

C3ene Matthews (H 9B) 1530B 1-11 111 Ave NE Bothell WA 9ll011 (206) 4B8-1443 skyclog@gte.net

r~ob Kells (H bOO f31uericlge Ave Orange CA 92(365 (714) 998-6359 rob@willswing.com

REGION F~ay Leonard (f~ 9B) 3650 r~esearch Wy #22 Carson City NV 89706 (702) 883-7070 aclvspts@pyrarnid.net

Alan Chuculate (H 6709 Salizar St CA 92'111

F~uss Locke (f~ 99) 868 S Mary Ave Sunnyvale CA 94087 (408) 737-8745 rsslok@aol.corn

Cil Dodgen ([~ditor) 31441 Santa Margarita Pkwy Ste A-256 Reho Sta Marg CA 926BB (714) 888-73Cl3 gilclodgen@aol.corn

Scott Casparian (R- 99) c/o LWHS 755 Ocean Ave San Francisco CA 94112 (415) 282-27[)3 gaspo@igi.org

REGION 4 Mark Fer[1uson (R 1173 Ridgeview Cir Broomfield CO B0020 931 B075

Ed Pitman (I. PO Box 18B Shasta CA 9£3087 (916) 3b9-2392 epitman@c-zone.net Ken Brown (H 99) '179£:i 40 111 Ave San r=rancisco C/\ 94122 (41£:i) 753-9534 kennyb2u@aol.com

Jirn Zeise! (R 99) 13154 County r~d 140 Salida CO 81201 (719) b39-3335 jimzgreen@aol .com

REGION 6 ,Jeff Sinason (I~ 99) '12954 Ballantine Ct Saint Louis MO 63146 (314) 542-2473 Jsinason@itdcomm.corn REGION 7 Elill 13ryden (I~

913)

(HG Accidcmt C/Jair) 66013 North 100 Fast Rd Seymour IN 47274 (812) 497 2327 hill bbryden@hsonline.net Dan Johnson (L 98) 8 Dorset St St Paul MN bb118 (G 12) 450-0930 CurnulusMan@aol.com REGION 8 Randy Adams (R 98) PO Box 369 Claremont NH 03743 543-17£30 ra ndyad a ms@cybte rpo rta I. net REGION 9 Pete l.ehrnann 99) 5811 Elgin St Pittsburgh PA 15206 661-3474 Geoffrey Mumford (f\ 9B) APA/PPO 7£:iO First St NE Washington DC 20002 (202) 336-£3067 gkrn .apa@ernail. apa. org Dennis Pagen (L 98) 3GB Dunkle ~\d Bellefonte PA 16823 (814) 383-25€59 pagenbks@lazerlink.com Chris DuPaul (H 9B) PO Box 801 Gloucester Pt VA 23062 (804) 693-6742 skigolfnut@aol.com Art Greenfield (X) 1815 N 1=t Moyer Dr Ste 700 Arlington VA 22209 (703) 527-0226 NAA@ids2.iclsonline.com REGION 10

Matt Taber (R - 99) 7201 Scenic Hwy 189 Rising Fawn GA 30738 (706) 398-3433 airwave@voyageronline.net David Glover (H 99) 1805 Dean Still Rd FL 33837

McNarnee (H ~lB) 141 SE 51s' Ave Summerfield FL. 34491 (3b2) 245-8263 graybird@praxis.nc~t Greg De Wolf (H 99) PO Box Cl07 Corolla NC 27927 (919) 453ABOO DeWolf7@aol.com REGION 11 Dave Broyles (I~ 2 '11 i=llis Dr Allen TX 75002 727 3588 REGION 12 Paul Voight (I~ 98) 51G3 Searsville Rd Pine Bush NY 1256Cl (914) 744-3317 ryanv1 OO@aol.com Jan Johnson (L 98) PO r3ox 2Jl2 Bullville NY 10951 (914) 361-'IOB3 fec@frontiernet.net Paul Riker! (L 101 N Broadway White Plains NY 1 OG03 (914) 946-938£3 hrn Lars Linde (H ·· 98) %4 W Front St l~ed Bank NJ 07701 747-7845 REGION 13 (lnt'I) Jan Johnson (L. 98)

Soo F<og 12 Michael l~obertson (H · 98) RR 5 8Gb Con 7 Claremont Ontario Canada L1Y 1A2 (905) 294-2536 flyhigh@inforamp.net

USHGA Executive Director Philip Bachman PO Box 1330 Colo Springs CO 80901 19) 632-8300 wk 9) 632-Cl417 fax phbachrna11@usl1ga.org ushga@ushga.org

C3.W. Meadows (I\

9B) 1125 Harbor View Dr Kill Devil Hills NC 27948 (919) 480-3b!i2 justfly@interpath.com

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President-G.W. Meadows Vice President-Bill Bryden Secretary Russ Locke Treasurer-C:,eoff Mumford

KEY: (L)-At (X)-[x

USHGA is issuing its annual call for nominations to the national Hoard of Directors. for election in November 1998 for a two-year term beginning January 1999.

positions arc open

seeking position on the ballot should send to headquarters for receipt no the following information: name and USHGA number, photo and resume (one page containing the candidate's hang/paragliding activities and viewpoints, written consent to be nominated and that they will serve if elected). must be nominated by at least three members residing in the candidate's region. in the following regions. The current Directors, whose terms are up for reelection in

Nominations are 1999, are listed below.

Ballots will be distributed with the November nf I !ANG Gl!D!NG nnd the November/December of PARAGLIDING magazines. USIIGA needs the very best volunteers to help guide the saf'c dcvclopnicnt and growth of the sport. Forward candidate material for receipt no later than August 20 to: USllGA, PO Box 1 Colorado Springs 8090 I l

Bill Bolosky Ray Leonard Ken Baier Mark Ferguson Bill Bryden

Randy Adams

Geoffrey Mumford

CL W. Meadows

Paul Voight

Alaska, Oregon, Washington Northern Calit<.)rnia, Nevada Southern California, J lawaii Arizona, Colorado, El Paso TX, New Mexico, Utah fllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Wisconsin New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode lslancl, Vermont Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvnnia, Washington Virginia, West Virginia Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico New Jersey, York

The following fi)rrn is for your convenience.

.... REGIONAL DIRECTOR ELECTION NOMINATION FORM

r hereby nnn"\11·,•Yfn ............ -

.....- · - , -..,,- .. _,............................... _ .. - ........-·-"··-- ............................- ..............- ..- ...... - ............

as a candidate for Regional

Director for Region If:._ .................................. .. I understand that his/her name will be placed on the Official Ballot for the 1998 Regional Director Election if three nominations arc received by August 20, 1998.

FIVE-D_ The USHGA Safe Pilot Award Program recognizes pilots who complete a certain number ofhang gliding or paragliding flights without any injury. The program has eight levels ofawards depending on the number ofconsecutive safe flights, ranging from a Bronze Award for 100 flights up to a Fifth Diamond for 5,000 flights. Applying for one ofthese awards is straightforward-just get an application form from the USHGA office, fill it out and have three other pilots who

OND The decision whether or not to fly is the big one, and probably the hardest to make wisely. Once in the air one is generally alone, so peer pressure fades. On the other hand, prior to takeoff one usually has buddies around, and whether it's showing off, establishing a pecking order or simply being accepted by sheepishly following along, rhe decision to fly is crucial and sometimes difficult. During competition, however, rhe general awareness of your flight progress by the rest of the gang (and the wo rld) makes in-flight decisions often as difficult and potentially dangerous as launch decisions.

fly with you regularly sign it as witnesses, and send it on to your Q3. Tell us about one ofthe most important times you chose not to fly that kept you safe and why.

Regional Director.

s of this writing there are only two pilots in the U.S. who have been awarded the Fifth Diamond for completing more than 5,000 consecutive safe flights. They are Rob McKenzie in Southern California and Ken Hudonjorgensen. I asked each of them to share some thoughts about their approach to flying safely.

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH ROB MCKENZIE QI. How and why do you think you have been able to fly safely and receive this award? I saw a poster once with an airplane stuck in the middle of the only tree in a large field. The caption read something like, "Aviation isn't inherently dangerous, it is unforgiving of neglect or carelessness." I used to chink this was true, bur eventually came to the opposite conclusion. Aviation is actually inherendy quire dangerous, but it's amazing how often pilots get into trouble and walk away from ic, so it's also qwce forgiving of mistakes. So, to answer yo ur question, the best three-word answer would be "I am lucky. " In addition, it's obvious chat I needed to make a lot of flights, and I increased che odds of being safe by flying within my limits as much as possible.

Q2. i n your opinion, what are some ofthe most important decisions a pilot can make to stay safe?

Last week three ocher pilots (two of whom had about 2,500 hours each and one who had about 40 hours) and I hurried putting our wings together as fog seeded to launch height, and below. We ran our wings down to the launch slope at Marshall. I was second in line. The front guy launched and dove parallel to the slope, as there was about a 100-foot layer of visibility next to the surface under the fog, which was now about 300 feet below launch , but it was hard to be sure. The first guy disappeared as his glider pulled away from the terrain. I was about to fly a higher-performance wing, which would make it more difficult to maintain the cwoto-one glide for what was now potentially a 500-fooc vertical drop required to stay below the fog. As I peered down the launch I felt the awful pressure to launch because of economic considerations (rest-flying for Wills) and peer pressure. I thought about the 40-hour pilot standing fourth in line, and what his decision might be should the three pilots ahead of him launch. I peered intently into che abyss for 20 minutes. A local pilot who was observing all chis kept muttering something about me being crazy. I didn't talce offense at this, but racl1er enjoyed some brief amusement at his lack of understanding abo ut why I hadn 't launched ye r. As I again focused my attention on the decision at hand I thought about how real ly great flying HANG GLIDING

PILOTS

by Steve Roti

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH KEN H U DONJORGENSEN

QI. How and why do you think you have been able to fly safely and receive this award? I must have built up some good karma in a past life because I definitely made some unsafe decisions during my early days in this sport, but I became more conservative with each borderline experience. I also tend to chink fairly clearly during an emergency. An example of chis occurred when I was taking my third day of lessons in North Boulder, Colorado and flew into my first thermal. My wing went into a spin. My thought was, "I don't know what I'm doing, and chis wing knows how to fly better than I do at chis point," so I put my hands up and let it do its "thing." le just happened to be the right thing to do, and 20 feet off the ground it pulled out and I flew out and had a soft landing in the LZ. Both of my instructors were surprised and relieved to see me standing up and alive in the landing area.

Q2. In your opinion, what are some ofthe most important decisions a pilot can make to stay safe? I look for reasons not to fly. It's easy to find many reasons why I want to fly and all too easy to ignore any danger or warning signs. is. I pondered the fact that life is seasoned with the tough decisions we make. Finally, I carried my glider back to the truck. If I had to do it all over again I'd make the same decision.

Q5. What are two ofthe most important things a pilot should consider when it comes to safety while progressing in this sport?

conditions look terrible as we drive up the hill. I don't really know what they fear. Are they afraid they won' t make the right decision or are they afraid of what might happen if they were in the air in chose conditions? If it's the laccer, they either have vivid imaginations or don't realize that they are in total control of the situation. If it's the former, there is hope, because with tiine they will develop confidence chat they can make go/no-go launch decisions wisely, one at a time, on their own. Remember, the odds of being hurt or killed as a result of flying are zero when just standing on launch with yo ur equipment. The decision to hook in and launch is everything. Treat it with respect.

Try to relax when embarking on a flying day, because you will benefit from the clariry of thought that a calm disposition nurtures. Even when conditions look terrible as yo u drive to launch, don't sweat it. Relax. Enjoy the day. I often see pilots sweating bullets when

Bio: Rob McKenzie has been flying since 1974. H e has accumulated 15,000 flights in 5,000 flying days for a total of5,100 hours - 3,500 ofthose flights are paragliding.for a total of850 paragliding hours. Rob notes: "No injuries yet, but tomon·ow is another day. " See Rob's Web site at http://www. eee. orglbus/high_adventurel

Q4. Describe one ofyour most memorable flights. It was the first time my feet left the ground, being supported by a hang glider. It was a low, short and slow flight but I wasn 't a vir-

JULY 1998

Q3. Tell us about one ofthe most important times you chose not to fly that kept you safe and why? Frisco Peak in cenual U tah, 1995. & I looked up I noticed three things that sent warning signals to my brain - some pretry dark overdevelopment about 10 miles south-

west of us, early and fast development directly over us, and some great cycles coming srraighr up the mountain. Ir was all coming together a little too fast and too "good" for my personal comfort level. I said to my X-C buddy, "Ir's too big for me, I'm nor flying. " He sriJI wan ted to go and asked ifl would drive for him . He launched and promptly gained over 8,000 feer. Fo rty minutes later he got sucked up into a towering cumulus in 2,200 foot-per-minute lift. He arremp red to stay out wi th B-line stalls and spiral dives, yet still went up. He evencually managed to fly our the side of it and 20 minutes later got caught in a gust front 200 feet over my car on the highway where I clocked him going 70 miles per hour. Our-flying the front, he turned into the wind and landed going backwards at a walk. The front reached him seconds later! He is a great guy. I love flying with him and we both relea rned a good lesson that day. No flight is wortl1 putting one's life in danger. We regularly get 1,200- to 1,600-fpm lift at this sire and it doesn't rake much of a change in conditions for it to build greater than that, and for us to get in over our heads. All sires deserve a great deal of respecr. Sires like chis one deserve extra attention.

Q4. Describe one ofyour most memorable flights?

I have experienced many memorable flights, but the first one I think of occurred during the summer of'97, about 20 miles from my home in Sandy, Utah at the Snowbird Ski Resorr. I had just fl own from Snowbird a few days earlier and landed in my backyard, so I was eager to fly the weak high-pressure system that still prevailed to see if other adventures could be had in such conditions. That day I was able to get to cloudbase at 16,200 feet on my second thermal of the day. The view of the Wasatch range is rather spectacular from tl1ar vantage poinr. T he beautiful sunny day with small to moderate cumulus clouds made the close-up view of these clouds fri endly and stunningly awesome! The cloudbase over Park City, a few miles away, was at 13,900 feet, therefore I was able to fly above some of the clouds for a while. The top of the clouds as they rolled and reshaped themselves created an otherworldly view I will always remember. Flying up to the cloud world at cloudbase helps me to temporarily remove myself from rerra firma. This is o ne of the parts of this sport I enjoy tl1e most.

Q5. What are two ofthe most important things a pilot should consider when it comes to safety while progressing in this sport? First of all, rake your rime with yo ur progression in rhe sport and with yo ur fly/ no-fl y decisions. If yo u decide to bag it there will be

another day to fly. lf you decide to fly when it is questionable for you, it may be yo ur last flight either because of injury or the fact that you scared yo urself out of rhe sporr. Second, gee good instruction at each level of yo ur progression. Mose of the accidents I have heard about or witnessed were caused by igno ring good instruction, poor instruction, or no instruction all (l ike rhe rash of hang glider pilots who were injured a few years ago on paragliders because they felt char rhey did nor need any instruction). The most dangerous years in hang gliding and paragliding were rhe early years, when no one knew what tl1e boundaries of the sports were. Now we know some of chose limits. Take adva ntage of thar hard-earned knowledge. Yo u may be able to ger cheaper and more minimal instruction, bur it's nor wo rth reliving those dangerous earl y years. As an exan1ple, I spoke with rwo pilots last fall who had just gone to Mexico for a thermal clinic because it was "cheap." When they got there, the guide rook the group to the site, pointed, and sa id, "There's thermals out there, go gee 'em." T har was the "di11ic." People have give n their lives while learning some of the limi ts in this sport; you don 't need to pur yours in jeopardy to releasn tl1e same lessons. I'd like to add a third. Don't be too anxious to ger on an advanced or co mpetition wing. T hey are not fo r everyone. Some people tl1ink rhe way to progress and improve their flying abi li ty is to get a higher-performing wing. This is a safety judgm ent error. One should be aweso me ar kiting, maneuvers, thermaling and X-C before changing to a more advanced wing. I'm srill not ready for one and probably never will be.

Bio: Ken Hudonjorgensen made his first flights in New Zealand in 1989 and now has over 7,000 flights and 1,400 hours ofairtime in paragliders. He received the Fifth Diamond Safe Pilot Award (5,000 safe consecutive flights, our highest safety award) in January of '5)6, and as ofthis writing is still the onlJ paragliderpilot to receive it. Ken held the Utah X-C record for two years, has been awarded the Utah Cup X-C Award twice, is Master rated, the senior instructor in Utah, a Tandem and Instructor Administrator and a USH GA Examiner. He is responsible for getting a paragliding program started at Snowbird Ski Resort and a tandem program implemented at Teton Village in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He has also pioneered many Utah paragliding sites. Ken feels that his most significant achievement in paragliding is the Fifth Diamond Safe Pilot Award. •

H ANG GLIDING

a new card to be generated will carry a fox~

Elaine at emclgarr(!Jlushga.org or call it in

of $1

at (719) 632,8:300.

As an example, if a member sends in a new rating application with two new skills, the foe for that work is $15 rem!. Only one card has to be generated, even though the member lws earned three new designations on that card. The impc-· ms for this decision is the increasing cost of doing business in every focct of office operations. The rationale frir the decision is nmching the cost of the work generated in rhc oHlcc to those members requesting the work, rather rhan considering an over-all dues increase which affects the entire mcmbersliip.

THIS ISSUE OF HANG GLJl)JNG c have discussed for some time that we wanted to include f 'rli011ft1d;rne m G!idi ng magazrnc. The Publications Commirrcc pm a stake in the gro11nd at the last l\0;1rd of Directors meeting and recommended to the Board that we produce the issue J\SJ\P. The BOD We will use this issue to evaluate the idea oC including !}m2f!,lidin,R in pcrm;memly, Crom both a member-input perspective and a cost/hen'" efo comparison. We arc also soliciting our advertiser's opinions. J\11 of this is an attempt to provide an even better ancl more t imcly publication to the member· ship. We hope you enjoy the clfon.

NEW FEES I:OR RATINGS AND SPECIAL SKILLS A new foe structure l1as been approved by the Board of' Directors for processing rat· ings and special skills. The effective date for the new fees is August 1, I 998. The amount charged for all ratings and special skills has been changed to $15. The rcabchind this decision is to balance the member's request with the necessary work generated by rhat request. The crite-· rion for the foe is the generation of a new membership card. In other words, any request received by the offlce that requires )UIY 199B

POSTAI. RATES GOING UP The Unircd Stares Posral Service (USPS) has proposed increasing rhc postage ra1es for nonprofit Standard I\ mail (formerly known as third class) by as much as I 8%1. The average proposed rate increase for all classes is only IJ.5%J. This means that most nonprofo organi,,ations, such as the US HCA, will sec their overall postage costs rise ahcmt 15CYri- 18<YrJ. The USPS is arg11ing that the direct costs of handling and processing nonprofit mail have exploded over the last two years. This rate proposal comes even as rhc USPS is going through its fcmrth straight year of record profits. The USPS has already shown over a billion in proflts this year, according to the Alliance Report published by the Alliance ofNonproflt Mailers. What this means fell' USIICJ\ is a signiflcam increase in postage costs, possibly beginning as car· ly as July of' this year. The effective date has not been established yet. For budget· ing purposes, USHCJ\ will be increasing its postage expense figure hy an additional $5,000 for 1998 and $10,000 for 1999.

ADVERTISING ON THE USHGA WEB SJTE The US HCA has taken the next step in rhc evolution of its Web site by offering advertising to its members. By the rime this issue is in your hands, we will be acc:cp,nr1g cbssificd advertising for the US[ !CJ\ Wch site. T'his means that your ad can be exposed as soon as you call or send it in. The charge is $1 per word. Your ad will remain on the Web page for four weeks unless you notily the office that your itcm(s) have heen sold. Contact

USHGA IS STARTING A PORMAL ENDOWMENT PROGRAM The US HCA has frir several had a h>undation in existence bm not pur it to its best possible use. That use is 10 set up frmnal mechanisms through which members can make donations to the Association and receive personal or estate tax benefits as a result. Wi1h rhc help of Evc:rcn we arc using an investmcnr manager to help us set up an endow ment fimd through the United States Hang Gliding foundation, Inc. The USHGI; will begin sending direct-mail letters to the USHCA membership with information explaining whar we arc doing and how you cm bcncflt 1hrough taxexempt donations. Additionally, we will be running articles in Hang Paragliding magazines r-rom time to time 011 di/forctH asr>ccts ofthis program. The USHCA Web page will also be a somcc of complete information in rhc near finme. When yon receive information, take the rime to review it. The endowment program is a benefit to you and a lasting contribution to your spon. NEW APPAREL UNE BE.INC Ff NA LI ZED A new USH(;J\ apparel line is being finalized fcir immediate release. This offering is being planned :ifi:cr looking at the sales trends for the past four years in terms of whai- the members want and arc purcliasing. New. rshirt designs by new designers, as well as new embroidered items will he included. Watch /1:ir them in upcoming JSSllCS.

REGION 8 MEETING USHCJ\ Region 8 (Maine, New Ifampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut) held its 20th annual regional meeting in March. According to Region 8 Director, Randy /\dams, the purpose of' our rnccting is lo share ideas, to keep the local clubs and pilots in touch with oneanother and to share informarion abom club gets a chance to talk sites. ,1hout their sirnation and the sites they control. Over the years this has been a great way ro work out prohlcms across the

Region and for people to voice their opinions. I was able to attend this meeting and found it to he very productive and certainly worth the effon to organize. It would he good for all Regions to give serious thought to getting their members together, even if it is on an every-other-year basis.

SURVEY CARD INCLUDED IN Tl US ISSlJE For purposes of soliciting your input and opinions on this issue of Hang Gliding we: have inserted a poswge-paid smvey card for your convenience. Please take the rime to fll] it out and drop it in the mail (it's postage paid). Space was left on the card for you to write in your additional corn-ments as well. You can also send us an e-mail (ushga<£7lushga.org), letter (EO. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901) or fax (719--632.-641 Every comment received will go into a file to be swnmarized and reported to the Board of Dirccrors at their next meeting in November.

NEXT USHGA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Planning ir)r the next annual membership meeting in Knoxville, 'Tennessee is well underway. following the very encouraging response from tbose who attended our first meeting in Portland this year, we are

For pwposes of soliciting your input on this

and

the time II

devoting a considerable amount of time

and energy to making the Kuoxville meeting an event to remember. The idea of having an annual event for USHGA mcmhers has been discussed for many years. Working with the President of the Soaring Society of America, Larry Sanderson, we arc evolving what appears to be a very effective model for such a pro-gram. SSA, the sailplane folks, have been putting on an annual convention for 26 years. This year, in Portland, the USJ-IGA piggy-backed on their convention and held a national membership meeting which included workshop presentations by scvCL'al different speakers, vendor displays

in rhe exhibit hall, a general membership meeting and great comradery. Using this experience as our baseline, we will expand tbc l<noxvillc event considerably. The SSA is so pleased with the concept that they have expanded their facilities commitment. For st;irtcrs, the exhibit hall ;is compared to will he 69,000 sq. 29,000 in Portland. This will :1llow us to bring in many more equipment vendors. We arc planning an expanded workshop schedule with adclirional speakers, a gener;:i[ membership meeting with a full agenda, and, in a show support, the USI-IGA Board of Directors voted to hold the 1999 spring meeting in conjunction with the Knoxville event. The United States Ultralight Association, the Balloon Federation of America and the National Aeronautic Association will also be participating. On Saturday, February 27, 1999, the general public will be invited to attend the National Air Sports Expo in rhc exhibit hall. A full promotional program is in rhc works with media coverage and live radio broadcasts. Mark your c1lcndars now and plan to auend the second annual USHGA National Membership Meeting, February 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Watch for additional information in upcoming issues the magazines. 11111

HANC GUDINC

fly. Do other pilots know where the car arc? Which car has rhc rope? Do the 11011 pilots you brought know nor ro get excited if you land in a tree? Arc you ready to help yourself' down? What if you lose radio conract1 This is what I consider the minimum list of items for 1rcc res· cue. Add ro it as you arc able. Some harnesses now have pockets MUI\JI Ef{ large enough to carry al R .l\DY ro GO least I 00 fccr of 6··nm1 rope, suitable for descent using a Munter hitch (if you have practiced).

Continued.from page 3R. Reachable while sining in your harness: landing. Other tree-landing scenarios can be imagined, hur hy having ccr1,1in itcrns within reach, you can assist your own rescue. ff you can carry a dcsccn t rope ( I 00 or more kcr of 6-·mm Pcrlon) in your harness and can reach it, you can get out ofa rrcc with no help at all, letting all your friends continue 10 fly. If you don't at least: carry the minimum gear then rnorc of your friends will have ro forego flying in order ro rescue you. Wid1 the minimum gear you only need one person on the gro1md with a descclll rope ready frir yom small diam· crer "haul" line. Rig it up, and down you come, to the ,tmazcment of tl1e rescue people who were planning ro nm ladders up ro your lines and crn rhcm. A note for the ground crew: Tf you arc set· a belay frlr the descending pilot, nm a loop of cord around a tree and clip a carabincr to ir. Rig a Munter hitch at that point if you think you will have trouble holding the descending weight. Sometimes a simple wrap aro1md a tree or your body provides enough friction. The minimum gear is nm expensive, and anyone who flies near trees should carry it, practice the Munter hircl1, and have a rescue rope in the car ofat b1sr one person at the sire. The rescue rope can be 6- to 11 ··mm climbing rope. ensure that one is alw,1ys available ro you, pur one in your car and don't fly alone, and don't fly without a radio and reachable spare batteries. Tell someone where your arc (not in your pocket).' l'alking on the radio rn tell others where you arc can drain batteries fast. ( ;o over "what.if" situations before you

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l) Radio and spare batteries 2) Whistle 3) Eight-foor nylon loop 4) Two car.1bincrs, one locking 6) Nylon loop, abour 1()" across, tied with double iisherm:m' s knot, to USC between the harness 'bincrs and rhc Munter 'bincr 7) I 00 kcr, or more, of small-diameter line ro haul up a res cue rope (something is bcncr d1an nothing, so I won't say don't carry fishing line, floss, or waxed hm 1-mm

be on a reel to keep it from tangling. A plastic spool from an old coil of solder works well. Or, just gcr a roll of Mason's line, spooled and ready ro go. 8) Multi-tool with blade and pliers (10 loosen quick-links if necessary) 9) Knowledge of the Munter hitch, or

some other rappel device that works with 6to 11 ·mm rope.

111 rhc car, available for rescue work: I) l l -mm or 6-·mm rescue rope 2) Rock .. clirnbing harness, spare 'hincrs, rope ascenders (J urnar, Clog, prusik loops, 3) Nylon loops for belay anchors around trees, in trees while climbing up to get glider ii) Hand saw (could be carried in glider pock· We don'rwa11r to cut or lwrm rrccs bur sometimes it is necessary ro iakc a Few branches. l.\e sur(' to nor display your elforts needlessly.

Wirh good sense most 1rce landings cm be no problem. There will be situarions that don'1 fo the scenario I have described, hut if you arc prepared with this minimum amount of gear you will not be a burden to your buddies. 'I 'he rappel is one of' rhc most dangerous pnlcc:du1rcs in climbing. Any rappel method must he practiced so rhat you can set ir up with your eyes dosed. Now, about getting your trees ...

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by WMeadows e'rc either on the brink of something good or something bad. 'i;/../c all have our opinions about what is best fr1r our sports, and most of us have good reason for our opinions. What you hold in your hands is a trial issue of Hang Gliding including Paragliding. .As I write this, I don't know exactly what it looks like, but [ do know the criteria we established for this maga· zinc, so it should be a nice publication. 1t represents two flying disciplines and the members from those disciplines who make up our organization. On the one band, there are the hang glider pilors for whom this organization was originally created. These rncmbers might wonder why we would want ro change the magazine. 'There's no real per· ceived value to this, and it won't neccs· sarily give us any more information about the sport of hang gliding. This change (at least on the surface) might appear not to offer much to the hang gliding members of the USHGA. On the other hand, there are our paragliding members. These pilots have only been involved in the USHGA for a few years, and in the eyes of many tra&· rional hang glider pilots their aircraft arc not even hang gliders (FAT definitions aside). Paraglidcrs don't set up like hang gliders, they don't even really fly like hang gliders, they are much slower, take up more volume of air while they're fly. ing, and their pilots have a reputation for

dressing fonny. However, wirh more carcfol consideration there are many sim-· ilaritics, the main one being that they launch like hang gliders and therefore: fly at the same sites. This in itself is enough justification for paraglidcr pilots to be included in rhc USIIGA. Because paraglider pilots represent only about a third of om total member· ship, a monthly paragliding magazine is not financially justifiable. For those who kivcn'r been keeping up with us11c;A's finances, neiLhcr of our publications is self.sustaining. They both rely on some of your dues to pay For them, and this precludes the publication of a monthly paragliding magazine . .As a result, our paragliding members only get a magazine every other month, but their dues arc the same as hang gliding member dues. This may not seem foir, but it is a /in;rncial reality. So, here we ;m: with a ITial issue of a combined publication in order ro get your input, to see what you think abour the format and conten1, and if it's some" thing we should comirrne doing. This won't be forced down the throats of our members, but there arc rnany things 10 consider. The only way we could get a grip on how much it would cost 10 pro· duce one magaz.inc per month, instead of 1 smaller magazines per month, was to do it and sec. Economy of scale that overall printing costs must be but rhcrc arc advertisers

who advenise in both Clliding and Paragliding magazines who won'r be doing that in a combined issue, so loss of revenue has to he figured in. We will also be printing and shipping a lot rnorc paper than we are now. Thus, rhis trial issue will perform several functions. It will allow us to get a grip on the cost factor, and allow you to see what may be the future of your mag· azine so you can offer feedback to the office and the Regional Directors. So, consider this magazine carefully and us your opinion about the con·· tent. I imagine that very few paragliding members arc going to have a problem with it, because they will be receiving a monthly instead of bimonthly magazine. The hang gliding membership will surely offor the most critical feedback. f just hope you'll consider rhis foirly and equitably, and make a decision based on what is best for everyone, rather than simply resist change. Either way, it is important rhat we hear from you. /\s you've probably read in a recent issue of this magazine, the USH GI\ is considering a narnc change. Because the fastest··growing scgmcnr of· our organization is paragliding, there's been much talk (not only From paraglidcr pilots) rhat our /\ssociation's name should reflect the disciplines it encompasses. With that in mind, I've created a committee ro smdy whether this is an equitable undertaking. Headed up hy Gene Manhcws, this committee will he asking the members (as I'm doing here) to offer their input as ro whether ,I name change is in order. If the membership feels that it's time lo do this, we will continue to solicit name suggestions, and I foresee (if we get to this point) a vote during one of our yearly surveys or membership meet· ings (or in some other fashion) ro deter-· mine the new name. This may still be a year or so away, but taking the time to do this right is the only way to do ir. Pb1se express your opinion to the lJSH CJ\ or your Regional Director. safely and have a great summer. Ill

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plicated set of basic controls, the requirement for \ realiy pay attention to bank angle. A common more disciplined approaches, and greater atten- j mistake made by new hang pilots, when it tion on landing. In addition, there is the obvious \ comes to controlling heading, is looking only at where they want tl1e glider to go. They then increase in equipment hassles. roll the glider too much, and by the rime they are on the desired heading they are still banked EQUIPMENT HASSLES and overshoot. This results in an entertaining Get a rack for your car! This is a one-time effort and the rack can be anything from a ladder teth- S-shaped flight path. T he trick is to start rolling level well before yo u are pointed where you ered to the rooftop to a nice $400 removable want to go. You'll get used to it, and after a affair. Storage is an important consideration. while you will find yourself easily changing to The 20-foot length can make it a hassle if you and holding your new heading. live in an apartment. The weight may not be With che built-in neutral tendency of a that great, since there are nice wings chat weigh in at 50 pounds these days. This makes the rota! hang glider to continue turning, be aware chat a thermal under one wing will put yo u into a gear weight about 80 pounds for hang gliding as rurn that cakes rime to correct fo r. T his can compared ro 35 pounds for paragliding. If yo u result in an undesired change of heading. It travel frequently by plane to visit other flying should be common sense tl1at you will need sites you will likely find that hang gliding is not more ground clearance when hang gliding. No fo r you. The breakdown length of a hang glider by Rob McKenzie more ridge passes with your wi ng tip five feet can be up to 13 feet, which is still a hassle, espefrom the hill. Also, think about flying in a cially if you are renting a car without a rack. crowd. lf yo u think you will be floating 50 feet To assist pilots in embracing of our two beautiaway from your buddy in rough air, tl1ink ful forms of flight, I have put together a summa- LAUNCHING ry of some points to consider and what you Launching a hang glider is utter joy compared to i again. Gee used ro much greater separation. might encounter should you decide to become launching a para.glider - no complicated j How many times have you been really close to a ground-handling hassles. The balancing act of j hang glider when flying your paraglider in biwingual. What follows is a pair of articles, keeping yo ur wings level and the nose at the cor- j bumpy air? If he got upset about you flying too geared in two directions. You might not only rectangle of attack isn't trivial, but it is much ( close, now you know why. find transitioning to "the other side" interesting, Hang gliding in crowded conditions has easier than ground handling a paraglider, espe- ) you might be intrigued to learn about the cially if we're talking about mildly gusry condi- j some advan tages and disadvantages over process from the other guy's perspective. paragliding. Even though the less-precise direcc1ons. tional conttol and sudden directional wanderLEARNING TO HANG GLIDE CONTROL ings caused by bw11py air will make it rough to !though my first flight language is hang get as close as you are used to in your pa.raglidgliding, and becoming biwingual meant A hang glider's in-flight basic control is definiteer, there is an advantage. You now have the abilly more involved tl1a11 that of a paraglider. I'm learning to paraglide, having been ity to dive. Use chis to your benefit. Let's say talking here about control in smooth air, for as around hang gliding for some 24 years and with a good 800+ hour exposure to paragliding, I feel you well know, as the air gets increasingly turbu- you want to join someone circling in a thermal, lent a paraglider goes from easy to fly, to diffiand as you get closer ir looks as though they I can appreciate the reverse process. It has been will be on the same side of the circle as you cult, to downright dangerous. In smooth air the with great pleasure that I have taught many when yo u ger there. During the last IO seconds paraglider pilots to hang glide. The general com- j basic difference is that you must carefully monias you approach the thermal you can dive. This mon sense learned from paragliding has usually j tor both airspeed and direction. may provide some vertical separation between made the transition easy. Only one student has ) Ai rspeed control is actually not too tough. If you and the pilot already in the thermal, but switched sports (given up paragliding); the rest j you listen to your instructor he will drill into more importamly, you will arrive sooner (with have continued to enjoy the benefits of both 1 you the importance of trim and a light touch. A the pilot on the opposite side of tl1e thermal) forms of aviation. hang glider should be trimmed (with the hang and can easily bleed off the speed you took on, loop position) so chat if you don't tense up on I don't mean to imply that paragliding climbing back up to his height. You will now involves a high level of risk or uncertainry, but the bar the glider will fly by itself at a slow (but one of the comments I've often heard from my faster-than-stall) airspeed. be positioned safely 180 degrees from the other "para to hang" students is that they feel an extra You are probably used to referring to turning guy, and he won't be forced to change his flight level of security when hang gliding. This primar- j yo ur paraglider. You know it rolls when it turns, path. Using this technique you may quickly ily concerns the sometimes-sudden midday ther- j but you still turn it. With a hang glider, reverse develop a reputation as a pilot who is a pleasure to thermal with. ma! activity and strong winds chat can develop j the emphasis. You will now roll your glider, and at our local site. Instead of wondering whether a j when you roll it, it will turn. I urge yo u to think 15-mph wind might increase to 25, blowing you j this way because of the following. Unlike a . LANDING APPROACHES over the mountain, you can rest assured that j paraglider which will level off when you lee go or ) Landing approaches when hang gliding require even in bumpy air and 25- or even 30-mph \ equalize yo ur brake position, a hang glider will ( more discipline than when paragliding. You'll · have less glide-slope control and a fl atter glide, winds you can still penetrate to the LZ. This ) stay banked in a turn when you center your benefit, however, is not without tradeoffs. and will be malci ng wider turns. Instead of \ weight. Heading control is still important as it is The tradeoffs include a generaliy more com- l in paragliding, but when hang gliding you must approaching the LZ with a "wiggly" flight path pho(o by Gerry Charlebois

Becoming Biwingual

H ANG GLIDING

at 15 mph, and the ability to change your LID from 7: 1 co 3: I (with brakes, big ears, etc.), yo u will now be carving cums at abom 25 co 35 mph with glide slopes of usually 7: 1 to perhaps 12:1 , depending on your wi ng. One basic difference between paras and hangs is chat a paraglider pilot controls glide with airspeed changes on the slow side of best glide on the polar curve, and a hang glider pilot controls glide slope with speed changes on the fast side of best glide. If you don't know about polar curves, look chem up; you will find it informative. (Note: In vety strong smface winds a hang glider pilot can conad glide on the slow side ofbesc glide, but only down co about 100 feet AGL where extra speed is an absolme must.) Ac a given bank angle the size of your circle (the diameter) is proportional to the square of the speed, which means chat a hang glider at 30 mph is making a circle four ti.mes as big as a paraglider doing 15 mph. Most sites have a recommended approach pauern. Pay attention co yam instructor and try the recommended pattern before yo u gee creative. Your ability to be creative (having a Plan B) is one of the benefits you will bring to hang gliding from paragliding. J use be carefuJ about nying tight, quick cums near the ground. Speed is safery. You are probably aware of the relationship between collapses in a paraglider and flying too fast (off brakes and speed bar) . In general it is safest in a paraglider to fly fairly slowly, say ac 50% brake height. There is lime added danger associated with flying fast in a hang glider. Notice the high-speed hang glider approaches at your local sire. This is nor meanr to create an extra thrill, but simply to make landing safer. Adding 10 mph to the 20 mph stall speed - chat is, flying at 30 mph - is a £-tidy common speed to fly on approach. Your instructor may start you out at a 25-mph approach speed and work yo u up to 30. Flying at excessive speeds like 40 or 50 or more can lead to problems when it comes to roll comrol, since it is easy to sec up an oscillation in roll, so listen co your instructor. He'll know the best speed to fly for your particuJar sicuation. Another flying speed consideration is the rare buc dangerous cwnble. Ic is possible for a hang glider to flip over either in roll or pirch. This is very rare, and although I don't have exact data, I wouJd guess chat there are a couple or more non-aerobatic-induced tumbles per year in the U.S . (Attempting aerobatics is really asking for trouble.) Thar means chat once every l,000 years or so you are likely co tw11ble. This mal<es the odds of tumbling about the same as getting killed while flying, and the odds of being killed while flying are much less than d1e odds JULY 1998

of dying of old age. Tumbles actually rarely cause fatalities but ofren require reserve deploymem. Flying very slowly in curbuJence and letting the nose pirch up in gusts is asking for a rumble. Flying with an extra margin of speed in rough air is smart. Ask your instructor about controlling the three A's: Airspeed, Artirude and Angle of attack. T hey are differe m from each ocher bm highly interrelated. LANDING HARE You have probably seen some rather hard nose-ins (whacks) and some very prerry landings. ore char ir's often the same pilots doing the repeated whaci<s, and the same pilots consistently landing well. This shouJd cell you somed1ing. There is a high degree of predicrabiliry here - ir isn't a crap shoot. The good /,anders are doing certain things right. Those things include airspeed awareness, height judgmem and maintaining level wings. T he number one landing him is: practice, practice, practice. CLOSING COMMENTS A biwingual scudem of mine once rold me char if a paraglider is a humming bird, a hang glider is an eagle. LEARNING To PARAGLIDE o here you are, capable of driving around at 40 mph in your hang glider, carving turns, shooting long, flat, rough ap proaches, and sensing when ir's just the right time for chat elusive landing flare. You are d1inking char learning ro fly a paraglider will be easy compared to learning to hang glide. Well, mostly correct. Ir is true char a paraglider appears to be simple craft wid1 an almost one-dimensional set of controls, but it is really a Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde kind of flying machine. When flown with molasses-like movements of the brakes in very smood1 sled-run conditions ir is truly a magically simple and easily flown aircraft. Bue get extreme or abrupt with the brakes, or fly in gusry conditions, and it not only will become jusr about the hardest aircraft to fly, it can become sport dearh.

SETUP, PREFLIGHT AND LAUNCH You will have ro put in the customa1y 20 hours of ground-handling practice so as not to look like a total geek on law1eh. Your instructor will show yo u some of the 500 or so tricks required

co master the arr of ground handling. You might even invent a few cricks of your own. Tf you think of ground handling as something akin co juggling you will be on the right crack. Think of inflation as "setting up" your glider. Then follows kiting the wing overhead for a few seconds while you do yo ur "preflight." In no wind you will be preflighting while taxiing (running). Soon after, or maybe even minutes lacer, comes the "launch." Inflating on a steep hill where you are immediately committed ro launching wouJd be like asking a manger to set up your hang glider and then launching ir without doing a preflight. This means char a well-rounded launch site with a shallow upper area in which co inflate (wid1 no chance of accidenrally lalll1ching) and a steeper area in which to launch is ideal. Sharp-edged cliff launches are terrible. I remember asking Matt Taber at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee if I could fly my paraglider there during a road uip in 1993. I understand chat he usual ly says no, but knowing my cautious nature, and perhaps to hwnor me, he said okay with a grin . After walking about a half mile back and ford1 along the ridge near the famous Lookout launch ramp, I returned to reLI Matt chat there wasn't a safe launch area for a paraglider and that I would have to hang glide. He said, "I couJd have told you char (still grinning)." TURNING A delightful surprise awaits you. My first flight in a paraglider was on a 200-foor training hill in Santa Barbara, California. As soon as I was about 50 feet AGL I pulled a brake about halfway down to initiate a rum . After the turn was initiated I went co rrim (hands up) co al low the wing to remain at chat bank angle like I would in a hang glider. Bue as soon as I raised the bral<e the wing leveled off. "Hmmm ... I ger it!" I tl1oughc to myself, "You gotta hold me brake down co continue turning." It's just like driving a car with

are in yo ur car and you hang a small weight on a 12-inch string from your rearview mirror. Whenever yo u accelerate, couch the brakes or make a turn, the weight starts swinging. This weight represents you hanging under your wing. Every brake change or bit of turbwence changes the direction or speed of the wing, and your momentum causes yo u to "pendware. " This "pendwarion" can be in both pitch and roll.

your hands on the wheel in the nine and three o'clock positions. Lower one hand a bit and raise th e other the same amount and, voila, you' re turning. Equal hand heights and you go strai ght. This makes first attempts at heading control a snap. LANDING APPROACHES AND FLARES The landing approach will likely mean instant success for yo u, although you might w1dershoot the first few rimes when the wind picks up above eight mph. An eight-mph headwind can reduce your glide to a dismal 3:1. T his means get to your landing area with plenty of altitude, even more than you are used to. Stay close to your target. Figure-eight approaches actually work much better than in a hang glider, especially when the wind is above five mph. The flare is going to be fun when co mpared to char of your hang glider and the anention level it requires. No more long glides near the gro und. Your

Many biwingual pilots fly at Rob's home site, Crestline, California. Photo by Mike Masterson. instructor will demonstrace a couple of landings for you and you will probably rake to it like a duck to water.

GETTING INTO THE SWING OF THINGS A paraglider becomes vastly more complex when you add the pendLtlum effect. Imagine th at you

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ROLL PENDULUMS Ir is easy to do exactly the wrong thing when deali ng with pendwwns in roll, especially if you are a han g glider pilot. Yes, as a hang glider pilot you are at a disadvantage in this regard when compared to the average non-pilot. Imagine launching yo ur hang glider and dropping one wing during the run. You are accustomed to running straight down the hill and applying full opposite roll until you feel that the wing is just about level, then you remrn to center. In a paraglider this course of action can be very exciting to say the least. Now let's try launching a paraglider. Imagine you are runnin g and about one second from launching when your paraglider is banked (rolled) 20 degrees to the right. Your reaction might be to run straight mead and steer strongly to the left. Ir is now one second later. You just law1ched and me wing is still banked to the right with you steering lefr. Just like pwling a pendulum to one side and letting it go, the natural pendulum stability of your body under tl1e wing will cause you to pendulate from the 20degree right bank to about IO-degrees left, but since you are steering hard left, the wing actually goes to a 25-degree left bank angle. About two or m ree seconds after yo u lift off you are shocked to find that you are now banked hard to the left, so you steer hard right. Now the wing is rolling hard right, both from the natural pendwum stability and from yo ur right braking. You are passing left under the wing as the wing is going to the right above you. Back and forth

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you chase it, to stop the rolL !fir's a 50foot hill you will probably do about three revers and slam into the ground quite banked. Ouch ... Pl}'. ·r'he correct way to deal with launching a paragl idcr is ro steer gently to make the go where you want ir to, and always nm to stay Running ftrsr in the desired direction will instantly bank the away from the change of course, leaving you either launchwith a large roll pendulum or resulting in the folling to the ground. So, the hot tom line here is, rhe reactions for la1mch roll control arc wrong for a paraglidcr. roll pendulums can lead ro problems, especially for hang glider pilots. to follow this calamity scenario. If you arc flying straight and level and abruptly lower a brake to a position that equates to a 20-dcgree bank, the reaction of rhe wing is to perhaps roll initially to ahom 30 then return to aholll I 5 then roll to degrees, and eventually dampen out at a hank angle. /\n unfortunate scenario that has repeated itself with many students ocrnrs the fost time t:hcy sum· mon rhc courage to do a quick 360 close to the hill. Perh;1ps they have done many J(iO's before, hut since they need to complete the .160 quickly of the proximity of the hill) they start the turn very abruptly with a deeper application of the brake than llst1al. For about three or four seconds the wing rolls into a beautiful 40-degree bank, turning very quickly. Life is great! However, afrcr carving a 180-clegrcc turn the wing docs its narnral pendulum thing, rolling almost level (ro ahom ;1 I 0-degrce hank angle) leaving the pilot Hying almost straight at the hill. As a hang glider pilot what do you do if your wing isn't rolling as a result of your input? If some isn'r enough, do morr. In a paraglider, however, adding more brake could cause the inside to reverse it:s flight direction "Stalls" below) pnning you into a negative spin. If you were to keep rhe brake position you srnrt· ed with, rl1e wing would likely do its two or three seconds of I 0-dcgrec hank, then pcndulatc again ro a 30- or 40-degrcc bank angle. IC this doesn't happen soon enough ro keep you from hiuing the hill you had better be good at PLFs. 'I 'he natural pendulum period of a paraglidcr is about hvc seconds for a complct-e pendulum (fore and ah or side to side). You will eventually learn to anticipate these swings and perhaps use rhcm to your advamage. Remember the abrupt 20-dcgrec bank that went initially to 30 as described at the beginning of' the paragraph above) Let's pretend that you really didwallt a 30 degree hank angle. By initiating abruptly to rhc 20-dcgrce brake position, then (just when it goes to 30 degrees) you add an JULY J 99/l

extra little bit to keep it at 30, you will have managed to roll from level to a 30--dcgree bank with little or no pcndulari011. Very cool! Now you arc gcrting into the swing of things.

PITCH PENDULUMS 'fhis is abom the biggest can of worms that paragliding has ro offer. Ir can lead ro blown hard landings and the all too·-foarcd wing collapse. Unlike roll pendulums, where it is probably best to let them dampen out /cir the most part, pitch pendulums need to be constantly moniton::d and controlled. Like a hang glider doing a series of stalls and a paraglider will do a similar series o/'linlc dives and pull-ups as the wing pcnclulates in pitch. Proper braking action will help dampen rhese pendulums. Obviously, as the wing goes behind you, let up on the brakes, and when it goes in from or you add brakes. This is where your experience as a hang glider pilot is a disadvantage. tr you arc upright in your with your hands on the down tubes and you get gusted with the glider's nose pointing at the sky, you arc trained ro pull in (down) on rhc downt ubes to get the nose hack down. If you do this with the brakes in a paraglidcr you will he doing exactly the wrong thing.

ANGLE OF ATTACK /\ND THE COLLAPSE Your angle of mrack is changing as you pcndulate. This leads to a 11e1y hig issue. A paragliclcr has a unique characteristic rhat is so different from other aircraft thar it makes a hang glider more similar ro a Cessna than a paraglider. You have no doubt heard of the collapse. There have been many articles writrcn about its camcs, etc., and they have mostly discussed pressure inside the wing. These descriptions of collapses arc totally wrong. [t may he true that there is some amount of internal wing pressure (which helps ro maintain the f'ullncss and efficiency of the airfoil) but the wing stays away from you and folly open causing the lines to remain straight ;llld under tension because of the aero-dynamic force. The force is a result or airspeed :md rmgle If you reduce the angle of arrack, the force reduces and changes its direction. ff the /\OA is reduced enough, rhc force reduces and changes irs direction such that the lifr component becomes negative. Ar this point the lines go slack can't push, they can only pull), and the wing collapses (folds downward). Usually most of the wing remains at a positive-lift angle or attack while only a section of one tip reduces ro the foldi11g angle of attack. This results in rhc asymmetric collapse we have so ofren heard about. 'I 'o reircrarc, maintaining a positive anr,le of

attctck is what the wing inflated overhead. "Pulling the brakes to pressurize rhc ts an abbreviated and misleading way of saying that by flying slower you have a steeper glide ratio and a higher relative angle of' a11ack, making it less likely that you will reduce any pan or your to rhc zero-·li fr angle of attack, thus reducing the chances of a wing fold (collapse). If someone tries ro tell you thaL hy keeping pressure inside the wing you prevent collapses, consider rhcir misunderstanding as proof that the term "pressurize" is misleading. With rhis concept understood it is easy to sec that applying your speed bar (low cring the leading edge) you increase the likelihood of a collapse, and that in normal circling flight the outer wing is more likely to collapse. Think angle of arrack. With the knowledge you now have about angle of attack and collapses you can easily figure out that a safe paraglidcr launch means riding the brakes quite deeply during the taxiing and rakeoff run, almost ro the point of' stalling. Then, as you start to li/i: ofL gradually raise the brakes w a mid speed level. It also should be obvious that you should sran your takeoff nm gr:iclually so as not to nm too for ahead of your wing, c:iusing a pitch pendulum. Your instructor will help you work on the an of launching. One final word about folds (collapses). Paragliders have roughly twice the wing area of a hang glider, so it's 110 hig deal to get a 5()1),b asymmetric fold. Just add a little opposite brake to maintain yom heading and you'll be gliding about like a skydiving

STALLS Briefly, unlike a hang glider that docs a normal stall recovery by lowering its nose all by itself; a paraglidcr, when flown slowly enough, will acmally very suddenly reverse flying direction, leaving you in a frcc-.fall on your back. It is the strong pendulum stability that keeps the wing from nosing down when you approach the onset of this "fiill srall." 'J'hereforc, there is no advance warning ofa foll stall. lfyou arc turning (with deep brakes) and only the inside wing enters this revcrsing,·direction mode, you ca n mm your wing into the equivalent of'an amo-rotating helicopter blade. This is known as a "negative spin." Your instructor should help you learn where too deep in the brakes is. Pay artemion. Middle brakes arc safest, high brakes can cause folds, and deep brakes can truly result in a living nightmare.

CLOSING COMMENTS !\s stated above, a paraglider can be an l!ltcrly fontasric flying machine. Be cautious about extreme or ahrnpr control movements. Keep it in relatively smooth air and you arc likely to really cnjoy this low-speed brother ofk111g gliding.

ti here is much to discuss rhis month. Virsr, we have been invcs" tigating landings for rhc last two months and lessons that sprillg foJm last accident data. Let's continue rhat process f<ir anorhcr momh and examine several more incidents with a common theme. • An experienced pilot was flying anorher pilot's glider. He mmmtain-" launched with rhe wind coming over the hack and blowing clown. He was sinking quickly on the glide toward but the primary landing zone (I bypassed an ,iltcrn:11c LZ. Alri111dc dwindled rapidly as the pilot continued pursuit of the l .Z and ignored two other landing options. He hit a tree crashing short of the I.Z but miraculously was uninjured. • A pilot launched in gentle morning conditions alld soared a shon while. The wind direction switched and picked up over the back, flushing gliders from the ridge. The resulting sink made the primary [ Z unobtainable, and the pilot followed another glider to the al rem ate I .z. Because of the wind over the back, the wind direction in the LZ was opposite of the typical direction. In spire of the windsock and landing pattern of a previous pilot, the pilot executed a downwind landing in l 0-15 mph tailwinds and crashed. Injuries were not scnous. A new Tntermcdiatc pilot safely launched from the mountain in gen· crally crosswind conditions. The LZ is located upwind oflaunch. The pilot turned and drifred downwind scratcl1ing for lifr and started sinking out. He eventually recognized the situarion and turned toward rhc l .Z which was clearly unobrninablc. I le proceeded row;ird ;i sm:111 Geld a halfmile downwind of the primary but en route he turned back toward @

the prim;iry I .Z. Well shon oft he I he attempted to land on a lawn bounded by a house, trees and power lines. A tip caught, crashing the glider. A pilot was flying cross-coumry (X-C) and e11c011ntercd strong sink (stronger than 1ha1 experienced durrhe rest of a two-hour flight) en romc to a i;clcctcd LZ. I le chose a very small field as an alternate bur crashed, remembering virtually noth-ing of what happened there. A pilot l:iunchcd in strong conditions and got 500 rnctcrs over launch. Conditions strengthened and he decided to land. As he rricd to penetrate toward the l.Z he was sinking rapidly. He turned back 10ward the ridge and gor back up. Unable 10 reach the primary LZ due to the wind and sink, and fearful of reaching an alternate LZ down the ridge, I he pilot opted to make a top-landing a couple of hundred meters behind launch. Sink was intense from a rotor, and rhe glider basically flew into the ground with no opporru11ity to round out or flare. Fortunately, 1hc pilot's foll-foce helmet and 1hc low ground speed limited injuries to just his shoulder. When the L7. is obviously going 10 be difficult ro reach, as in some of the cases above, m,my pilots don't give up trying ro land there. At a popular sire in a southern state, a portion of the l.Z is near a hill, and is particularly turbulcnl from rotors on days when strong winds cross from rhc right. ·rhis happens to be near the breakdown area (i.e., social area), yet on turbulent days numerous pilots persist in Lmding there as opposed to the far--srnoorher opposite side of the high-anxiety land· field. Most ings, some whack, and a few crash as a result. Why do pilots reduce the proha-· bility 01 a safe landing li.ir the sake or·

convenience or some other motive? Why arc some so imenr on this? It is interesting how people ofren become focnscd upon achieving a particular go:11 and lose perspective ou its ohtainability or the wisdom of pursuing it. They arc no longer aware of their current situation. Compounding the problem, we arc often used ro doing some things certain ways habits. Then, when factors such as wind conditions suggest or dictate: dcvi;iting from the nor ma! procedure, we fail to recognize the clues. We have all probably experienced this, hut unlike rhc pilots mc:mioned above, were more fort unatc. We rnust "land safely before landing conveniem ly." There is another phenomenon that rends to ca11se us to fly less conservatively our previous successes. Every time we allow ourselves to get into a slight predicament: and then extricate ourselves through superior piloting skills or quick dccision .. maki ng, we par ourselves oll the back for doing such ;1 flne job. We mentally reward omsclvcs and foci great that we pcrlorrncd well. We did perform well. However, we also slightly reprogrammed our brains and memory tapes, down·grading the perceived risk. "l made it just flne this time; I can make it next time," we begin to think. Bu1, we really should be focusing on our failure. [n actuality, we failed miserably. Our deficiency was in allowing ourselves to get into the predicament which necessitated the quick decisions or fancy flying. l n the pan of this article we read about pilots who didn't make the prima· ry l.Z and had problerns. We can look ar their mistakes and pinpoint failmcs, bur many of us have stretched for the L7., myself' included, and, coming up short, quickly pulled off a landing somewhere else. In reality, we failed just as much ;is those pilots; none us made safely i1 to the I.Z. However, unlike the above pilots, who all had a lesson burned into rheir memories, most of us walked away (i.:eling good about our performance. That makes us prone to repeating those mistakes with possibly more serious con-· sequences. Our success (or, more correctly, our avoidance of failure) positively reinforces errors, whether launching,

HANC CUDINC

Ii towing, scxuing virtually all foccts of flying. We slowly lose some of our fears. As we also saw in both 1his and last month's reports, weather conditions tended to cornpound the problems. We all know that rhe weather and wind arc rather unpredictable. Even so, some of us think, ''] made the I Z J 7 times before when there was sink, I can m:1ke ir this t irne." One d;iy the sink is a little stronger, rhc wind picks up a bit more while we're flying, or something else occurs. Ir cannot be stressed enough that landi11g rcqwrcs nuinrammg a healthy margin for error and changing conditions. what do we do? Earlier l men .. tioncd that we should "land s;1frly before landing conveniently." What docs landsafely 1T1ean? We must define the criteria. They arc: 1) I laving a good I Z selected tliat can he reached with certainty regardless of sink or wind. If a desired LZ cannot he reached with cenainty, it probably should not be considered as an option and an alternative should be selected well in advance. 2) Arriving at the l .Z with certainty includes arriving with plenty of altimde. Several leading instructors demand that their Novice srudcrns have as much as 700 feet or more, and perhaps 400-500 foet for more skilled pilots. Arriving with any less indicates that you probably 1mdc a mistake. Ir is convcnicnr to use that excess altitude to search and scr;irch longer for lifr, bur the ;iltirudc provides two major benefits. i:irst, it means that you have a margin for error if wind or sink hamper your arrival al the: 1./.. Second, it greatly reduces tlie workload on a pilot trying 10 set up a landing. Whatever is deemed the appropriate arrival altitude for you at a parricular I.Z, if you arrive with less, you have not landed safely. 3) A structured approach is necessary to land safely. There is clearly a strong correlation between rhe lack or· ,1 clean, structured approach and bad landings. We discussed this structure last momh and strongly recommended ;i good aircraft approach. Turning this way and that, mixing 360's, "S" turns, diving rums, etc., increases the workload dra-)ULY "J 9()1)

matically. Many more decisions arc required, your /lying 1m1st be rnorc pre-· and anxiety goes way up. How do you sray relaxed with a light grip to sense flare timing afrcr all that? Jf you do not use a structured approach pattern you have not landed safely. If you do 1101 ach icve all o/" th is on almost landing you have failed, how pretty or perfect your regardless flares arc. Land safdy heforc landing convcn icn tl y. [ don\ know how to best instill this in folks, and am open to suggestions. I do suspect that integrating the message inro the hang gliding culture is one way. That requires the efforts of instructors, mentors, friends, clubs and everyone to pusl1 rhe idea. Ir someone opts to land in an alternative 1./. rather than risk arriving at the primary LI. with little altitude, complimcm them, give them a beer, or better go retrieve them. l fa pilot squeaks in just making rhc field, but flares per.. fectly, don't applaud. Ir wasn't a safe landing; ir was a one that happened to end well. J .and safoly before landing conveniently.

saddened to report a hang gliding fornliry. Duff King, an Advanced-rat ed hang glider pilot, was finally injmcd in an accident on February 5 19()8. The site was a newly pioneered one on rhc Island of Molokai in Hawaii. The launch was a 1hr area followed by a short slope of 30-10 degrees that terminated in a 7()0 .. foot ocean cliff. Two oth .. er airborne pilots had launched two hours earlier from a nearby location wirh a much longer slope, about 50-70 feet. Since winds had picked up and were blowing an estimated 25-30 mph, the orhcr launch site was turbulent. Duff chose to launch from an area with a shorter slope which, being closer to the edge, had smoother air. Prior to the launch a problem was noted with the glider. The leading edge had some large wrinkles in the left wing. Upon inspection, it was noticed thar the webbing holding the sail in position at the wing tip had slipped out of the prop-

er slot. 'T'his was corrected and the pre .. flight inspection completed. Duff positioned for launch with a wire crew on each wing and the nose. He was positioned 20-25 feet from the cliff edge. 'The estimated 25-30 mph winds were not consistent there, so they moved forward, l 2-1 5 feet from the edge and a couple of short srcps from tbc slope down to the cliff's edge. The air was smooth and the wire crew cleared. He stood, holding the wing balanced and in control, then proceeded to launch. 'The launch was cle,111 and straight our. Upon clearing the edge of the cliff the glider's nose was rotated dramatically upward and the glider made ;i climbing lcfr turn. He was blown above the launch and 50 yards to the lcfr. The lefr wing tip impacted and the glider rotated forward onto the left leading edge. The nose and then the right leading edge irnpactcd. During this rotation Duff swung forw:ud and impacted a latgc rock with his chest. He was unresponsive and not breathing. CPR was performed until rescue personnel arrived. The coroner's report indicat-· eel that he died from a ruptured aorta and had other internal injuries. · rhc opinion of the launch crew and experienced pilots upon watching the video is that Duff was not prepared for the vertical air in front of the cliff. He was not pulled in aggressively and may have actually been transitioning from the downtubes ro the basctubc with his right hand when he c11countcred the strong updraft. This might explain the lcfr turn if be didn't have hold with his right hand. Duff weighed about 250 pounds and was flying a RamAir 154, so light wing loading was not believed to have been a issue. lt is believed that the glider was flne and did not contribute to the accident. Duff had made three prior attempts to fly this site, traveling from the island of Oahu to Molokai, and two other pilots were in the air. There was clearly motivation to attempt a lauuch. That is all for this month, so until next time, "land safely before landing conveniently." II

HANG GLJDINC ADVISORY: Used hang shonld always he disassembled before flying for time :rnd inspected for hen1 nr dent" eel downrnbcs, mined bent bolts (especially 1hc hean holt), re-used Nyloc ll\<IS, loose thimbles, or rusted cables, with non-circular holes, on flex torn or rorn loose from fro111 and back 011 the keel and If in doub1, hang gliding business" cs

to give nn

opinion on tht:

condition of"cquipnicnt you bring them to inspccL PARAGLIDING ADVISORY: Used para~rruc·ro should always be thoroughly inspected before the first rime. If in doubt, many paragliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion 011 1he condition of equipment you bring rlicm ro inspect. BOYERS SHOULD SELECT EQUIPMENT THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THElR SKILi. LEVEL OR RATING. NEW PILOTS SllOlJLD SFF.K PRO"" FESSIONA!. INSTRUCTION FROM A USHGA <:ERTIPIED INSTROCTOR. FLEXWJNGS AFROS STEAi.Ti f 15 I Like new, two $\!iOO OBO. (Ii 15) 381 "8/i')2, (li35) 'l'i:l-'\ 12:l AIRBORNE SHARK, Bl.ADE RACE, STING, BUZZ. New and llcarly new. Demo daily. THE WALLABY RANCH (9/i 1) 124-0070. J\fRWAVE l'Ul .SF 9M ··-- Excellent condition, 3 years

DOUBLF SURFACF TANDEM Moyes X2, gond shape $2,500 or uadc. brad(i1)h:mggliding.com (4 IIi) li/3-8800,

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DOUBLE VISIONS & FT.Y2 New and used. WALLABY RANCII (9/i l) li21-0070.

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Excellent condition, spare downmbcs, Ball (,50 vario with barogr:1ph, h:irness and radios. Sell all or part. (li40) 9:11-1305. (lilli)

FALCONS 140, 170, 195, 225 new and used. WALLABY RANCH (941) 12/i-0070. F1\ICONS-·ULTRASPOR'I HPAT158 --· $1,200 $2,700. (209) li:35-35% School use, one FALCONS CI.FARANcr,: SALE season. All sizes $1 ,'500-$2,500. (lilli) liTl-8800,

Kl.i\SSJC: ili/i Cood condition $1,500 OBO. Call L:1rry (liJO) !i(i"l "2022 Ohio. Kl.i\SSIC I/iii White & red, nice shape, under JOO homs $1,900. (Ii I Ii) lil:l-8800, brad(iilhanggliding.com Kl ,i\SSIC 15/i (219) 69685.ll.

J1lJSJON "·- New Sept '97, <lO hours $/i,200. I larness, helmet, instruments, paracltut,,-rn,ake offr;r. Sensor-good sh:1pc, high hnms l )ave Coro (808) 26.'l"T790.

old $2,000 OllO. l'liil (505) 286-80?7

COMBAT 1.37 ( ;rc:ir slupe, with sm:ill control bar, $700 or tr:idc for small Sport. (/i25) 7/i7G7."rl.

11 Pi\T 158 Red/white/blue, cxccllcm condition, low hours $1,000. (5 I 9) Ii 53 9% I.

PlJSION -- Demo d.1ily. WAJ.LABY RANCH (9/il) 421·"0070 CFMlNl 1(,/i Cood to foir condition, w/harncss $GOO. (707) 7G<J-198') S,rn Fr:1ncisco area. GLIDERS 351 for sale, rigid to C::ill/ernail for current list. Wallaby Ranch 0070 Florida, glidersG'.ilwall:ihy.com

USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum Boldface or caps: $1.00 per word. (Does no! include first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs: $25 per column inch. (phone numbers: 2 words, P.O. Box: 1 word, E-mail or Web address: 3 words) photos: $25.00, line art logos: $15.00 (1.75" maximum) DEADLINE: 20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date ol the issue in which you want your ad to appear (Le,, June 20 for the August issue). Prepayment required unless account established. No cancellations or refunds allowed on any advertising after deadline. Ad insertions FAXed or made by telephone must be charged to a credit card. Please enter my classified ad as follows:

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LAMINAR !Ii Excellent shape, yellow LE, blue undersurfoce $2,900. (815) 2,3/i 5388. LAMINAR-~ ST, H, l:l in stock. WALLABY RANCH (941) 421"0070. Fxcclknt condition $1,liOO. Tracer harness w/par:rchutc $700. (781) 662-9981. MARK !VJ 7 (,0 homs $1,000. Sport Euro I 67, 150 hours $800. hmnula 141, 50 homs $1,300. Uhrasporr iii/, /i() hours $3,000. Andrew Smith, Cleveland VA, ('ilJO) 889-36 I 0.

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HANC GLIDINC

Where There's No Hill There's A Way by Steve Rewolinski Although my strongest flying desires involve mountains, the rest ofmy life is spent in the less rugged terrain ofthe Midwest, namely Wisconsin. It became obvious .from the start that ifyou love flying hang gliders and live in the flats, you'd better get towing.

Double Vision tandem tow behind the Kolb. began towing in '92 when Brad Kushner, one of my countless instructors, received his first Dragonfly. It was great attaining mountainous heights with out a mountain. I made the 70minute trek to Whitewater, Wisconsin sometimes four times a week. In May of '94, while on a flying trip, I discovered payout winch towing. A group of pilots towing norrh of Phoenix, Arizona offered to teach me how. I performed 10 rows off the late Doug Styles' well-engineered rig. I saw the benefirs of a payout winch and almost immediately began designing and building a winch of my own , first gathering advice, then information, then parts. The best advice was, "Keep it clean and simp le," and, "Try to make it foolproof, but remember that fools are the

most ingenious people on th e planet. " The best information came from dusty physics books, dusty winches and dusty pilots. I read, sketched, phoned (usuall y long distance), received drawings, photos and more long-distance numbers ro call. The best parts came from auto racing suppliers who provided a wide range of pads, calipers, rotors and master cylinders. The winter was spent drawing and building, and by the following spring I had a payout winch that worked quite well. It paid out smoothly, read line tension pretty accurately, level-wound by hand, and rewound on most every row. Even tho ugh it worked fin e I kept getting ideas from what ochers had done and thinking of ways to improve things. I did not want to spend more time or money, but

deep inside I knew I would be designing and building another winch system. I set out to build my second and (hopefully) final winch, starting with a new set of goals. The new winch had to: resist corrosion, pay out smoothly, be compact yet rough, rewind fast and consistently, levelwind automatically, read accurate line tension, and have enclosed belts and pulleys. There were several considerations for mobilizing the winch. Winch # 1 was moved from the bed of my truck to a trailer in order to install a cap on the truck for mountain tours. The trailer separated the spotter from the driver, and not everyone can back up a trailer, especially one with a 34-foo t wing span. A boat sounded great, but I don't own a boat or the associated gear, plus it's pretty tough flying X-C or gathering with a bunch of pilots and gliders to go flying. I wanted the co nve nience of a trailer - to hitch up and go, and have the ability to set the basecubes in the cradles without a team of gymnasts. I wanted the benefirs of a boat - an unobstructed view for pilot, spotter and driver, with the spotter next to the driver. The next two winters were spent designing, redesigning, shooting the engineer, then building. By March of '98 the system was complete. The results: an overstuffed fishing reel mounted on a topless, subcompact car. The rig is transported via car dolly to row sites. In addition to cowing, the platform is used to transport rigged gliders while aerocowing at Aero Park. In a quest co bring hang gliding into my own backyard we began aerocowing C\vo years ago at a large grass airport four minuces from my house. Located l O miles northwest of Milwaukee, Aero Park was established in 1947. Ir's the home these days to Aero Wings Flight Instruction, Microlight Flyers Club, Wisco nsi n Skydivers, The Propwash Bar & Grill, and now Surf Air Hang Gliding. Sounds busy, buc it's nor; the Microlight Flyers are spread out over several area airstrips, d1e skydivers use only one Cessna 182 which is easy co keep track of, and best of all, the owner of Aero Wings is che FBO and our main tug pilot. The tug, a Kolb Mark III, has been quire impressive. We have performed over 200 tows including tandems. The Mark III matches climb rare and airspeed under cow with that of a 582-powered Dragonfly. We found a few advantages with the Mark III: H ANG GLIDING

The Kolb Mark Ill aero tug provides climb rates ofnearly 800 /pm.

• Built in Pennsylvania, USA.

Welded, anodized aluminum covers shield aLL belts and puLLeys.

• Folds in 10 minutes for transport or storage. • Can handle being tied down outside yeartound. • Cruises at over 70 mph once the glider is released. • Tows at 30-32 mph open cockpit/stock wing, 38-40 fully enclosed/stock wing. • Empty weight, 425 lbs. • Full chrome-moly fuselage . • Two-seat, side-by-side ultralight trainer. • UK's BCAR's certified. • Fittings for wheels, floats or snow skis. • Available with Rotax 9125 (if yo u want power). • Comes fully assembled or as a 400-hour kic. • Priced about $26K assembled, $ l 3K as a kic. JULY 1998

We recently contacted the president of Kolb to let him know of our success, and of our desire to increase climb rare and slow the plane to tow wirh fu ll enclosure in winter. The facto1y responded by building us a set of wings three feet wider, with 20 sq. ft. more surface and larger flaps. We obviously sparked an interest, because we just received blueprints of their new Slingshot Tug, based on their Slingshot fuselage, a tandemseared raildragger with wings similar to our new Mark III, titted with flapetons and flaps. Kolb has been building light aircraft for over 25 years. Wirh all their experience, we are looking forward to seeing the final product. I realize we have only slightly refined technology that already exists, and that there is virtually infinite potential variety when it comes to getting a glider airborne, all with pros and cons. I sincerely thank the true innovators, for they have brought free flight to anyone with the will to try. When it comes right down to it, ir doesn't matter whether I get yanked up by a car or plane, or run off a mountain or ridge, it's all abo ut getting together with friends, circling wirh birds and riding the wind.

Contact info: SurfAir, N51 W14465, Menominee Falls, WI 53051 (414) 7837747 - Kolb Aircraft, RD4 Box 38, Phoenixvi!Le, PA 19460 (610) 948-4136 The author may be contacted at (414) 7837147 •

View from rear oftow vehicle showing rearfacing seat for observer, roLLers with stainless bearings, and solenoid-operated nose release. 73

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I I

Women's World Team Raffle

Fl) Mexico - five free flying days in Mexico Flytec USA - a Flytec 4005 vario Fl) Products - shirts and sportswear Contributions are grateful!) accepted in addition to ratlle ticket pur- ,John Heine) - six aerobatic posters chases. Send your check or money order to Women's World Team, Paul Hamilton - three videos from Adventure Productions do USHGF, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. Pendulum Aerosports - two-watt radio & 12-pack smoke bombs LISHGA - books and calendars Gerr) Grossnegger - nifty little string games Raffle prizes have been donated by: Dm id Beardslee - one tandem hang gliding flight Aerolight l 'SA - one Kiwi Evolution helmet Quest Air - 1 aero-tow release, 5 assorted T-shirts, IO-pack of Icaro - five Icaro helmets tows, free beer for 2 for a weekend, 10,000-foot tow, areo tow Cameron Outerwear - three neckgaiters training course Hang II or above (up to 10 flights) Team Spirit Hang Hang Gliding - Free clay's glider rental Wallaby Ranch - dollies, releases and aerotow technical supDan l 'chytil - Wooden hang glider sculpture/trophy port Galleried artist <;igi Gel fan - Framed and matted Impressionistic-style painting of a cascad'l\1 o-Can Fl) - one introductory paragliding lesson ing waterfall in a forest, about 14" x 16" Altair - a $200 gift certificate toward the purchase of an Altair "\\omen Fl., !" clothing f'or team members pnl\iclecl by Speak lm:J The Women Fl.1 Project glider ,Jeff Farrell - two copies of the video Fly Hard I\Iountain High - two oxygen systems SOL - one open-face helmet, one winclsok, two $100 gift certificates for SOL helmets, harness or paraglicler ,Just FIi - one Icaro Integra l helmet l.iS Ac;os - one set of hand fairings, one X-C glider bag \lo.1cs America - three $100 certificates toward the purchase of a Moyes Xtreme or Flex harness Kitty Hawk Kites - six hang gliding Tshirts Hang Glider and Paraglicler Emporium - three introductory paragliding lessons OFFICIAL RULES - NO PURCHASE NECESSARY I. Raffle open 10 U.S. Residents 18 years orolder.

2. For every $1 Odonnted you will receive a ticket for a chance to win the listed priLe(s). Ticke1s may also be obtained by writing "Go Women's Team" on a 3" x 5'' card and mailing it with a self-addressed. smmped enve-lope to Tammy Burcar. P.O. Box 3274, Sama Barbara, CA 93130. One entry per envelope. All ticket request~ must be postmarked by May I. 1998. The Team or its affiliutes are not responsible for any U.S. Mail or human

errors. 3. Sec above ]isl for prizes to be awarded. Odds of winning depend upon the number ofparticipanl.'i. 4. Each entrant accepts and agrees to be bound by these rules and the decision of the judges which shall be final and binding and not appcalablc. 5. All Fedcml lllld State laws apply. 6. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Raffle drawing to be held in September 1, 1998.

r--------------------------------------------------------, Please send me Women 's World Team raffle ticket(s). Prices: $10 each, three fo r $25, five fo r $40. Make checks payable to the United States Hang Gliding Foundation (USHGF) and mail to: Tammy Burcar, P. O. Box 3274, Santa Barbara, CA 93 I 30.

NANlE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ ADDRESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ STATE _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ __ _ PHONE (_ _ _ ) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Your canceled check is your receipt. Ticke t numbers will be written on tl1e check.

s M1\RK IV]/ 236 052(,,

(;o()(I condition $900, Richard ClOJ)

WALLABY RANCII (9/i 1) 121-

Sl'EC: l'RlJM C:LFARANC:F SALE Three l 65 :,pcc11rurns in near new condition, w/all options l>L/ttlU-l>.J,Lt,1u, Raven Sky Sports (Ii 1/i) fiT) .. 8800, braMrlha nggl idi 11g,coi J1

MOYFS ( :.'iX1 Topless, nearly new, ,,() hours $:l, 'SOO, (!i07) 'i/8.8'>:l'i xclarry(dlconcentricnct

SPORT FUR() l 67 Fqnali,,cr harness w/parnchute, l ,itck varill, Kenwood FM radio, $ I ,200 takes all, (702) ii, j .fiJ88,

MILLENNIUM 0070,

NAS !'DA reserves, Tlsq/m, Ii 1/m, 1OO'X, guaranteed $/i/S, (.l03) 3/i7 89')5, DEPLOYMENT BAG~ New, and new 20/i bri dies, $25e;1, (30:l) J/i7.WJ95, ROC:l<FT Rl'.SFRVFS

Two, t1sed Li\RA and BRS

$/i7fo1, UCU) lli7 899'i,

SUl'ERSPORT I Ii,,

( ;rear condition, <S5 hours, hut pink and magenta $1,600 OBO, (9'/0) 925-5'510,

MOYES CSX SX, XTL, XS:l, XT, etc l\cw and nearly new, Available immcdi,ucly, Nation's largest Moyes dealer, WALLABY RANCII (911) 12/i 0070,

SUPFRSl'URT llili lmmac1rla1c, <10 hours $2, '500, Sky Sys rems harness and chuie, (208) 788-

MOYl'S SlJPFR XTRAUTF Jli'J Mylar, perfect, finest one of' its kind, two bags $2,'J'.i(L Kurr, ((,I')) iili!i-6'! 19 San l )iego,

tnral hours

20 CORE 20ft 1'1)1\, brand new $:l')O, 1 only, (:lOl) illi7-8'J'J'i,

li2), w/swivel $,120, 20 gore $ 199, Many more avcJilablc, Riven Sky Sports (It I Ii) liT\ 8800, bradG1lh:rnggliding,com

7,2 CORE PflA

MOYES SX;\ May'J7, like new, light/dark pmplc $),'JOO, (5Cll) 62'5 :l(i 12.

$1,;00, (530) ')2(,052:l SUPFRSl'ORT JG3 Rarmir 15/i, llpat 158, IlF pod harness, Best oiler, ((, 19) 2G5 .. f 87/i,

CLOUDJlJ\SE I [ARNFSSES

MOYES XTRAUTE Ili7 Excellent rnndition, docile, one owner, <lU hours, new Oct 95, $2,000, (•12:I) 6')8-16 l (,,

TIU Topless, carbon fiber frame, new gliders in stock black, wbit:c or red $'\,000 FOB Sc Pctcrnlmrg, l'lorida, ACME Glider Company (8 U) 526-3629 or TRGl ,ll )FRSl?baoLcom

MOYFS XT PRO J 6'i Novice/inrcrmediate double smface, homs, 1,rea1 shape $/,700, (Ii I ii) liTJ-8800, brad(fllha11ggliding,u,111

TRX 158 - Lxcelle111 condirion, J 'J'J/i, white diamond tribm LI,, foll race, nice colors $] /,95 OBO, Andy (520) 525-2637,

NFW & lJSl'D CUDFRS At alfordahlc prices, ( :all the Soarill[; ( :enter toll-Cree 1-888-9/ili.5/i:1:l,

TRX 1(,0

PlJl SE ')M /Wlm, hluc/grcrn/purplc $2,)00, J )oug (7(l7) li'i'J-Oli I'),

lJlTR/\Sl'ORT lli7

PULSE IOM & 11 m $2,500 each 01\0, w/extras, 1718) WJ-288 l,

( ;rcrn Team colors $ l ,200, (/ 19)

lJP CFMINI 1983, <'iO hours, sp:lllwisc rainbow sail, excellent condition, Flight Design harness, helme1 Fx training wheels inclurlc,L $850, (T70) 97/i-'i UO g- I drivcrC!,Jmindspring.com

SFNSOR 51 OC Cood condition, /lies & pcrfonm great $500, (82g) 2'i5 00:l:l leave message,

VISION 19 Like new w/1 ligh Fncrgy harness w/BRS chntc, Maxon radio, misc equipmenL C:all Dave ((i:lO) 582 2561, make offer,

SENSOR 510 VC:B Low hours, spectra sail, excellent condition $695, C:ontacr Wayne Miclurel micl,acl5i!i>l,rineLcorn or (828) 626-2099,

VfS!ON MARK JV 17 met, wl,ccLs, pa,·aurntc, o!lcr, (21 '))

SKYHAWK 1gg Needs annual, Airwavc kneehanger harness, 1 whr,eJs $600 or will trade for QUALITY 1x1rach111e or !com A22, (607) JJ!i /i2') I,

I,ow hours, harness wlparacln1tc $1,200, Call T,.,cJ (Ii I 5) 38 I- 28T7,

SPECTRUM I/iii 10 homs, excellent condition $1,850, lligh Energy 'I 'racer harness w/dun,' and rock ct $850, $2,500 takes ,iJJ, (li2:J) (,') 1-li207, jlwhinkvrlaol,com

Sky Sports (1 IIi) 47J 8800, bradvol,anggliding,com

VISIONS & l'lJLSFS

SPF<TRlJM 1651

lrnmarnl:tte condi1io11, rnlor,s, new flying wires just because, extra UV $2,000, (501) C,21<3579, eq11animi1yif1leanhlinlu1et

SPECTRUM 165 -- Owner tear/id, need quick sale $ I ,200, (5 l (,) 75/i-;/rlO cbasuli,ods~tl;10Lrnm

JULY 199B

And Uhrarnitts, since 1972, ( :hris Smith (li23) 821 5')/i 'i,

Cood conrliiion $ l ,000 Oil(), 2 available, J. 888 .'JS'/.Sli3'J,

bh1c/1na17,cc1t:1/ycllovv, 2 downtubes, AT release, $).,'SC)(), Dclt1xc pod w/7 pockets $!i50, vario w/airspecd $,150, 1;//W Lara p:1rach111c $1'i0, Phil (5/iO) /i(iJ-ll:m

RAMAIR 15/i Sl'J-5900,

HARNESSES

Spaghcni style harness, ltdinrlicaror $1,500 or best lndiana/Cbicago area,

NEW, lJSFD - J\11d RFHJRBISHED harnesses, Bny, sc\L trade, consignment. ( ;unnison Gliders, 15 119 ( :01111ty Road l 7, ( :wur isrrn (:oil J 230, (970) (,Ii I .'JJ I\ I l!Cl l FNFRCY POD IIARNESSFS Sizes & $:JOO-ltOO, u; 1OIIO's $1'50,

l llCl l FN l•'.RCY TRACER Excellent condition, 5'] "-'i'/i", iliOdb, lll'VlT flown in, $350, (907) ,}}B-9902, LMf:P CUSTOMI/.FD POD -- 5'10" pilot, chute, full face hclrnct, old style Ball, storage bag (li2l) 698-1616,

Bought-Sold-TradecL Raven

XC lli2 Mint condition, 15 hours, w/winglcts $l,'i00 (805) 77152')2, EM ERG ENCY PARA(:! llJTES AllVENTlJRI·, SPORTS LOFT pa1·agl1<11ng rigging center. Reserve

Experienced repairs & mc,d1l'1c:111om, Master Rigger Sco11 :1rn,S1enscn (')09) (,57 ?(,7(,, fax (90')) 6S7-57/i7, email asi(ir)pe,neL Visit our wch site: http:1/www,pc,nct/-asi

TIRED ()]' TOWJNc;, Tired of' driving to flying sites? ( :rcatc your own, power 11p the svnsiblc way with SWEDISH AFROSPORTS MOSQOlTO 1 JARNESS, powcriirl, a/fordable and most importantlyl'nn' BILL of"LC HANG CUDERS, yom U,S, SUPPLIER at 616922 28/ili, PS: Check out rhe centerfold oj'January 1998 issue of' I lanp: ( ;liding,

MOSQUITO POWER l!A RNESS Demos for sale, climb. Sec my Jan. '98 ccnrersprcad in ]IC, sec MosqllilO page at www.birdsinparadise.com $3,000. (808) 822-5309.

Tl!E BEST TRAININC IIARNFSSFS Kid si'/.cs available for rhosc roo small to fly, bm jmt right for a rope swing. McNett Training Harness (.115) lt'J2-1020. WOODY VALIEY MODFL foll line oC uni,1ue Italian paravJi.dir,g harnesses in the United States. h,r info call l'arngliding at (9 lli) 647-Yl77. Dealer inquires wekollle. PARAGLTDERS APCO SENTRA 28 Med, 19%, hook-in 70-')0kg, pmple/blne, fosr imcrrnediate, rared Afoor st,1ndard, just serviced, new A's&B's, new risers w/trim & split A's, wirh backpack $I, 500. Fun Fly PROFILE Med, hook,in purple, Apco nwterial, great 12 !\\.) serviced, 1ww $500, (\07)

FLIC! !T DESIGN AS SPORT ')25-5565.

w/1 hour. (509)

ITV RUBIS Like new, harness, l,ack-up chute, radio in helmet, $7.,000 complcre set-up. Crcg (7:12) 4719757NJ. NEW & lJSl'D C:UDlmS At aff,mlablc prices. Call The Soaring ( :enter roll-(i-ce 1-888.-941--5133.

$1200, Nova Sphinx $600. $375. Mike (:l03) 17-1-89/i I.

l1an1css

Pilot PRO DESIC:N COMPACT Yi 225lbs,, 65 hours, harness, XS360 Help reserve $1,125 OBO. Bob ('510) 825-li979 late evenings, San l'rnncisrn Bay area. PRO ])ESlGN C:0/vll'AC:T XL, Supair xi harness w/reservc, xi ReOex foll foce, hook lrni/c & all 01 her accessories. Less than IO hours on all, $'2,')00 or trade for? (251J)'722 0792 d,tys, (25/i) 69/i-.'31i67 evenings.

$1,400. Edel /X 75-1 !0kg & APC:O SUPRA 25 Wills lmncss $695. (619) 225-8720. ATRWAVE REGGAE 30-- C:omplctc package, 2 hours total time, 165,-2'.lOlbs, Next I-lurricanc harness w/back water ballast, Apco pp/ 18 reserve w/optional pack, Ii.ti! face kcvlar hclrneL All excellent, new condition $1,700. Call Terry (20:l) 925-')8 I6. EDEL SABER M Bluc/foschia batwing, Prolighr harness (med), Seema Max reserve, snmmcr flights1tit (med), all 12 hours $2,600 or will separate. Pere (IJ25) Ii 55-9787 pperron(illix.netcom.com FDEL SABER Large, excellent condition, low hours, inspected $1,800. (321l) 713-/i I '.l8, Minnesota UV.

The revolutionary new concept of MIKE CAMPBFLL JONES. One wing for paragliding, tandem trikes and free flight. Unprcccdentcd sakry, vcrsatiliry and a 700 hour lifr wirh a STANDARD mt-

\)(,'ill trade Quamum/L

FDF.L SUPERSP/\CF ll 29M Excellent condition, 187-21i2lbs $1,200. Phone/fax 011-52-615 5017/i Mexico.

SPITINX 29 l.lNFS OllO. (310) IJ'J9.-7.682.

NFW, DFMOFD And nsed p,,ragliders and Fxxracy in stock. Dealer, product rep & comp pilot inquiries welcome. Check out www.lt1112fly.com or call (509) 925-5565.

TURI\OS SLIC!-!TLY USED Clllll'.RS Pro bours (retail $4000) $1,8')5. Pro Feel Comest 50 $ I ,395. WWJ 25/28M beginner $69'i. Several harnesses ro choose from. Your Orange County l'aramo1or cbtlcr!trikcs. (7H) li95-80'i I. UP l'IC:K-lJl' Large, purple, very good $2,200 ()]l() or will gladly exchange hcginner/intcrmcdia1c wing. Pawel (6M) 608-·0lt99. ALL l'ARACLJDFRS Alff IO(J<Yc, GUARANTEED Ri11110 27, 31 .......... <liOhrs.. ........ Beg... .. .. $'700 Miura 31, :l.1.. .., .. ,... <liOhrs .......... 1111. .. .. $800 Boogie 30, :l2............ <l5hrs .......... Beg ......... $1,050 Cralfoy 31, ......... New.. .. ...... Beg ......... $1,250 l<endo 29.... ......... <IOhrs .......... Int,,, ....... $1,250 Contest 30, ......... <301m .......... Comp ..... $1,liOO Vision 28,. .. ....... <IOhrs.. ....... .fnt, ........ $1,500 ]~spirit 3/,.. .. ....... <6hrs.. . ....... lnr, , $1,550 Rinno 3 l , , ......... New.. ........ Beg ......... $1,650 Odyssey 28, 32 ......... < I 5hrs .......... Comp ..... $1,800 Sensor 3 l . , ......... <2'ihrs ........... Int., ....... $1,800 ( :ivic 27, 3.l. .. ...... New, ........ Beg ......... $ l ,89'i l'relude 77,,10,33 ....... New.. .. ...... lleg ......... $1,995 Sonic2/i,}[ .......... <IOhrs .......... lnr ........ ,,$7.,000 V-Max :ll.. .. ....... <!Ohrs.. ...... ..C:omp ..... $2,050 PDA Reserves $li25, Full Face Helmets $95 Tele: (303)

ADVENTURE I'.} Two, fully equipped, harness, 1paddcd bags. One NF\'(I in box w/mylar the other wl:l 5 hours, excellent coudit ion, no glider $1,9'\0 OBO. (/i I!) li91-5480, NicoC:at1chyG1\10l.co111

Brand new focrory set $150

1.:xccllcn1 condition, sn,all (110SUPER.SPA.CE 160lhs) wing, medium Edel I !em harness with back reserve moum. Both for $1,IJOO. Call Annie C)Ol) TU 9188. SWING MYTHOS ),(, Demo rn11dirion, great color combo. Wills Win;; harness, stcernblc: reserve ebnrc. The whole package $2,800. (415) 682 .'361

PARACiLIDEf~S

TRFKKIN<; MIURA Large, 18'i-2.10lbs, 8 hours airtime, Woody Valley F.ra Beta Fire harness w/back protector, Fdel Sccura Max 32 reserve. All in excellent condirion $2,200 OBO. Doug (5 I OJ 286-7/i06, wickJi;1n 1.doug.dj (1)bl111,co1n .,t 11

POWERFD PARA<;tJDERS

SOI. BALANCE ')0 l'crfocr rnndi1ion, :,5 hours $ U33 OBO. (970) 926 '/(176. EDEL SAE\ER Wi\NTED pins cash. (406) 251-5789,

5l2-T71\.

You've

TOLL FREE 1-8'/'7-REFLEX-1 for brochure.

EDF.L SABER

TRF.KKJNC MlRUA ness $')()() (gre;tt second new $1,200. Firebird /\pactw-,m1'tll

TANDEM SJ\l'HO Ii;> Good condirion, 200liOOlbs, 120 /lights $1,850 OBO. MFNCO-nicdium, 175-220lhs, brcsr generation intcnrn:di,tte glider, demo 12 flights $1,950 OBO. Ul' Kcndo-large, 1?5-2(,0lhs, intcrmed/pcrC, NFW, 3 $1,liOO OflO. ((>I 7) li91 '5/i80, Nico( ;,n,chy~1'a0Le<>m

AIWFNTURE POWERED PARACLIDERS The hcst in the business, at the best $3,995 for any or our models, Four models 10 from. Sec om web ,11 lurp://mcrnbers.aoLcorn/gfoxfly or call (770) I 2135.

DK Wl IISJ'FRS From U.S. importer, 53 or 60 ponnds for Plus or C:T, respectively. 10 130 pounds static rhrnst, witl1 for bcgin-

ncrl:ffnall pilots. J\bsolurcly

value on 1he mar-

ket! Dcalershi11s ;ivaiLtblc. Parabornc Aviarion, POB li2:l217, Kissimmee Fl, :W742-:n 17, 1-888 6%-91 l 1. DI< WI !JSPFR CTO New, great for big boys or tandem $5,500. 1-888-(i:l(,-')l I 1. l'I.V POWER 70 $2,500. Power 90 Cage $300. Para-trike $8'>0. (50 I) 8'o i -lJ091i

Tl 11'. CAGE Lagon, medium, with lessons $1,.300. Blade ."l') recreational deluxe harness $8'50. (510) 787-686/, ( .a,,c2J1sa«"aol.com

I-IANC, GUDINC

ADVENTURES UNI.IMITED Orange Co11nty's schooL US! !CJ\ ccniflcd ins1rnction :111d 1an cq11rp1nc11t, Wilh Wing www.:1rtr1e1.net/ .-sky,\of>,/ tn<ie,:. iltml (7 I Ii) Ii% 8000.

/.FNOAH 21i2 1,:NCINF 7.llip, Jilhs, Clll iglli tion, carb, lm:I pump, prop, etc. <l hours $800, (5 19) T/35408.

RIGID WINGS i'l ,EDCF I A & ]'ledge 7.A, including spare parts $500. (Go,jJ 'Jl6 1/V Fl.FDCE l!/ J,T Excellent condition $1,100 OllO. Pledge Ill-good condition $500 01\0. (51i I) :l 1 9'i<J-i.

AlRJUN Kl ES l'ARACI JDINC Join KEN BA!lm for yom "l'ms11it ol" l':iragliding i'.xccllrnce" in the land of ycar-ro11nd, excellent paragliding: Sonthcrn CaliCornia a11CI tire Baja. Courses f"or Novice, Internredi:tte, Advanced :rnd lnstrnctor ratings. Pow(:rcd paragliding, soaring and m,rncuvcrs clinics,

SWJFT New, flight tested ollly, all extras, best o/frr. l'ly fost, go /imhcrl (80S) iill')-2).).0.

cial cvc111s. USJIGA certified. Jl:rndling the latest equiplllenl. ( :all (7(,()) ·;5.3 .. J,66/i fr,r i1Jfonn:11ion.

guided tours, 1;11Hkm and \C)\·Ving instrucrion ;rnd spe-

l JI.TRAL!Gl lTS AIRBORNF FDCE TIUl<FS electric :;tan, $15,000. (I

Two, I')%, 'i82.,

Fl/LI. SERVI CF SI !OP S:1lcs, rentals, repairs, g11idc service. !'rec brochure-. (5;'()) C,:,2-lt 1 http://www.northlink.co111/. ahgc DIXON'S All(l'LA Y l'ARACIJDfN(;

pilot tL1i11i11g birdip~tlaloha. net.

The pcrkn

areas! Year round lcrnpcraic climate.

for acrotowing or 2-phcc p<ty airfare from west co;1s1 10

trike to Los Antsclcs.) Certified J ()()() extra. (808) 82.7-'5 lO'J,

cs. I.and in wide l )ixon

J\IRTFI< l'ARACI.JDINC In sunny San Yc:ir--round d1,-rn1al & ridge beginner l-888 2Sl<Yl · ad\'anccd instn1ctio11 a!l majo1 ( ;( ), phone/fox ((, 1')) Ii S() .. (,(i<)6. 1

degree' treeless and rocldcss la11nchfields. Masrcr raicd tandem has :;uperviscd over i li,000 stll teaching pilots is his profession.

with st;nc--of~dw-art cquipnw111,

I le/mm, imcrcom, C/'S, AIRBORNE FJ)(;J,: 587. towing pacbgc, tr:iikr $1?.,800 (8(,/i) 5<J2 i/i70.

radios,

ground schooling ,vith an

crnplusis on rnicromctcorulogy. ( ;rc;it new and used c!inics including the CAGE,

11nT11tory.

I ()]J)AlllE ['l,Y"l"RII</-:S 53 lbs., Solo)!(). (501) 851-/i()'J/i sailwingspµ,~1lJl()tt11ail.corn, credit cards ;icccptcd. Ll(;I IT TRII<L - Foldahle, 5'ilbs., actual new, s:tcrificc $2,200 OBO. (5/i I) l 17-'J'i')/i. SCHOOLS & DF./\LEHS

1owing

BACKPACK MOTORS. Enjoy the

Crand C:1nyon ;rnd other spectacular scenery. Creal hargains or loxury accommodations. l)avc

US N,nional C:han1pion says, "Dixon's sl!J dl'JllS arc cxtrc·rncly wcll-traillcd and pilo1s." WASHINGDixon's l'ar:1gliding in ARIZONA TON recommended), PO Box 267.(,, A/. g(,()()/i, (57,0) 52(, li'i7'>. www ,pa r;1glidc.c01n

ALABAMA

Am TIMF OF SAN l'HANCJSCO WEST COAST PJ\RAGLID/N(; Is J"IIIS PREMIER l'ARAC;JJl)INC l·AC!l.lTY nnnac,·rnrnt ol· LARS l .lNDF oC 1-'.ast C:oast GREG SMJTII of Fdcl \JS;\. We arc to issue all possible paraglidi1Jg licemcs pursu,11n 10 \JS! !CA s1and:irds. Tl ff BE!iT SllOP IN Tl IF \XIEST 1 We olfrr a fnll spectrum oi" instnrction, tandc1n, rcp,1ir~ and porosity H·sts. We stock all

J\ RKANSJ\S

[.CJCJI<OlJI MOlJNTJ\lN l'LICI JT PARK

Sec

ad under ( ;corgia<

ROC:I<J-:T CITY ;\I l<SPORTS The C1111, s:d,, pLKc yo11 lc:irn q11ickly a11d s.1fdy Jlrolcssio11;1J 111.st ructors. ( ;n::11

place for first cross country llighrs. Three a Moyes .J);iilcy acrotug for those ''other"

Sales, Of.ARK MOUNTAIN I lANC CUllERS service and ins1r11uion. 1(,() Johnstol\ Rd, Searcy i\lZ 1,U. ('iOI) ?7') 7,-180. CAL!H)l{NJA

sites and I .earn to

acrmovv and earn your J\T rating. Jvlcntion this ad,

bring a Criend and receive one lesson I /2 11ricc. ( :,11! (205) 5:l)-1025 or (705) /7(, ..')')'Vi.

major brands of" paragliding availnblc 01, 1lrc market. Enroll in Olli demo dav-,·vcrvclav SIIOP (415) '/'59-l OFrlCE

Ideal tr:rilling hill, new and used equipment. Wills Wiug, Altair, 1 ligh Fncrgy S11ort.s :tlld more. Tandem i11.s1runio11. USHCA Advanced in.s1rnctor Doug !'rather, (2.09) 5'56 .. (),j(i9 Modesto CA. FLY AWAY l!ANC CLIJ)!NC Tammy llurcar (805) 'JG 1-2766.

Sarn:i Barbara.

ARIZONA I lANC ClJ\)lNC LFSSO~S Best traininµ; hill i" the west! l'ull service lung gliding/paragliding shop, established 1')7/i, Santa ILnhHa (80'i) 965 ."FY>,

J\1 lVFNTlJRF I,cssons Pl«wnix/T11cson areas. M:111-niadc trainer hill foces wind dircuin11s. Cuarantccd icn fligh1s per day! Tempe,/\'/, ((,0)) 8')7-7 I;, I.

ww,v,hodyt rcnds.com/1)ara;1cc.h1 m

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Aspect Ratio .. .... . .. . .. .. 8.0

Airframe ....... . .Carbon Fiber

Airframe . . ... .... Carbon Fiber

Pilot We ight ... .. . .. . . 140-220

Pilot Weight . .. .... .. . 180-280

Glide r We ight .. . . ......... 64

Glider Weight ... . ......... 69

Pilot Skil l ...... . .. . .Advanced

Pilot Skill . . .... . .. . .Advanced

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Continued ftom page 28. cessfull y in one part of the country may be fo rbidden in another. I think overall we are too dosed-minded in this sport.

RH: Have you had any close calls hang gliding? Forger: I chink I have the world record for the ratio of the number of ways I knew I was going to die per flight hour. It was 1977 and I had tried a couple of different techniques for towing. This was before the use of weak links and I was concerned about overstressing the glider. I read about a Florida pilot who had soared some condos by having rwo buddies pull him up with a couple of hundred feet of rope. That struck me as the perfect solution. T here was no way a couple of people pulling on a rope could ove rstress my glider! So I met a few friends at the college intramural fo otball field to try out th e concept. Five people pulled a rope which was attached to my control bar. It was wrapped three rimes aro und the basetube an d I held it down with my thumb. I had a couple of short flights and then it was time to lay out as much rope as we could to try fo r some real al titude. I also backed up to the fence at the very edge of the fi eld . One of my friends said, "Aren't yo u wo rried about the power lines?" and I replied chat what was behind me wasn't important. They were those big Christmas tree-looking power lines with large arms and numerous lines. I had briefed the team on tow signals: IfI wan ted them to go fas ter I would make a running mori on or if I wanted them to slow down I would spread my legs. For chis attempt everyone was psyched to get me to a high altitude, and when I yelled that I was ready, they cook off like five C lydesdales and never looked back. I was in a lockour from the moment I left the ground. I tried in vain to get the right wing down, bur the glider was rapidly arcing over to the left. In a few seconds I was in a 90-degree bank, completely locked out with just over 100 feet of al titude. It was only going to get wo rse. So there I was, I thought I was going to die from a lockout. I can remember being hesitant to release because I didn't think I could recover from the sideslip prior to impact. I didn't have any choice. I released the tow rope and thought I was going to die by sideslipping into the ground. Something cold me to try something un conventional . I didn 't cake a second to reconsider it - I just pushed out fully in an effort to spin the glider, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Ir did an instantaneous quarter turn and cl1e wings snapped level to boot!

Mark lifting off in an F-106 under tow behind a C-141. RH: So this was a first instantaneous decision to do something totally foreign to you to get out of this new situation' Forger: Yes. Unfortunately, I was now completely stalled and looking at a face-full of power lines. There I was, thought I was going to die from electrocution. I pulled in for flyi ng speed and pointed at th e single line mat formed me top of the pyran1id of wires. In a co uple of quick seconds I was th ere. I still didn 't have suffi cient flying speed to ease cl1e bar out and watched as me center of th e basetube impacted me wire. I moved my left hand as the wire slid under th e bottom of the bar. I arched my legs as high as I could as I slid off th e wire. It didn ' t touch me but slid along my left flying wire until it hit the leading edge defl exo r. (A t this

time many hang glider leading edges were braced with cables that ran through "deflexors, "short posts that stuck out ftom the leading edge/crossbar junction. - Ed.) It spun me around and let me free with a final rwan g. Now I was maybe 35 feet AG L with an ai rspeed of abour negative five mph. There I was, thought I was going to stall or tumble to my death. I knew I just co uldn 't allow the nose co break or I would never recover, so I did my best to hold th e wings level and make my high-aspect-ratio Elite fun ction as a small parachute. I knew I was going to hit hard and stayed prone, making sure my hands wouldn 't get smashed by the basetube o n impact. I smacked down right in the middle of a fo ur-lane concrete road. I had just enough rime to reali ze mac not only was I unh urt, the contro l bar didn 't even appear bent! I was just

beginning to feel very p ro ud of myself when my wo rld was again shattered by the loud squeal of tires. There I was, about to be the first hang gliding pedestrian fatali ty. T he squealing sropped and I looked up co find myself face to face with the bumper of a station wagon. I picked the glider up and scurried off co cl1e side of the road. T he surprised lady gave me one fin al glare and drove off Certainly, this was my most memorable flight.

RH: So you instantly evaluated each new situation and modified your tactics to address the current objective. That is a great story! Forger: I also blew a launch in H awaii in 1983. I had just been stationed mere and had only made a co uple of fli ghts from Makapu. O ne day it was blowing real light so I did what any flatland pilo t would do - a hard runnin g launch. After I landed a pilot said, "You kn ow, you are only th e second guy I've ever seen do a runnin g launch off the box." W e went back up and it was th en blowing 10 mph. I had done plenty of un assisted cliff launches in 10-mph winds so I declined the offer of a wire assist, H ANG G LI DING

and again chose ro run off. The same piloc asked, "Are you sure you don't want a wire launch?" I declined. I could tell there was a bit of a rotor as I walked up to the edge. One wing would drop, I would sec the glider down, pick it up, cake another couple of steps and the other wing would drop. I thought the wind would smooth ouc when I goc closer to the cliff. I started a couple of paces back, accelerated hard and in mid-stride the left wing dropped hard. I couldn't stop before the edge, and found myself launching off the sheer 1,200-foor cliff wich one wing scraping the rocks. I curled myself around the righc side of the control bar, trying to pull in and level the wings, as I kind of paused in mid-air like the coyoce stepping off a cliff in the cartoon. I realized that I wasn'c going to gee the wings level with flying speed prior to hining the face of the cliff and probably run1bling ro my death. So, in a split second, I make the same inicial move chat saved me in my rowing incident and pushed out fully. RH: So, in this instance you used a previously successful technique properly applied to a new situation. Forger: Right. I went from trying to recover ro just trying ro spin it back into the ridge, and that is exactly what happened. I turned 180° right back onto launch and skidded to a stop on my feet. My firsr words were, "I will cake a wire launch now." They were impressed. Later, the local pilot cold me, "Yeah, you were only the second guy I ever saw do that, and the other guy crashed coo." And I said, "Why didn't you rel! me that?" "You looked like you knew what you were doing," he replied. RH: Did you log that as an actual flight? Forger: Thar was probably my shortest flight! I didn't log it as a flight bur did log the incident. The moral of the story is to rake the time ro ask locals what the hazards are, and if you know something other pilots should know please educate them beforehand. RH: So in each ofthose situations you had to decide to take some action at each point along the way. ft sounds like the way a test pilot would treat the situation. Forger: I guess mere is something ro be said for not just giving up and accepting a situation. I've seen people start to drop a wing on landing, and freeze up. They just kind of accept the situation. Always strive to keep on flying and remember, it's not over till it's over. RH: Why do you do product reviews? (Mark has written several reviews for Hang Gliding magaJULY 1998

zine. - Ed.) Forger: For one, I'm an ignorant consumer. There have been plenty of rimes over the years when I've lived in areas which were away fro m mainstream hang gliding. I want to read reviews ro find our what glider is best. U nforrunarely, too ofren they read Like a beer ad, "less filling, castes great." Hang glider pilots deserve quantitative data when ac all possible. Initially I approached Wills Wing about resting the HP AT 145. Ir had already been on the market for months bur mey agreed ro let me cesr it and report my findings ro mem. In the end I made a joint presentation with Mike Meier to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots which was very well received. At mat cime I was a military rest pilot, bur and it was the first time my present boss ever heard of me. Once again, hang gliding was instrumental in my life. Wills Wing did have me evaluate the RamAir for Hang Gliding and I think char review did a good job of discussing what was gained and what was lost in that design. I've reviewed other produces and always try to make

product comparisons instead of simply singing the praises of a single design. Unfortunately, to do a proper review rakes a lot of time and effort, so I haven't been pursuing ic much lacely. RH: When you startedflying hang gliders at age 15, did you ever imagine that you would end up where you are today? Forger: No, I thought only rich kids could get the training ro get jobs like this. My goal in life then was to be a professional hang glider piloc or designer. RH: Now you help both NASA and industry make the highest-performance jet aircraft there are, etc. Do you think hang gliding helped you get there? Forger: Oh, without a do ubt. There is no doubt in my mind rim I would noc be where I am today if I hadn't starred hang gliding. RH: Thank you for sharing your success with us.

Roy Haggard started hang gliding at age 15 in 1970. His first glider was built out ofbamboo and plastic, for about $12, with instructions received over the phone. In 1974 he designed and built the "Dragonfly," which was then produced by Ultralite Products. He spent the next 11-1/2 years at UP designing hang gliders, including the Comet, which dominated the hang gliding competition world for many years thereafter. In 1984 he received USHGA sEd Gardia Awardfor innovations in hang gliding. Today he is Vice President of Vertigo, Inc., a research and development firm that specializes in advanced research for the aerospace industry. He has provided technical consultation to Edel and stills flies paragliders, hang gliders and aerobatic general aviation aircraft as time allows. • 81

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c;p OVFR Nl\\1(/ M EXIC:O lnsrruction, sales, service. Sandia Mountain guides. W'ills, Airwavc. Albnquerquc, NM (505) 82l -il5/i/i,

Night Parle

MOUNTAIN TOP RECREATION Certified insrruc1ion, (Ii 12) G97-lili77. C'MON our AND PTA Y!

NEW YORK AAA FLIGHT SCI!OOL MOUNTAlN WINGS, lNC-22 years cxpcrict1cc, foll time/year round. Full service shop,!\ training areas and a !i,500' tow l1eld.

MOLJNTi\lN WINCS

Look under New York.

PUERTO !UCO

\Xli11cl1 and aero fowing undc-ms and rwo-placc train1

PLY PlJFRTO RICO - Team Spirit Hang Gliding, ! IC classes daily, t:md,·m imtrnnion availahle. Wills Wing dealer. ( ;Jidcr rentals for qualified pilots. PO Box 978, Punt:J S,mtiago, l'ncrro Rico 007/i I. (787) 28'i09%.

We sell: Millcnnit1111, Exxtacy, Airwavc, Altair, Acros, trikes, Woody Valley harness· cs in stock. Save us abrn!l the mountain at a discoum. We do ir all and we be undersold. (91/i) (,IJ'J.:J3'77 WWW.FUGIJTSCJIOOL.NET. email MTNWINGSGilAOLCOM or visit us ar I 50 Canal Street, Ellenville NY J 2/i28.

TENNESSEE

TANDFM JNSTRUCT!ON • BOAT TOWING • MOUNTAIN C:LJNJC:S • OPEN YEAR ROUND

AFROT()WJNC PARACLIDINC; FOOT LAUNCH BEACI I RESORT EQUIPMENT SAi .FS 1\ND SERVI(:!'.

(800) 334-4777 NAGS TllF NUMBER 1 Rated USJl(;A paragliding school in the United States 1995, 1996 and 1997. Our premier school and "WORLD CLASS STORE" ,H-c convenient. ly locared only I. 'i hours outside Manhattan in rhc Catskill rnoumain r,tngc. We olfor a /iii! spectrnm of instrnction ind\lding om famous TAKF OFF PRO· GRAM which allows you to learn ar your own pace. We now also o/for foll-time towing at om airport, loc,1tcd only 5 mi1mtes li'Otn the sho11. lmporrcr of WOODY VALLEY MODEL, J\IRWAVE and NOCAL (the US Paragliding World Teallls ollicial hdmel) produrn. 150 CANAL STREET, ELLENVILLE NY, SIIOP (914) 647-33'77, OFFICE (732) 747-78/i5.

Internet Address: h It p://www.kit1yhawk.co1rt F·Mail Address: l,a11g-glidc(a\1111cr··banks.co1n FOLLY CERTIFIED foll SOUTHERN SKIES 1ime school and shop. Croup discounts I'! tliru J',j, TANDEM FLIGHTS. Towing clinics. POWERED PARAGLIDING instrnction, eqnipmenr and service. Bcall(iiirl training hills and monntain sires in Virginia and North Carolina. No reservations necessary, START YOUR TRAINING TODAY! Call now (828) (,:l2 6000,

1IAWK AIRSPOR'J'S INC P.O. Box 905(i, Knoxville, TN J791iOOO'i6, (li23) 212./i')'J/i. I Ling Gliding and world fomous Windsoks. l.OOKO\JT MOUNTAIN FLICHT PAR!<

Sn·

ad under Ccorgi:i.

TFXAS AUSTIN AIR SPORTS INC. Cerri/icd foot launch, tow & tandem training. Sales/service, Steve & hed Bnrns WINDEMERE (830) (i9l<J805. HOlJS. TON (281) /i/i-J/i88.

HAN(; GIIDINC

s CO .. IIJ\Nc; GLl])!NCII! Jeff Hunt, li8J I Red River St., Austin Texas /il/5 l. Ph/fox (517,) liC,°72529 rrajcfl(1\wl.cc ,m

VERMONT

PARTS & ACCESSOR!ES

training, ridge soaring) foot & tow bunching in central

FARTJI /\ND SKY /\DVENTURF SPORTS -Instruction with Bob Corbo and Jon Atwood. Winch towing, tandem flights, Acrobatics Clinic $100 .July 11 & J Beginner thongh Advanced traiuing to meet your individual needs. Call (802) 76:l-97,65 or email

Texas. MOTORIZED P/\RACI.IDING INSTRUC TION & F.QUIPMENT AVAIi.ABLE. (915) 179 I I 85. Rt I, Box I 61', Tow· 1x 78672.

VIRGINIA

llll.L COUNTRY PJ\RACIIDINC INC: Learn pilot skills. l'ersonalized lJSI IC/\ certified

AEROTOWINC /\CCFSSORIES Sec TOWING. THE WALLABY RANCH (9/il) li21i-00/0.

KITE ENTERPRISES loot launch, platfor111 launch, payout winch tow, aerotow and powered par,tgliding ins1rnc1ion too. Training, sales, rentals and repair. Edel, Airwavc, Wills Wing, UP and DK \Vhisper. Dallas, l'crn Worth ,rnd north Texas area. 711 Ellis, Allen TX /5002. ('l72) 3')0 9090 nights, wcckcn(ls, W\Vw,kitc-cntcrpriscs.cc)tll

TOTAL AIR SPORTS Area's 01.DFST Wills Wing dealer. Certified instruction available. "I only DF/\1. with WILIS'. (,354 l.i111estone, llous1on TX T/097. (71l) 'l'i6611i/. UT/\H

me; SKY l'ARA(;L]])INC Spcciali,ing in advanced training, tandems, clinics and tours, since 1990. Dale Covington 1-800 78)970/i, (801) /i/li-2380. CLOlll) '> l'/\RACI.IIJINC Utah's largest school. We oCf,·t BOTH AM and PM training sessions at Point of the Mountain. Para 2 ccrti. Ii cation is $650 f,ir I he 11nlimited lessot1 which

is 100')h applied toward the purcl1asc or 11,w paraglicJ .. ing gear. ( :all or email for infcrrrnation pack (80 I) 55:\. 183/i. \Xleb sit,· is www.paraglidcrs.co111 email at

BI.UF SKY High quality instruction, cquipmcnr sales, sewing, towing supplies, Clidcr Savers. Call Steve Wendt, (5/iO) /ij).(,'j57, cell (5/iO) /i8(khl8. CLOSEST C:ERTIFIEI l PARAGLIDINC SCI 1001. To Virginia: SOUTHERN SKIFS sec North Carolina (828) 69-6000. KITTY 11/\WI< I<ITFS

Sec North Carolina.

S11VFR WINGS, INC. - . Certified instruction and cquiprnrnt sales. (70:l) 5Tl 1%5 /\rlingtnn V/\. WASHINGTON DIXON'S AIRPLAY PARAGLIDING This Northwest center is located on the Eastern side or the Cascades the weather is good year round! This 1,600 acre private flight park is ideal for the landing beginner with drivc--up open launches and fields. Individualized training with statc-01-rl1c-an equipment) 2··way radios, comprehensive ground schooling with an emphasis on micro1nctcorology.

Great new and used inventory. Specialized clinics including the CAGE and BACKPACK MOTORS. One hour from the CHELAN BUTTE. /\sk abour onsite lodging and camping. On--site climbing wall, skiing, moumain etc. Dave Bridges, US National Champion says, "Dixon's students arc extremely welltrained and cornpete111 pilots." Dixon's Paragliding in and Arizona (appointments recommended), 810 I llay Cmyon Road, Cashmere WA 98815. (509) 782-55/i:l. www.paraglide.com UTAH'S ONLY FULL SFRVICE PARAGl.llJJNC AND I IANC (;J.J[)JNc; SIIOP /\ND SCIIOOL We offor AM and l'M lessons seven days a week. We arc dealers for all ma11ufoct11rers. ( ;reat new and used eq11ip· mcm. \Xie teach at the l:11no11s "l'oint ofd1c Monmain." Free carnping right where you learn. Crear discount bargain lodging or luxury acc01nmodations. Cuidc .services, 1nownain tours, site information. Alf(ffdahlc classes. h)r

free information package, call toll fi·ce I 888-9/ifi. 51i33, email I !BC:3v1l:10l.com, fax (80 I) 576 6/i82, 126(,5 S. Minuteman 1)r., Draper UT 81020. WASATCH WINGS FUJ.J. TIME USHGA Cl,..RTJFIFD 11(; INSTRUCTION ,11 Point or the Jvfouiu-ain and

n1ou111ain ,\itcs. Dealer for

Acros, Wills Wings, Moyes, Airwave and much more. ( :al I /.ac ( 80 I) 5 7(, 0 11}., wingsV''wasat ch .com WWW. Wasatch.con if c,wings

)LJIY 199B

WllFEI.S J\VATl./\BI.F Super a must for training, tandem flying. Built-in bushings. Only USA-built 17" wheel. $1i7.95, qnantity discoums. Immediate delivery. Lookout Mountain, (800) 688-LMFP.

BRAND NEW AIR.MIC $65. By NJ\S (rhc one that works.) Not for Kenwood. Talk and hear thnr car, PTT switch. (303) .WI 8995.

WISCONSIN RAVF.N SKY SPORTS 1 lANC CI.IDINC: /\ND PARACl.lDING The midwest's Premier aerotow Hight park, founded in 1992. Featuring INTEGRAi' FD INSTRUCTION of foot--launch ,md acrotow tanprices 10 hear any in t!,c USA. Seven grassy training hills facing all wind directions. Four Dragonfly row planes, no waiting! Two on wheeled undercarriages. WW Falcons tandem for training from the very first lessons. USUA ttlrralight and tug i11struction. Paraglidlng tows. J:rce camping. Sales/service/accessories for all brands. Open 7 days a week. ( :on tact llrad Kushner, PO Box 10 I, Whitewater WI 53190 (Ii IIi) li7.H800 phone, (Ii IIi) li7.H80 I fax, bradv''hanggliding.com

FROM "llRJilA!JPAN" MAI<lm NEW SMJ.\I,L COMBO UNrT FOR IIJ.\NG (llalDINCJ AND PARAGLIDING.

My well-loved lightning quick vario married roan excel-· lent alt-imcrcr thanl<s to new generation lascr"trimrncd

transducers. Squeezed into litrlc Rl'-prnof box only 5x3xl.li" still has reserve battery! !111ercha11gcablc broad Velcro straps or base tube morrnring hardware. $295 Shipping inc. (805) 682-1 OB8. units still $2')'). Laser trimmed retrofit available $85. ROBERTS Cl.IDER INSTRUMENTS 3340 C:l.!FF DRIVE SANT/\ BARBARA Ci\ 9l I09

s KENT!JCKIANA SOARING Co1nn11micaci,,ns Specialist! Best Prices Ill Best Service! Customer Smisfacrion Guara11teed! VARIOS: FLIGHT DECKS NEW BAI .I. GRAP! llCS PLUS ...................... $CALL BAI.I. Ml9 ...................................................... $375.00 Pl .YJ'EC .......................................................... $(:ALL

GIANT PARAGLIDING PACKS yon can unzip to form a tarp 10 protect your glider from \ IV and dirt. $165 +$6 shipping, MC/Visa. Guaranteed. Critter Mountain Wear, PO Box 993, Gunnisoll CO 812:lO. Tel/fox (')70) <,Ii I· 175/i, email crincr(iilgunnison.com

I IICH PFRSl'FCTlVE WI !EELS Real lifr savers! 12", light, rough. i:its all Send $Ii 1.95 + $Ii. 50 shipping per pair to Sport Aviation, PO Box IO 1, Mingovillc PA 16856. Ask ahout our dealer prices. KFNTUCKlANA SOARING

WW\\r.crittcrmtnwcar.c<)Jn

DROGUE C:I l UTFS ings. Deploy from harness or Soaring Technology, G Harvest, l'armillgton CT 06032

RADIOS-AI.I. MODFLS AVAJLAJ\I.E SPECIAi ACOM T2A 7. meter Pim rec,11v-rn .. <>n 1x/rx 136-17/i .................. $2'50. YAFSU FTl IR ......................... 5 watt ........... $305.00 KENWOOI) Tll22 .................. 5 watt ................. $289 F/C: Fingcrswitch/l lcadsct l lcavy-Duty .......... $89.00 5/8 TFl .ESCOl'IC ANTENNA ....................... $20.95 5/B GAJN DUCK ANTENNA ........................ $17.95 Yacsu Mobile ............................ 50 watt ......... $305.00 TUNE LIi' w/Warramy lntacr .................... $3'i-50.00 PARA(:! JUTES WILI.S WING I.ARA ......... w/Paraswivcl ......... $CA1.l. HICI I ENERGY QUANTUM $CALL MISCELLANEOUS ARMADTT .LO< ;Jiderbag Regular & XC ...... $125.00 WIND ADVISORY AIRSPFED W/Clamp ..... $2'\.00 I !ALL PC AIRSPEED Ckarance ...................... $25.00 llOOK KNlFF ................................................. $14.95

ARMADILLO GLIDER BAGS UV protection & more! Custom made polypropylene w/fi,11 zipper $125 (plus $10 XC bag also $125. FXCLUSIVFl.Y through Kcntttckiana Soaring, li25 N Taggart Ave., Clarksville IN li7129. (812) 2887111, fax (812) 28/i .. ,j I I MC/Visa. lncludc nose & tail

KFNTUCKTANA SOARlNG Avenue 425 N Clarksville li7129 (812) 288711 J fax (812) 284-4115

By Sol. Full face, kevlar with MAGIC I!EI.MFTS DuPont Cool Max interior make the Magic the top helmet on the market. Visit the Magic wcl, site at

KENTUCKTANA SOARINC

contact Sol at (80 I) 5'JJ. J 834 for a c:ttalogue. GARMIN CPS I $159. Many other sories available. Call Chad at (805) 569- I(,(,7

acccs· more

info or visit our wch site:

l1tt1i:i /www.body1rcnds.com/1,araacc.l1rrn

c;wrs & TROPHIES

Unique, mmmal & creative related and trophies. Free catalog! Soaring Drcmns, 11716 Fairview, Boise Idaho 8371:l. (20s) m,-7911i.

FINCFRSWJTCTJ RADIO HFADSFT By Flight Connecrions. HEAVY·DUTY mounted switch) cornn1unicuc with hands on co1Hrol bar or brakes. Safer flying and more reliable communications. 90 day warranty, w/repair service available beyond warr:mty. Available for Yacw, lcom, Alinco, Kenwood & other compatible radios. Full face or open helmets. $89 1 $3. 50 shipping, M( :!Visa, dealer inquires invited. Kcmucki:ma 125 N Taggart Ave., Clarksville IK 47129. (812) 288-71 I , fox (812) 28/i .. /i l I SPECIAUZING IN COMMUNICATIONS. 1-lEAVYDUTY, WATERPROOF PVC hill 1110 zipper, $107 ppd. XC-Carno or white. 115 z.ipper $65 ppd. Gmrniso!l C:lidcrs, 1'ili9 County Road I Gunllison CO 81230. (970) 6/i 1-93 J 5.

MINI VARIO World's smallest, vario! Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on ba11eries, 018,000 Ii.., fast response and year warranry. Great for paragliding too. ON LY $169. Mallet1cc, PO !lox 15756, Santa Ana CA, 927:35. (7H) %6-12/iO, MC/Visa accepted, rnmallet 1~D,,ol.com

New life 111 HANC CUDINC

http: / /www.icoro2000.com E-Mail: stoff@icaro2000.com

Is Your Headgear Cert i1~ ied '?

Cyber - $175

Xtreme - $ 195

Jet - $135

Lazer Helmets certified for hangliding and paragliding under European standard 'EN' and CE 966. «£\\>e ~'&~>' Firebird Sky Sports, USA • 801-255-9595 576 W. 8360 S. • Sandy, UT • 84070 www.firebirdusa.com

e--<:0 \Je&\..

~@ Ci , ~ , ~ Send us your hand gliding slides or pictures. If we use H in our ad you will win a new Rylee 4030 GPS Acc:estt"" se contact Rytec USA for contest rules and regulations. R

-----

The fli nest wi ngs fop

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•

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-·

FIREBIRD AMERICA • 576 WEST 8360 SOUTH • ·sANDY • UT 84070 /I USA -=

-"""---·- - - ~

- - - - = --

ph_o11_~ (801) 255__9595__• fax 8Q1)_2_56 9~~8 •_www@Fjr~~irq~a.cQm _· _ __ __

- -

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·.'

•

A!clvanced I Recreation

~inallY. a wing design that will allow you to cliscover w,hat «gliding» is all aoout You will ex~rience true µ,erfonnance un ·1performance takes a back seat of sensations: '- ehjoY.Jl'.lent, precision of handling, exhi ation df feeling_ the wind hitting you ~s wm ater nder her amazing acceleration This wing wm teach you a les?on in simplicity, (tfoc profile, option to w.eigh her down for peack performance) Solid sensation, solid wing you and her will be one an Equi...nox couple 50 % you, 50% her 50 % enjoyment, 50 % performance All of that because we had a blast designing it.

A Guide to Powered Paragliding

Video & Magazine

This full color periodical covers current information about Powered Paragliding in North America. It contains over 30 color photos of the units. Articles include FAR's, weather, thrust tests and more. The video is a 46 minute documentary, covering the 3 day meet in Baja, Mexico . Showing low level formation flights , tandem, scooter towing, air to air photography and much more. This is not a subscription - ONE ISSUE ONLY! Magazine - $7.95 ppd. Video - $25 . plus $3. s+h order both and SAVE$ 29.95 ppd VISA & Mastercard gladly accepted.

Thi s is the NEW 3rd edition of the acclaimed Touching Cloudbase book for paragliding pilots. More than just a hi story lesson, T C. has ton s o f use ful informati on to he lp yo u progress. Many sc hool s use thi s book for their student manual. $ 22.50 plus $ 3. s+h

A GUIDE TO THE SKY

The one and only Cloud Chart Poster Still just $ 12.95 ppd. Learn about clouds and weather with this beautifu l full co lor poster. Full size 26"x 38"poster makes a great displ ay fo r home or office. It also makes a great gift for your flying friends!!

Call for our FREE new Flight Gear Catalogue

Mojo's Gear

Rt.I Box 16F Tow,TX 786 7 2-9 7 08 Ph . 915 / 379-1185 Fax 915 / 37 9-1478

lmmediatc California dream .. instruct at the San Francisco Bay area's premier si1c. Service shop employment is also availahk. for Pat !Jcncvan (108) 262- I 055. MS( :J IC ;vilaoLcom www.hang-gli(fo1g.co111

PUBIJCATlONS & ORGANIZATJONS CALL USJ !CA form. horn the early I !ting (lliding. (l I'J) C,3J-8JOO.

The world-class XCR 180

111) to 3 honrs f1, and weighs only Complete ki1 with harness, regulator, cu111ula and rcrnotc on/ofr r1m nm:ier, only $)75.00.

SMALL HFIMFTS Dealer overstock on small/xs kcvlar foll focc hclmi,1s, 2.5'X, off1 R,ivcn Sky Spons (Ii 1ii) ii73-8800, hradv,'hanggliding.com

DON'T CFI' C:AUCflT L/\NDINC DOWNWIND! L nylon, \JV treated, 5'/i" long w/11" throaL colon /luoresccm pink/yellow or llnorcscent pink/white, $39.')5 ( 1$/i ./5 Sil I), Send to USI IC/\ Windsok, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado CO 8090 I·· I \'.10, (71 'J) 637- 8300, fax (71 'J) 17, 11shga<r1>ushga.org VISA/MC accepted, Check our web site www.ushga.org

TEK FLIGIIT PRODUCTS

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT

(di 18,000

to the present

ADVANCED J\nd/or lnstruclor rated pilot in Nonhwest, needed for ),()j1() hours per momh working with the bxtacy. ('SO'J) 97.5,55(,5, FVALUATF OUR OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITY! Capitalize on: The home-based business boom; The personal development industry; Our free training; Our llnparallcd Sales Support. Arc yoll a serious entrepreneur? Do you have llfl 10 i OK ro sran? l ,800-2/9-

B/\C lT! Ii' yon don't have your '"'l'Y of Dennis Pagcn's PERFORMANCE FLYING yet, available through USJ IC:A 1 $29.')5 ( 1$5.50 s&h itn lJ I'S/Priority Mail lJSI IC/\, PO Box 13:JO, Colorado Springs CO 8090 l, 1-80().(, l (i ... (iggg ltshg:1(21)ushga.org www,usl1ga.org

78/i8 x l G2.

Camera rno11nt $'18.50. ( :amcra remote (ask :ibont reba1c) $/i5. Vario mount $1 G" wheels $29.?5, SS::11 included. TEK FLIGI IT Products, Colchrook Win.m:cl CT 06098. Or call (8GO) 379 1668.

THF ULTIMATE In a fttll face hclmc1, All sizes in stock. Mention this ad for $.30 off the normal price, (509) 925-'556':i,

FULL TIME I !!\NC CUD/NC Instructors needed to teach at the "htmous l'oinr of the Monmain." Mostly for Beginner ,md Novice ratings. ( :reat benefits (2/i hour lied th insurance, demo flying, we arc dealers for all glider manufacturcrs1 commissiorn, and an hourly wage.) Mak(' 11p to $:l,000 monthly' Please scnd resume or co/llacl us at: The Sm ring Center (801) 576-6 1iGO, fox (80 I) 5766/iR'.\ or send resume: 12(i(,5 S, Minuteman lk, Ilr:,pcr UT 8/i020, email l lBC:J(a\10Lcom MAJ<E Teaching and pa1,·ar\lJLl1ng. You can do it with Kitry The gliding sclwol on the planctl you build 1hc skills for all yom rm-

ing~ through

No ratings necessary to stare Join om team. l'ax rcstimcs to llrncc Wcavcr at ('J]')) /ilill"N7 or mail lo Kitry J lawk Kites, PO Box I 83'), Nags I btd NC 2/'J'i'J. PJ\R/\C ;J,J 1JINC INSTRUC: !'()RS W ANTFl) Fastcoast Paragliding C:m1cr is looking fi,r parngliding its Learn, h,r info call Lns Linde at

FJ\RJ\CL!DINC: JNSTRlJC:TOR WJ\NTED for gmwing paragliding progr:rnL Raven Sky Sports (11 Ii)

PARAGLIDING: THE COMPLETL GUIDE

By Nod Whi1ialL The most complete guide 10 pa,·ap,ltd1111, Over I 00 color 1)lrntographs &. $2Ci.'!'i 1 $,],Ti s/h. US[ /CJ\, PO Box Springs CO 8()')()), (719) 6l28300, fax your MC/Visa to (71')) 6:\2-(,/il/, email: ushga(tt\1sl1ga.org wwvv.11sl1ga.org SO/\RINC Monrl,ly rnagazine oC The Soaring Socicry of Arneric1, Inc ( :overs all aspects 01· soaring iligh1, htll mcmbcrshiri $'i'i. lnfr1, kit with sample copy $J, SSA, 1'.0. Box E, f lobhs, NM HS21i I, ('505) J'J2 1177,

/iT,8800. TOWINC Buy one of' the nation's QUIT YOUR DJ\ Y JOB! largest schools and get 10 fly! Rapidly growing tmnkey call details. Established over 'i Northwcsr. Earn/1,earn. 'l'crms. cn1p1,,yecs w,1ntnL

IULY 199B

/\EROTOWJN(; J\CCFSSORIES I lcadquartcrs for: The !inc.st releases, secondary rd cases, Spc:ct ra "V" bridles, weak links, cmdem whcch, launch cm !<its, etc. Tl IE WJ\LL/\1\Y RANCH (91 l) 12/i,0070.

s CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION Hang gliding equipment and accessories. I .aunch cans $500, partial kirs $350. 887,45 l 6 VISA/MC ACCP.PTED. PAYOUT WINCH lncludes li,000' spectra line $600 OBO. (904) 736-0583 Florida.

ll[TRAUNE In stock, ready to ship. 3/l 6"x3000' $105. 3/J6"x4000' $llt5 included. Cajun Hang Glidinr; Club, 110 l<cnr Lafoyem LA 70508. (318) 981-8372. VIDEOS & FILMS FIRST FUGH]' Follows rhe action of a new pilot's first lessons. This video is an entertaining way to show your friends :md family how you acru:1lly learn to VHS 15 minmes. $20 includes shipping (m11_y applied 10 lesson MISSION SOARING CENTER, l 116 Way, Milpitas CA 9'5035. (408) 262- 1055. FLY HARD: Viking Films ncwesr release. Rob Whittall, Chris Sanracroce & a vinragc Buick convrrrible full of paraglidcrs. Omragcous flying at several west coast flying sites. Meer IlG aerobatics champion Mitch McAlcer along Excellent rock soundtrack, pro· fessionally lilmcd & $35.95. POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN by East Coast, hg/pg acrion at this Urah mecca $33. PARAGLIDE: THE MOVIE by Viking Films. Rock.. n . wll world class competition m Owens Valley. filmed & edited $35.95. Call or fax lJSllCA fax (7l9) 6:126417, please add +$4 domcsric s/h (, $5 (c,r rwo or more videos). Great to impress your friends or for those socked-in days.

JIANG CLlDER LJ\NDING 101 A must for all srndems :n l 12 price of a downwhe. Acrob:uic hang gliders at airshows of rhe Somhwcsr: Phoenix, Lake Powell, Mexico, 90 minmes. Send $:05 to: Jeff Reynolds, 1902 E Sharon Drive, Phoenix AZ 85022. (602) 482-9723.

25th Annual

AIRMAN'S RENDEZVOUS

PARTY AT CLOUDBASE A hang gliding music video by Advrnrnrc Productions $19.95. HANG GLIDING EXTREME & BORN TO FLY Adventure Productions, hg action $34.95 HAWAITAN Fl.YIN by 9, so:1ring in paradise, USJTGA (719) 6.328300, launches $33. 632 .. 6/i 17, email: ushgaQi\rshga.org. Please add +$Ii domestic s/h (+$5 for two or more videos). friends or for those socked-in Crear ro impress days. Pcrfoct giii rhc bunch porato turned couch pornro.

August 17 · ·

!r's a

CR.FAT FLYING CREA'r AERO\li\·1·rcs GREJ\T GUFSJ' SPF.AKE.RS CREAi' HANQUEr party! Call Luigi (9'10) 728 9525,

TELLURIDE AEROBATICS l'rom the firsr Telluride Fesriv:rl in 1981, ro rhe modern day Follow the history of this dynamic Call USJICA (719) C,32 8,\00, fox (71 ')) 6,l2-61i 17, email: ushgaf1Jushga.org. Please add ,-$Ii domestic s/h. MlSCFLLANEOOS

CAL GLOVE Light wciglH CAB RETTA LEATHER CLOVES, world famous in des) :tre now paragliding & par·aclllltllnf\ women & sizes, 9 different colors ,rnd priced

Full color 13"x 31" poster frarnr . ing John I wh:u he docs hcsr .. L()Oi'INO Available HQ for just $6.95 (,.r:J,50 slh). Fill that void on yom wall! Send ro US! !GA Acrobatics Posrer, PO Box l:lOO, Colorado Sprine;s CO 809.33. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, arc NOT AVAILABLF. on inrcrn:nional SPECJAL& Frie Raymond posrcr .. BOTJ I s/h).

GRFEN POINT H.YERS

NEW PROM EAST COAST VIDEO! Wayne's hcst video ro date. Shot along rhc 300 mile Lake Michigan coast , from eight different sites. 3D animations and some morphing yon have to see. 51 min mes of gliding, pa:·agliding, motorized tug & towing, motorized n1osqulto

and

Buckeye's powered parachurc. Humorous training shots,

Video high interested in lite check or money order, Video, 80 E. Lincoln, Muskegon ((, 16) 739-536:J. other Mountain, is also for $29.)

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to: Easr

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ONLY $1,975 Fly in Chamonix, PRANCE and in die 25th COUPE !CARE, including airfare, 7 days accomod,1tions, local 1n1nspon:11ion, guiding by na1ivc NICOLA CAUCHY (USHCA tandem instructor). All level welcome. Leave Saturday, Sept. 12, return Sept. 20. Musr reserve by July 15th for rhis SPECJ/\1. OFFER. Derails at hnp://rnemhers.aol.com/YonCanF!y.lnml or rnll Cerry ar Melia Travel 1 -800-·886-(i\9 I, 9-5cst.

from $27.95 ·$:l9.9'i. For more info on these superior leather p;loves contact: C:1!-(;!ove, 297-0 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento CA 95821. (916) 181-8701, fax ('Jl6) /i8 l- l 168, email: c:d .. glow<?iljuno.rnm VIDEOS BOOKS & POSTERS Call USHGA for yom Merchandise order form (719) 632-8300, email: ushga(d'rrshga.org. DON'T LEAVE YOUR <;ROlJND,-BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING JN THE GARAGE. SELJ. IT lN THE I !ANG GLIDING CIASSIFIFDS. CLASSIFIED ADVF.llTlSTNG RATES The rmc for classified advertising is $. 50 per word (or group o/' characrcrs) and $1.00 per word fc,r bold or all caps. MINIMUM Al) Cl JARGE $5.00. A fl'c oC $1 'i.00 is charged for each line arr logo and $25.00 for each photo. UNEART & PHOTO SIZE NO JARGER THAN l.75" X 2.25". Please underline words 10 be in bold print. ohahs $2'i.OO column inch. Pl1onc Email or wch ad<\rcss~:,wrn,·!ls. AD DEADLINFJ,: All ad copy, ins1rnc1ions, changes, additions and canccllarions mnsr be received in I 1/2 momhs rhc cover date, i.e . .J nly 20th rhc September issue. make checks payable 10 LJSJJCA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado CO 80901- J J'lO, (719) 632-8300. Lrx ('119) 1'l or email: das si/lcd with your Visa or Ma,rc1·car,[\.

I lANC CLJDINC

STOLfcN WINGS & Tl IINGS

US VOLFS STORM 501 Stolen fi·om vehicle ,11 TIGER MOUNTAIN LZ, JSSAQUAII, WA 011 ( lcrobcr 17.1h, J ')')7 weekend. Pink lop, grccn/ycllow undcrs11rCacc, also J\T harness, Lirgc green reserve. (7.0(1) 'JltlJ.()51 ').

EDEL SABER M Los1h1olrn at KITTREDGE, CO 011 /\ng11s1 Ii, I'!'YI. ( :old top, white under, frnycd brake line 011 !cit side, al.10 rainbow colored llall vario. Mike !'osier (:l0:3) 8:l2 (,716.

/\dvcnturc ()rod11erions ..................... .li3 /\crolight lJS/\ ................................... 50 /\irca ................................................. /1 Airwavc 50

/\lrair ................................................. '/') /\nglc or I\ \lack ., .,., ,., .,.,,. ,. ,,.,.,..,,,. ..... /\pco//\crnlight US/\ ......................... ,"., Arai ....................................... 1)'.) Ball Varios ......................................... (J', LL.

Fircbird US/\ ................................ 8/Ui'J Plight I .............................. 10,,12 Fly C:astcll uccio 18 Fly Prod11crs ...................................... G(i ................................................ 88 FrccX ................................................... ·,; llall Brothcrs ..................................... 37

High Jcaro .................................................. 87 l .ookom Mm. Flight Park ........... 5,(),GO

BALL GC?O & GARMIN li5 Stolen from harnc.ss bag inside 1mck '" BlJITALO MOUNTAIN, T/\Lll llN/\, OK on June 8, I 997. lloth mounted together on a single Ball clamp. llall (;(:serial number Ii 1. Pete I lammer (}J,i) 'i(,)..ii 102, email: Pete.I la1rnncr~1>MCl.rnm STO! .EN WINGS arc listed as a service to US! l( ;;\ rncrnhers. Newes! cniri{'s arc in hold. There is 110

ch:irgc for this service ,md lost :ind found wings or equipment rmy be c:illcd in (/ 19) 6:32.-8:lOO or fax it in (71 ')) C,:l),. (,It 17 l,,r inclusion in I hng ( ;liding rnagazinc. Plc,tsc crll to ca11ccl the when gliders arc be purged.

Mcscali10/Paratccli ............................ 58 Mini Vario ........................................ 50 c;car ...................................... 'JO NAS .................................................. 15 Ncilsrn-Kcllcrman ............................ 61 Norrh /\rncrican Paragliding, lnc .......30 Nova ................................................. 82

Personal Flight .................................. 71 .......................... B:1ck Cover Publications ....................... .3'7 :1 kV,') 1101· r.1 ....................•...•................. GG SOL J'S ;\ viarion Publications ............... J ') 1\i ! ............................................. 55 U.S. Acros ......................................... 33 UP ...................................................... ') USl IC/\ .............. 1l,lli,19,%,53,'5/i,'J3 West C:oast Paragliding ..................... 31 Wills Women's World Tcam ..................... .7/i Worldwide /\dvcnrun: Tours ..............30

www. usr1ga. or(J

6JOT)6qsn·MMM

)ULY 199/l

610·06qsrYMMM

6JO'

«';) l998 kY Dan Johnson Gap/'I'allard, FRl\NCE thE, hi g drink month for an airshow lc'!nding some i ntcrnationa l flavor to "Product Lines." 111101111 the thing J observc1d was l:he proliferation of D-cell wings. 'l'he question in my is D--cc11 wing[, will but "Will flex wings survive?" In trut.h, end of our popuJ.ar, Lgl1twoight, easily [oJded, foot> launched and But T 'm sure of than was. ••• I ca] lE,d t11c, slighUy different version Revolution (aimed at powered and l:wo new flight enl:xiE?S from ot:her manufacl:urers. cell wing war; t:rom 2000, builder of Flex wing. 'I'bc? other cornpony that know. did not show t·.heir Top Secret mode]. Leal Lo l:he bul

on the ground. A 'I'c0cma France. However, Exxtacy wave? has that may appc?al (meanwhile Exxtacy producer Flj ght enjoy1ng popularity with a reportt'1d 400 units delivered less l:wo ) . Edit:or Bertrand Frar1ce' s that Tecma 's perhaps 'fecrna'

ribs as However, jrnprovernenl.ic; over example, ribs do not t:ensionlng on the Rather, a a.rrangement allows t:.he pilor. to tension w:Ltriout the hand abu.se of

the

watch01d fit for snugly into of tl1c1 ribs hin,w point. don't know if diffEcrencc0 exi but Ixbo' sewn hinge c1eonc?r looking and appea1,c ,d effortless to fit as one in the flap setup. big dj tterence movc,mcm I: L:o directly actuati~ ailerons on tbe improvement tb"i empJ oys carbon- f: iber flaps a Dacron . Jn cont:.rasL:, and Ixbo lom;e contro1 method oJ aclivat.in9 oyv.,..uc,.L VHC>, al thou9h L:his fr; saicl to be helpful foot- launching in windy conch tions. ('l'he technique leave the control bar .Lia/: on ground where shifting wings wiLl autornat}caJJy move the 0

Lhe :eight

vray to

t:he wing -7 eve}.)

•••

mounl:ed on a very lightweight trike prototype built: by c:i LocaJ HG instructor. For mc1, this resolved wondering :i rnic;(ht wbi ch L:hose powered (employ add:i tion to l,d Mouc:t te' c, Top Secret , Air Creation (perhaps world' largest·. trike producer) ah;o has a D-ce1J win9 in dew=clopmt"nt. ••• As lornJ as I'm mentionincJ trikes and refer to Lri.ke1cJ ainiccd fklW

at }iang qJjder piJ powered ultralight pi1ol:s I saw a unique called the Relax whicb f'eatured tiny tittle retractable main gciar·, and 'l'l1cc,se superlic;Jht. tr:i.kes obviously a:i med soaring flight as Cosmos f3amba and Lookoul· Mounl:.ain' Freedom Macbine. ••• Swifts were abundant at Gap/'I'allard. No Millcmniurns were but: in Swi[ts and new Brig}1l:c,Lar entry. fLc'"x wing hang displayed, but from my tbey labored outside l:he Limelight by the, D-ceJ ls and soar:inq trikE'is More l::ivity surrounded numerous ider and powered producers. 11111111 'Tr1e Mondial De L 'Air (roughly: "l\ir World"), war; produced by Frencli leoder Rene Coulon' organi7.ation and t.o bave ,Jtarted a new nvent: fcat:urinq light end aviation. Exhihi ton; plen Li fu1, crowds were trong, Lhe weather was the Eood fascinating, and the Frcmch the soul:h of France, made for a stunnincfLy to au-.cnd next year as we] . of [ bavp sorno :i terns Jc1Et out Danny Stephens' Angle of Attack, who brought you Grippi es hang gJ idinc:r bar comes Attack Tu.bes, a J of custom manufactured air foiJ--,,haped down tubes. Why is this newsworthy? One reason Lt all: price. With down rnnning $70 apiece?, AoA' models ror may find plenty takers. Yep, Stephens is riis lirm a men? $37 .50 01ach and a1reae1y has sl:ock for Wills Winq, Pacl\:ir, UP, and Seedwings. Order 10 or more at d time get L:.hem for only :i.nch1de free s}1ipph1g and hand Ling. report AoA' ,; price than l:bei r cost.. Yon ordcc>r tbree l\ttacl, 1·ube,: and get pair "Semi" Step.hens they' test.eel l:he f:or sl:rength, quality, toll-free: 888-530-9940 or hydrotc?x@pacbe1J net ••• Speaking of replacements, Airfoil Sales of Australia faxed that now ..·independent company "has doing a brisk business in replacement sai.ls, parL:icularly [for] the [Moyes l and Michael Pendleton says he is "sellin9 E,tandard make,3 and modc,1::i of Lhe , Xtralite, SX, and CSX [saiJs] witll Mylar or Dacron/PowEcrrib [with] choice of underrmrfacc, colors for approxirnatoly $:600. Info by dj al ()Jl .. 61-2-4323 -3869. ••• In France, the U. and around the world, Sport Aviation Publications j doing we! 1 wiU1 t:heir newccs,t book called '"rowing Aloft.:. " Writ l:en by Dennis Pa.gen and forme,r USHGA pre?., Bill Bryden, 3 tl 4 page, book all w,pects of l:owing hang gJ useful compilation addresses tho ever-.. growing interest in tow- launched hang gliding only $29. 95 plus $3.50 P&H In on their web site: www ]a7.erlink.corn/-pa9enbks, or 814--383·2569 911118 Finally, after of tlying t:he Big 0, "Hungary" Joe Szalai has produced a flying map for tbe Owens Valley. Popular r1ang ql icli n9 are found in bold letters, the map can be used by p:iJoL·. chase of c:ill, ,Joe' free. Send a sc,lf 21ddrer;s, stampc.c;d envelopci 25 Whistling T'3le, Irvine CA 92614. 1111111!11 Got. news or opinions? Send 'em to 8 Dorset, St. Paul MN ':i'Jll8. Vmnil/fax: 6124'S0 .. 0930 or Cum11lusMan@aol.com for eMaiJ ~lil

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