USHGA Hang Gliding March 2000

03

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(US PS 01 7-')70-.W -

ISSN 08%4.'BX)

16 The Tweety Chronicles kY Petf Lehmann

A I-Ling V rcrurns ro hi\ roots.

23 Hang Gliding Interviews: Patti Cameron by.Jim (Skydog) rmri M11ggie f~dmieri An extraordinary lady pilot.

26 Hang Gliding Interviews: Ken de Russy kY Peter !Jim:n and Lori Allen

Ken has retired co \Xlashington Smc and is amassing hang gliding memornbilia.

40 Westlake Cloud Magic article rmd photos © 2000 hy Boh Ormiston Navigating the ethereal skies.

44 Video Review: Weather To Fly kY Sewmd V?hitjidd

Everythi ng you always wan ted ro know ;1bout weather and fl ying.

48

The 1999 Masters Of Freestyle kv Dino DiNttiO, photos byjolm /-/ei11~y Aerobatics in Lake Elsinore, Cal ifornia.

Columns

Departments

President's Corner, by David Glover .. . 13

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

High Perspective, by M. Robertson .... 36

Updace ............... ................... ........... ....... 8

USHGA Directors .......... .. ................ ...39

Calendar of Events .... ............. .............. 14

Incident Reports, by Bill Bryden ......... 50

Classified Advert ising ............... .......... .52

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

Index co Advertisers ............................. 54

MARCH 2000

Gil D0dgen 1 w"'"""'"m Dave Pounds, 1\r!

John Heiney, Gerry Charlebois, teroy Grannis, Vauglm, Bob Lowe Phowgmplwrs Harry Martin, 1//ustra/or De11nis Pagm1 1 Mark Stucky, Rodger Moyl, Meadows, Jim Palmieri, Bill Bryden Sti1fi Writer:,

Air Mail Dear Editor, I ;im an in termediatc hang glider pilot and have been flying for several years. While l would like ro introduce my friends to the sport, too many of them arc either fc:arfol or do not believe in the safety record that hang gliding currently enjoys. This has been a source of frustration for someone like me who is virmally addicted to flying.

Accordingly, I am writing to flnd out if you h:1ve any valid statistical informa .. tion concerning the sport's safety and fatality record. I seem to remember that Hrmg Gliding magazine published an article many years ago (perhaps 199.'3 or 1994) that compared the risk of fatality when hang gliding with the risks one might experience when engaging in oth-cr activities. Such an article would be useful in my attemprs to introduce new pilots to this sport. Are there reprints available? In addition, do you have infor-mation on any valid safety studies relative to hang gliding? Are there any statis .. tically significant studies concerning the safety ofhang gliding that have been compiled or that arc currenrly ongoing?

Have other countries compiled valid safety related statistics?

It would seem that such information is ol' paramount importance if we arc to interest new pilots and grow the pilot population in hang gliding. In my opinion, an active campaign to demonstrate the relative safety of our sport to the public would ultimately be the greatest publicity available.

Adam Palmer Boca Raton, FT.

Doug Hilclreth did such a sttttistical com .. parison many years ar,o. Our current acci.. dent review chairrntm, Bill Bryden, has indicated that he will be doing tl similar report in the nearfuture.

Ed.

POSTMASTf:R: SEND HANG GLIDING, P.O.

COll0901-IBO.

MARCIi 2000 VOi lJMI 30, lssur No. 3

Dear Editor, I have another hero w add to my list.

He's Nelson Lewis, winner of the 1999 Region Nine x .. c Contest as reported in the January 2000 issue of Hang Gliding.

Nelson earned his spot on my short but meaningless list not, as most would assume, by his contest victory. He attained his exalted status by his attitude.

My first hero was Jerome Stewart, the Alaska pilot featured in Hang Gliding magazine some years back. 'fotally alone in the Alaskan wilderness, Jerome searched out an unproven hill, camped overnight at its base, hiked his gear up at 4:00 AM (try that with a rigid wing), and flew cross .. country over roadlcss terrain with only mosquitoes and grizzly bears to laud his effcH·ts. No high-fives in the LZ for Jerome. In the photos, mud can be seen caking his harness.

Anorhcr hero is the late Didier Favre, "Vagabond of the Skies" and pioneer of "bivouac flying." Didier sold all his worldly possessions to dedicate his lifo to traversing the whole chain of the Alps only "by foot or flight, managing alone." l-Ic would fly X-C:, land in an alpine meadow, sleep inside his double surface and hike his wing, perhaps miles, to the nexr fr:asiblc launch to repeat the cycle.

Waterfalls were his showers, eagles his only companions. "Flight is the vehicle which takes me to the esscnrial," he said, "friendship, nature and life." No post.. flight beers with his pals for Didier, but I cry when I read his accounts.

Like Jerome and Didier, Nelson also flew alone, a safc.:ty precept violated certainly, but X-C pilots are accustomed to being alone once they leave the hill.

Nelson flew 53 rn iks sans chase, hitched back, arriving at the flying site so late as to necessitate sleeping in his vehicle. The next day he proceeded to fly 109 miles to win the contest.

Barring poor hygiene or severe halitosis, the reason for Nelson's inability to persuade fellow pilots to accompany him was left to our imaginations. Perhaps they preferred the company of friends at HANC GLIDINC

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Air Mail a tow park. Or possibly their weather assessment disagreed with Nelson's choice orlaunch sites. Tt) disprove one's doubters can be a powerful motivator indeed. Also untold were the many times Nelson undoubtedly suffered less glamorous flights of five, ten or even zero miles in his solitary pursuit of his goal.

Nelson wanred X-C: badly enough to endure these failures and deeply enough to fors:ike his friends.

If any oF us were the only hang glider pilot on earth, would we still fly? As Jerome, Didier and now Nelson have proved, it's lonely at tbe top.

Rodger Hoyt Central Point, OR

WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM Dear Editor, [n a few months, the U.S. Women's National Team will he heading to Greece for the Women's World I Tang Gliding Championships. f'd like to express appreciation for their support to the hundreds of pilots who arc wearing our "Greece 2000" T-shirts. In particular, I need to acknowledge some very special groups: I) The Green Point Hyers of Michigan, whose "'T-shirt frenzy" on a blown-out Pounh of July put hundreds of dollars into our coffers. George and l will be back soon to fly with you guys! 2) The pilots, both hang and para, of the Northwest, who inevitably answer either, "Yup" or "No, but I'll take one," when I ask, "Do you have your Women's 'learn 'J'.-shin yet?" You arc awesome! :;) The gathering of girls at the annual I lallowccn Women's Fly-[n, whose more refined but no-less-enthusiastic 'f'.-shirt frenzy generated a lot of warm foclings on a cold, blustery day. [ hope to sec some of you on the receiving end of the team fund raising in the future!

If you don't live in the Northwest, or haven't been approached by a team member, or can't justify owning one more hang gliding T-shirt, you can still

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support the Women's 'foam's fund raising drive. Every year, when you renew your USHGA membership, you can check a little hox that says,'Tm chipping in an extra dollar to help support the Women's National 'lc:am." That's it. One dollar. If everybody made that little chcckmark at each renewal, we would not find ourselves stressing over how we're going to pay for those expensive retrieval vehicles, or how we'll convince a 10p--11otch com-pctiror to up part of his summer to come along as our coach and leader. We all, past, present and /inure team mem-bcrs, will be most grateful fr)r your one dollar.

And if your Tshirt drawer is not yet overflowing, we do still have several of those frcnzy--inspiring shirts. Some proclaim across the front, in bold, two-inch letters, "Women Fly." Others state, "Orville Wright did not have a pilot's license," on the front, and on the back, "Experiment!" A few have a young woman leaping over a track hurdle, and a motivational message sni table for nonpilots, especially women: "When dreams become reality, women fly." All have the U.S. Women's Hang Gliding Tc:am, Greece 2000 logo on the sleeve. They're $20 each, plus about for shipping, and can be obtained by calling Natalie ar the USHGA office (l-800-616-6888).

They'll also he for sale at the spring BOD meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

By the way, we also will gladly accept cash donations. You can send checks made OU t- to US] I er (F for Foundation, which holds the accoums for the National 'lt:ams). Enclose a note srating it's for the women, and send it directly to USH CA headquarters. J f your company matches donations made to charities, the Foundation qualiflcs for the matching program. Ask John Halloran at USHCA for details. And thanks, from all of us.

For the Y2K Women's National Hang Gliding Team,

C:.J. Sturtevant

by Rodger Hoyt

ill Cummings of Deming, New Mexico shares his trick fc.H using his CPS to relocate a lost thermal: "With my Garmin set on the normal mode in the operation setup page, r.iutomatic in the criteria section of the track log setup page, and track up in the oricnration section of the map setup page, my flight path in a thermal appears on the screen as a coiled spring. After losing a thermal 1 simply head my glider back to the end of the coiled spring to regain the lifr. In the past I'd thought the thermals had just fizzled out well below clondbasc; I now realize that 95<Ycl of the time f had lost conccntrarion and blundered off in the wrong direction!"

here's no better cure for constipation than hang gliding!

Preflight adrenaline just seems to have that natural laxative effect.

Unfortunately, the venues in which we typically operate often lack the necessary "amenities."

That's why experienced pilots usually carry a roll of toiler i-issue somewhere in their flight gear. A partial roll takes less space, and a plastic baggy makes a good storage device.

If you're ever without it, you'll quickly learn why it's sometimes called "mountain money!" !fttve tl hot tip? Send it to "Wing TzjJs" do Hang Gliding or e-mail

rbhoyt@go.com.

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USHGA, PO Box 1330 Colorado Springs CO 8090 I -800-6 I 6-6888 fax (719) 632-641 7

participation of qualified pilots the above comp narnes associated with each meet for more information

II

1e Sandia Classk, and with it the U.S. Class 1 and 2 Nationals, has been with,dtawn by the meet organir.ers from the 2000. competition schedule. The U.S. Nationals for 2000 will be held in Lakeview, Oregon.

Visit www.justfly.com, contact USHGA Competition Committee Chairman John Borton at CompCommittee@aol.com, or watd1 for notification in the April issue of this magazine for U.S. Nationals dates and details. You may also visit the USHGA Web site atwww.ushga.org.

SPEED GLIDING NATIONAL TEAM (SGNT) SELECTION

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he first CIVL-sancdoned Speed Gliding World.Championships has been organized and will be held in Greece, July 28 to August 8, 2000. Tbe USH.GA has defined a process by which a ream will be selected to repr:esent the United St:mes at these Championships. 'Iwo approved selection events were held in 1999 but weather conditions limited the events to a total of five rounds.

At the foll BOD meeting the Competition Comrnittec accepted a piloHlriven proposal to exr:end the selection pei·iod through June 15, 2000.

Remaining SGNT selection events include: Ed Levin Park, Milpitas, CA, March 31-April 2; Chelan, Wi,shington, May 12-14. At both events two rain days follow the announced dates.

The selection criteria are as follows. A valid round consists of one timed nm in which all competitors ore given the opportunity to navigate the same downhill course.

Pinishing order of the round will be based on lowest elapsed time, plus or rninus any bonuses or penalties. Points arc awarded from first (300 points) to last according to the WH.GS scoring formula. Pilots may fly as few or as many munds as they wish.

Pilots who cornplete three or more scoring rounds will be allowed to discard their lowest. The SGNT score will be the average of their remaining scores. Pilots with fower than three rounds will also receive their average score, but will not take precedence over pilots with three or more rounds until the pilot has more than twice the threeround pilot's score.

The official National Team will consist of the top four scoring pilots. The National Team members wiU collectively compete for team medals as well as individual medals and prize 111:cmey. A second teom, consisting of pilots ranked fifth thwugh eighth, will

8

also be .invited. Tbe of the second team will be competing for individual medals and prize money but not for the team medals.

Questions and comments arc welcome ancl should be directed to John Borton at CompCommittee@aol.com, or visit www.HangGliding.org for detailed speed gliding competition infonnation.

he Executive Committee of the Soaring Society ofAmerica and representatives of the U.S. Hang Gliding Association met on January 8 and 9 in Denver, Colorado to discuss the creation jointly owned support organization. intended purpose of that organization is to serve the common administrative needs of two organizations sh;1ring similar inteJTsts. In creating this organization it.is important to emphasize that the SSA and USHGAwi!I remain as distinct, separate entities. "fhe current, preliminary understanding of the organization's shape foresees the ere·· ation of a jointly owned administrative support operation. Possible activities of that mucrure may include rhe joint rnanagement of merchandise advertising and convention organizadon as well os the development of foe-based, on-line educa·· tional programs. Coordination of membership support services and staff benefit programs is also possible.

The essential objective .in creating this organization is the pursuit of cost-saving opportunities presented by economies of scale resulting frmn the pooling of membership numbers of the two participating asso-· dations. 'rhat such savings ore realistic has already been dernonstratcd by the substan·tia!. cost reductions achieved from a recently agreed joint printing contract for the publication of the associations' three magazines.

The two organizations will jointly save approximately $68,000 (divided roughly equally) this year from the contract, a figure which represents an 18°/cJ savings in the SSA's printing budget. It is hoped that such anticipated cost savings will release resources, thereby enabling the improve.ment of services for members <if both orga·· nizarions.

Less easily rneasured, but also a likely and desired benefit of the associations' closer cooperation, is the increased national political influence that will result from the two organizations presenting a coinmon front in .matte.rs of mut11al interest.

The rneedng conduded with complc:te agreement on both sides as to the adv.isab.ility of pl'.oceeding with project. Concretely, the President of the LJSHGA ,md the Chairman of the SSA and their 1wo staff directors were instructed to produce a pre-· liminary document examining details of the potential financial b,:nefits, as well as the organizational and feasibiLity of the project. That document is to be completed

by March I., in time for presentation to rhe respective Boards of Directors at their next meetings. 'rhose rneetings will take place during the joint Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 16·· J 9. lt should be pointed out that this project was initiated at talks during last March's first joint convention in KnoxvilJe, Tennessee. 'fhe two groups are becoming aware of their similarities and of the benefits resulting from increased cooperation.

S.HGA Headquarters is rcvan.1.ping. its Organizational and we're U asking you fr)r updated infrirmation. Please e-mail us at jjelgan@ushga.org to update or .include your business. Send us the organiza·· tion or company name, contact person, address, phone number, 800 number, fax number, e-mail and Web address. 'rhis directory is distributed 10 all interested parties who call USHGA, included in new member and handed out flt special events like Oshkosh and Sun 'n' Pun. T'his is currently a listing offered by USHGA in support of the bang gliding and paraglkJ .. ing communities. We plan to reprint the directory in April, so don't delay;

T

he family of Arjan Ahl, the Thcson, Arizona-based paragliding .instructor who wos killed in a paragliding accident: two years ago, has don;1tecl the proceeds .from the lJquidation of Arjan's estate for the pro-· duction ofa hang gliding and paragliding safoty video. gliding safety guru Michael Robertson, who recently achieved his fourth Diamond Pilot Award and is celebrating 30 years of foll-tirne teaching, will produce the video. Michael has teamed up with French Canadian filmmaker and paraglider pilot Hugues Connier to make the broadcasHJuality Beta-Cam/Hi 8 in one tape.

The video will cover a 1~ov1e<~-1eve1 ground school using the Robertson Charts of Reliability (RCR), a systematic method HANG CLIDING

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u of risk managernem and good judgment training. ft will cover the Wing (the aircrnft), the Wind (the weather), and the Windividual (the pilot). The video will also include real-life stories and testimonials, both humorous and tragic, including the story of Arjan's accident. Of course, lots of spectacular in-flight footage will be included along with an exciting sound track. ln the words of Michael, "We hope it will be more than a safety sandwich (good stuff surrounding some had stuff} It will he a safety feast."

The two-hour video will take abom one year to make and will be accompanied by the RCR notebook. Long-term possibilities include translating the video into .Japanese, German, Spanish and French for worldwide distribution. The video will be ideal for ground school use and hopefully will be endorsed by the USHGA Sa(ety and 'frain· ing Cormnitree. The USHGA gave their moral support to the project at the last Board of Directors meeting bur the project was essentially unfunded until the Ala family's generous participation.

Concurrent with the making of the video, Michael will travel the U.S. and Canada, spreading his message of safety and moderation ro the flying community and the general public as part of his millennium safety tour, presently called "Celebrating Life The Safety Seminar." The tour kickoff will appropriately be a safety seminar and instructor program (l P) in 'focson, Ari-· zona as part of the second annual Arjan Ala memorial fly--in. The memory of Arjan is very much part of the spiritual impetus for the safety tour and video.

To find out more about the safety tour or to schedule a seminar and/or IP in your area, visit Michael's Weh site at www.flyhigh.com, send an e-mail to staff@flyhigh.com, or phone (905) 294-

The best hang gliding video sories in the world!

Check OW' web stite {01• other great videog/

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Streaming f!ideo 'on ot1r web site!

2536. Por information on the Arjan Ala memorial fly-in in 'TL1cson, Arizona, visit Alas de Arizona's Web site at http://personal.riverusers.com/ ,, bigair/.

Other confirmed dates and plans include: W.1llaby Ranch, Florida seminar during the Wills Wing party, March 21-26, IP and Tandem Clinic, March 26--31; High Perspective, 'foronto X-C Clinic/Seminar with Pete Lehmann in early June; Earth and Sky Adventures, Boston, late May IP/Seminar. Many more in the wings, so to speak.

WING PARTY AT WALLABY

W

lls Wing wil.l he celebrating.their 27th annivers;iry at Wallaby Ranch the week of March 21-27. There will be a catered party on Saturday the 25th. T'he word has been put out all over the world, and they expect that this might lllrn into the largest gathering oF hang glider pilots in history! Michael Robertson will be doing an IP immediately following the Wills program.

MIKE

JUMP To"11TiRsPir.En

M

oyes America is pleased to announce that Mike Barber, number-two-ranked U.S. World Team pilot, will be nying the Moyes Litcspced 4 in upcoming hang gliding competitions and for personal records, as well as for fun. Mike will be flying a stock Litespeecl 4 PX-10 (Mylar) 146 racer with a FAST speedbar and speed wires. Moyes is excited that Mike bas joined their team. ''After flying the Litespeed 155 at Wallaby and reading reports on rhe performance of the prototype Litespeecl 4 during the compNirions taking place in Austrnlia," says Barber, "] knew that with tbc support of Kenny at Moyes America and the entire Moyes family I could do no better than to get on with Moyes."

Mike will continue his work with the World ·foam Acad .. emy at the Wallaby Ranch when not attending hang gliding competitions. The WTA is proving to be very popular with pilots seeking the best in advanced coaching for goa] .. orient:ed flyPaul Hamilton ing.

6553 Stone Valley Drive During many Reno, NV 89523 USA years of workingwi1h pauJ@adventurep.com Mike, promoting a previous brand, Ken

Brown developed great respect for his tenacity and skills in pursuit of excellence in the air. Mike adds great technical skills to the current Moyes America team of Dustin Martin and Glen Volle Currently, Dustin is in Australia receiving the full M<wes indoctrination. Wirh a respectable I ot 1-p]ace finish at the Australian Nationals ,llld steady improvement at the Bogong Cup, 19-year-old Dustin is proving that he will be a major player in U.S. competition for many years to come.

He will be returning ro the U.S. this spring with his Lirespeed 155, ready to "go to goal."

Dustin made this observation from Aus .. tralia: "It's no wonder Moyes gliders go so good. Steve Moyes is ow at every oppornmiry, tuning, tweaking and improving every aspect of the gliders' performance. When spring arrives in the U.S. the gliders from Moyes are totally tuned."

Glen is on his way to Mexico to compete in the Millennium Cup in Valle de Bravo on a Litespced 155. "This will be his first exposure to the new glider, but if history is any indicator, Glen will dial right into the effortless climbing and superior gliding character.. istics of the Litespeed. And if current orders are an indicator, rhe Litespeed will he the dominant glider for the year 2000 and beyond," comments Brown.

For more information about the Moyes Litespeed and other Moyes Delta Gliders products, visit their Web site at wwwr.moycs.corn.au.

A

re you thinking about a world record attempt in hang gliding or paragliding or in any other form of sport aviation? If you are, you will want to do it with one of Flytec's barograph-equipped instruments which include the 3030 Professional, the 4020 Professional and the 4030 CPS Access. Flytec USA will refund the total pmchase price of the instrument to a pilot who records a worldrecord flight on one of the above instruments.

The 3030, 4020 and 4030 barographs all fea.. ture: FAJ approved, 50--hour record time standard ( JOO-hour and more record-time available), certified altimeter to 30,000 feet.

Redundant instruments and 24-hour "whack" replacements are also available. With all the advances in glider performance the time is right for a new world distance record!

For more information on the Flytec USA "Go Break a Record" program and tips on barograph recording contact: Plytec USA, 1800-662..2449, (352) 332-8675, fax 332-867(i, www.flytec.com, infri@flytec.com.

HANC GLIDING

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(12/99)

In consideration of the benefits to be derived from membership in the USHGA, (Pilo~ and the parent or legal guardian of Pilotif Pilotis a minor, for themselves, their personal representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouses, minor children and assigns, do agree as follows: I.

The following definitions apply to terms used in this Agreement: 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. lf'a,>1.0'.rrtfi,~ 1rt•

or as a result of the administration of

sustained by Pilot5parents or legal guardians, as a result of administration of any USHGA programs.

3. means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials (elected or otherwise), members, independent contractors, sub-contractors, lessors and lessees: The United States Hang Gliding Association, a California Non-profit Corporation (USHGA); a) Each of the person(s) sponsoring and/or participating in the administration of Pilots proficiency rating(s); b) Each of the hang gliding and/or paragliding organizations which are chapters of the USHGA; c) The United States Of America and each of the city(ies), town(s), county(ies), State(s) and/or other political subdivisions or d) governmental agencies within whose jurisdictions Pi/otlaunches, flies and/or lands; Each of the property owners on or over whose property Pilotmay launch, fly and/or land; e) All persons involved, in any manner, in the sports of hang gliding and/or paragliding at the site(s) where 0 "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) FOIRElrER nu;;a..a;;.M,n;; AND the PARTIESfrom any and all liabilities, claims, demands, or causes of action that I INJ'UR1fES, however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the ....,....,.•.,,... .., may hereafter have for PAJrTll.?"S. to the fullest extent allowed by law.

C. I OR MAKE 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, Iwill pay all attorneys' fees and costs of the au.,...., •.,,.. ,., P.'ARTIE::S: I this shall be and rnn,c:tll"ll!Pf'I

E. 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 Pilot and am making this agreement on behalf of myself and If I am the parent or legal guardian of I AND the for their defense and indemnity from any claim or liability in the event that Ptlot suffers IN even if caused in whole or in part by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the n,;;;11..K;;J'IJJ[{;.v PJIRT.7ES.

I have lld11/t Pilot's Jignat11re

Oate

Sif!11at11t~ ofPilot's Parent or Lef!ill G11ardi:m ifPilot 111,der /8 ywr ofJf!e.

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HMR 12-91

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n President David Glover

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alk is easy, action and real work arc more rare. The spring USHCA Board of Directors meeting is this month in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 16-1 9. ls there some-

thing you want the USHCA to do that it's not doing? Would you like to see the Association run differently or make an improvernent. Call or e-mail your Regional Director (see the Director listing in this magazine), or you can get contact information from the US! !GA Web site at www.ushga.org.

I love talking to people about the sports and how the organization is run.

Remember that you arc the organization.

Get involved. Help make the projects you fccl are important happen. One of' the best things you can do is to bring a friend into the sport. Support you local professional instructor and renew your membership on time (soon available on the Web).

There are so many things we can do to promote rhe sport. Decide what you think needs robe done and follow through with it. Contact the committee chairs fiir help. Be part of the solution instead of a person who just points out the problems. You can make a difference in our sport.

Fly safely.

PS. I have ro say something about John Bonon, USHC/\ Competition Chairman and good friend. Not only is he one of' the best people to spc:nd time with, he has helped me tremendously and done work for the Association every week since I became president. Thanks John.•

www.ushga.org www.ushga.org www.ushga.org www.ushga.org www.us:'" (0

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MARCH 2000

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Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative. Please include exact infrm11arion (event, dare, contact- name and phone number). I rems should be received 110 later than six weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead rime for regional and national meets.

APRIL 24-29: Third Armut1! lttlantic CrHISl Championships. First Class A sancrioncd acrotow meet in the U.S., in central Florida.

Multiple classes: ropped, ropless, rigid wing, singlc--surfacc. Quest Air will host nightly parries with entertainment, onsirc food (breakfost through dinner), camping, showers and mure. New for 2000: The first mil glide ratio comest. Close ro all Disney anrac· tions, easy access to international airports.

Lots of hotels and lood close by. Sign up car-· ly to guarantee a spot. For information contact: www.justfly.com, /i80-.3552.

MARCH 1-NOV. 15: R<<;ion 9 (Almost) Yearlong XC Contr:st. Multiple Classes, including Rigid and Paraglidcr (minimum five entries per class). Submit yom single longest flight of the year starting in Region 9 (plus exceptions) on any day of the week.

Conract: Pete Lehmann, 5811 Elgin Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (li12) 661-3174, lplehmann@laol.com. Forms :rnd rules available at hnp://www.mhga.com/\'vaivcrs/waivers.html

Western Hang Gliders and Coast;i] Condors. Enny fee $50. Sponsors solicited.

Contact: Western Hang Gliders, (831) 3842G22, fox (83 l) 384-2624, Wcsrcrnhangglidcrsvilaol.com, www.wcstcrnhangglidcrs.com.

MARCH 18-MAY29: 9/)jJrin,~ Regionals. Multiple Classes, including Rigid

MAY 12-14: 171c Fort Funston ltir Races are h:Kk, again I The first air race oF the cemury,

and Paraglider (minimum five entries per class). Scoring by total of one's three best weekend X-C flights starring in Region 9 (plus exceptions) during that period.

Contact: Pete Lehmann, 58 l 1 Flgin Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 66Hli7!i, lplchmann@\1ol.com. Forms and rnlcs avail· able at http://www.111l1ga.com/Waivcrs/waivcrs.h1ml

five-mile out-and--rcmrn course. Think you're fast? Prnvc it! Cash prizes, awards, T-shirts, barbecue. E111ry foe $ I 00. Limited to 40 entrnms. ( :on met: David Rui,,, I 2G8 A 25th Ave., San Francisco, CA 9/i 122 (Ii 15) davidrl2ilrosewood.his.ucsfed11, or c-·mail Alan Sakay:1ma, av8cr(t1lmindspri ng.com.

APRIL ] -2: Occrmside Open 2000, Oceanside, Oregon. Enrollmcm and dinner tickets, $20. Dinner rickets also available for those not cornpcring. Corne enjoy a fun, competitive weekend on the coast!

Competition Saturday, Sunday is a free-fly day. Contact: Rick Colson (503)655-7378.

APRIL 16-22: Wa!lr1hy Open , ,n,,.,-·,,ou.rtu,1 Hang (;fiding Competition. 450-point aerotow meet at Wallaby Ranch, Jilorida. Meet Din:cror: J.C. Brown. $5,000 cash prize, welcome barbecue and grand awards ccrc-mony. Horcls within two miles will be olTcr-ing a discounted rate for pilots, family and crew. Great food on site all week! Come early and fly wirh World Team /\cadcrny's Mike Barber, Gibho, Ryan Glover, Paris Williams and Tiki Mashy. Contact: (863) 424-0070 or f1y(illw:1llahy.com.

14

JULY 7-9: 2000 King Mountain Meet, King Mountain, near Moore, Idaho. Open and Recreation super-killer great trophies, barbecue Saturday night, daily prizes, driver awards, handicap scoring system. Pre-regislTation encouraged. Contact: Lisa Tate, Meet Director (208) 3767914, Zoolisa@aol.com.

MAY 5-7: 2000 Steeple Chctse Races, by

MAY 27-29: Midwest Chrtmpionships, to be MARCH 31-APRJL 2: ,SJ!eec/ (;fiding Nritirmal 7r1am selection e1Jent, Ed Levin Park, Milpitas, CA. MAY 12--14: Speed Gliding National '/r1r1m selection e1Jent, Chelan, WA. Two rain days follow the dates. Conract: John Borton, CompCommirrcc@laol.com.

11 ttp://www.nmi:1.com/ ·" jfdemps/ssa.htm.

Contact: Mel Glantz/Sandia Soaring Association, 2710 Parsifal St. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112, mglan tzV:1lt1swcst.ncr.

held ar Twin Oaks Airport and supported hy Raven Sky Sports, Great X-C challenge for Intermediate to Advanced pilots. Contact: Rik Bouwmcestcr (262) 681 rnplcss0hexccpc.co1 n.

JUNE 2.3-25: Wild Wild West R<~ionr1k Competitive fim flying with some of the best pilots at one ofthe hes1 flying sires in 1hc West. McClellan Peak as well as Slide M111. are the launch sites and die open desert is the LZ. l ,ocarion, C:arson C:iry/1 ,ake Tahoe, NV. Includes party, T-shirts and Silver Belt Buckle Awards. Registration: $100 unril May 30, rhcn $125. Comact: Adventure Sports 88:3-7070, advs1 its<21lpyram id. net.

JUNE 23-29: Srmdirt Open. Day event, open-distance format. H-.Vli pilots wirh appropriate sign-offs. Set a personal best or break a world record. Rigid, topless and kingpost awards, Best Ii out oF7 days scored, X-C: Seminar by It I best rigid pilot Dave Sharp. A non-profit event sponsored by the Sandia Soaring Association. Entry fr:c $125 or $100 bci'ore Junc. Online website and registration:

AUG. LJ-20: /,one Strtr Championships, Hearne, TX. Tow meet. Meer Organi'1,er, Michael Williams; Meet Director, David Clover. Contact: Michael Williams (281) 111ichaclj.willia111s@ss.ps.ge.com.

AUG. 26-SFPT. 3: Pan ltmeriran (,'hmnpionships (C:ontinenral C:hampionships), I )inosaur, CO.Contact: C.W. Meadows www.jusrfly.com.

FUN MAY 19-21: South Ctirolina ,'JJJ;ezm1tm1e Fly-In, at Glassy Mountain near ( SC. Come enjoy flying and competing (spot, duration, X-C, balloon toss, ar this beauriful south-facing mountain. Plaques awarded to all I st, 2nd and .3rd place finishers in all competitions (except balloon ross). $20 eMry fee for competition flying, $1 () for fim flying. My-in T-shins and sweatshirts available. Glassy launch is 1,500' AGL. Contact: Paul Peeples. P.O. Box 212 l, Brevard, NC 28712 (828) 885-2536, phran ncn p(ti\:i tcom .nct,

MAY 19-22: 28th ltnm1td Gliding .'ij!ectacular and 11ir Gmnes in Jockey's Ridge Stare Park, Jlcad, NC and Currituck County Airport, Currituck, NC. The oldest continuous hang gliding competition in the world and Airsports Expo will include skydiving, paragliding, ultralights and more.

Dunc competitions begin on the 19rh.

Demonstrations, aerocow compctirion, strecr dance and awards ceremony. Annual inductions into the Rogallo Hall of F;nnc will close rhc ccrcrnony on Sunday evening. All USJ-IGA-ratcd hang glider pilots arc welcome to compete. Contact: Kitty 1-fawk [(ires, Inc. (800) 331i-li7T7.

HANC GLJDINC

MAY 19-22: Kitty 1-!awk Kites Instructor Jllurrmi Reunion, ·held in conjunction with the 28th J\nnual Hang Cliding Spectacular. l f you arc one, or know any former KI-IK instructors, please get the word out that we want to sec you this spring! Contact: Bobbie Scrvanr, bobhic<rvki rtyhawk.com.

MAY 20-21: rt1ke McClurt Coyote !fowl 2000, Fly-In of the Millennium. h111 meet for !fang Ill and above. Improved launch and landing areas. Cash and locs of trophy awards, speed runs, X-C, pylon course, acrobatics, endurance, spot: landings. Emer one category or all for one low fee of $40 if paid hdcm: J\pril I 5, $50 afrcr. Limited to the first 100 pilots. Send check to: I )oug Prather, 1691 Vivan Rd., Modesto, CJ\ 95358 (209) 556-0469.

MAY 27-29: 20th Armual Millennium Memorial /)ay Fly-In. The Rio Cr:rnde Soaring J\ssn. is celebrating 20 years. hmflying competition, bomb drops. Dealers and demos available. Camping and discounts on rooms. W c arc shooting for I 00 pilots. Corne join us for three days of norl1ing bm fon! Enrry fee of $25 includes dinner and awards parry, free beer and !ors of fon. Many prizes awarded. T-shirts and other app;irel available. Come fly Dry Canyon and help celebrate 20 years wirh the !~(;SJ\. h1r more infc1 or early entries contact: Tom and C:indy West (505) 43'7-'5213 or mail Rio Grande Soaring J\ssn., Inc., 221 (1 Pecan Dr., J\Limogordo, NM 88310.

SEPT. 19: High Rock 25th Jlnnivcrsmy Party. J\ lim fly-in near Thurmont, MD. LZxpcricncc rhc longest conrinuously operated launch on the easr coast. Bon/ires, food, camping and comcsts arc all planned.

Contact: Brian Vant-llull (410) 889-1646or Brianvb(r1Jrnarlowc.u111d.eclu. /\lso check out our website this sumrncr: www.mhga.com.

Oct. 6-8: Octohcr'.I· Best Fly-In. The ninrh Sauratown Mo1mrain, North Carolina classic will use a new formar. Competition begins Friday ar 2:00 I'M with a "half' day, and ends Sunday at 2:00 PM wirh a half day. J\lso, a new accumulative point system will he used. J\s always, great Friday and S;iturday night dinners, brcakfasr and lunch in rhc LZ Saturday and Sunday, free camping and hot showers. Contact: Vic Lewellen CU6) 595-6505, or Tony Salvadore (3.%) 732 7783. Visit the SMJICC website for skill level requirements and directions: www.gcociries.com/1Jipclinc/dropzone/5650/.

MARCH 2000

CLINICS/MEETINGS/TOURS 2000: Flying in Bmzil 2000. Wonderful warm weather, flying in an exotic setring.

Be pan of the Adventure Sports rrip to Covenador Valadarcz, Brazil. Experienced instructors and guides. Take side--rrips to Carnival or any of rhc heaurifol heacl1cs.

12 days, $1 ,200 for paragl iders, $1,400 for hang gliders. Includes room with breakfast and lunch, ride ro launch, retrieval and guided rour. Contact: (775) 883-7070, www. pyramid .ncr/advsprs.

OWENS VALLEY 2000: Fly with a World Champion, I 0-timc National ( :ham pion and X-C world record holder l<ari C:asrle as your guide in the Owens.

Private one--on-onc or group insrrncrion available. Further your flying education.

Contact: Kari Castle (760) 872-2087, kariwww. nort hwestou t< loors.com/ fly/ UNTIL MARCH 30: Brazil X-C Tours, lour two-week trips. Ult:ra-consisrcnt winter conditions. Sixth tour led by Bob Morken, 20-ycar HC pilot, flve-year PC pilot. Tour begins in Rio, then moves ro world-renowned ( ;ovcrnador Valadarcs whiL:11 offers great X-C, out-and--return and rriangle flyillg wirh 5,000' J\(; I, (7,000' MS],) cloudbasc. Tour includes two weeks of hotel accommodations, travel 10 Yaladares, breakfast and a ride to launch, X-C: retrieval, tour guide, translator. Price: H C $1,400, PC $1,200. Comact: Bob Morken, Tour Coordinator, rmorkcll<rt>hotmail.com, (530) 320--6675; James Rice, Tour Promoter, P.O. Box Incline Village, NY 89450 il33-2 I l 8, 720-:3539 (cell); Marilyn 1ltm, Travel J\gcm, 1-800--235-1 marilynn(illtravcl.fair.com.

MJ\RCH 10: Fhc Northwests !lnnual Reserve Chute Deployment and Rep(lc/::ing ,1e1n111flr. with

Rob Kells of Wills Wing. if pre-registered hy 3/l, $40 afrer or at the door. Deployment practice begins :1t abom 5:00 l'tvl and continues until everyone has deployed and all chutes arc repacked. Simulators for both hang and par:1 pilots. New pilots: The clinic is free if you don't yet have a parachute to repack.

J11st bought a new reserve? Check rhc 9/98 issue of' flf/ng Gliding magazine to sec why you need to bring it ro this seminar! ] ,ocation: St. ( ;corgc School, 5117 I .3th Ave. S., Seattle, W J\. Contact CJ and

Ceorgc Sruncvant ftir more inf<.Hmarion or to pre-register: (425-888) 3856, gcorgcs@lnwlink.com.

MARCH-NOV: Celehrating life, The Safety Tour, with Michael Robertson will he offering !P's, seminars and inspirational talks. Contact: 1-1 igh Perspective, (905) 294-2536, srafl(i,lflyhigh.com.

MARCH 16-19: US!JGA Board of' Directors meeting, J\lbuqucrque, NM. (719) 632-8300, ushga<rilushga.org.

MARCH 20-26: Will.1 Wing 27th Anniver:rary Demo Days and Fly-In at Wallaby Ranch. Wills Wing, in conjunction with Malcolm Jones and the staff at Wallaby, will be holding their third annual spring demo days and fly-in al Wallaby Ranch near Orlando, Florida. If you've been to either of the two previous events, you already know why you'll want to come back.

If you haven't joined us yer, come on our' Ir's an opportunity to try out all of our latcsr gliders, get your acrotow sign-off, or j11sr relax and have fon in the one place most conducive ro having fim in hang gliding that we know of We'll also be hosting a 27th anniversary party, and seminars on glider tuning and rnaimcnance, parachute deployment, repacking and main1cnance as well as other ropics of inrercst. Come join us!

MARCH 25-APRIL 2: Super Clinic, lnstrucror Certification and Tandem Certification Programs, Basic to Advanced.

Reserve now. C:onract: Lookout Mountain 1:Jight Park, 7201 Scenic Hwy., Rising hiwn, CJ\ :307:JS (70(1) 398-3541, fax (706) 398-290(), fly0Jhanglidc.com, www.l1a11glidc.co111.

APRIL 28--30: Mosquito Clinic hosted by Mountain Wings in Ellenville, New York, at the famous Ellenville J\irporr. Cucst host Bill Fifer (Mosquito distributor) will be on hand to assisr you on your first demo flights as well as run the clinic. Come sec why rhc Mosquito is rhc honest and newest accessory for your hang glider av:1ilable today. Cost for rhc clinic is $100 and includes a barbcc11e (rdimclable with purchase). J\ $25 deposit is Contact: Crcg Black, (914) m mwings<rhaol .com.

MAY 23-2 5: IP at Kitty Hawk Kites. $250.

C:onract: Bruce Weaver 4/i l-2/i26.

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came co the glider as a pilot who had spent much of the previous 10 years pursuing cross-country and competition flying with a passion verging on obsession. During that odyssey I had enjoyed a modicum of success, while experiencing an exquisite range of experiences and personalities along the way. I had flown in parts of five continents, always with high-performance equipment, and usually in intense circumstances.

A couple of years ago I began co undergo a metamorphosis in my flying. Ir had become brutally clear co me that I had reached the limits of my abilities when, finally, and barely, I made it onto the U.S. World Team and then flew miserably at the World Championships. The cold realization that I had reached my limits coincided with an increasing dislike of the sheep-like character of major competitions. There the emphasis is placed on one's ability co work in gaggles. The decision-making in large meets is all coo often constrained by the need co work in groups.

Crudely put, it is herd flying and I am a loner. Finally, I was no longer experiencing as much pleasure in the sport due co the least pleasant aspect of my career - acci-

I

16

Whats a nice boy like you doing flyin 'a thing like that? The first question is always, «Why?" Why would I, a high-time, active Hang V pilot, buy a Falcon and embark upon a campaign ofcross-country flying with a glider oflimited performance? This article is an attempt to answer that question and to explain what I learned in the process. dents - mine and those of colleagues. I was tired of erasing names from my address book. My nerves were shot.

As a consequence I found myself numb with a sadness resulting from the loss of friends and, more selfishly, the recognition of my own limitations as a pilot. Nonetheless, there remained an almost visceral craving co fly hang gliders. But it needed co be a form of flying that combined my love of cross-country flying, competitive namre and lower stress levels.

ENTER THE FALCON A possible answer co that need occurred co me soon after returning from rhe Worlds.

Par Brooks, my local Wills Wing dealer, cook delivery of a 195 Falcon that the cus-

comer let us fly until he cook delivery. My only flignt on it was made on an Easter Sunday, and, to mix religious metaphors, it was an epiphany for me. We went co a little 430-foor hill at which it was lightly tailing. We were very bored, which is the only explanation for our having been stupid enough to talk one another into going to the hill. Together we set up tl1e glider in a timed four minutes, after which I went co launch co await a light up-cycle co overcome the tailwind. Eventually I dove off inco a lull and was drilled coward the LZ. Thirty seconds into my flight, and now not more than 100 feet off the deck in a completely unfamiliar glider, I hie a tiny thermal and turned. And turned. I never could make the glider climb well eno ugh H ANG GLIDING

ro gee up, bur I was astonished by rhe incredible ease with which I could fly char glider. Ir was such a friggin' toy char I was instantly comfo rtable thermaling the thing a couple of wingspans off rhe ground. Despire my besr efforts I could only prolong rhe fli ght for a couple of minures before effecring an easy landing.

Why have I taken this much space ro describe a flight that represems .00001 66 of my roral airtime? Because I landed laughing, and I drove home grinning like a foo l. T he beer may have played a pan, bur the principal reason was rhe sheer, srupid fun I had had crying ro work char thermal with char roy of a glider. Ir had been a while since I had experienced such elemental pleasure flying a hang glider. Don'r misundersrand, even recently I had had hugely satisfying fli ghts on my topless, bur rhere had been a complexity ro char experience. As a friend later commented, my pleasure in hang gliding had become roo imensely cerebral and imellecrual. That sophistication had come ar a cosr I had been unaware of until the Falcon flight reopened my eyes ro rhe simpler joys of tossing a glider aro und the sky.

A BIRD OF PREY IS HATCHED After that revelation it only remained ro buy one of chose rhings . I procrastinated, however, and it wasn'r until lace November char I finally rook the plunge. Things th en went quickly as W ills had a suirably colored 195 in stock. Afrer firsr being fared with faired downtubes and skinnier, stripped side wires (it was ro be an Arrack Falcon, after all), it arrived in Pinsburgh five days after I had placed rhe order, somerhing of a record I suspecr. My speeds-ro-fly consultam , Larry Huffman, rhen promptly cooked up an appropriate Falcon polar wirh which ro program the Tangenr flighr computer.

W ith my aerodynamically clean comperirion harness I was all set to do some serious flying. The only missing item in chis "high-performance" package was a cross-country bag. Ir seems that Wills has nor enco untered much of a marker fo r them. Odd char.

And, finally, the glider acquired a name. Ann ie, the woman I live witl1, tartly replied to my suggesrion that the Falcon was soon going to be feasting upon her beloved bunny rabbirs by saying char "Tweery" was in face the world's M ARCH 2000

first vegetarian raptor. The name stuck, and che Falcon has been known as Tweety . ever"smce.

WHAT IS A FALCON? For readers unfamiliar with the glider, lee me quickly enumerate its characteristics and contrast chem to chose of my ocher glider, a Fusion. The Fusion is a state-ofche-arc, topless, high-performance glider.

Ic is fast, and it glides, climbs and lands well. It is also heavy, expensive, and fa irly stiff in its handling, requiring considerable effort and skill to mal<e the most of its performance capabilities. On the ocher hand, the Falcon is slow, boctom(-surface)less and has a glide only 65% chat of the Fusion's. Ic looks li ke che sleek Fusion's dowdy stepsister. Bue in compensation it is inexpensive, light, sets up efforclessly, handles like a dream, and, as I discovered, is a fine cl1ermal glider. It also lands so well chat my blind, dead grandmother could safely bring it to earth.

BUT DOES IT FLY? The above thumbnail sketch makes it clear chat a Falcon's principle virtues lie in rhe area of user-friendliness, nor perfor-

18

mance. If I were to go cross-coun cry, as is my custom and wish, ir remained to be seen how well irs virtues could compensate for its admitted glide and speed handicaps.

As I had received the glider at cl1e beginning of winter, a season with liccle thermal activity here in Western Pennsylvania, che first flights were made in marginal ridge-scratching conditions ar Avonmore, cl1e 430-fooc site of cl1at seminal first flighr. Scratching a small hill in weak conditions validated my opinion about the handling. The glider's responses are so immediate and predictable that I was inscancly wi lling to scratch far closer to the hill than I would have done on a high-performance glider. The face chat excellent handling was available in a glider with a markedly lower stall speed meant rhac one could slow down and work tiny pockets of life for longer periods of rime. Admittedly, the reverse is also true. Ir rakes a Falcon longer to transit bad sink parches, bur my ridge experience to dare is char che ability to work tiny light life pockets outweighs che glide handicap.

With time and the return of so lar radiation to chis region I began to accumulate chermaling experience on che glider. Just as

with ridge scratching there have proven to be chermaling cradeoffs. T he smaller and raspier the life the better the Falcon climbs. The glider's amazingly smal l turning radius and efforcless low-speed handling allow the pilot to stick a tip into the tiniest core, and hold it there by adjusting the pitch. It will just spin like a top and remain in che core. A further chermaling virtue is cl1ac the light airframe and large sail area of rhe glider allow it to be moved around by the surrounding air mass. The glider is in no way unstable, but its sensitivity enhances che pilot's ability to read life. Together these characteristics make the Falcon an extraordinarily good glider for finding and working light or broken life.

Offsetting the excellent climb characteristics is the miserable upwind glide performance. A Falco n has a much worse glide rhan a modern topless glider at its best LID speed of abo ut 25 mph, buc it falls off a cliff at speeds over 30 mph where a topless glider is still very efficienr.

In ocher words, the faster one flies , the worse the glide differential. Consequencly, climbing and drifting far behind a ridge in any sore of wind is a bad idea. EncounterH ANG GLIDING

ing sink while penemuing back upwind toward the ridge can become a nail-biting experience. This limitation became the largest problcrn I encountered in the process of learning ro fly the glider. As a pilot of high-performance gliders l had become quite relaxed about exploiting the freedom they offered in drifting far over the back before making a go/no-go decision 011 departing downwind. The Falcon no longer allowed that luxury, and l was compelled to make early decisions about staying with or leaving thermals as they went over the back. The margin for error is so small that I still make mistakes, some rimes departing whrn I should have gone back to the ridge, and vice-versa. All the same, as long as rhe wind is under 20 mph and the lift decent I have 1101 found the Falcon to be a crippling handicap in departing from rhe ridge.

Still, flying upwind in a Falcon is its greatest weakness, and one which invites caution when flying on bigger ridges in signihcam wind. The Falcon's excellent landing characteristics do, however, somc-whm compensate for irs poor upwind glide. Many of the I J's located at the base of ridges slope downhill and arc nasty places in which ro land a topless. But a hi-con can easily land in such flclds and thus doesn't need to penetrate out ;1s for from the hill as the high-pcrfonmnce gliders

SI{OULD ONE DIG OUT THAI' OLD SEAHAWK? NO! '\Vlhen shown a draft of this article, Ndson lJowc commented that perhaps I ought W to add a line or two in an attempt to get pilots to dig out t·heir old gliders and fly in a more relaxed fashion. Actually, I would rather encomage pilots to procure modern gliders and not dig out their old Super Lancers. I am quite sure tbat today's novice intermediate gliders arc considerably superior to their antecedents in a number of important respects.

Many of the old gliders were particularly prone to tip stalling, a characteristic that rcduc<:d safety margins .in landings and, particularly, low-speed scratching. Another area of improvement: is in launch/pitch characteristics. The marked pitch-positiveness of older glick:rs made them something of a handful to launch on steeper slopes. J was pleasantly surprised to flnd that the Falcon, while having nicely linear pitch pressures in flight, is extremely easy to la.unch in higher winds. During the course of the yea1· l was repeatedly reminded of that when I watched or helped launch less-experienced pilots on older gliders. 'T'hey would often have trouble managing to control nose attitude. And while some of that difflculty was due to inexperience, much was dearly due to the glider's pitch Finally, there is the issue of performance. 'fhe current novice and intermediate gliders aU produce considerably superior performance to their ancient predecessors. My enjoyment of the experiment in flying a novice glider was made possible by presence of truly useful sink rate and glide perform.ancc. Had the merdy been a sweet-handling stone, I would l]Uickly h,rvc become frustrated.

ofrcn do.

TWEETYGOES KWAWSS-KOUNTWY In the depths of'wimcr my first over-thcback efforts produced meager results, but that was not distressing as they were no worse than others were achieving at the sites. Winter inversions meant we never got high, and the lifr was weak. These first hops over the back were hclphd as they dcmonstrared a number of positive focts.

Firsr, my confidence in rhe glider's fabulous landing characteristics meant rhat finding an acceptable I J, was dramatically easier than on a high-performance glider.

This new abundance of'landing fields wcm quite a long way toward compensating for the Falcon's poorer glide. A l;alcon pilot docs nor need to be able to reach a toplessscaled LZ. He can safely land in tiny ones unavailable to the topless pilot. The second positive surprise was that with rhe aid elf even a light rnilwind, and obeying the Trngcnt's speeds-to-Hy cues, my glide over the ground was surprisingly good. I would MN/Cl I 2000

1CJ

E'culy on the I 14-mile dcty. Note the inversion and distant fine of'curnulus reached hue in the

cltry. Phota by Pete Lehmann. estimate that rhe Falcon's best glide is over 9: I, perhaps closer to 10: l. Remembering that my earliest long Hang lfl cross-country flights had been made on a first-generation double-surface glider with an only marginally better glide, I became quite optimistic that l could succcssfu lly fly cross-country on the Falcon. fr only remained for springs arrival to validate the hypothesis.

As the hours of sunlight lengthened, so too did the Falcon cross-country flights.

The increasing success we enjoyed was only partially a consequence of the improving weather; the other factor was my increasing confidence in the glider. Initially [ was too conservative in estimating the glides it could achieve, but with time I understood that it did glide better than l had thought, and could thus be flown more aggressively in search oflift. Going upwind was out of the question, but even crossing cloud streets was possible. The glider's great landing characteristics enabled me to go where I had to in search of lift, and the superb scratching characteristics meant that I could count on using any lift J found. No matter how low l was I felt the glider could get me back out. [ had decided that for the purposes of the Region IX spring Regionals T would only count flights made on rhc 1:alcon. I reckoned that was rhe best way to force myself ro only fly the Falcon and truly measure how well] could do with it com--

20

p;ired to others across the Region. As the spring wore on, my flights broke into the 20's, then the :30's, and finally a best of 41.:3 miles on May Day. I certainly didn't win the contest, finishing seventh, but throughout T could fly competitively with my friends on their high·pcrformance glid· crs. In most cases l would eventually be scraped off toward the end of rhe day when my poorer glide didn't allow me to make it to that last thermal. But only once did I think that my glide handicap had material.. ly shortened a flight. Later in the summer, after returning from a trip out west, I continued 10 fly even forth er, often in the company of toplcsscs and other high -performance gliders. As long as the winds were not too strong the Falcon proved itself to be a delightful cross .. country glider.

I TAWr I TAWA PUDDY TAT: TWEETY MEETS AND SUCCI~SSFULLY ESCAPES At the end of spring I beaded to Wyoming for a month. 'fberc I hooked up with my buddy Larry Strom to make a monrh .. Jong attempt at setting the world distance record. Of course, as much as I loved my spring flying on the Falcon, this rime Larry and l would be doing "serious" flying on our toplesses. But just in case a suitable clay presented itself; l brought along Tweery. I figured char if we saw a weak, non-record day J would try to go a hundred miles on rhc Falcon.

Three weeks after arriving in Rock Springs we were becoming progressively

more bored and frustrated with the crummy weather conditions we had been experiencing. We were barely flying, and the flying we did get wasn't much fon. Finally, at breakfast one morning, our driver, Johnny Dawson, reminded me that I had wanted to try for a hundred miles on the Falcon. ft seemed like a good idea to me.

The day was again ftlrec1st to be almost windless and blue, so f figured that even if I couldn't get very for it would be fon 10 fly the Falcon. If nothing else, landing it at 7,000' MSI, in fluky winds and 90·degree temperatures would be easier than doing so on the heavily loaded topless. We went back to the apartment, and, to my surprise Larry, after a bit of persuading, agreed to come out to play with his tenr .. like 225 tandem falcon. 'fhe Falcon magic was already apparent during setup as we were both more relaxed than usual. And afrer towing up and head ing on course [ could tell from Larry's tone of voice and the playful way he was joking about being Sylvester chasing 'P.veety chat this was going to be a fun day. So it was ofr to the races with Tvveety the Attack Falcon being pursued by Sylvester the 'Emclcm Falcon. ( :onsistent with the forecast, con di tions were indeed quite light early in the flight. There were no cu mies, we were not getting very high, and the climb rates were weak. Worse yet, there was some high cirrus chasing us and threatening to shadow the ground. Still, we kept moving, and it really was a relaxing way to go through the small mountains of the first 40 miles.

With the Falcon and light winds it would have been safe and easy to land virrually anywhere in there, something I could not say when flying the Fusion.

Still, lift remained mediocre and we had only a five-mph tailwind at altitude. 'fantalizingly, ahead of us there was a distant line of cumulus development which kept edging further eastward across the Red Desert along our 1-80 course line. Bur with rime I began to gain on it, and at about the GO-mile point (Tipton) I found a good climb from just above the little ridge behind town. That climb was the best J had yet experienced, and as it kept climbing at 500,600 fpm I realized that my first small cumic was forming above the glider. I had finally caught up to the receding clouds. 'rhc only catch was that the line of cumie development was diverg.. ing southward away from the safe 1-80 HANC GUDINC

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r just soar the local dunes with a couple of mates, there 1s a Moyes glider for every occasion.

Become part of the Moyes familyFly a Moyes

1hr big day in Wyoming. Sylvester on the truck Photo by Pete J,ehrmm. retrieval corridor, and J had to decide: retrieval or lift? I,ifr, of course.

So there J was, gliding on a single-surface glider with little tailwind across desolate country cast of Wamsutter. But what the hell, [ had a specracular driver chasing me and there were oil exploration roads our there, so I figured Johnny would evenrually ge1 me if I did deck it in there. Portunately, it never came to 1hat as the lift had become excellent under the slightly overdeveloping clouds. 1 later saw a 1,200fpm climb ra1e on the averager and pulled out oflifr at 17,100' MSL well under a big cloud. On rhe Falcon I wasn't willing to get 100 close 10 base in those conditions. Run·· ning at high speed from clouds on a low· perl<:mnance glider doesn't work as well as it docs with a ropless.

In the end I easily made it hack to decent roads and n>intersected Interstate 80 ar Rawlins. Sadly, rhat was jusr in rime to bit the notorious late-day easterly hcaclwi ncl that occurs in those parts. If a Falcon doesn't go downwind too well with only a flve-rnph tailwind it goes absolu1ely nowhere imo a 10-mph headwind, and I went from 11,000' MSL to 1he deck rarher quickly. I landed at a big 'lcxaco truck stop, and Johnny was there as I zipped up the bag. Result: 114 miles in 5:20, an unofncial Falcon distance record while I ,arry had gone 78 miles on Sylvester the iandem glider. You co11ld have heard my laughter in Pinsburgh.

T'he whole experience of flying a Falcon

22

has been a visceral pleasure from beginning to end. And by "beginning" I'm referring to the first step of going into the garage and selecting a glider to fly. [ have more than once selected the Falcon because l estimated it to be a worthless day, and the idea of hauling the heavy Fusion off the rack presented just enough of a n11isancc that I chose the Falcon. I can load and unload it virtually one.. handed, and setting up the glider is similarly effort.. less. Mounting the instmments and setting up my harness takes more time than docs rhc glider. Launching it is cake as the lack of a VG allows taut side-wires which make ground handling a breeze. Its light weight and smaller control frame together with the tight side wires rnakc it the easiest self.launching glider I have owned.

Add rhesc features to the flying and landing characteristics l have already discussed and we have a hang glider that l always want to fly. It renders me much less likely to sir around on the hill waiting for conditions to "get good." I would just as soon take a whack ar soaring once I estima1c l have half a chance of getting up.

And if' I get flushed, so what? I can hrcak down and be set up in plenty of time to fly again. The delightful thing about that optimistic psychological frame of mind was rhat it became something ofa sclf-ful./Jlling prophecy. My sense of case with the glider and the cocky willingness to just take a shot at launching produced a remarkable success ratio. Tc) be sure I would occasionally get flushed, bur only occasionally. And irl did have 10 land,

even the shon-fJeld landing approaches were a ball to execute. My only worry is that some day the Fl )A is going to 11gurc out how addictive these things arc and then we arc going ro have to fly smuggled Columbian imports. lt is now almost exactly a year to the day since Tweety entered my life, and not once have I regretted the decision to buy it. The com hi nation of 1hc glider's extraordinarily hcncvolern hand] ing and the intellectual challenge of thriving within the glider's per· formancc limitations gave me extraordinary satisfaction. I always land with a smile on my face, and J often Ii tcrally laugh aloud as I carry the glider off the landing field. It has reborn my full delight in hang gliding.

Perhaps the most telling thing abom my experience flying the Falcon is that I just p11t one of my two gliders up for sale, and it's the Pusion. Lcr me he clear. I will soon buy another topless as there arc undeniable advantages to high-performance gliders.

However, rhose benefits come at a consider.. able cost in terms of price, complexity and skill. In most of my day-10-day flying the Falcon performs at least as well as the Fusion, and with far less cffrm.

Finally, let me cmphasi'.!,c that the point of this article is brand neutral. I bought a Falcon, but rny experience would have hecn vi nu ally identical had 1 chosen a similar glider such as the Acros 'larger or Moyes Venmra. 'T'hc essential point is that pleasure in hang gliding is not necessarily proportional to performance. One need not go so far as to fly a single-surface glider as I did.

For other pilots it may be a mancr of continuing to fly an intermediate glider rather than reflexively jumping 10 a high-pcrl<Jr·· mancc glider the insrant they get their Advanced rating. The lesson of my cxperi· cnce with the Falcon is that in choosing a hang glider, userfriendliness should be more heavily emphasized than raw performance.

The author is honored to claim membership in Los Fa] .. coneros, an informal club of Wasbington, DC-,irea pilots, all of whom happily fly Fal· cons. The above escutcheon designed by Ralph Sickinger decorates the pilots' Tshirts, each of which also carries a color image of rhc pilot's own glider. 1111 1-iANC Ci ll)INC

\

INTERVIEWS <

.

Patti Cameron A WORLD-CLASS LADY

by Jim (Skydog) and Maggie Palmieri This year we decided to enter the new millennium, the year 2000, at Wal/,aby Ranch outside ofOrhndo, Florida. Besides excelknt weather, gourmet food and outstanding Ranch hospitality, we got to meet pilots from all over the world. It was exciting to be able to fly with pilots from both the men's and women's US. World Teams.

0

ne person who immedjarely stood our among the others was Patti Camero n. Within a short rime ir was evident rhar Patti had both a soft and gentle side as well as a hardened competitive side ro her personality. All rrus was wrapped up in a real fun-loving young lady, one who is nor afraid to celebrate life.

We had a chance co talk wirh her about her involvement in the sport of hang gliding.

HG: Weve always found it interesting to learn where world-class pilots got their start.

Could you please detail for us how you were introduced to the sport ofhang gliding?

PC: In the spring of 1991 , just after my ruvorce, I was flipping through Outside magazine, looking for a new adventure. As a schoolteacher, I had the summer off and I was ready co learn something new.

Kayaking, rock climbing, or . . . ?

There it was, a picture of a hang glider!

The ad said, "Come to Lookout Mountain Flight Park and learn co fly. " The school year ended and I packed up and drove from Sarasota, Florida to Lookout Mow1tain in Georgia.

I arrived late in the afternoon. As I stepped our of my car in the LZ parking lot a group of pilots screamed over, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

I was sucked into rhe group on rhe spot.

I starred the next morning. Rex Lyle, Jim Hooks, Bo Hagewood, Christian M ARC H 2000

Thoreson and Ricky Rojas were my mentors and inspiracional instructors. Talk about rhe cream of rhe crop; luck was on my side.

From rhar first day on rhe training hill I have been add icted co hang gliding. Training was difficult. I tore a quad muscle after a couple of weeks and was our for the rest of rhe summer. I spent the next fall, winter and spring commucing 10 hours each way from Sarasoca to Lookout to train. Ninery-nine flights on the training hill (oh yes, I was a bozo), and I was ready for my first mownain flighr.

HG: When did you make the decision that you wanted to be on the Womens World Team?

PC: In the fall of '92 I moved back co Boulder, Colorado. By then I had about 30 hours of airtime and had been forewarned about the conditions our West. W illiam's Peak was our local sire.

Luckily for me I was adopted by a couple of the guys and rhey took me up every weekend where I flew on ly in the mornings and evenings for a couple of years. I

Point of the Mountain in Utal1 to practice there. A friend who m I had mer on one of my trips to The Point reminded me recently that I had raid him rhar some day I wanted to be a member of rhe Women's World Team and wanted ro be as good as Kari Castle.

HG: Hanging out with you this winter it was obvious that competition is in your blood. Have you always had that competitive spirit?

PC: Yes, I grew up playing competitive sports. I began as a swimmer when I was six years old. I rook up springboard diving ar nine and won rhe New York State Championships (AAU) when I was 10. I went ro the Nationals char year down at the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale and was fifth in rhe Nation. I was then selected as a member of the National Team and was invited ro compete in Europe. When rhey starred sending me up to the 10-merer board, I had ro admit, that was roo high.

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I was always a jock. I played varsiry during high school and college in field hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics and springboard d iving. I also spent countless hours racing one-design sailboats with my father.

He was an old six-meter racer and we sailed on 420 's, Lasers, Star boats, Dragons and the So ling. My family owned a Caribbe 41 when I was growing up and we cruised the Great Lakes. I think this was where my love for wind sports began.

HG: The stories about you flying in Australia are infamous. Tell us about your first trip to Australia.

PC: For years I had dreamed about going ro Australia to fly, so with 75 hours in '94, I picked up and went. I arrived in Sydney where Bill Hankey (even though I flew a Super Sport at the time) rold me ro go ro Moyes and they would fix me up. Sure enough, Bill Moyes bought me a car at the

24

fly

20 minutes from Chattanooga, 2 hours from Atlanta, Knoxville, Nashville, Birmingham and Huntsville Country Club Flying: loging on site, swimming pool, volleyball, bath house, clubhouse, food service, pro shop Ages 11·76 have learned here Full Time Pro Shop and Custom Sew Shop Equipment sales, rentals , service, repairs, storage

auction and Attila Bertok felt sorry for me and put me up (I'm sure his intentions were sincere). I ran inro Tove Heaney (present Women's World distance record holder) and Corina Schwiegshausen (present Women's World Champion) there, and they wanted ro know iFI was a new member of the Women's Team. Unfortunately, I had ro explain that I had barely ever gone X-C. They shook their heads in disbelie£ I ended up having d inner with a small group of pilots down in the Scanwell Park area a couple of days later. One of the pilots at the cable was Thomas Suchanek.

I'm embarrassed ro say that at the time I didn't even know who he was . They cold me Mt. Beaury was the place to go, so off I went. I started by wo rking the comps. I worked Bogong and then drove at Hay. I entered my first comp in Manilla at the New South Wales Championships.

Each day I launched too lace and was last to leave the ridge, after all the gaggles had gone. They rold me to launch earlier, so I did. I was first in the air that day, but

unfortunately I was the last one to leave the ridge. I had a lot ro learn. I knew from past experiences in sports that if you want to be one of rhe best you have ro hang out with the best. I was fortunate that Roha n Holtkamp, Drew Cooper, Dave Adams, Mike Jackson and countless others helped me learn.

HG: When did you first compete in the US. Nationals?

PC: After I returned to the Scates I had my first big flights at the Chelan X-C contest and a 90-mi ler the day before the '95 Nationals, so I decided ro enter. le was a bit on the windy side, and there was no stopping Tammy Burcar. O m of 125 competitors, I was 125th.

HG: Few p ilots are born naturals, and most have to struggle. Has this been your experience?

PC: After experiencing a grand amount of H ANG GLIDING

• Best training results in the country: 98 percent of our Beginner rated pilots earned their Novice Mountain Solo or Aerotow ratings at Lookout in 1999 • Lookout Mountain provided more tandem instructional and introductory flights than any other flight park in 1999 • Lookout Mountain specializes in the Integrated Instruction of foot launch and aerotow tandem skills

• 65' and 125' training hills and 1340' novice mountain launch on site , the best training hills in the country • Foot launch and aerotow certifi cation • First Full time Aerotow Flight Park , Four Tugs • Mountain launch supervision • Best priced Learn to fly packages and camps in the country • We wrote the USHGA's officia l training manual

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success in my past sports careers, I really did not know what it was like to struggle.

Now, nine years after I began flying, I'm still struggling. Over the years I've experienced incredible joy, despair, jealousy, injury and death. Ic's not been easy, however, my life since I began flying has been rich. I wo uldn't trade the days I've been left kicking my helmet around in a field and swearing as my buddies sky out overhead for the days I've been lucky enough to end up ar goal. They have all been learning experiences. But most of all, the people I've had the honor to meet have moved my heart and soul.

I feel privileged to again be a member of the Women's World Team. This year we will travel to Greece to compete with the other top women in the world.

Though I do feel that both women and men can compete equally in hang gliding, I must express how wonderful it is to compete against only other women. Hungary was a blast and the women around

Continued on page 50.

M ARCH 2000

25

INTERVIEWS U:.·_ }·~

.

t

l

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•

_:a

Ken de Russy

by Peter Birren and Lori Allen

Ken was a major figure in the Santa Barbara hang gliding scene for almost 25 years. Recently he "retired" to Washington State to be closer to his mother-in-law and nurture his ever-growing collection ofhang gliding memorabilia (http://www. skagitvalleyherald. com/daily/991 august/21 I

had a conrrol bar for it. When I moved up here I started looking for it and didn't have it. Never figured out ifl had it, or if somebody stole it from me, or I lost it, or...

Peter: Ken, tell us about the exhibit in Seattle.

What's the name ofthe place?

Ken: It will be at the Seattle Museum of Flight which includes the original Boeing "Red Barn" which was moved to tl1e Boeing field from another location. It was beautifLuly restored and visitors can see how the old wood-and-fabric aircraft were created. When you walk inro me main hall it's veiy bright and airy. They have a huge number of aircraft inside on display.

clflying.html).

Lori: How did you happen to get into the Seattle Museum? n is in the process of mouming a major exhibit from chis collection at the Seattle Museum of Flight http://www.museumoffiighc.org/) , which will give a great number of people an exposure to hang gliding in a historic review of our sport.

Th is article tells you about the plans for the

K

exhibit (make it a point to see it!) and abo ut tl1e items and help he sti ll needs to make it complete.

Peter: Ken, you have amassed quite a collection

ofhang gliders and other memorabilia. How extensive is your collection?

Ken: Ir contains over 50 wings, dozens of harnesses and seats, a Soarmaster Powerpack, dozens of instrwnents and mechanicaladvamage devices, all the books and magazines from the 1970's, the first few years of most of the regional newsletters from the U.S., the first few years of most of the international hang gliding publications, a large collection of early 16mm films, slides and photos, scores of posters, a hundred or so T-shirts, and lots of ocher memorabilia! I have not yet created a complete invemoiy.

That's one of tl1e tasks I've got to set abour completing. In fact, for probably 10 years or more I was really sure I had an SST IOOB; at least I

Ken: The guy at the museum was referred to me by Joe Greblo because they were looking to replace the sail on their one-and-only hang glider that's hanging up. Joe knew chat I had chis huge colleccion, the beginnings of which came about when I bought back me glider I fl ew for the first 10 months of my flying career. Ir was a Free Flight 17-footer.

By then I was fully into the business and started collecting gliders.

The musewn staff had taken the glider down and thought me sail was bad. The museum director had already looked for someone to copy char sail. This is not a particularly historic glider, and very few sails have ever been worn out completely on hang gliders anyway.

I rold him I'd be moving up ro Anacortes and that I would contact tl1en1 after I got settled. Once up here, I went to the musewn and looked at the glider. There was naming wrong wim it at all.

Peter: What was the glider that they had?

l Ken: Ir's an Eipper Formance CumLuus 5B, donated by some Seattle-area pilot. Ir was a generous tl1ing to donate his wing.

Actually, I had a chance to get to know Richard Eipper in the last few years of his life; he passed away about iliree or four years ago. When I met him a couple of years before he died, he introduced himself as Richard Eipper. I had always heard of him as Dick Eipper. I asked, "Well, are you Richard or Dick?" And he said, "Call me Richard. I was a Dick for enough years." So I think char was his little way of contrition, apologizing H ANG GLIDING

for whatever he imagined he did in his life. l was hoping they would consider an expanded exhibit because one hang glider doesn't come close to satisfying me. If it was going to be one glider, it ought to be something other than a Cumulus 5B ~·· either the oldest thing we've got or the newest, but a single glider to represenr the sport? The little floor marker beneath it says something like, "It's representative of modern hang gliders. lt's a typical modern hang glider," which was at one t·irne a trnthfol statement.

So we got that glider cleaned up and n;. hung. I was introduced to the curator and the director and they said they'd like to schedule a temporary exhibit, because by then I had completely convinced them that I had every· thing under the sun with which to do so.

I lopcfidly this won't scare them away from foturc exhibits. I mean, here they just take one hang glider down and start talking aliour ir and all of a sudden they have to11s.

They multiply.'] 'hey said it was pretty forruitcrns. The museum, like mosr, is always bcggmg.

I ,ori: Money and resources are fllways rl proh· lem, Ken:' J 'hey're always struggling for money. I came to appreciate the struggle for money with rhc previous group I worked with in Santa Barbara, California which was a 11011· profiL park foundarion. You prohably never even heard of such a rhing. This was a group in Santa Barbara rhat negotiated with the city to create a private park on public land for public use. No tax monies went into it, and so I cimc to understand what it was like for them rn be in a pcrperual stare of needing money, capital campaigns and all of that. So that prepared me to understand the museum in a way that maybe some other people rnigln not have. It's not like large museums have to pay a 1, 500-dollar.. pcr-month mortgage. It's more like they need 15 1nillion dollars by Saturday.

So, I told them it could be an attracrivc and interesting exhibit i( they were to do a large hang glidillg show, principally because I had all this stuff and agreed to work with them. They told me that if" it wcren'r for my expertise and extensive collection, they would not have considered the exhibit. Someone's gotta come along basically and offer it to them.

Peter: \;(!hat are the museum;· rnain (lhout?

Mi\RCI I 2000

/,t1/muay Best Western Hotel. Bellingham, WA: 167 SjJort, 191 Condm; 18 'Johe Standard Ken: In the words of the Museum Director, the Museum of Flight is mainly about "rnili .. rnry aviation and commercial transpon."

That kind of stuck in my mind, in a way that's kind of narrow. It doesn't say anything about pcrsollal flight or sport aviation. Well, big smprise, how many people have a relationship with personal flight? There arc a lot of people who small planes, that's true.

But museums arc principally about military and commercial transport.

Peter: 1hose flre the most visih!t and the rmlly hz~stuff' Ken: Yes. Everybody has a relative who flew in rhc war or was in the service. Peter, you and I arc good examples. We actually worked around it. We didn't fly, hut we have an affectioll !or certain planes, you know, the J;. 100 or some such aircraft.

Lori: My.fr11her was a hornher pilot.

Ken: Fveryonc has some connection. You have a hard rime finding someone who hasn't flown in a plane. But OUlside that, how rmny people know someone who flies h:mg gliders or paragliders? The pendulum rhe other way. Now it's almost nobody.

or

Peter: When is the exhihit going to opm?

Ken: April ro September. And I'm hoping aCtcrward to expand their pcrmanelll display to two or three gliders.

Peter: And perhaps, at the very least, replt1ff that one with a more modern one?

Ken: For rhe most pan the gliders will be donated, which means we need something thar's probably four or five years old because it takes that long before people arc willing ro give them away.

Lori: So, wh(ltJ· the oldest glideryou have and whfltJ" the newest?

Ken: 'I 'he !fatso, made in 1971 from a set of plans drawn up and marketed by T1ras Kice· niuk, is a Rogallo wing made from bamboo and plastic. In the February, 1972 issue of Natiorwl Gtogmphir there is an article about the Orto I .ilicnthal Universal Hang Cliding Championships which rook place on May 23, 1971, thar shows· faras and his Batso.

This event was pur together by the recently deceased Jack Lambie, Joe hrnst and Richard Miller.

Peter:

decmsed?}rzck fflmhie?

Ken: Yeah, Jack apparently was shot by his brother, Mark, about three or four months ago. It was very disturbing. I had just gotten their names and numbers and was going to track them down because anor her guy present at that meet, I .arry I )ighcra, has movies of" rhat historic evcnr.

I'm going to sec an original Batso in a lc'.W weeks in Southern California. Alce Brooks, the owner/builder, sen r me photos of' it and offered to give it [() me. It h:1s been sitting in his father's garage gathering dust

27

for 28 years!

Lori: What'., the/it!!

ofglidersyou'd really

like to display?

Lori: What was yourflrst glider?

Ken: My first glider was an aluminum-frame Free Plight. l put it together from a kit but

rigged it all wrong. The frame was shaped all wrong and it was divergent. I never builL a Batso, though I've seen movies of them.

They don't look like they flew very well at all.

Lori: And what's the newest glider you'd li/.:e to

see in the exhibit?

Ken: Mike Eberle has promised to do his

best to get a Glrnsdmstcr and he seems pretty confident- he can do it. It's my hope to have the Chostbuster down at floor level equipped with all the state-of-the-art accessones.

Peter: Any other details to worh out with the physical space?

Ken: The floor space is an area alongside a wall about 20 feet wide and maybe about 80 or so feet long. The bulk of the gliders will be hanging. If I get my wish, they'll have mannequins harnessed looking as if they're ready lo fly. llowever, museum staff have expressed reluctance to pay f<)r so many mannequins $350 each is kind of steep for these mannequins, but it makes all the difference in die world as ro how they look and rhc experience that people have as they look up.

Peter: ft gives a sense ofscale. Have you contacted any ofthe major department stores about domtting some tr/their store rnan. ? nequzns.

Ken: It's an interesting concept. That'll be my fall back plan. What I'm hoping for in the long run arc frilly poseablc mannequins.

Basically they're made from heavy wire frame with a soft matcria I around it that allows you ro pose them in any possible way.

Most store mannequins don't permit that, and I've tried using store mannequins before and they look really wrong.

Peter: Something about that u;rist being

turned out at 90 degrees?

Ken: Something like that. Yeah, they just look like posers, you know.

28

Ken: Herc's the tentative plan: 1) the Batso, 2) an Icarus Tl. There's a guy in Colorado who bought a kir in and held onto that dream ofnight until '89 when he linally hired an A&P mechanic to build it. it's about 9gcx) complete now, minus the tip draggcrs. Ir sat in a garage ever since. l-lc has agreed to loan it fcir the duration of the exhibition. 3) l have a commitment from Mike Meier of Wills Wing to display Chris Wills' Standard, the one on which he won the 1973 National Championships. 4) The Comet, because it was so revolutionary and really incorporated all of those physical features that arc common today. 5) Maybe something between the Comet and the Standard, like a Condor or Cirrus 5, a glider that a triple dcflcxor looks roughly like that with truncated tips or something that shows how we went from rhc Standard to the Comet.

Peter: II Pliable Moose, just for the name

alone.

Ken: Thar's number 6. I'd go for a Pliable Moose for that very reason. l actually have one and l lovc that logo; it's so bizarre and absurd. Then between the Comet and the Ghostbustcr we may also have (7) a h1sion and that has to do with my long relationship wirh Wills Wing. Another exciting thing is, beyond rhc gliders, Don Burns and I arc scheming on a really killer sirnularnr. We'll sec what the costs arc associated with that, so right now its a "hopeful."

Peter: Well, it cert1linly givesyou a well-round

eel display !Ind thank, fi;r all the effims ofthe pilots on the hangg,liding digest who made their to help youfimdize some ideas.

Ken: The digest has proven robe indispensable as a sounding board. When I asked people what they thought should be on display, the feedback I got was very valuable.

Lori: You got Kevin Frost excited!

Ken: Yeah. h's fimny just seeing these guys get excited. It's fun to be promoting some-thing that seems to be universally popular.

When I was in Santa Barbara I was accustomed to being the target as rhe dcaler/instrnctor. My collection and display work seem to be loved by everyone so far!

It's amazing the wonderful letters and acknowledgments I've gotten from people, and ir's all based on what J say I'm going to do, so now I actually have to pull it off.

There's a certain amount of stress about how it's going to pan out The exhibit is exciting enough, but what I find truly exciting is having this strong sense that if I just keep playing with this collection, working with the museum and doing something that's loosely connected to what I've always done, it's all going to work out. l hope this will lead to other museums, and somewhere along the line develop, if not income, into a sense of purpose and direction for me rhar I've had as a reacher for so many years.

Lori: /in hoping this

will generate interestfrom pilots who aren't on the list and might have whatyou nm/, and who would be willing to donate without cost to you.

Ken: That would be great! My biggest challenge with the collection is keeping my costs way down as I don't have an income, l dccid-cd some time ago to do what I can to collect, but I can't justify buying anything. l make it implicitly clear, if not explicitly clear, in every letter I send that I don't even want to pay the shipping. This is an effort that, anyway you look at it, will cost me money. I have to move all 'the sLUfl' around, and it's a huge effort to try to manage, plus living up ro the expectations people have when they give something.

So, here is the other thing [ am developing, compiling reference sets of all the hang gliding publications. I don't think even USI-ICA has a complete set. The places where we need to have these complete archives is nor necessarily at the Association headquarters, but in the aviation museums and in aviation lihraries. After J finish building up a research library on hang gliding in tbc Seattle Museum of Flight aviation library, I'11 set about assembling another one and placing ir in another museum or librn1y that l conclude is the next bcsr place. I'll contact t:he Smithsonian and find out what they've got and sec if they're willing to accept a big batch of stuff.

Peter: Do you have the boole 'fruc r:light? ThtJt would be tl addition.

Ken: That's one of my most rccenr "finds," discovered while going through a box of "treasures" at Windsports in Van Nuys, California. l can't believe it took me this long! Joe Crehlo had a great laugh at my excitement when I spotted it.

HAN(; CLIDINC

But it's important to realize that if I'm goi ng to build several sets, there's no such thing as "do you have one?" I need everything in multiple copies. I am still searching for Without Visible Means ofSupport by Richard Miller, one of the very first people co build a foot-launched hang glider. He built his first one in '63 or '64.

He Aew before Taras Kiceniuk, even before Kilborne or Lambie.

Peter: You mentioned that you could use as many copies as you can get ofthe books and magazines from Whole Air to the early hang gliding pubs, like the early Southern California Hang Gliding Association newsletters. Tm sure those would be handy

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Ken: Keep in mind that the first five issues may have been printed in quantities of 500 or fewer. When you go from the sixth to the tenth issue it probably jumps to 2,000 or so, bur still in such smal l numbers that it's likely the vast majoriry of chem have gone to the dump.

Peter: Getting multiple copies ofbooks and magazines and newsletters is far easier than getting multiple copies ofgliders and other equipment.

Ken: I would ask that people contact me with what they've got and are willing to part with. I won't necessari ly take everything that

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is offered, bur I don't turn down much, especially if it is from rhe 1970's.

Peter: 11H: got an !-IP AT J58 that'., the heel and a leading edge. 1 don't thinleyou'd want that.

a greatly expanded presence of hang gliding equipment there. Thn may be the place where WC would get a different level of acceptance and promotion because they arc about soaring, unlike the rnusemn in Seanlc which is focused 011 other aspects 01 avia·tiotL

Ken: l wam everything, but in terms of gliders, I'd like to have one of everything and two of some. But when you have 50 gliders, it gets to be a challenge. Where do I put ir all? The challenge is that I can't take everything, but one solution is to have good success with this exhibit. Then rherc will be a model created whereby I cm go to ,mother museum, sell them on a permanent exhibit, and at the same tirnc show them how they can rotate the comems from time to time, and store as many as 10 or 15 hang gliders in a very small space, like rhat occu-pied by a single airplane. Then l cm basically place hatches of gliders at several different m11seums around the coumry.

Lori: An tdternctti1Je to that is a dation.

Ken: Yes, like the Rogallo J:oundation. I talked to John Harris abom it, but they don't have any plans for a physical location to accommodate a lot of gliders. They focus on a lor o/' historical stuff like documents, photographs, plans, etc.

Gary Osoba and Dan Armstrong have both rold me that rhc National Soaring Musci1m (http://www.soaringmuseum.org/) in Elmira, New York has a capital campaign going right now to create rnuch more space.

Gary called me recently w let me know that he thinks they would be receptive to having

30

Lori: Are you

7101/J?

Ken: I don't represent the USHGA. I don't represent a foundation and I don't give any tax-deductible receipts. That is just because that's how I've chosen ro do it up to this point. I am considering setting up a taxexempt foundation in the near future. ·rhc reason people would want ro donate ro my collecrion is just simply because it's a far bctrcr alternative to sec their equipment, publications or memora· bilia go ro me than to see it go to the dump where most of it ends up anyway. The purpose in my collecting, beyond preservation, is to share all of our history with the public.

I am always :1ctivcly looking for ways to do that. Anything given to me will serve that purpose.

Although mine is a private collection, my goals arc cssemially rhc same as if [ were operating as a public institution. As a result, I h:1vc not heard any misgivings about donations becoming my personal property.

Acrually, I am doubtful that any public entity that is likely to exist in rhc near future would he ;1s capable when it comes to collecting, storing and displaying as cheaply as l am able to.

Peter: There are a number o/othcr that you need to coll.ection: insJ:ru-

ment:1~ hclrnets, harnesses, thinr,s like that. ls that correct?

Ken: Actually, l have only one harness for every five gliders in the collection. I have some equipment pledged. One guy said he would send a spaghetti harness. Another guy said he'd send me an early Keller-type harness.

Peter: I may have one original Bennett knee-harne.1s I had with my Cirrus. 'J here ha1Je to be othcrs/lotiting flround, unused

Ken: Did you know that there arc about six Delta Wing gliders at the not-yer-open Dulles Air and Space Museum (http://www. nasrn.ed u/ d ulles/ acft_.2003. ht m)? Bill Benuett managed to get a whole history of Delta Wing gliders into that museum.

Peter: Do you hcwe an oldjiat kite?

Ken: Not yet. If I can find one, I would include that in the display because I rhink rhat's one of the original paths into bang gliding. f rhink that the stuff from the '?O's will definitely be the hardest to find. The '80's and '90's gear is more current and probably will sit in people's houses longer.

There arc a !or of people who were Aying in rhc '70's and don'r even Ay anymore, so all their gear is vulnerable to being tossed in the trash or otherwise disappearing.

There arc other important things on my wish list: a 'T'hcotek vario, a Sports Aloft stall warning indicator, a Thermal Snooper, a pair of Flap Chaps from about 1976, a

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Gmtinued/rorn page 30.

Hight Realities glide angle measuring device, and cross bar fairings by· lc)rn M ilkie.

Peter: I'll up my Snooper' ! may he the on61 person to sti!ljly with one. Sjmtking of' thingJyour collection still needJ; what gliders wouldyou de11rly love to include?

Ken: I rend to lean toward the unique.'] 'he more bizarre the better. One is the \Xlasp by Phantom Wing in Concord, California.

They did some deal where they cut a bunch sail away from the tail but kept the long keel. It looked really ugly, actually. There arc a cot1plc of wings by Pliable Moose that 1 want because rhcy look so unique, so unusual. And actualty, with all the gliders I have, the one I don't have is a Seagull 3. One guy told me he has a Seagull 5, the one with rhc rudder. I would also like ro find a Cronkite, a very high-aspect-ratio early glider with spoilcrons on the tips. I'm also still looking for a clean Easy Riser and a Manta J:ledgc 2B.

or

Lori: !Ire there any other collections tht1t could

merge with yours, or thilt might prove to be a resource?

Ken: I am unaware of any other large collections. Ken Ward in San Jose has a small collection, John 1-lciucy told me he has (like rnc) saved all his '!~shins from his years of flying and has a collection of glider manuals as well, and l understand from John that Dave hnmd has a near collection of' memo· rabilia. I am fairly confident that no one else, in Norrh America at least, has more than a half a dozen ()f COl!fSC, WC need to make a distinction here between "collectors" and pilots who simply can't gcr rid of their old wings!

There is a large collccrion in Cermany, a Web site for which can be found at http://www.dios-sofrware.de/Dfcs/Museu m/.

Joe Crcblo has had some success pm· chasing and then reselling rccord·sctring gliders to a restaurant chain. He buys the glider, harness, helmet, instruments, clorhing, underwear, socks, even klccncx everything rhat was in the pilot's pocket. Ir was some sort of a theme restaurant.

Peter: Do you havr a list o/those restaurants?

Ken: No, I don't. I don'i even know who iris somcLhing in the cast maybe. I think Joe structured the agrccmcm so th,1t if they ever MARCIi 2000

close down they need to contact him so he won't have to worry about the gliders getting into rhc hands of' someone who shouldn't have them.

Lori: So is this u;hatyou do now,

collect

Ken: Yep! That is my profession righr now. l have a huge glider collection and l'rn cons11lt·ing wirl1 a 1m1srnm. I need to start remembering to tell people that instead of l'rn sirring 011 my buu.

Lori: !3ut you dont want to turn this into a 1ur,!cH·1J1smvtJ'/!e just keep it simple?

Ken: Someone already ;1skcd me if! was looking for donations and is this a tax-· cldcrrcd, 11011-prolir status, and [ rhought, I'm nol smc 1want ro solicit any money. It's been tempting m rimes to try to solicit mon· cy to rem a focility where l can keep all this equipment. Right now I've got the collection in my garage, in my mothcr-·in-law's garage, in three more garages in Southern California, plus I here arc probably six or eight glid· ers that arc more or less committed but will remain where they arc in various orhcr garages. Bill I am tempted to try ro raise rnoncy. Of course, I'd like to have an income from it, but now is not the rime and I'm nOI' sol iciring donations.

I wa111 ro publicly thank the dwcns of pilots who have donated so much to my col· lcction. C;crald Meyers, a paraglidcr pilot from California, even sent me a check f1Jr $50 with a note in rhc memo section that said simply, "Hang ( ;liding Museum Make it so!" He had previously ofTcrecl to pitch in with five other hang gliding list members in an effort to pay !cir a wing and ship it out to me.

I just know rherc arc people arc out who would lend their support for the effort. '!'here arc a !or of things ['m looking for and some have said, "Gee, you know, I'm sorry I don't have a Comer to give you, so T don't know if there's anything l can do. I'd like to help." Well, everyone can cruise bookstores and go to garage sales. Yeah, right, like who wants to go to garage sales on a weekend when they could be our flying.

Lori: 1hauen't been to ti garage sale since 1 startedf0iing Ken: That's how l've been occupying my time every hiday and Sarnrday when the

weather's good. We've been going to garage sales to find all kinds of near srnff l'vc hccn to Ions of used bookstores and l 'm always looking for old magazines that have articles on hang gliding, like acrnal original copies of the l;cbruary 1972 issue of National Geographic. I'll take as many as I can get.

Peter: !Ind a way to transport the Ken: Well, that's the easy pan. Jr's finding a place for them where they're completely our of the weather and can be hung up in otherwise unused places. J\mong all the rcadcrshi p, I would hope that there arc people who have hangars and/or barns that arc folly weather· proo( in various parts of the counrry, who might agree to become a repository for sornc of the collection. Then if l am offered a wing in some distant part of the country, I may be able to direct the donor to deliver it to a near· by repository.

The other thing we need is people who rravel and could carry gliders or to jusr be aware of' the possibilities of moving gliders back and forth. Shipping commercially by truck or air can nm hundreds of dollars. IC someone's willing to pm one on the roof and drive it someplace, rhat'd be a huge service.

Lori: l hank, for your efforts, Ken. G(Jod luc/..: with the collfftion and the exhibit.

Peter 8irren is the president o/the Reel Glider Pilots Association in the Chic11go arM, and thc inventor o/the l.inlmifi: 'Jhwin,~ Relcrzse. l.ori Allen is the ve1y uno/Jlcial Gliding Digest and lives with her two children in the {ookout Mount//in, Georgia L11,,dt,'W .7.1177C. Hoth (/rf' very t!ctive {JJ1 the f )~(CS! cmd tog,etherplrm articles on "'/he Bc,t of the Wth, "coming soon to 11 ccrttLin marzazme near you..•

35

@ 2000 ~y Michael Robertwn

his column of historical and contemporary anecdotes was launched lasr morHb, and needs the custom-ary disclaimer: "Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental. The names have been changed to protect rhe innocent (and rhe guilty)." Our central character begins ;is Young Eagle (YE) and becomes Old Bald Eagle (OP.E) as he matures.

We join YE rhis monrh frH his first fledgling flai.--kite fligbts. YE thought these experiences were fantastic, beyond words.

After all, how can even a weighty word express a weighrless wonder? Certainly superlatives on a page pale when com-pared ro outrageous real events.

Towing predates foot-launched free flight by several years, and it continues to be mind-bogglingly beamifol sometimes.

Just last summer OBF was towing tandem in Muskoka cottage country on a crystalclear evening. The moon was a huge, smoky tangerine rising our of the mix of lake and forest downwind. The sun was setting into pristine Georgian Bay 50 miles upwind, burning its way into a surreal cloudbank, splaying variations on the themes of purple and red across the hori-· zon. His passenger lit up like the sky as they settled in ge11tly on the pontoons, a wing span from the dock. The water skishow crowd erupted in appreciation and awe.

When everything works well, towing is so easy and safe. It doesn't always go so.

OBE had a visit today from a new student we'll call Slow off the Mark (SM) concurrent with an c-·mail from the Safety and 'fraining Committee on the dangers

36

him blanched and white knuckled. "You don't do that on this aircraft; you nearly ripped the wings ofA" he stammered. Hey, who knew a Piper Colt was so different from a Harvard? Thorough briefings arc a good thing in any activity. 'fhcy arc rnandatory in aviation.

Questioning revealed that only a frw revolutions were permitted for a spin. No low flying was allowed. A normal flying experience was to drone along for 50 miles and then come back. Booorrring!

Not only that, it was expensive. YE gave up on civilian fixed-wing flying. 'fhen happenstance led to his first flat kite experience. I le noticed the weird diamond-shaped thing on the roof of the Collins Bay Water Ski Club driving to his half shift at a nylon plant. When rhat summer job ended his afrernoons freed up, so he finally checked it out.

"Do you know how to water ski?" someone asked when YE's desire to try the flat kite was voiced.

I can slalom," was the eager reply.

"Well, if you want ro fly it you'll have ro go over that jump three times," came

inherent in towing without instruction.

The risk involved in trying anything new (activities or equipment) without qualified guidance is the theme of this month's rendering.

SM is a challenging case for an insrructor since he has deep psychological scars from repeatedly crashing a flat kite at sumrner camp. l meresting is it nor, that psychological wounds arc often more serious than physical cJt1es. This takes OBE back again to his YI•'. days. He had lcfr the Air r;orce when his dream of being a Golden Hawk (the Canadian Air Force's F86/Sabre flying team) was shattered.

T'hey were disbanded as a political cost-saving move in 196/i.

Bummer!

Looking for a way to continue fly-ing led him to a Hamilton Airport instructor. This guy, like so many in his frdd, was putting in time waiting for the airlines to call. Just going through the motions, he took YE up for a check ride.

"Spin it," I-Jc said. YE did so ously for abom 2,000 fcer, terminating with a dive, hard pull--up and wingover. Ti1rning to his "teacher" for 'Tt!e author stunting in his/lat l:ite. accolades, YE found

HANC CUDINC

back the ski club rep.

"Well, I've never done thar," said YE, "b111 I'm willing to try." "l.e1's go then, jL1sr remember not to pull on the rope over rhe ramp."

That was the extent of the instruction.

No safc1y skin on 1hc six .. foot ramp, no helmet, no progression. They just pulled him ar 35 mph toward what 10 YE quickly rcsernbled a solid wooden wall. "This may be messy," he thought. /\ny gentle readers who understand water skiing will appreciate the inaclequa .. cy of this preparation and the inevitable result that ensued. for those who don't, suffice ir to say it wasn'r pretty: three spec· racular wipcouts, the third being the only one during which rhe skis hit the water before his body attempted to play subrna .. rine, making a killer, whaJe .. likc splash.

Sore and sorely disappointed, YE climbed into the boat and mumbled something about how he guessed that would mea11 he couldn't try the kirc. "Oh, no problem," they smiled knowingly, "you'll be perfect!"

A few days later, when rhc only fla1 kite flying club member, the local jeweler, was available, YE's education continued. "Just hold on tight and pull down on the high side ro keep her level," was the ex rent of the rock mcrchanr's lesson.

This would be analogous ro training someone to appraise diamonds by telling him to look at the size and brightness. It was a few pearls short of a necklace to say rhc least. l :onunatcly for YF., he flew better than his instructor did the first time our. It was amazing to look down on the boat and view the hay from treetop height. YE just followed his instincts and did everything opposite to what he'd been told.

Remember Slow off the Mark from the opening pamgraph? l le had had similar instruction bm did everything he'd been rnld and crashed hard every time he flew!

So did all the other kids at the camp whar a shame. So did the jeweler YE later learned. What have we learned? Can yoll sec why ir's a good thing to find qualified, ccrrified guidance rather than just seeking someone who's done it? Dry land sirnuh· tions, demonstrations, slow progrcssiom and proper briefings make flying a flat kite

MARCH 2000

easy and fun. YE's troupe taught at least a thousand to do so.

In case you arc enjoying these war stories, here arc some more. OBE was sitting on the back porch recently with veteran hang gliding and ultralight instructor /\vid nor Stonehouse (AnS), discussing a new Russian trike flying in the area and the dangers of trying olll such new stuff He charges $200 to hop a hybrid. "'fost fly. ing" is the common term for what really should be called "trim flying," unless it's a new pre-pro-· duction prototype or homebuilr.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that any flight (or undertaking of any kind for that marter), when something is different, has the poternial for problems. J\nS and OBE reminisced. [nstanrly the horror sto· ries of Buzz Crash man came to mind. BC has a history of heavy-handedness but has a huge heart and loves flying. OBE remembers BC as a short, stocky hlack belt in karate who liked to instigate bar fights.

BC, along with his blustering bullheadedness and Napoleon complex, has amazing smaJJ .. cngine knowledge and ability. The first time he came by was in '7<) with a fow biker friends on their Hogs. Within minutes of his first orientation flight he was tuning the carb's on those Cayunas and Rotaxcs. He became sorncwha1 of a technical guru for the industry. To '[i-ansport Canada he remains a rabble rouser for rule changes. l .asr year BC decided ro trim fly a beauriful, new, razor-winged 1rike.

Problem was, he'd only flown three-axis ult ra\igh ts. This would be analogous to an experienced fr>ot--launch hang glider or paraglidcr pilot trying towing, or m,1ybe one trying the other discipline on his

own. Bullying the $30,000 of borrowed, high .. tech mystery machinery into the :1ir was reminiscent of the road runner's arch rival's flying experiments. The difference in real life was a broken back, legs and internal injuries, not to mention a trashed trike. He wasn'r qui re rough enough to take on 1crra firma at GO mph, chl Then again, it would have killed a normal body.

This was the same guy who nearly drowned up on the Madawaska River doing an Export A cigarette ad in '83. We tried 10 tell him water demanded different attire but he insisted on wearing his motorcycle helmet, heavy hoots and leather jacket. When he hit ;1 submerged log with his floats on a hot landing and flipped, it was all OBE and /\nS could do ro save him. Luckily they were wearing wet suits. '!'he water was 50 degrees. 'lc)wing over water or even flying over water requires a ton of special equipment and preparation.

I think we have the message. 'li-y new things with great care under the supervi .. sion of someone who has the credentials and knowledge to train you on the ground and i;1 the air. B

M :rnoo

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(01125100)

The following story was inspired by one of those unique sensations when hang gliding, navigating the ethereal forms and spaces created in the sky by mist and clouds. It was last season at Westlake, the Northern California coastal ridge-soaring site, and I 'd been test-flying with my camera all day. Ironically, I removed it for one last unencumbered flight. Little did I know what was in store and I'll never know what pictures I might have taken -

alas, the ones that

got away. I've included some pictures taken from other Westlake cloud flights over the last several years but they can't do justice to the flight that still lingers in my mind's eye...

Westlake Cloud Magic AN D SOME PICS THAT GOT AWAY article and photos © 2 000 by Bob Ormiston

40

H A G GLIDING

T

he day at Funston was mostly mediocre, although a tantalizing cap cloud had been forming off and on down the coast at Westlal<e. While a number of paragliders floated around, even getting fairly high at times, the winds were light and only a few hang glider pilots chanced the gaps to squeal< down to Westlal<e. At least one hapless soul ended up on the beach. So, I was content to test my camera on short flighrs and didn't give any thought to risking a flight down. But, as sometimes happens, by the end of the afternoon, after I'd pur away my camera equipment, condi-

M ARCH 2000

cio ns started picking up just a bit.

After procrastinating for a while I decided to cal<e one lase flight. I got into some nice air and was cruising around, even contemplating heading down to Westlal<e, when I noticed a fog bank scarring to form over the golf course, just beyond the south end of Funston. It screeched all the way down the coast and merged with the cap cloud at Wesdal<e.

C urious and wanting to investigate further, I flew past launch and over to the golf course for a closer look, encountering a few unlikely wisps of fog on my way past the Funston LZ.

At rhe golf course the fog bank extended beyond the main ridge, stretching our over the low from ridges leading down to Westlal<e. I couldn't see Westlal<e at all, but I could imagine what it would be like ifl could mal<e it down and get over the to p of the cloud above the high ridges at Westlal<e. Ah, what to do? Given tl1e co mbination of uncertai n visibili ty and less w an abundant lift, I hesitated for a time, partly because my Falcon 225, due to its elaborate custom sail , has a slightly higher sin k rate than my Super Spore 163.

But the cloud ridge was so unusual and intriguing tl1at I co uldn't resist; I finally

41

The author, capturedftom above by Dave Chavez. decided I just had to go for it. Whar's hang gliding if you're not willing to risk a walk on the beach to waltz with the clouds?

Because of their location, it would be rricky to negotiate the lift and fog ar the same time. Like staying in the clear out in front of rhe cloud bur not going so far out that I'd lose the lift on the low ridges. So, as I turned toward the route south to Westlake, I had that sharp sensation of anticipation and anxiety that comes with every gamble - either this was going to be a great flight or I'd soon be dragging my glider a long way down the beach and kicking myself never to make that dumb mistake again. I was about to find out wh_ich, and soon.

On leaving the golf course all I could see was a wall of white looming above and to my left. I edged farther our over the low cliffs, passing the gray mist beyond my left wingtip, and drifted silently south. Dropping down, the beach became more distinct. It was an eerie feeling, knowing that I was passing the riding stables off to my left, now invisible, nowhere to be seen.

Likewise, farther to the south, the flanks of the high cliffs at Westlake were obscured, all I could see was the base of the cliffs with

Playing over Westlake, author below left, Funston to the north, top.

Continued on page 47 42

H ANG G LIDING

s

I\ Lnok d tr,c Sport o/ Hcmq C1licJinq nic \X/incJ ,mcJ \X/riy It Work\ Hiqrll Skills Lo Irie 13ccwmcr Level llicJrit Skills Lo lhc Novice Level 1/yincJ CcmcJilions I ldnCJ Cil1cJincJ [qu1prr1m1 More dtJrnJt trw ltinuplc\ of /Jrcp,m11cJ for H1ql1 AltitucJc Cicl(IIICJ Sl,1/lCYJ 1n S0c1nnq TcmcJcrn ,·mcJ Tow Trc1ininCJ r riincJs 1~vcry /liJo: S/iou/cJ Know CJ/cm21ry of H,:mq Cilicj111q Tcrrnc, BONUYIIJS 'A\ tJ1e Pro Flies" \I

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USHGA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901

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44

HANC GUDINC

You know what to do if you find a hair in your soup bowl (com-· plain to the waiter), but do you know what to do if there's a mare's tail in your trough? Well? If you aren't certain, I have a recommendation: take two (or more) viewings of Dixon White's

Wer:tther Th Fly and don't call me in the morning, unless you've decided you do want to fly.

~--11111//hat's what this video's about: deciding whether to fly, or more accurately, learning how ro rap easily-available resources that will help you decide whether the weather is appropriate for you and your friends to fly today. ln this strangely soothing, homespun, yet up-to-date video, Dixon White, instrnctor, Master pilot and USH GA Examiner, docs a great job helping wcarh-cr 11akcs like me begin ro make sense of, and then actually understand, things like the various indices (thermal, lifted, K), local effects of the jct stream, and why a nice tight set of isobars is not necessarily a good thing to have. Best of all, he docs it in a pleasant, nonAn example ofa timel11pse threatening manner, cloud sequence used f'YrPn,mP11, without, as he points in the video. Er.1ch out, engaging in a ''teris ahout two second, apr1rt in minology fest." the video. The total time ofthe It's good to know time-lapse shot in the video is what's up with your f() seconclL Actual cloud very own regional air development is estimr1ted to he mass (especially if 30 minutes. what's up with it,

MAROl2000

maybe way up with it, is you). If you have a thousand miles of X-C under your hang glider or paraglider you may not have much to learn from this video, but Dixon's chalkboard talks and graphics cover a great deal of terrain themselves, and I think most free-flight pilots will find their viewing time very well spent.

I remember one afternoon early in my flying career, sitting on Mount 7 in British Columbia, trying to decide jusr what those purple tentacles hanging from the huge clouds across the Columbia River might mean in terms of the next 20 minmcs or so. The section on clouds would have given me a good hinr, but I didn't need no stinkin' video! We all launched and found our on our own.

What docs a multi-layered sky mean?

What is a "fast sky"? What's a knot?

I ,cam to find and use information sources including barometers, rhc Inter-net, weather briefors, 'TV weather chan · ncls, NOAA and others, to explore the jct stream, lows and highs, temperatures aloft, winds aloft, lapse rates and much, much more.

'fcdeedoum in hz~h windr resultingfrorn 'Jast sky" lowering to launch level. flcmg,~lidcr pilot taking down his glider in

As the introd11ction states, more than you trusted Mr. Rogers to give you the one viewing may he necessary to gcr :1 straight dope on your neighborhood :1s a grip on all 1he information provided, but kid, you'll trust Dixon White to do the l found each viewing :1 same for your new pleasure because or the neighborhood as a supbeaurifol video footage posedly grown-up pilot. of flying that relieves any I came away with the heavy going caused by same "probably every-· things like numbers. th going ro be all There were even a few focli ng. Study a great whacks, hoinks and Ii l tic weather, be okay. draggings frorn time to Simple enough? rime to illustrate the Only two types of price paid for not paying pilots won't truly appreattention in class. Unlike ciate Weather Tri Fly: in high school, what yon those who already know learn relates rn the real everything and those world. who don't mind discovI really liked the fact ering that the sky they that th is w:1sn't one of Dixon White introducing himseljat just hucked themselves those frenetic pieces with the beginning o/the 1Jidco. iu to suddenly reminds dorky music that sounds them of their ex's lamely die same on every other flying extrernely unstable and soon to be video. T'his was well thought out and expensive. Ill calmly presented good stuff If foct, if

A temperature immsion with graphic:1· to highlight the points.

Dust devil from the termin jc:atures section.

46

HANC GUDINC

Continued ftom page 42. the beach not far below. Out over the water, towers of gray misc marched in from the sea.

Soon I began to enter the invisible lift at Westlake. Somewhat relieved, I now rose slowly toward the cloud layer above. But my face was far from settled as I had to move farther out to the leading edge of the cloud and begin dodging the oncoming masses of gray mist. le was like a game, staying clear of the edge of the cloud while meandering back and forth between ragged masses approaching to merge with the cloud. All the while, slowly, ever so slowly, climbing. Gradually, cruising out in front of the leading edge of the cloud, I gained enough height to move back closer to che ridge and climbed more quickly.

Rising up, I suddenly realized I was there, dear above the cloud, looking down on a broad expanse of white. What a glorious sight! With the ridge obscured down below, the view was breathtaking. The sky was crystal clear in the low afrernoon sun.

The blue-gray ocean was smooth as a cable top. The air was like glass. In the gentle wind, the paragliders were up in force, drifting boldly about. And the hang gliders reigned, cruising above it all. To the south and inland all was white; to the north, beyond the diminishing ridge of the cloud, Funston sparkled clear and bright. In the far distance, Mt. Tamalpais and the Marin headlands were accented by their own spectacular cloud formations, and in between, fully living up to its name, the Golden Gate Bridge stood out like a jewel I could almost rouch.

So, there, above the city masses unaware and far below, we pilots, a chosen few, cruised around together in a wondrous world all our own, silently saluting as we passed wingtip to wingtip, bagcip to wingtip, over, under and around each other. When it's good it's really good.

Interestingly, chis was nor a high-altitude flight; I only reached a maximum of 900 feet MSL, some others maybe a hundred or two higher. But in the midst of chis wondrous world height mattered not, we were there and there was magic. • M ARCH 2000

Soaring above the clouds, looking inland to the east.

Looking inla.nd to the south.

hy this is so, the Sky Gods only know (and they ain't sayin'), but they decided to show up and watch, for this was to be the first freesryle contest ever to be held here in the "motherland" of hang gliding aerobatics.

Once, long ago, while I was there, I heard Mitch McAleer loudly exclaim in a somewhat demonic voice, "This is a place of power!"Tha.t may explain why we were drawn here by che strange sec of circumstances chat befell us. We had originally planned to hold the contest again in Rosarito, Mexico. Then we had been offered the chance to do ic at che San Diego Bayfair during che World Series of Power Boat Racing in front of 150,000 people. Then, not a god, but the FM had intervened and we ended up doing only 15 exhibition flights at Bayfair. Before we left chat event we had decided to look for another location to hold the Masters contest before the end of the year.

Lake Elsinore local boy Dave Biddle then moved into che ranks of the "Aero Events Air Force Scaff." He was the one who executed che orders for our raid on chat little town at the foot of the Onega Mountains. Among our targets was the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino. le has just the right amount of old Las Vegas charm witl1 ics purple and blue neon-trimmed roof and crowds of cavorting seniors. There's a motocross track and a fine new stadium right down the road from the place. That's probably why the girl ac the reception desk asked us, ''Are you here for che racing?" when we checked in. I answered, "Yes, we'll be the ones who will be racing toward the planet. " Then we retired co our rooms co clean up and relax.

We had just finished pounding 100 stakes into the beach to build a 1,500-fooc crowd line at che cicy park. Everything was sec, except for the weather. The forecast was ominous; winds up to 60 miles per hour were predicted for che next 24 hours. I had been there on the beach sitting in my van hiding from the wind wi ch Chris Bolfing and the lovely M s. Tara Singer. I had spied Juan "Fuzz Head" Corral, just as he was entering one of che Porco Potties. le suddenly occurred to me chat the Porco Pocry he

W

48

Lake Elsinore, California seemed like a logical third choice for a location to hold the 1999 Masters of Freestyle Hang Gliding Contest. The p lace has a long history as a flying Mecca for pilots of all types. It also has the dubious distinction of being the home of the feared and revered "E-Team. "More .freestyle hang glider pilots have sprung .from this site than any other in the world. was in m ight be a liccle ro close to our airstrip. So, for che sake of everyone's safery (except Juan's) , I decided to move it over a bit. I slowly edged the bumper of the van up co the plastic door of the Potty and chen carefully eased down on the gas pedal. The Potty slid roughly along as we heard a desperate cry of "whoa, Whoa, WHOA!" coming from inside the liccle house.

The airstrip was clear now.

As soon as I backed the van away, che doo r of the Potty flew open and a very red-faced Juan jumped out. He sea.reed hollering something at us, but we could not hear what it was over the sound of che wind and our hysterical laughter.

Seven o'clock AM , Saturday, December 10, found all of che competitors and event

staff gathered for a meeting at the Lakes Cafe. The meeting started out great. We drank our coffee and went through the structure and guidelines of the event. le was clear that there was not going co be any flying chat day due to che high winds . Then the most dangerous thing that can happen in any cype of flying occurred; we let the pilots stare talking about flying. What had begun as a nice breakfast meeting soon degenerated into a full-on, caffeine-fueled BYOBS parry (Bring Your Own BS). Some of us escaped to the park and picked up Hungary Joe and family. As we left, we noticed a large sign tl1at had been placed in che driveway entrance to the park. le declared in large letters "NO LAUNCHING. " I know che sign is normally intended to ward off boaters from entering the park, buc on chis day it seemed chat it had been placed there just co cease us. We then formed a convoy and sec off to tour the

many thrift stores in the area. In the shops we searched for diversion, and possibly some bargain prize awards for the winners of the contest.

Some time later we ended up at an aircraft surplus hardware store in the nearby town of Murrieta. As I looked over the odd assemblage of stuff in the store my spirit began to flag.

Outside, the wind was, as they say, "blowing like stink," and I considered the possibility that the event might not happen at all. I saw a pile of slim plastic boxes, each bearing the label "Assorted Wing Nuts. " This cheered me up to think that the label could also be used to describe the current bunch of loiterers in the store. I wondered, Were these strange signs with double meanings actually coded messages from the Sky God of Mystery? Soon, our second-hand shopping expedition dispersed, and that evening I called upon any god that would listen to grant me one wish - a break in the weather. The God of Wind must have heard me and decided finally to smile upon us, for Sunday morning dawned clear, warm and calm. After another quick meeting at the Lakes Cafe we hurried to the park and prepared to fly. Our outstanding tug team of Joe Szalia, Cindy Benti and their cute-as-a-button daughter Kaitlan were way al1ead of us and had their Moyes-Bailey Dragonfly tow plane ready to go when we got there. le looked like the growing crowd of spectators and hopefully our sponsors would see something now.

Did I say we had sponsors? Well, kind of. le wasn't that we had not cried to get sponsors. On the contrary, after much work, Dave Biddle had attracted the attention of three area businesses. The idea was to emblazon the sponsor's name across the back of the gliders in exchange for some green backs. Unfortunately, we had caught

them lace in the year and their budgets were short. So, they paid for the lerrering only and promised to make good on some monetary sponsorship in the next contest.

We quickly set to the cask of sticking the big vinyl letters on some gliders.

Dave affixed the letters "LAKES CAFE" to his glider. I grabbed a roll of the adhesive letters and asked Eric Delf to stick the words "PRO MARINE" on his Xtralice.

He spun around, and with the help of an assistant slapped the lerrers down in no rime, right on the back of Bill Heaner's Predator! (Eric still swears that he did this by accident.)

Another wise guy, John Heiney, offered me the "CHUCKLE'S JAVA" lerrers, saying that it would be most appropriate for my Sky Blaster TRX and me.

Old Ron Young was first on the tow dolly and soon he was diving and flipping his Aeros Stealth glider and doing his best "Clint Eastwood with wings" sky ranger routine.

Then we all took turns raking trips to the top of that 2,500-foot-call diving board high above the green waters of Lake Elsinore.

Before we knew it, everyone had flown, and we proceeded right into round two. Once again, Ken Mannat was there, ready as our announcer and DJ par excellence. Dressed in his dashing trademark uniform of straw pith helmet and tuxedo tails, he did a great job describing the action and spinning the runes for the event. The power for all of Ken's audio gear was supplied by a compact and totally self-contained solar electric power system set up by E-Team charter member "Rad" Dan Pritcherr. Dan received the moniker "Rad" long ago when he worked at a nuclear power plane. Now he has his own company, Global Power Systems (909.245 .8040), which specializes in alternative power solutions.

This would be the third aerobatic hang gliding contest of the year. All of the pilots who never learned to straighten up and fly right were well practiced and it showed in their performances. Everyone was throwing consecmive loops and most could knock off a decent spin. However, the rolling maneuver is turning out to be the big one. It is scored as one point for each degree of change in bank angle from the entry heading of the maneuver to as much as 200 degrees! Joey Fresquez knows how to do this trick, and he

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MARCH 2000

49

t:he world who competed there are stars.

HG: We have always been supporters ofthe United Str1tes Wr1men'.r World Tettrn, donflt· ing some ofthe profit:,from our booh sales to the team. This is your opportunity to maf,e a pled to the USHGA membership fr;r contin· ued support ofthe 1eam.

PC: Please, as alw::iys the Women's National 'learn needs your suppon. A donation of as little as $20 would be great·· ly appreciated. However, if you would like to make a larger donatiou that would be okay roo. It will cost about $25,000 to participate in this upcoming competition, and none of us are particularly well ofL Donations to the Foundation arc tax deductible.

Write to: Women's World Hang Gliding Team United States Hang Gliding Foundation P.O. Box 1330 Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330 Checks can be made out to the United States I-Iang Gliding hiundation. Please specify that your donation is for the Women's 'foam.

HG: Wt, can't end thir interview without asleingyou to shr.ire with us one ofyour most memorable flights.

PC: I've had several, however, one flight just last year stands out. It was a day or two after the Nationals at Quest. We were a bit tired and in casual mode down at the

50

Wallaby Ranch in Florida. I launched late, around I :30 PM or so, and beamed up ro around six grand with a light north to northwest wind. No radio, no CPS, no map, no retrieve, no rnoney, no company. [ wasn't even planning on leaving the flight park.

The sneers set up lengthwise through rhe state and I jumped toward the cast as I proceeded south. About five hours later I came upon a rather large body of water.

The street just touched the northwest side of the lake and arced hack south and ro the west. I could have gone on, however, it was getting late and I knew [ was in for a bit of a sticky rctTicvc. I had no idea where I was. [ landed and broke down. (This is where the real adventure always begins.) I walked down rhc road to the local hotel and pub. I was on rhe bountiful fishing shores of Lake Okeechobee. J was also in sugar cane field central. After calling the Ranch and begging Mike Barber to drive rhrcc and a half hours to pick me up, J arrived at the bar to find all of the locals sitting in a row. I laving knocked out my front tooth the week before at rhc Wallaby Open, T fit in perfect· ly. Soon I had a Bud and a meal in front of me, and a dance with the local bachelor (his name was Bud as well) that they were all trying to marry off 'T'hrcc hours later, when Mike arrived, I had to bid goodbye ro all my new-found friends LO begin the long journey home, c)7 miles as the crow flies. If! had known, I wonld have gone the extra three ro break I 00.

HG: Wh11t areyour pl1ms.fi1r the.fi,1.ture?

PC: I always wan r to fly hang gliders. I feel lucky to have discovered a life passion. I have been a marina gas girl, swimming instructor, a geologist, SCUBA instructor, CPR/flrst-aid i11structor, secondary science teacher, high school/university diving coach, outdoor educator, and ambula11ce driver/medic. 'The trcud of variety in my lift: continues as I am starting ro pursue a career in aviation. I just can'r seem to keep my feet on the ground.

fiG: Seldom does one mrt!:.:e it alone, espeto the levels that you have achieved. !lre there ,my people you UJould lihe to pub· licly thank?

PC: Through the years I have bad a grand arnoum of help from some wonderful people. I would especially like to thank those whose generous financial contributions have allowed the World 'learns to navel to the international competitions and pro-· mote the sport of personal flight. I would like to thank P:iul and Mark Ferguson at Ball V1rios who have believed in and encouraged me since the beginning.

Thanks to Joe Nance who runs Cloudstreets Airspons, our local aerotow park for his sponsorship; C.W at Acros (yeah, I love my glider); Matt Taber at Lookout Mountain and GT harnesses; and Mike Dillon at Flight Connections. Tei Malcolm Jones at Wallaby Ranch, thanks for a wonderful place to train rhis wintu. Mike Barber has provided patience, support, advice and love. A big thanks to Brad Koji, whom [ flew with almost every weekend for many years and who endlessly inspired my competition participation. l miss him. II liANC CIIDINC

by USf!GAAccident Review Chairman Bill Bryden I think that I shall never sec, J\ poem ;1s lovely as a tree.

J\ tree whose hungry mouth is pressed,

Against the sky lor gliders to resr.

A tree that looks at God all day, /\nd lifrs her arms towards gliders ro prey.

A tree that may in summer wear, I lats of sail cloth in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain, Who intimately seeks the Dacron rain.

Poems arc made by fools like me, /\nd too many pilors land in a t rec. \X/irh apologies to Joyce Kilmer A master pilor was flying a topless glider along a ridge and was tucked in close to the trees, scratching for lifr. Whrn some lift was located he slowed the glider to about best LID speed hm then some turbulence quickly lilted a wing tip and turned the er 90 degrees and into the trees. The pilot was uninjured and glider damage was minimal.

An imermediate-levcl pilot was flying a competition-level glider and tucked in close to :1 ridge. J\ bit of turlrnlencc turned the glider in toward the trees. The pilot's airspeed was low and he was not able to correct the turn and mainrain clearance from the trees. He landed in rhc trees and was uninjured. The glider was 11ndamagccl from the tree landing but signifkanrly da1mged during exrraction.

Tree landings arc quite common. fortunately, frw result in serious injury, hut there have been some serious injuries and even friral incidents associated with these. Of course, the best course of action is prcvcnrion.

The ahility to scratch for lifr close to the trees 011 ;1 sm:111 ridge is definitely a skill requiring extensive flying experience ro hone.

One of rhc basic tenets of this skill is airspeed.

When flying close to any terrain, he it soaring along the face ofa hill or corning in to land, rurhulrnce musr always he expected. The surface formed by rhe rops of trees and over most terrain is not smooth and air movcmcnr over ir will produce turbulence. I11 addition, wind gradients should be expected. To prophandle turbulence and gradients, airspeed is paramount for several reasons.

MARCIi 2000

When turbulence rosses rhe glider toward rhe ridge, quick, aggressive action is required to s:ilvage the situation, and consc-" quenrly quick response from the glider is required. The terrain and vegetation of a hill will also slow the wind flowing directly over it. This means that wind blowing into a hill will produce lifr, increasing as you approach rhc hill. However, there will be a poim where gradient effects occur and the lifr will then acwally decrease. For a glider flying parallel to and in front of a hill, this will be on rhe hill-side wing. If rhe glider gets too close, this wing will drop and the glider will rum in toward rhe hill.

Most gliders arc slower to respond when flown at lower airspeeds. Hence, ro handle rhc effects ofrurbulence and wind gradient, extra airspeed is required to significantly improve the response of the glider for effccr.ing rapid corrections. Extra airspeed can also be convened ro a bit of altirndc, especially in highcr-"pcrformance gliders which rend to he rnorc sluggish ro turn.

So, when flying in close to the hill, cxrra airspeed is required. However, when !iii is encoumered, pilots generally reduce airspeed ro lower their sink rate ro achieve effective use of the lifr. This is the great paradox of scratching for lifr on a ridge; you must fly fost to make quick corrections and preserve your safety yet slow to gain altirnde to better clear the trees. Experience helps make the assessment for proper airspeed, but there arc a frw guidelines.

When some lifr is encountered, slow down gently. If the lifr was just a big bump or frorn a gust, you don't want to find your-" self slowed too much a second later when it disappears. The momenr you sense the lift diminishing, smoothly start increasing your airspeed. The more clearance you have over rhc trees rhe more you can vary your air"specd and slow in the lift. When re:11 close, you simply must preserve the quickest response from your glider you can, and th;n precludes flying very slow, even in lifr.

When you do find some lifr, turn bef11re the glider is our of it. Too many pilots wait until they arc out of the lifr before turning, which is inefficient. Gliders have higher sink rates in a turn, and to pcrforrn rhis while in sink compounds loss of altitude. In addition, some pilots fail to increase rheir airspeed when back out of the lift :incl then attempt a rum while still flying slowly. The glider becomes even more vulnerable to turbulence and potential stalls while close to the terrain a had situation. Clider-eating trees rather enjoy pilots who fly slowly and turn in sink while close to the hill.

Always maintain an escape route 10 a landing zone. Many tree landings occur

because rhc pilot simply scratched too long, got too low, and could nor reach a suitable landing area. If you land in rhe trees you will not be able to break down and go back up the hill for another try. You'll spend the rest of the day, or even weekend, extracting your glider, and then likely making repairs, and rhar's assuming you don't bust up your body in the process. You'll likely also cur short rhc flying for some of your buddies who'll help you get rhc glider our.

If'. in the event you do find you have screwed up, the sirnation is not salvageable and a tree landing is incvitahlc, at least make ir a good tree landing. The worst danger is hitting a tree· and then foiling to the ground, risking serious injury. J\ tree landing is probably even preferable to attempting a landing in a riny clearing where catching a wing tip dming approach is likely. There is a danger or being poked or hit by limbs and branches, bur over the years, it appears hitting or clipping a rrec and impacting the ground is the most signiftcam risk. If you must land in a tree, put your straight inro it. You can flare and into the crown of the tree or fly right into the side of it. The goal of either is to solidly plant the glider on or into rhe tree.

In some instances, such as too low and unable to reach an I you might even be about to select your tree. Avoid pine trees which rrnd to have weaker branches and may even deflect a glider. The pinesap and pitch is also a mess 10 clean off your glider. l.ower trees arc ccrrainly preferred w tall ones for the obvious reasons.

Once in the tree, quickly grab branches and secure you and/or your glider to the tree. It is handy to carry a length of" rope in your harness or use your parachme to accomplish this. You want to minimize the chance of the glider being dislodged by rhe wind or your movement and falling to the ground. Once secure, in most cases, iris besr to wait fell' assistance. Climbing down rhe trunk of rhc tree requires some skill and agility and additional equipment to pcrfrmn safely. Ccning om of your harness while hanging in rhe tree will also be difl1rnlr 10 accomplish, and why you should wait for assistance and the proper equipment to arrive. Of course, if assisrancc cannot be summoned or expected, you'll have to do rhc best you crn. Removing the glider is nor a one-person process and you should certainly seek assistance to accomplish this task.

As long as people continue ro fly hang gliders, tree landings arc probably going to occur. l lowevcr, astute airspeed control, glider control and a dose of conservative soaring technique can keep you out of those lovely trees. Ill

51

s HANG GLIDING ADVfSORY Used hang gliders should always be disassembled bcf,,rc flying for I he lirsr time and inspected carefully for farigucd, bent or dented downtubcs, ruined bushings, bent bolts (espe·· cially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rnstcd cables, tangs with non--circular holes, and on /lex wings, sails badly rorn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on rbc keel and leading If in doubt, 111:1ny hang gliding businesses will be happy to give :rn objective opinion on the condition of equipment you them to inspect. Buyers should select equipment that is appropriate for their skill level or raring. New pilots should seek prolcssiord instruction from a USHCA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR. FLEX WINGS

FALCONS - 140, 170, 195, 225 new and used.

WALLABY RANCil (863) 12/i-0070.

FUSION -- Demo daily. WALLABY RANCH (863) li2/i-0070.

FA I.CUN l 9'i ~-

GLIDERS 35+ for sale, rigid ro C::rll/crnail for current list. Wallaby Ranch 0070 Florida, gliders(i11wallaby.corn

FALCON 225 ~- Creal cmrdition, 25 hours, folding b:rserube, WW wheel kits, spare downruhcs $2,200.

Sport 180 $500. Day (7.31) 'J/il-7560, eves (2:ll) 9/il 1276, FIYMALJE(ihaol.com School use, one FALCONS C:LE/\RANCF SALE se:rson. All sizes$ l,2'i0-$2,500. (262) lil:l-8800, bradv10I,anggliding.c,,n, FLY 2 $2, I 00

AIRBORNE SHARK, BLADE RACE, STING, BUZZ. New and nearly new. Demo daily. TllF WALL/\BY RANCH (86'.,) 12/i-0070.

DOUBLE VISIONS & FLY2 New and used.

WALL/\BY RANCH (863) 12/i--0070.

ENTERPRISE WINC /\ERO I (,5 --~ (Identical to a Moyes XT) w/specdbar and rnbcs, good shape $700. (} 10) ii 5 1-9.185, Brewrn:rcvhaol.conr EVERYTl!lNC; M\JST CO! -- RamAir $1,(,00.

Avian Amour $1,500. l IF harness, chute, CB vario, learn helmet, mitts. Call (916) 727--4265,

EXXTACY NEW & USED IN STOCK, DEMO DAILY. WALLABY RANCH (86:,) li24-0070.

J<l.J\SSIC i:n ··- I Icy dudes! If you cttt relate to high check o\11 this fabamundo times with low blue and orange, dO hour wing for only $1,700. ((,2(,) 285-5810.

TandL:m gliders, three Lo choose from,

and

np.

(262)

li7.'3-8800,

KI.ASSIC: 14/i Fxccllcnt condition, 50 hours, white/magem:r/ycllow/hluc $2,200. (505) 828-0252.

FREE PVC GLIDER STORAGE/TRANSPORT TUBE~- With the purchase of any new glider. (517) Ln-8683, Clond'lSAvi\ml.com. Larges, sclccri011 of new and used in Michigan.

Yellow/white, absolute mint condiI< I.ASSIC 11/i rion, 5 hours use :rnd I hen stored indoors for 2 years $2,800. Kl:rssic 155, 80 hours, clean $1,500 OBO. (262) liTl-8800,

FUSION 150 Very good condition, undersurfacc, 120 hours $2,500. (970) 611-565/i.

LAMlNAR ST 11 Green/white, good condition $2,000. jirnzgrccntrfl;rnl.corn, (')'/0) 20')-5')00.

HJSION 150 - Low time, w!tips $2,500. l!l'/\T Vi8 $850 OllO. (72ft) 898-3219.

LAMINAR --- ST99, ST98 :rnd New and like new, available now. AV8 (760) '721070 I, indaskytri)yahoo.corn

AIRWAVE Kli Creat shape, l 80-230lbs, ,,6() hours, stored $600. (3(U) 530-192'i 13G, jcsot c)(?~)starsys.corn

lll'AT 145 (;ood condition, new leading edge cloth and recent superprcllight, $ l ,li00.(262) lil:l8800, braM1l[,anggliding.c0111

jllJSION 150 Bc:uttifol condition, (iO hours, firlly upgraded, unique colors, Wills wheels, spare downtuhcs, never d:rmagcd OBO. Ric (610) 514-88'72, ricandlrnrcnGi1compuscrvc.com FUSION 150 ---- Fxcellcnt condition, white 1.E, black/l,luc .fl,000 OBO. WW;J h:rrness, 5'8"-6'0" $200.Jim (62}) 581-0lli'i, jamcsw~ilg:ttcway.nct

USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum Boldface or caps: $1.00 per word. (Does not include first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs: 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 of 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:

LAMINAR ST, H, 13 in stock. W/\LT.ABY RANCH (863) li2/i-0070.

I.AMOUFTTF TOPI.FSS 1.3. 5 50 hours, perfect condition, undersurfocc llouro yellow &. blue, HOT DEAL $4,200 will ship. Woody Valley Nailer w/drogue, <1 season flying $7'i0.00 without reserve, call or crn:ril for dct:rils. (:JO?) 7:34-8730 I

Number of months: SECTION

IJ Flex Wings

IJ Towing

rJ Emergency Parachutes IJ f)arts & Accessories IJ Business & Employment

IJ Schools & Dealers IJ Ultralights IJ Rigid Wings rJ Publications & Organizations IJ Wanted iJ Harnesses

u Miscellaneous IJ Paragliders rJ Videos Begin with

issue and run for

consecutive issue(s). My rJ check, IJ money order is enclosed in the amount of$ NAME:

Number of Number of

52

~V'-~•~·--··-······-····-

@$,50

~v·--·------··--·-···--@$1.00

USHGA, P.O Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719) 632-8300 , fax (719) 632-6417

HANC GUD!NC

s llf(;If FNFRC:Y l'OI) IIJ\RNESSES Si,es & styles change rnonthly, $.lOO-!iOO. CC: I OOO's $250.

Cocoons $200 each. LMl'P pod, 5'')" $/iOO. Kncchangns & stirrups also available. (2.62) li/:l 8800, brad~11hanggliding.com

MILl,FNNllJM Co()(! condition, lots or extras and options $6,'j()() OBO. BRS reserve $800. ((,'iO) 625-063.'l, rarnyyancuf1\10l.corn MOYFS CSX-~· SX, XTL, XS3, XT, etc. New and nearly new. J\vailahlc imnwdiately. Nation's largest Moy,:s dealer. WALLABY RANCI I (863) /i2/i-0070.

McNJ,:TT TRJ\ININC IIARNFSSES strong, simple, durable. Thousands of studcnts trained in this harness over the past 10 years. (?.07) 729-986?.

MOYES CSX6 Crecnlwhitc, 15 hours, like new $2,'JOO. (970) 20')-5900.

MOYES SX 127 l'abuln11s glider, great condition, :; 1,750.

(8 58) 79).l/i l 2, hours I 00 sperry.'l 18G1\1ol.co111 100 MOYFS XTRALITF l:r7 Cood condition, new ball hearing pulleys $900. Call Russ ('Jii'J) 6(, 1-8'!82.

Crispy .sail with custom MOYES XTRALl'J'F U/ colors $2,/iOO. Moyes Xtreme harness and J'])A parn chmc, 5'8" pilot $600. GLIDER AND HARNESS ONLY 20 IIOURS 01.D! Creat condition. Also ll.111 deck, extra have

i11 stock. Lookom Mou main,

MOSQUITO POWER IIARNESSES f'wo, used for demos, one has <, !toms, one has 8 hours, and $:l,875. Call Cerr-y ,11 (808) 822.5:lO'J, hirdip(r1\1lolt;1.net, Visa/MC accepted.

\VWw.hanglilk.com

UI TRASl'DRT IIi'/, I6<, Rental gliders at /light low hours, clean, priced to sell. (2.62) liTJ-8800,

VISIONS ,"x PULSES Bought Sold- J'raded.

Rawn Sky Sports (262) !i;:l-8800, \)racl (11)J1a11 gglid i11 g.(-()lll Tl RED 01' TOWTNC) Tired of driving to flying

MOYES XTRAI.ITF 137 Mylar sail, whitc/ornngc, good shape $1,500. (:307) Wi6-I /:10,

MOYFS XTRAl.ITF I .'l7 Well kept, blue/green/white $1,500 OBO. (262) ii?l-8800, bradG1Jhangglitli11g.co1n MC JYFS XT PRO l G5

WW !'ALCON I!JO Best offer.

Pink /p11rplc, only 6 hours.

(505) 2'11 1702,

carl:i n1 ind cr(1)honnai I.com ( ;rccn Team glider, good conWW RAMJ\IR 158 dition $800. (')70) 20'!-5')00.

WWXC Ii).

Lxccllcnt condition, beautifitl colors, <50 hours. Mnst sell $2,/iOO. (805) 77:l-'i2'J2.

sites? C:rcJtc your own, power up the sensible way

with SWEDISH J\EROSl'ORTS MOSQUITO HARNESS. powcrltd, a/fordable and most Ctll BILL or T.C:. I JANG c;umms, your U.S. SUPPI.IER at 616-922 2.8/ili.

I'S: SEmNC IS BEUEV!NG, new video made by East Coast Video, now available $1} includes ship ping. '] 'changglidcr(r1ljuno.corn PAR/\Gl .l DERS

Novice/inter1nediate dou

hie surface, two av,1ilable .i 1,(,00., $7,,.JOO. (262) /iTl-

8800, bradGilhanggliding.corn PACll'IC AIRWJ\ VF 1<5 Brand new, <l5 hours, white I.I'., blue/magenta undet condition, crisp saiJ 11 $1,000 TAKES IT! (8:3 I) 688-l<URT, kurrairf1\wl.rnm

WWXC lli2

EXCEi.LENT! l'actory serviced, nc\\/ vvircs, virgin nose cone, sp;irc dt 's and XC hag $1,800. ('5/il) G(,1-5'Jl5, rhhoytG"go.com

\VWXC l'i5 Fxccllcnt condition, w/winglets, magcn1;1 & blue $7,500. Also ]IP 2 .~100.

Sa11rn1ownSl,yGilaol.corn, (.'336) 723-li292 !'ST.

II<i\ROS Sl'ORT i\ Vli\TION ~ WWW.FLYl'ORFUN.NE'l' OVER 'SO

New, used, really cheap. (:,(U) :lii7-

899S leave rncssagc.

RIGID WINGS PULSES & VISIONS Bought-Sold Traded.

Raven Sky Sports (262) liTl-8800, l1radG11!1anggliding.con1 Ri\MAIR 15/i --- C:reat shape, \Y,/W/,-5 harness, new WW parach1J1es wlswivel, learn helmet, Ball l')E $1,600. (828) 758 'Jll 1.

wwxc l'i'j

Com! condition $1,800. (617) /i')].

7}(,7, admi11v1lfu1ma.ks.111i1.edu WWXC IS5 needs new lcadi11g w/$500 repair. ('iliO) 775 .1 l 'J7 Virginia.

W\XIXC l {))

Si'FC:TRUM C:I.Fi\RANCF S1\LF

Three 1(,5

Spcctrums in 11car new co11ditio1i, w/;il] options $2,!i00-$3,200. Raven Sky Sports (2.(,?.) liTl-8800,

-- Lov,, hours, clean, nice condition

lllue/ycllmv/white, cxcelknt

condition, spare downtuhcs, custom

UL'l'RAUCHl'S EMERCENCY PARACHUTES R()CJ<F 1· RFSl'IZVES .-.. With large polyconical canopy .i550. Uo:l) .lli78')95.

crate

$1,500 OBO. WW'/J brness w/P!)A l'lytec :HlJO vario-makc offer. (7():l) 689-9501, Eril,.' J'homasG'tlworld 11c1 .at 1. nct

w/swivcl $T75. 20 gore $1 ')'), Many more avaiL1blc. Ravrn Sky Sports (2(,2) li7}· 8800, hradG1llta11gglidi11g.com

Supcrncat rnst1))11 s:til, vc,y SUPEIZSl'ORT l 'i.l low hours, WW fiu included $2, l 00. (262) /i7l.

8800, braM1>!tanggliding.co111

I !ARNESSES

TRl I 5'i White/black, <5 homs $2,000. UO;) 85G-l TlO, cstarksG'11 wyoming.corn

MARCI I 2000

MII.I.ENNllJM C:ood condition, lots or extras and options $6,500 OHO. BRS reserve $800. ((,50) (,25--065:l, rarnyyanetzG1l;1ol.rnm

$2,ltOO. (262) liTl 8800, brac!G't1hanggliding.corn

bratJ((i)l1a r1gglicl i 11 g.cl>lll

SUPERSPORT 15:l

EXXT;\CY J(,() l'J'J8, one red/white, one green/white, both have 20 hours, like new $(,,000.

(970) 2.09-5'.IOO.

20 CORF l'DA

Cl JUTES ('J70) 6/i I HARNESS EXCllANGE '.l.'l 15, http://gunnisonglirkrs.com/

AIRBORNE EDGE TRIKE Tug, trainer, fresh engine, elcnric start, quiet kit, :l hlade lvo, hill instrurnent package\ intercom system l1cadscts and hcln1cls,

parachute also. EXCEi.LENT COND1TION $1.'l,900. I will crate & shil'· (808) 8},2)l09.

IJ<AROS SPORT i\VIATION WWW.Fl.YFORFUN.NET Uvll'I' l'RF.l·llOM MACI fl NF TRIKI: Sky Cycle, 20 hours total time $3,500 OBO. Works w/Wills Wing 225 hlcon (30 hours) also for ,11 $1,800. Buy both for $5,000 and save $.l,000 off new. Call ( :Jrnck ,u (9 I G) '!2.1-9820 Sacramento.

s SUI' TRlKE --- No mountains or row park? No problem, sclf.lauuch and soar! weight, most compact, most Call or email for free brochure; refundable IO for video. Liberated Flight (91i I) 722-21 Tl LllWLIGTJHi\101.com Wi\NTED Mi\NTJ\ FI.EDCF II I HiO - - Clider or sail in g()(,d shape for trike. (82B) 2(,2 '.171 (,.

MJ\CIC Ill 155---And Dre,nn 165 or 18'5-wrecked, worn 0111. Fax (50'5) 821i-li8(,iL

CJ\LIFORN!i\

DRF/\M WFi\ VFR J li\NC CUDlNC ~- Train on \X/ills Wing Falcons. Four hour lessons $ I 00. Trn lesson package $/50., includes tandem off 2,000 fi. Five lessons $1JOO. Or buy ynm new equipment here and all fim1rc lessons for $75 each. C,11, scheduling five days a week, hiday through T11esdays.

Ideal tr;iining hill. Amt s most INEXPENSIVE prices. Your northern California MOSQUITO l-Ii\RNESS dealer. Call for Mosquito demonstration or clinic. Dealer for Wills Altair, High Energy Sports, Ball v:Hios, and more. Tandem instruction. USl!Ci\ Advanced lnstrnctor Doug l'rnthcr (2.09) 556-0469 Modesto, Ci\.

FLY /\WAY 11/\NC Cl.lDlNC/1'/\RACLIDINC S,rnta Barbara. T:tmmy llurcar (805) (,')2.9908.

GL

DERPOr~T

2800 Torrey Pines Drive San Die~JO CA 92037 Since 1928 Ili\NC C:LIDINC /\ND l'J\RJ\CLIDfNG US! JC/\ certi!,ed instruction, tandem instruction, sales, service, repairs, par;1clrntc and site lours. San Diego's world class \Oaring center. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Call (858) 152-9858 or check m ottt ar lmp://www.flytorrey.com

TIH: 11/\NC: CLIDINC CENTER

6312 Malcolm Drive, San Diego CJ\ 92115, (619) 265-

5320.

MK/i needed. 1-800-688. 5G37.

SCHOOLS & DEALERS

HICl l i\DVENTlJRE Hang gliding, 1,aragliding school. Equipment .sales, service, rent;ils at Sourhcrn California's mile high sire, Crestline. US! [(;J\ l nst ructor Rob M cI<enzie. By year round. (909) 8iU-8188, W;\'W.ttyta1H.tet111.oorn I.A's BEST SlNCI·'. I 'J71i

M/\CIC J\lR Loc11ed in Northern California.

Lessons, sales, service. ('107) ')6.l-·:lli'55.

?.O minutes from LAX.

h,ll service walk-in center. Training for all skill levels, rentals, guide service, sales, lodging at world famous Kagel Mountain l'liglit Park. :125 sunny days a year.

1611i'i Victory Blvd., Van Nuys Ci\ 'llli06, (818) 988 .. ()] I I, fax (il I 8) 988-1862, www.windsports.com COLORJ\DO

Ni\TIONAL SCHOOi. NFTWORI< -- RlNCS I.OCJ\LLY. l'or information call David (706) <,57.

8185, david(rldavidglover.rnm J\LABJ\MJ\

LARGEST Jl/\NC CLlllfNC Sl!OI' In the Westl Our deluxe retail shop showcases the latest cqtupmc,nr and has two vin,wl reality hang gliding si nrnLnors. We stock new and ttscd ... Wills Altair and Moyes gliders, and all the ho/lest new Trade-ins arc welcome. ()ur comprehensive training progr,1111, located al the San J•'rancisco Bay Area's ltnest beginner siic fCaturcs: gently sloped hills," Wills Wing l'alcons of all sizes and

LOOKOUT MOUNT/\JN FLICHT PARK --- Sec ad under Ccorgia.

ROCKET CITY i\lRSPORTS The fon. safe· place you learn quickly and safely prof(:s.sion~1l i11s1r11ctors. Creat place l,,r ltrst cross country !lights. Three Siles and a Moyes-Bailey acrorng for those I ,earn to acrotow and earn your AT this ad, bring a friend and receive 011e I/) price. Call (2.56) 880-85 I 2 or (2.56) 77(,-9995.

()ur advertising has a two-month lead time plan 54

i\lRTlMF ABOVE I IJ\NC Cl.]])INC ~ Full rime lessons, sales, service. Colorado's most experienced!

Ball, Wills Wing, Moyes, Altair, } ligh Flight Connections ;ind m11ch more.

(303) 2/\':, 1, Evergreen, Colorado i\irtirnd ICti1l;1ol.com CONNECTICUT

MOUNTJ\IC'l WJNC.\

Look under New York.

traiuing harnesses!

"FIRST l'l.l(;JJT"! 5 minute video tottr of om beginner lesson prop,ram shows a smdem's skill progression $20 (shipping incll!(lcd).

1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas Ci\ 95035 (near Srm Jost). (li08) 262-1055, fax (li08) 2(,2 1388. missionlf1!]1ang-gl idi ng.con1 www. ha11g ·glidi11g.con1

your membership renewal or n1erchandise (719) 17.We gladly ......,,.,,,d_, VISA MasterCard.

FLORID/\

US!!Ci\ CER'lll'lEl) TANDEM JNSTRlJCT!ON

By Crcgg McNamce. Acrorow training & ratings.

Dealer for all major flight and acrotow equipment, 1.5 homs from I )isncyworlcl. Call (352) 1S'J .. 'J'J69. flyQrlgnybirdairsporrs.corn, www.graybinbirsporrs.com

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Continued from page 49. showed us by performing an amazing maneuver chat incorporated a long, highenergy climb with at least 190 degrees of rolling morion. Circling the aero box was Bubba Elze flying Joey's trike with Tim Gunter on board to film rhe comest from the air. Surely they had the best sears in the house.

At the last comest in Aspen I had starred teasing both John Heiney and Bill Heaner, accusing John of cloning himself in Bill. They do have sort of a similar look and they do both fly those Predator gliders pretty darn good.

Bur as I found out, Bill is no imirarion of anyone. He is a talented individual who seems to be able to do anything and do it very well. The fact chat he has only been flying rwo and a half years, and is competing in aerobatics, is evidence of chat. (I'm still not sure about that ocher Dr. Heinstein creation, Morgan Hall.) But really, everyone who knows John would say chat he is an original, a special personality char could never be duplicated. I thank him for his friendship, his help in creating chis competition and his counsel in all that Aero Events does. He even gave che Masters comest its name. Here

at Elsinore, John was in fine form and he showed us with some very smooch and precise flying.

Our hard-working ground-support staff was comprised of Dave Froschauer, Dean Whisler, Cindy Benri and Edric Pollitt.

They handled the tow dolly chores and made sure the pilots were ready to go on rime. Their contribution was more than we could have wished for.

Together, they made it possible for us to complete the more than 30 tows we flew during the entire event.

A comest within a comest soon became apparent as Eric Delf and Dave Biddle took to rhe skies. Eric the "Clock Boy" was flying better than ever. He snapped off texrbookperfecr spins and then pitched clean, round loops. Dave the "Brew Master" was right there to match him loop for loop. Dave had dual smokes mounted off the ends his of his basetube which added a bit of flash to his routines. It was really neato watching the smoke trails leave exquisite spirals as he locked his Sensor into a spin. Observing these rwo compete in from of all of their oddball, suds-swilling flying buddies, made me wane to change the name of chis contest to "The Brew Masters of Freakstyle."

At the pilots' meeting we had decided ro

THE BASICS OF JUDGING A

FREESTYLE HANG GLIDING C ONTEST

by RC Dave Freund, Masters Contest Principal judge Only highly qualified hang glider pilots who are very experienced at performing freestyle maneuvers are permitted to compete in a freestyle contest, which is judged by a panel of five well-trained pilot judges. Their task is to identify the maneuvers each pilot performs (What was char?), decide how well they performed it (Was it a good one?), and determine if the whole routine was smooch and linked together artistically.

Each maneuver has a starring direction of flight, and the pilot climbs ro the top of an arc where rhe judges must determine the angle char rhe glider attains to within 10 degrees. This gives a difficulty score for each maneuver flown. A perfect loop is fairly easy to spot, as the glider stays in a straight line all the way through a "back flip. " The beautiful "rolling" maneuvers are more difficult to judge, as the glider twists and changes direction at the same time. Again, the angle at the rop is noted and so is the change in direction from wings level at the start to level but upside down at the rop. This rakes practice to judge well. Finally, the judges must count the number of 360° rotations when rhe pilot spins rhe glider. The difficult part here is to determine when the glider actually begins to spin. Usually a glider takes half a nun before it drops into a spin, bur not always! To score a spin the glider must complete at least 180° of rotation.

The lists of numbers are averaged and added up, and then the high and low judges' scores are dropped to give a final score for each pilot competing. For a comest ro be valid, each pilot must fly at least four rounds. •

56

leave the bottom of the aerobatic box to each pilot's discretion, but the judges would only score maneuvers to about 200 feet above the deck. Make chat the deck of our water rescue boat. Eric rhe "Life Guard" Smith and some of his crew were floating j usr off shore in case of an emergency splashdown. The fun meter soon went past red line and caution was dropped like unneeded ballast as all of the competitors starred to perform low maneuvers and flew exotic, high-speed landing approaches. The entire clan of riffraff which makes up the E-Team was assembled to cheer us on, and was ready to scream "Whack! " if anyone dropped the nose of a glider during landing. To chem, the term "safety meeting" has a totally different meaning. And as it turned out, our bad judgment and the crowd's cheap beer did not mix well. It created a crazy, hazy climate that attracted the attention of the Sky Demon of Disaster and he was sure to zap our collective luck.

Although an excellent pilot, Joey must have had a subconscious desire to test the hefty-duty full-face helmet he had won in a past Masters comest. He surprised everyone by inexplicably blowing a rather fancy landing approach and was knocked cold upon contact with the beach. The sound of the glider's impact startled everyone. Even d1e usually ruthless E-Team fell silent. Our crack emergency crew of Eric Smith, Matt Caulfield, John Knight, Gene Medely and Scott "Blotto" Tomsic were at rhe ready and responded immediately. They delivered very professional attention, checking him for injuries and swatting away the Tweety Birds and stars chat were circling Joey's head.

Dumbfounded with shock, I sat down right where I was, closed my eyes and wished as hard as I could for him to be okay. I felt it was I and nor the Sky Gods who was somehow responsible for this incident. Being one of the organizers of chis event, I should have seen this coming. But no, instead I had gotten caught up in all of the excitement and had nor been paying attention to my first and foremost job, everyone's safety. As soon as the ambulance was out of sight, all of the pilots and staff came together for a little meeting to reevaluate our conduct in the air.

It was decided that we would continue rhe comest, bur cool it with the grandstanding.

We started once more and everyone rallied. First, gliders were set upon the row dolly, then the tug wo uld throttle up and both would roll down the beach. Next, the gliders would rise away from d1e dolly and slip smoothly inro the air. Then the pilots would H ANG GLIDI NG

steer their gliders into the invisible slot oflifi: that the tow plane trailed behind as it carved into the Mitch McAlcer had arrived too late to enter the contest bur he jumped onto a borrowed Moyes Xtralite and did a demonstration flight just to show us all that he could still wring the maximum oF maneuvers out of any glider. The glider belonged to Scliastian "Sea Bass" I .urges. This was his first freestyle contest, and although his flying had been good so for, I'm sure that watching "Mad Mitch" lly his glider inspired him to continue practicing.

Trying to compkte four contest rounds with eight pilots in one day was turning out to be a !or of work li.ir everyone, but we all pulled together and managed to finish it with time to spare.

Our keen associate judging srn/T of.Juan Corral, Jamie l .asscr, Chris Bolfing and Eric Smith, led by f1rincipal Judge Scott Stuart, had the whole thing down on their score sheets. '1 'his was Scott's first time acting as Principal Judge, and he did a great job of organizing the judging staff and scoring the comest. The Masters contest judges arc carefully selected to be the most highly qualified; some of them have been expert acrobatic pilots themselves. \)(/irbout their participa· tion the contest would be nothing, like a cross-country conrcst without soarahlc condi1io11s.

Speaking of conditions, another esscnrial pan of the Masters conresr format is aero· towing. In mosr other freestyle contests, organizers and competitors arc challenged the unpredictable high--altirndc weather found in the mountains. (Okay, so we did have a little IOo much wind the first day.) \X'irh towing, we can bring the con test to locations with more stable flying conditions and ensure that all of the compcti tors arc arriving at the rop of the acrobatic box at the same altitude. Our terrific tug pilot, "HunJoc Szalia, has always been rherc to pull us up, wherever we have roamed. l lis piloting skill and dedication has now seen us through four contests and we salute him.

Past Masters contest winner Chris Bolfing had been sitting paticmly on rhe beach all day playing judge. He had been forced to watch all of the other aerial hot-doggcrs lly and he could stand it no more. Now he wanted to fly. lt was in him, and it had to cornc oud He commandeered Eric's glider and jumped a tow to alrimdc. Upon releasing the towline he commenced spinning the poor glider for all it was worth. When he MARCI I 200()

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2052 finally returned to normal flight he had corn· plctcd 20 spins!

As the sun started to set we began tidying up the beach and putting away the gliders. l kept thinking that I was forgetting one of my more important jobs when I saw the Clock Boy entering one of the Porto Potties.

No, that Porro Porty was nowhere close to being a hazard rn the airstrip and we were, of course, done with all the flying for the day.

Still, everyone knows that the Sky Cod of Mischief resides here at Elsinore, and he whispered to me to move the Porty anyway.

So, I edged the van up to the Potty and cased down on the gas pedal. Once ag,1in, I heard the strange, anxious chant of those who arc trying to stop the unstoppable, corning from inside the little house, "whoa, Whoa, WHOA!" We all regrouped hack at the old Lakes Cafe for the contest results and awards ccrc-mony. l pulled out the trophies that I had made in my brother's shop. They were nifty mewl sculptures that featured shiny little golden gliders that would do several loops when they were given a spin. Long time hang gliding contest organizer Bruce Carr added some custom-engraved plates and we were ready to pass them out Cosh, we had some fabulous prizes: $250 American do!-

Altair Predator

lars, a G1se of1111c assorted salsas from Chuck Embury, some swell gifts from Paul Philip's I .akc Elsinore Sports, some bars from J\ltair, a group pass for a pontoon party boat ride from Pro Marine (wooo boy!), and some passes to a "I .akc Elsinore Storm" baseball game.

'EFa was our trophy lt My was her job to hand out the trophies and give each recipient a nice hug and a little kiss. Second-place guy Dclfand third--placc finisher Biddle were silting together sharing a pitcher of beer. I could sec that Frie was beginning to transfcmn inro rhc fiendish and lecherous "Mr. I nappropriatc." J\s ·Eira approached them with their trophies and prizes in hand, I rolled my eyes and muttered "no tongues." John Heiney took our first-place trophy and proved also ro he a "Master of Ccncrosity" donating his huge $2 50 pmsc to offset some of the cost or putting on the contest.

Then we all received a very pleasant surprise as Joey walked into the room under his own power. He had a few of bumps and bruises, but he was okay and still smiling.

Now we had another reason ro th:mk the Sky Cods for making all of our wishes for rhc day come uuc. B

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$498.00 DOT approved, w/opcning face pro-tcctor, visor & hclrnc1 hag. ( :ornrn1Jnicadons built "in w/llcx-boom mic & dual earphones ,rnd adaptors availahle. 1·800--SKY J>ll.OT (1-800-75')-7156),

The world -class XCR-180 operates up to 3 hours (irl] 8,000 ft. and only lilb. kit wirh cannula and rcmore

TEI< RICI IT PRODUCTS

HAN<: Gl.TDER CAMERA l'ACKN;E Wired remote, includes mount, wide angle w/in{initc st;ill(l · hy, auto flash , .'l5rnm auto rewind. Super light only 5.:l oz everything you need $189.

Complete. Vis:1 welcome. (702) 26() .. /')50. http://www. vin1iall1osts.11ct/skysai I/camera. hnn

1nounts

IIANG GLIDING GIFTS Hang par:1gliding including Christmas ornaments, beer mugs, mobiles, and M UC! I MORE. Call for a caralog! Soaring Dreams/Lisa T,m:, 11716 Fairview Avenue, Boise ID 8.37 U. (208) :3"76791 Ii, /oolisav1\1ol.corn HANG GLHHNC; ACCESSORIES BAR MITTS: EXPLORER No imp pocket $/i5.00 NAVJ(;ATOR Removable map pocket $55.00 C:OMl'FTITOR C:irrnlar imp mfr $65.00 CLIDl•R BACS-111':AVY DlJTY 600 denier polyesrer. Water & lJV protection. #IO zipper Reinforcl'd ends. Tapered design.

Continuous loop handles. Red or bl11c. $ I 00.00

IIICH PERSPECTIVL WITFFI.S ··~ Real !if,· savers!

12", light, rough. Fits all gliders. Send $It l.95 , $Ii.SO shipping per pair to Sport Aviation, ]'() Box l O I, Mingovillc PA 1685/i. Ask ab011l our dealer prices.

LAMINAR PARTS \Ve have wh,n Y"" need a!!d we ,ire commincd to same day shipping. AV8 Call (760) 721--070 I or email at indaskyGrlyahoo.com

CROSS COUNTRY 210 denier nylon, strong yet lightweight. 115 zi1,pcr.

Red or him·. $90.00

Camera mount $/i8.50. Camera remote (ask about rebme) $/iS. Vario mount $15. (i" wheds $7.9.'/5, 8" wheels $:lli.

S&ll included. TFK FLIGllT Producrs, Colebrook Stage, Winsted CT 06098. Or call (860) 379-1668. Frnail: tck(ihsner. net or our page:

Hang Unique, rnstom designs for any si,.e rncet or budget! Call Lisa Tate/Soaring Dreams lo discuss your needs. (208) .'37(,.'/') I Ii, ZoolisaQ1laol.com

RADIO POUCI IFS Vinyl window. S,1":ty srrap. Adjusts to ftt most radios.

Velcro's onto shoulder strap. Red or blue. $15.00 HARNESS llAC Roon1y-St rong--( :omfonahlc.

Adjllstable waist belt & shoulder str:tJlS. Red or bl!!c.$45.00 Batten Bags $12.00 Sail Tics (2."wide) $1.00 1()" Wing Tip Bags $5 ca. nr MASTADON DESIGNS Box 6(,55 S. Lake T,1hoc CJ\ %157 (530) Sli2-:l85:\ www.mastadon.net

Classified advertising: new life for your equip1nent and cash in your pocket. What a deal!

60

MINI VARIO World's srnallcsl, simplest vario!

Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on harterics, 0-18,000 fi., f,1s1 response and 2 yc,1r warrauty. ( ;re,11 for paragliding too. ON l.Y $169. Mallet tee, PO Box 15756, Santa Alla Ci\, 97'735. (71/i) %6--12/iO, MC/Visa accepted, www.111allc11<T.com

Sell your equ1prnent

DON'T CFT CAUCl lT LANDING DOWNWIND'--· 1.5 oz. ripstop nylon, lJV treated, 5'/i" long w/ I J" thro:1t. /\vailable colors fluorescent pink/yellow or fluorescent pink/white. $3').95 (+M.75 S/1 I). Srnd to USHCA Windsok, P.O. Box u:rn, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-13.10, (ll'J) 632-8300, fox (719) 6.l2-(,!i 17, ushgaQ1lushga.org VISA/MC accepted. Check rhe merchandise section of our web site www.ushga.org hn a color picture of 1his awesome windsok.

Hi\NC CUDINC

s I-IAWAilAN FLYIN by Space 9, soaring in paradise, amazing launches $3.'l.OO Cdl lJSIICA (71'J) 6328300, fox (71'J) GJ2 .. 6/il7,

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMFNT DRAGONFLY TOW CLUB - The success is in the smiles' Dragonfly kits available NOW for $10,800' Fully built for $12.,800 plus you get Bobby Bailey to train you at yom site. Call for details. Ken Brown dba Moyes America (Ii 15) 75.3-95:lli FlyaMoyes(ll:1ol.co111

email: ushga(ii\1shga.org, or order off our web page

www.ushga.org. Please add +$Ii domestic s/h (+$5 for two or more videos). Crear to impress your friends or for those socked-in days. l'erlcct gift for the launch potato nirned co11cli potato. Also, ask us about our

paragliding vidcos 1 FOR SALE---- Arizona hrng gliding business.

Reduced to hair pricc-2.51(! All wind directions man .. made hill with ten acres. F.xccllent location close to Phoenix/Tucson and near mount:1in sites. Ciant shop & stock. (480) T77 8607.

WANTED Hang Cliding/Paragliding instructors.

Immediate full time openings availa\,lc. Live the Californi:1 dream ,.instruc1 s1udcn1s at the San Francisco Bay area's premier training site. Service shop cmployme11t is also :ivailablc. Ask for Pat Dcnevan (li08) 262 .. 1055. MSC! !Cvrlaol.com www.hang·-gliding.con1

I JARRY AND Tl IE I IANC C:LIDFR is a bealltilllily illllstratcd children's hook. With ltO color pages writ ..

1e11 f,,r pilots to share the drearn oC llight 1 To order: srnd $2li.9'i pills $3 shipping to Sky! ligh l'llblishing, 201 N Tyndall, Tucson A/. 8'571') or call (520) (,28 8165 Visa/MC accepted.

PlllllJCATIONS & ORGANJZATIONS magazine of The Soaring

CALL USI [CA 1:or a magazine back issue order form. l'rorn the early Cround Skimmer to the prcscnr llang Cliding. (71 ')) 6.'J2 .. 8,}00.

Society of Amcric1, Inc. Covers all aspects of' soaring

Full rncrnlwrship $55. !111'0. kit wirh s:unplc copy $.l. SSA, P.O. Box ~JOO, lfobhs, NM 882Al. (505) .l92 l I TOWINC AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES l lcadquarters l,,r: The finest releases, secondary releases, Spectra "V" bridles, weak links, L,rndem wheels, launch cart kits, etc. THE WALLABY RANCH (86:l) 42/i .. 0070.

CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION

SPEED GLIDING: TEAR UP THE SKIES By Advrn111re Productions $2/i.95 Covers the speed gliding co111c.s1 in l<amloops, British C:oll!mbia aod then 01110 Telluride, Colorado.

Superior graphic animaricrn, great camera angles. 2/i rnilllllCS.

TELLURIDE SPEED GLIDING By Tat11111 Productions $19.95. Complete coverage of this event.

The sound of the gliders pas.sing through tire comrol gates is totally awesome. 33 minutes.

C:tll USIICA (719) 6l2-8:IOO. fox (719) 6326/ill, ordn from our wch site !'lease add +$Ii slh in the USA.

J lang gliding

cquipnwnt and acrotowing accessories. l,aunch carts $500, pani,,1 kits $'.l50. (5 ll) 22.'.) .. 8683

Clol!d9SA<-ilaol.com Sec h l tp:/ / mcrnbcrs.aul .com/cloll(l'Jsa

BAG IT! ~... lf you don't have your copy ol Dennis Pagcn's PERFORMANCE FLYINC: yet, availa\,lc rhrough USHGA I lcadqllarrcrs $2'!.95 (1$5.50 s&h for UPS/Priority Mail delivery). lJSHC/\, l'O Box Ll30, Colorado Springs CO 8090 I. J .. 8()() .. (, J(, .. 6888 www.11shga.()rg

cans

ar

J"\JK1\N TRll<I' TOW!NC: PACl<ACF: Rotax '5(U wirl, R&[) expansion chcimbcr, IJ .. bJadc Warp Drive, starrer wirlr pull J'CL1ined, "C:" gearbox, RK !iOO clutch, Tl!ndra tires, single sl!rL,ce wing. J•:xcellent trailer, large storage box, will deliver, banner system availahk $1/i,500. (850) 98/i-0070 Florida, b Iu max 008v1\1ol .co111 VJ])EOS & FILMS

your classified ad, membership renewal rnerchandise

(719)

17. We and

Ml\l{CI I 2000

*NEW* TURN INC POINT - IN ALPINE 'ITIER..

MAI.I.ING, by Dennis Trott/Alpine 1:Jying Centre.

50 1)1, I IC, 50% PC. Discover techniques to tame the elusive alpine thermal. lleamiltil footage set against Europe's mos1 dram;i1ic mounL1ins. Also features comments from wp pilots & great anim;1tioll. Jlj min

$Ti.'J5 Currently our houesl selling video! *NEW* AJ>:RONAUTS HANG GLIDING MAS ..

TERS, by l'hotographic Ex1icdi1ions. A documentc11y or ban?, gliding today. Superb Coo1ag,r, graphics & interviews. This is tlic video you show your fomily and friends! li.l min $29.')5.

PARTY AT CLO\JDBASF A hang gliding music video by Advrntme Productions $19.95.

JIANG GLIDING EXTREME&. BORN TO FLY

by Adventl!re Productions, great hg action $3/i.')5 each.

From the Telluride Festival in I ')81, to the modern day free.style competition. Follow the history of this dynamic gathering. $2./i.')5 Call US)ICA (719) 632. ..

8300, fax (; 1')) 6.l2--6/i 17, order from om web site !'lease add -1$/i dornest ic s/!1.

More than l 0,000 gliding enthusiasts our magazine every month. s than 20,000 eyes your ad.

61

ifi

s

MlSCEf.LANEOUS

Academy ofModel Aeronautics www.modebircrafr.org

800-435-9262

Balloon Federation ofAmericr.t www.bfa.net

515-961-8809

Helicopter Club of'Amerietz www.vtol.org

703-684-6777 "AEROBATICS" -·- hill color 2:l"x :l 1" poster fra-

International Aerobatic Club

tming John I lciney doing what he docs bcst-LOOPTNC! /\vailablc through USHCA I IQ for just $6.95 (+$ii.OO s/h). l'i]I that void ou yom wall! Send to USHC/\ Acrobatics Poster, PO Box 1}00, Colorado Springs CO 8093:l. (\JS/\ & Canada only. Sorry, posters ,11T NOT /\V/\11./\Bl,F on intcrnation,tl orders.) SPEC:1/\L-Acrobatics & Frie Raymond s/h). Check the poster-BOTT l H)R $IO

www.iac.org

merchandise section of our W<'h site www.ushga.org

www.ushga.org

for a color picmrc o/' t hcsc beat11i f'ul posters.

719-632-8300

800-843-3612

Soaring Society ofAmerica www.ssa.org

505-392-1177

U.S. Hang Gliding Association

U.S. Parachute Association www.uspa.org

703-836-3195 V]l)EOS BOOKS & POSTERS - Call UST I<;/\ fo1 your Merchandise order form (719) 632-8300, email: or check our web page www.ushga.org

U.S. Ultralight Association www.us11a.com

301-695-9100

Nruionctl Aeront,utic Association www. naa-u sa. o rg

1-800-644-9777

INDEX Adventure Prod uctions ...................... 10 i'.INC WINC: C:LIDERS 18 wtr>Esr>an, incredible flights. Cive 'cm a 2for$5(, S/H). Send to: Zing Wings, PO Box Enumclaw W /\ 98021.

DON'T I.F./\VE YOUR CROUND--BOUND

EQ{J]PMENT SITTING IN TIii' GARAGE. SELL lT IN TIIE 11/\NG GLIDING CLASSI-

FllmS. CL/\SSil'IED /\llVERTISINC RATES The rate for

dassifled adwrrising is $.50 per word (or group of characters) aud $ l .00 per word for bold or all caps. ,\1JN!lv!Ulv! /\D C:11/\RCF $5.00. /\ f,·e of $15.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 For each photo. I.INF/\RT & Pl !OTO Sl/.F NO l.1\RCER Tl 1/\N l .75" X 2.25". Please 11ndcrlinc words to he in hold print. Special of' tabs $7-5.00 per column inch. Phone

words. Email or wch

add rcss,c3words. A I) l) E/\DL! NFS: /\II ad copy,

Airwavc America ............................... 29 Alrair ................................................. 31 Angle of Attack ................................. 62 Arai Design ....................................... 13 Brauniger ......................................... .49 Dan Johnson ..................................... :39 Flyrec .................................................. 9

I Iall Bros ............................................. ?

ITigh Energy Sports ............................. 5 Jusr Fly ............................................. .43 Lookout Mtn. Plight Park ............ 24,25 Moyes ............................................... 21

Neilsen--Kellerrnan ............................ 21 Sandia Open ....................................... 7 Sky Dog Publications ........................ 30

instructions, changes., addii-ions and cancellations

Sport Aviation Publications ................. 5

must he received in I. 5 rnornhs the for the May issue. cover dare, i.e. March make checks payable ro US! IC/\, P.O. Box I :no, Colorado Springs, CO 80901- 1:\30, (719) 632-8300.

Fax (7 I'J) 632· (,Ii 17 or email: ushgafDushga.org your classified with yom Visa or MasterCard.

USHCA ................. .'7, 11, 13,21,.,,,..,u,,.,,.,, West Coasr Atos .......................................... .5 Wills Wing ......................... Back Cover

62

U.S. Aeros ........................................... 2

Asl< us about r.~'"'"'"'M Phone: 209.543.7850 Toll-Free: 888.530.9940 E.. Mail: custsvc@angleofattack.com Website: http://angleofattack.net

100% Gm1ror1teed. If not satisfied, return unused tubes for 100% money back. Major Credit Cords accepted.

OEM/Dealer inquiries encouraged.

Ad b Peter Birren: 847.640.0171

HAN(; CUDINC

u s1·

© 2000 by Dan .Johnson

PArJL, MINN. , A:; a sprinq season creeps ever closer, anol:her new harness cal led L:he Tenax has been introduced by Woody Valley.

Ita1ian I9nazio Bernardi clairn0id the popular Euro harnc,,ss had i1 30°/\ share of t:he pilots in L:he last World Meet in Monl:e Cucco. \111oody Valley also offerinm; r0!creationaJ pilot:s ( the RS2) , bul· the new 'I'enax j c1 imed s c:; 1 y at l:h e competition pilots who want Lbe very least drag.

Indeed, aerodynamic::" and c•rqonornics to be tbe pusf1 ilrnong alJ sLate··of··the-art harness makers. a "redesiqned body shape" to improve comfort. and drag reduction whi illso mi.1king en1:ry '.I'c·nax also has some internal pockets to l1Glp clean] but also has (:,xterna l acce:c,::o Lwo cam(,ra , a radio, a drag 'cbute, and an emer9ency parachute.

According to Bernardi, it "possible to insta11 a baJ listic parachute" (though UU:s .is not someth.Lng w.iLh which U.S. maker Bl<S .is famiLiar).

Amc~rican deal represent Woody Valley. Cl1eck wit.h t:hem Lo see more of tJ1e European brand' ] . ••• f j nd a] mos l: ironj c to report l:hat thr, only Y2K bug problem that sec,med to directly affect hang gliding (so far r•ve been informed anyway) involvos F:tytec instnirnents. According to a fc:;w tl.v:, Flytec 4020 and 4030 (but: not the 3030) L:he 2000 rollover so U1at recordinq occurs on a second interval. l\s t.h apparent 1imi ts barograrn rc,cordin9 to 2. hours, tho,;e wishing to track longer iqb t:,3 may be 'J'he fix is simp] o enoucJh: check the, inl:erva.l used for recording and reset r.o c111other time, for example, JIJ .. seconds Some users a·1 so n,port.ed an error in Lhe AltJ heiqht figure. Flytcx: :i aware of U·10:se minor errors and crnrely address U,c;m tln:ou9b sofLware adju::,tments. ••• You have only days Lo plan your if yoll want Lo attend Wills Wing• s 27th birthday celebration Uiis monl~h. Ar:, l:hey' done before, ww.. brand wi.11 t·.ruck out a load of demo q1iders for your pleasure. Jn concert· with Wallaby Ranch manager, Malcolm LJones, a major shindig is forecast. Cent:ral F.Lorida enj oyr; good cross counlry weather this Lime, of plus pilots can visit two other airparks: Quest Air, only a few mi to tll,, north, and Graybird Airsports, up by Dunnellon on your way into the s t:ate. Botti wi l~hin reasonable drives, or 900d X-C LI ights. CalJ Wills Win9 (714-998·6359) or Wa laby (863 4?.d·OO 0) d(0tail ••• Speaking of fliqhl' parks, Austin Air Sports, created by 'I'c,xans Steve Burns and Gaynelle Roach, j s now b,.rned a L t:llC? Muni Airport.

Burns' i.nvolvemenL dates back t.o the Late '?Os and Leaching his father to t:lie two of them report trainincJ over 4, 000 students. Mov:i nq to llearnc:c on July 1 Jac,t AAS operates two Dragonf:ly tugs plus a trike. By the Lime you read this, "we wilJ have two add.itional tr.ikes," says [~urns. has generc;1J aviaU on but

M'\RUI

;woo

t 's light they report. Bein9 old base, one runway is 7,200 feet long, which allows winch tows to 2,000 AGL. The airport. on 600 acres, "wit:f1 rolU.n9 J:arm land in every di rec More info: Au",t:inAirSporl'..s. com or call 109-279 .. 9382. 411H For those that c.J.ren' l. into towing or who a good distance from t:lic, growing 1 ist of airparks, mor(0 powered hang glider choices arrivinq. Shorten it: to "PHG" to skip the moutbEu1 and consider Uw such contrapt.iom, j nclude powered harnesc.;es, like the Mosquito and evcm more tabJ.ishecl Mini1m.1m; superliqht trikef, Lookout Mountain' SkyCycle or Cosmos' Samba; p1us Au:c,l:ra1i.an John Reyno.Id' "nanolight" 'I'}iistledown ( per'3oncd project). In the 1-ast rnonLh or so, I ve become aware of three new offerings: the Booster, Doodlebug, & Explorer. All commercial producl~s available for purchas0. A 'I'he Born:;ter comes trom Pegasus Aviation, the UK' 1arger3t bui1der of powered u1tra1igl1L trikes. 'I'he company also bas a hang glidincJ history a.nd combining tl1e two capabU i !:heir The power c,ystem houfied in a composite half-tube thal· can be added L:o many modern harnes,::e:c; and then removed if unpowerc'd fliqht preferred. The i,leek looking appc?ndage to your harries~, ends in a folding prop to further ,0,duce drag. Info: www.PegasusAviaLion.co.uk/peg rame.hLm Flyli9ht' Ben Ashman, also ot Lhe UK, pcoduces the Doodlebuq which has the pi] ot c,upine above l:he conLro] bar. You fool· launch and l:hen ar,cmrne the ,;eated position. The un.it said t:o be "beautifully Lird shed," and front-end fairinq optional to keep your toes warm and draq cecluced. Info: F1yLiqht@zetnot.co.uk A clone ca 11ed Uie Explorer is being produced in /\ustralia. Info: wvJW. .com.au/ airtime/index3 A J,'inalJy, yel another variat.ion i,:: awkwardJ.y .. narned Nargfly. 'I'his unli.ke all the ol·hers, with a Jarc:re, s] ow· l·.urni.ng prop in front of L:he pilot: and t.he engine m01mtc0d on l~he front rd.de of t:.he cont:ro·1 bar/keel juncl·.ion. ll: sU 11 foot launches and land:; but this is quite a different animal Lhal: J 'm gues,iing wiJJ have RLow acceptance, because of the ,,;pinning thing ric:iht n front: of you (a foldinc:r prop can' 1~ work, for exc1rnple) . For those wbo' d ] ike U) look at all these PHGs, see the Bri sb i www.woodleydowns.demon.co.uk/ Manufacturers.htm Norn" of Lhesc mach:i nE21:; come particL11arly cheap, but add up the cosL of L:owinq or mainta:i nh1g a mountain-worthy vehiclE' and perhaps $5 9 Grand doE3sn' sound l:oo bad. I' J l do some l:urther investiqating on a] .I these new powered mach:i If l:hey don' L t.urn you on (as adrn:i t they do rne), U1E,n skip l:.his news and enjoy your qu:i cc,t: soaring. However, in.teres1· sent my way is keen enough Lha t I' J 1 continue to l:rack development details.••• So, 9ot news or op:inionEJ? Send 'cm to: fl Dorset, St. Paul MN 5')118. M~?c:o:c,aqe fax to 65.1 ~ ')0 0930.

Send eMai l:o CurnulusMan@aoL.com. THANKS! 1

63

F u s

•

I D

n 1 50

SP

THE BEST PERFORMING GLIDER WE'VE EVER BUILT. PERIOD.

Wills Wing is proud to present the new Fusion 150 SP. We developed this glider to provide our competition team with the highest level of performance. Prototypes of the 150 SP have won the last two annual Morningside Glide Angle contests by wide margins. In its fully equipped competition configuration, the 150 SP has demonstrated nearly two points in L/0 per! ormance increase over the original Fusion.And now this glider is available to you.

The Fusion 150 SP features an all new airfoil and sail cut,(now standard at no extra charge on all 150 Fusions), which significantly enhance both performance (by almost a full point in L/0), and handling. Additional individually selectable options allow the pilot to customize the glider to whatever level is desired. Sail upgrades include premium Hydranet trailing edge cloth, fully enclosed spring tip battens, carbon fiber inserts to support and enhance the leading edge of the airfoil, and an option for an all mylar top surface.

Airframe upgrades include afolding speedbar, a faired carbon fiber speedbar, or afull carbon control bar with minimum profile streamlined downtubes, basetube, and narrow gauge, low drag lower wires.

www.willswing.com

USA 500 West Blueridge Ave. Orange, CA 92865 tel 714.998.6359 fax 714.998.0647 Guality

aircraft

for

exceptional

people.

Europe Fassergasse 27a, A-6060 Hall i.T. tel ··43.5223.43747 fax 43746 e-mail: flywills@ping.at