USHPA Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol36/Iss8 August 2006

Volume 36 Issue 8 August 2006 $4.95

A Publication of the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association

www.ushga.org

Lisa Tate, President: lisa@soaringdreamsart.com Felipe Amunategui, Vice President: dr.amunategui@att.net Elizabeth Sharp, Secretary: Elizabeth.Sharp@heii.com Mark Forbes, Treasurer: mgforbes@mindspring.com REGION 1: Bill Bolosky, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Jim Macklow, Urs Kellenberger, Paul Gazis. REGION 3: David Jebb, John Greynald, Tad Hurst. REGION 4: Steve Mayer, Jim Zeiset. REGION 5: Lisa Tate. REGION 7: Tracy Tillman.

REGION 8: Gary Trudeau. REGION 9: Tom McCormick, Felipe Amunategui. REGION 10: Steve Kroop, Matt Taber.

REGION 11: Gregg Ludwig. REGION 12: Paul Voight.

REGION 13: Dick Heckman. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Russ Locke, Elizabeth Sharp, Dennis Pagen, Bruce Weaver, Riss Estes. HONORARY DIRECTORS: Bob Hannah, Steve Roti, Connie Locke, Ed Pitman, Jennifer Beach, Dutcher Sterling, Len Smith, Bill Bryden, Randy Leggett, John Harris, Jan Johnson. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS: Art Greenfield (NAA).

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Inc. is an air sports organization affiliated with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), which is the official representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), of the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the United States at FAI meetings, has delegated to the USHPA supervision of FAI-related hang gliding and paragliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions.

The material presented here is published as part of an information dissemination service for USHPA members.

The USHPA makes no warranties or representations and assumes no liability concerning the validity of any advice, opinion or recommendation expressed in the material. All individuals relying upon the material do so at their own risk.

Copyright © 2006 Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine welcomes editorial submissions from our members and readers. We are always looking for well written articles and quality artwork.

Feature stories generally run anywhere from 1500 to 3000 words. If your topic demands more or less than this, you should discuss options with the editor. News releases are welcomed, but please do not send brochures, dealer newsletters or other extremely lengthy items. Please edit news releases with our readership in mind, and keep them reasonably short without excessive sales hype. You are welcome to submit photo attachments, preferably jpeg files smaller than a megabyte.

Calendar of events items may be sent via email to editor@ ushga.org, as may letters to the editor. Please be concise and try to address a single topic in your letter.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have an idea for an article you may discuss your topic with the editor either by email or telephone.

Contact: Editor, Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, editor@ushga.org, (425) 888-3856.

For change of address or other USHPA business, call (719) 632-8300, or email ushga@ushga.org.

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The USHPA is a member-controlled sport organization dedicated to the exploration and promotion of all facets of unpowered ultralight flight, and to the education, training and safety of its membership. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for Rogallo membership are $69.00 per year (of which $15 goes to the publication of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine), ($90 non-U.S.); subscription rates only are $52.00 ($63 non-U.S.). Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHPA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. You may also email your request with your member number to: ushga@ushga.org.

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING editorial offices email: editor@ushga.org.

ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHPA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS.

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine is published for foot-launched air-sports enthusiasts to create further interest in the sports of hang gliding and paragliding and to provide an educational forum to advance hang gliding and paragliding methods and safety. Contributions are welcome.

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POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330.

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING (ISSN 1543-5989) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc., 1685 W. Uintah St., Colorado Springs, CO 80904, (719) 632-8300, FAX (719) 6326417. PERIODICAL postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing offices.

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Jayne DePanfilis, Publisher: jayne@ushga.org C. J. Sturtevant, Editor: editor@ushga.org Joe Hartman, Art Director: jhartman@brandingironmedia.com Martin Palmaz, Advertising: martin@ushga.org Thayer Hughes, Contributing Editor: thayer@ushga.org Staff writers: Matt Gerdes, Jon Goldberg-Hiller, Thayer Hughes, Rob Kells Staff artist: Harry Martin

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The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, a division of the National Aeronautic Association,

is a representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale in the United States.

The Altan Tsast valley, Mongolia Photo: Ursula Christol

Flight Report: First Time Thermal Soaring . . .6

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Pilot Briefings: News and Events . . . . . . . . . . 8 Air Mail: Readers Write In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

THE AWESOMENESS OF HANG GLIDING A non-pilot offers a humorous perspective on why hang glider and paraglider pilots should consider themselves awesome.

USHGF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 USHPA: Recognition is Important . . . . . . . . . 15 Master’s Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

By Meaghan Leonnig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

PG Accident Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

HANG GLIDER-RELATED PHILATELIC ART & GRAPHICS, PART 2

Flight Report: Central Utah: So Many Mountains, So Little Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Flight Report: My Longest Night, Part One . . 50

Images of hang gliders – sometimes in unorthodox forms – have traveled the postal routes around the world. This is part two of a three-part series.

Site Guide: Soboba: An Old SoCal Site with a New HIke-and-Fly Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

By Terry Ferrer ©2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Feature Article: Chasing Phantoms. . . . . . . . 29

Review: The Flyingest Flying . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Travel: The Airborne Planet Expedition, Vol. 3: Guatemala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 New Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

FINDING THE SKY: LEARNING TO SOAR, PART 8 When this author was in school, paragliders had yet to be invented. He takes us through a short but detailed history of the sport, and concludes that there’s one compelling reason to fly these wings: because we can!

By Paul Villinski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Croak and Cluck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Index to Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

John Heiney making an approach over Piedrahita, one of Spain’s most popular flying sites

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FREEFLIGHT A.C.’s poem celebrates the spiritlifting freedom and joy of a flight at the beach.

By Anne (A.C.) Dunlap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

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In a few hours, it will all be recollection.

In between, it's why you fly.

Why settle for anything less than everything the experience has to offer?

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LLS~

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It's all about the flying.

WWW.WILLSWING.COM 500 WEST BLUERIDGE AVE. ORANGE. CA 92865 TEL: 714-998-6359 FAX: 714-998-0647

FORTY DAYS OVER MONGOLIA Jeff and Ursula continue their journey to distant and exotic lands, where airtime is the declared goal but often is not the main reward.

By Jeff Cristol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

MY TWO LIVES AS A HANG GLIDER PILOT A pilot who began hang gliding in Brazil in the mid-1980s and gave up in frustration returns to the sport 20 years later in Florida. This time it sticks.

By Marcos Rittner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Gallery. . .65

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with great potential for benching up above the drive-up launch. Even hang pilots have managed to lug their gear up to this lower launch. Details are in the Site Guide section.

As always, pilots who’ve been traveling across the country and around the world have reported in with tales of their adventures. Jeff and Ursula Cristol spent several weeks about as far from civilization as one can get, exploring the paragliding potential of Mongolia. The Airborne Planet team, continuing their quest to fly their paraglidC.J. Sturtevant ers in remote areas of tropical countries, found that Guatamala can be both paradise and nightmare for visiting pilots. Naomi Gray’s trip to the Rena Scott, the Canadian Nationals in 2004 culminated with a artist who painted nightmare fl ight on her hang glider. She made a the beautiful illuspainting to illustrate her perception of that fl ight, tration on page 61 in and shares part of the nightmare in this issue. the July issue, points On landing uninjured, she thought the worst was out that her Web over but apparently that wasn’t how it worked site is actually www out. She promises I’ll have the conclusion of her .renascottstudio.com. adventure in time for the next issue.

As always, our safety gurus are working to Hausi, the cover dog keep us all on the right side of the safety fence. on the July magazine, Jon Goldberg-Hiller’s paragliding accident report ruefully reports that analyzes three very different accidents, and offers his owner’s name is food for thought regarding decision-making on actually Jose Rosas the ground and in the air. Rob Kells’s Master’s (or sometimes Jose Tips column focuses on tuning your hang glider Rosas-Zarich), and for maximum performance and handling, as well apologizes (along as for safe flying. Mike Meier, whose technical with your editorial writing on all topics hang gliding is about as read- staff ) for the misinable as you’ll fi nd anywhere, offers in “Chasing formation and any rePhantoms” some additional information about sulting confusion. the physics of hang gliding as presented by Brad Spencer in “Speed is Life” in the June magazine.

Even Harry Martin’s “Croak and Cluck” cartoon has a safety message this month, although exactly what it is, you’ll have to decide for yourself.

And fi nally, Anne Dunlap’s poem, “Freefl ight,” celebrates the joy and freedom and fun of flying.

Summer is the time to set aside, on occasion, the demands to be practical and down-to-earth and responsible. Untangle your thoughts and enjoy the awesomeness of every fl ight. Touch the sky!

(When you return to practicality, remember that this magazine is only as good as the articles and photos that you send me. You can upload material to our dropbox at http://ushga.dyndns .org, or email me at editor@ushga.org if you have questions or comments.)

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Photo: Chris Amonson

How’s the summer treating you? It seems there’s always a goal to stretch towards in flying – fi rst altitude fl ight, fi rst hundred-miler, fi rst trip abroad to fly, fi rst hour-long soaring fl ight, fi rst competition, an unbroken string of great days with great buddies. The list is endless, the goals are our own to set and claim. That’s part of what keeps us all so engaged with flying: No two fl ights are ever the same, and when you set out to go flying, there’s no telling what the day will serve up.

In several articles in this issue, there seems to be a joyful undercurrent of “How cool is this flying thing!” Non-pilot Meaghan Leonig strokes our egos by explaining exactly why she finds hang gliding and paragliding so awesome. Paul Villinski also dwells on the awesomeness of footlaunch fl ight as he takes us back to the early days of paragliding in this episode of his “Finding the Sky” series. Staff writer Thayer Hughes reviews a DVD that unabashedly declares hang gliding to be “The Flyingest Flying.” Stacy Whitmore loves where he lives in Utah because there are “So Many Mountains” with incredible paragliding potential. Marcos Rittner knew hang gliding was an incredible activity when he started flying nearly 20 years ago, and hated having to give it up for more pressing obligations. He celebrates his return to the sport in his tale of “My Two Lives as a Hang Glider Pilot.” Terry Ferrer showcases more of his collection of world-wide stamps that feature hang gliding, in the second part of his three-part series on “Hang Gliding Stamps of the World.”

Given all this commentary on how special we pilots and our favorite activities are, there should be no difficulty responding to USHPA’s call for nominations for the annual awards. You’ll fi nd information on the awards and how to make a nomination in both the Pilot Briefi ngs section and in the USHPA pages. Take a good look at your community, and you’ll surely see someone who’s put in some extra effort to make your local flying safer, more accessible or just plain more fun.

Region 4 pilots have been hard at work to keep one of our best-known flying sites open and accessible. Point of the Mountain (near Salt Lake City) has been threatened for years by encroaching development, but now, thanks to group effort and a special toilet, POM appears to be secured as a flying site “for all posteriors.” Read about the deal-sealing toilet in this month’s USHGF section.

Scotty Farnsworth and a group of SoCal pilots have circumvented a launch access problem by developing a hike-up launch at Soboba,

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When to nominate: Any time beUSHPA Presents Safe Pilot Awards The USHPA congratulates paraglider tween now and October – nominations pilots David L. Metzgar of San Diego, are cheerfully accepted even at the fall California, Michael Reeder of Golden, BOD Awards committee meeting, alColorado, and Pete Michelmore of though it’s helpful to have them earlier.

Kaneohe, Hawaii, on their achievement Nominations received after the fall BOD of logging 1000 consecutive safe flights, meeting will be held over for considerearning each of them the First Diamond ation for the next year’s awards.

Recognition with a twist: Since it Safe Pilot Award.

Hang glider pilot Alicia R. Derin feels just as good to give as it does to reof Marietta, Georgia, has logged 100 ceive, award recipients are asked to see if consecutive safe fl ights, earning her they can “pass the baton” by submitting USHPA’s bronze Safe Pilot Award. a nomination for the next year’s awards.

This is not an obligation, just an opportuCongratulations, Alicia! nity to share the good feelings.

Recognition is an important aspect Who Has Impressed You? A Call for Nominations for USHPA’s of building better relationships with our fellow pilots, our landowners, our clubs Annual Awards and our organization. Thank you for your

By Len Smith, Awards committee chairman It is time to start thinking about rec- participation in this worthwhile effort. ognizing individuals, groups and publications who have made outstanding PROSHADE™ Offers Style, Comfort contributions to hang gliding and para- and Security for Under $20! gliding during the past year. Nominations for USHPA awards will be reviewed during the fall BOD meeting to be held in October.

The awards program is an open forum for anyone in the organization, or nonmembers, to recognize the extra efforts made by people in our national flying community. The object of these awards is to let people know that their extra efforts are noticed and appreciated. Some examples: ¯ making a difference for a worthy cause; ¯ going the extra mile to help the organization grow or be more visible; ¯ creating a better mousetrap and sharing it with fellow pilots.

You get the picture. Descriptions of all the awards are available on the USHPA Web site (www.ushga.org). There are plenty of examples of outstanding contributions all around us, but sometimes we Your support crew spends hours out get so caught up in our day-to-day work in the glaring sun, waiting for you to that we just don’t see something special launch, taking photos, kicking dirt in unless we look. the desert to show you the proper direcHow to nominate: Use the online tion to land. Here’s an inexpensive but awards nomination form at http://www extremely functional gift to express your .ushga.org/emailaward.asp. For awards appreciation. In fact, you might want to that require the submission of examples treat yourself as well! (of newsletters or photos), those can be The patented PROSHADE™ visor submitted using the FTP facility there, is a feather-weight eye-shielding and or mailed to USHPA, PO Box 1330, glare-minimizing visor, which conColorado Springs CO 80901-1330. verts to a protective eyewear case and

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includes a multi-functional lanyard.

PROSHADE™ fits securely onto almost any pair of eyewear, and can be worn three distinct ways: 1) attached to eyewear, with no need for around-the-head elastic; 2) on its own without eyewear, much like a traditional visor; 3) attached to eyewear and tightened to the head to make it virtually wind- and dustdevilproof. When not being worn as a visor, the PROSHADE™ functions as a case for glasses or other items, and can be worn around the neck using the lanyard.

Richard Lawrence, president of PROSHADE™, says, “We focus on convenience, value and uniqueness for both the active outdoors and fashion-conscious consumer.” While those with thinning hair will want to consider the vulnerability of their exposed pate, anyone who hates the hat-hair look will appreciate PROSHADE™’s sun protection sans hair compression. Rat Race pilot Patti Fujii tested the PROSHADE™ and found wearing option #2 best fit her sun and style preferences.

Available in a wide range of colors and patterns to complement your flight suit or favorite color scheme, PROSHADE™ is perfect for everything from parawaiting and hang driving to kayaking, golf, biking, hiking, and all conceivable “fun in the sun” activities. PROSHADE™ also floats glasses for added security during water activities, and its non-scratch case interior is perfect for protecting the lenses of stowed eyewear.

More information is available at www .proshade.net.

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APCO Prima III

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Photo courtesy APCO

PPhotos ©Denis Balibouse/Red Bull PPhotos ©Denis Balibouse/Red Bull

ers present elegant, high-speed variations the first World Aerobatic Championship: of free-flying aerobatics. Thanks to the “This means that aerobatics has been rectrails of smoke left by torches fastened to ognized by the World Federation, and the flyers, the spectators can follow their that is a huge step for us.”

The U.S will be represented by hang winding fl ight paths – but even so, it is often virtually impossible to discern how gliding aerobatics pilots Aaron Swepston, they perform some of the maneuvers.

John Heiney, and Kipp Bottorff. The U.S. From the beginning, the aim of the paragliding acro pilots are Matt Combs, Red Bull Vertigo was to promote aerobatic Jake Walker, Tim Green and Anthony hang gliding and paragliding and to offer Green. the perfect conditions to the best pilots of the world. The event has been held since Third Generation of APCO Prima 1997 and has contributed significantly to Paraglider Still a Training Favorite the development of the discipline. Safety The APCO Prima training glider regulations, competition formats, jury made its debut in the early 1990s. Since criteria – all of these were worked out, then thousands of Primas have been tested and continually developed on the faithfully serving in paragliding schools Waadt Riviera. “After we brought the all over the world. Arguably the longest world cup into being with competitions produced classic trainer paraglider, the in Italy, Norway, the USA and here in Prima III is equally well suited for teachVilleneuve three years ago, it was a logi- ing free flying and for entry-level paracal step to request the permission to hold motoring. the World Championship,” explains The new Prima III is very similar to Red Bull Vertigo organizer Alain Zoller. the first two generations, but with imThanks to many years of lobbying on the proved flare and compatibility for parapart of Zoller and other spokesmen from motor flying. APCO describes the wing the aerobatic scene, there are now regula- as more rigid (meaning no tip or canopy tions that are internationally valid, and movement), with handling that is more an aerobatic world cup for hang gliding direct and responsive in comparison with and paragliding. the Prima II. The rest of the Prima speciThe World Championship is par- fications remain the same. Constructed ticularly special for André Hediger. The from nearly indestructible Gelvenor Vertiginous Feats Above Lake Geneva Red Bull Vertigo, 1st FAI World Hang Swiss paraglider pilot, who grew up on cloth and fitted with heavy-duty lines, Gliding and Paragliding Aerobatic Lake Geneva and now lives in Argentina, the Prima III is built to withstand many Championships, August 18-27, is regarded by many as the founder of years of rigorous school use. paragliding aerobatics. As a test pilot he This third version of the Prima Villeneuve, Switzerland For the ninth time, the world’s best began to expand on certain maneuvers, sports a new color scheme and design; aerobatic hang glider and paraglider thus creating the breathtaking figures that all colors and sizes are now in producpilots will converge in Villeneuve for the he and his colleagues have been perform- tion. More information is available at Red Bull Vertigo. For the first time, they ing for the spectators in Villeneuve year www.apcoaviation.com. will be competing for world champion after year. “The World Championship is titles in the disciplines of hang gliding the result of many years of commitment solo, paragliding solo and paragliding to acro flying on the part of the organizsynchro (teams of two). Alain Zoller, ers. It is an honor for me to fly in this head of the event organization, is expect- event, even if it may seem a bit odd that in spite of the fact that Montreux is my ing 120 pilots from all over the world.

The pilots who meet every year in birthplace and Villeneuve my former resVilleneuve for the Red Bull Vertigo idence, I am starting for Argentina.”

Hang glider pilot Heinz Zwyssig was (which is where competitive aerobatic flying is considered to have originated) issued a written warning from the Swiss are the wild minority among those who Hang Gliding Association in 1978, for fly hang gliders and paragliders. What “dangerous flying.” “That was the beginthey demonstrate with their aircraft takes ning of hang gliding aerobatics for me,” both the equipment and the pilot to their comments this repeated winner of the limits. While the paragliders appear to be Red Bull Vertigo, who is now the trainer hurtling through the air and rotating in of the Swiss national team of hang gliding inconceivable directions, the hang glid- aerobats. He is also looking forward to

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Bill Moyes, founder of Australia’s Moyes Delta Gliders, recently visited Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Florida, to discuss plans for the August 25-27 precision hang gliding tournament. The event, which is invitation-only for competitors, will feature the top 20 hang gliding competitors doing a number of tasks, including slalom course, freestyle, tribble drop, and the Bermuda Triangle. Points

are awarded for each task, and the pilot who collects the most points will walk away with the gold. Practice will be held on Friday, semifinals on Saturday, and finals on Sunday.

Moyes will be providing identical Moyes Sonic gliders for all of the competitors to fly. Working together with Cypress Gardens is not something new to Bill Moyes; his kites exclusively have been flown in the ski shows since the early ‘70s. Bill was extremely excited when the park reopened their doors in November of 2004; in fact, he was one of the first sponsors to contact the park, regarding the return of Moyes hang gliders in the water ski show.

Currently, Cypress Gardens schedules three or four ski shows a day, seven days a week. The hang gliding act is performed in every show that weather permits and always proves to be a show highlight.

For more information about the tournament, please call the Cypress Gardens ski department at (863) 595-2297.

to Lucerne. After this turnpoint he flew above the Swiss Pre-Alps via Sörenberg to a second turnpoint at Engelberg.

Above Axalp, close to Brienz, cloud cover weakened the thermals and Chrigel was forced to slow down and tank up on altitude before completing the final leg of his triangle, eventually passing Interlaken and landing beyond the goal.

Chrigel was testing a prototype of the size 28 OMEGA 7, and after this fl ight he declared both the 28 and 26 sizes ready for DHV testing. “I was excited about the performance, the stability and the direct and smooth handling of the wing. On a fl ight of 10.5 hours these are very welcome facts,” said Chrigel after his landing, satisfied but tired from his long trip.

Ho hum. A short 150-mile jaunt is just another working day for this test pilot!

Advance Test Pilot Goes the Extra Mile Test-Flying a Final Prototype Advance test pilot Chrigel Maurer has the job that every air-hungry paraglider pilot dreams about – he shows up at work to go flying. One day in mid-June he was given a routine task: Take the latest prototype of the OMEGA 7, Advance’s new high performance serial XC wing, out for a test fl ight. After a nonstop trip of 10.5 hours and 248 kilometers, Chrigel landed and declared the new wing’s performance and handling more than adequate.

Chrigel’s work-day fl ight traced a triangle of nearly 150 miles through the Swiss mountains, beginning with a leg from the Niesen to the Pic Chaussy in the French part of Switzerland and then to the Pilatus close

Chrigel Maurer, OMEGA 7

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Photo©ADVANCE/www.thomasulrich.com]

Florida’s Cypress Gardens to Host Precision Kite Tournament Aug. 25-27

and discord over organizational disagreements. Concern over means of fl ight, names, purists vs. power users, all focus our attention inward. Effort is expended in annoying and alienating fellow flyers.

Meanwhile flying sites are threatened or lost, developers are squeezing the sport from the outside, and a united, politically aware organization is needed to confront these pressures.

Thanks again to Dan Leahy for bringing this core concern to members’ attention.

Don Schweter, USHPA #83610

The opinions expressed in the letters published in this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine staff or USHPA officials. While every effort is made to verify facts stated in letters, readers are urged to check the accuracy of any statement before taking action or forming an opinion based on the contents of a letter.

More on Speeding Up EMT Response Time When a Helicopter Rescue Seems Necessary (email, 6/4)

I read with interest Gary Trudeau’s response to Wally Adams, who wondered how we might be able to shorten EMT response time after a flying accident. I hope Gary or another qualified person is there if I ever crash, to evaluate me and get the right people coming at the right speed.

Many crashes happen with no medically qualified people around. If the victim is evidently badly hurt, and especially in any sort of remote place, it’s not crazy to call a helicopter immediately and there are ways you as an untrained person can do it. Helicopters are expensive, for the victim and the community, but you’ll feel bad for not trying to get one if the victim dies while the EMTs are hiking up the hill because what you said convinced them they should check the situation that way first.

I heard several stories from nonmedical pilots who were able to get helicopters dispatched immediately without intermediate responses coming first. One pilot – who always sounds like a professional when he speaks, regardless of the

subject – uses the phrase “high-impact deceleration injury” to dispatchers. This is not a medical phrase, but twice this pilot has been able to secure an immediate helicopter dispatch with it.

Another pilot who has repeatedly gotten a helicopter dispatched immediately says, “The victim has rapid pulse, shallow breathing, and pupils not responsive.” This describes symptoms of shock in medical terms. These are also things you can look for in the victim. Shock results from loss of blood pressure and is often associated with injuries that need the fastest response you can get.

Another person said reporting a “fall to the ground from 50 feet” got her an immediate helicopter. Of course you want to check out the victim first if at all possible.

Some people fall 50 feet and only break an arm, and can hike a few miles and ride to the ER. But stay with the person and watch them carefully. Someone who seems to only have a broken arm may be bleeding internally and their condition can deteriorate quickly. Be ready to make another call.

For at least some medical dispatchers these are ways that any of us can circumvent the “standard” protocols when the situation warrants. Don’t be afraid to try if you’re the one who is there.

James Bradley, USHPA #81591

United We Stand… (email, 6/1)

I offer congratulation and agreement with Dan Leahy’s letter in the June issue (“Large Membership Means More Clout”). The last few years have seen a certain amount of internecine bickering

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Hat Creek Incident: An Explanation, In Hopes of Reconciliation and Moving On (email, 6/3)

It has been brought to my attention that an incident at Hat Creek (California) that occurred about a year ago between hang gliders and powered paragliders (PPG) from Sacramento has been “blown out of proportion.” I am one of the PPG pilots who was present. After I landed, a local rancher drove up and expressed a concern about a PPG pilot chasing his cattle. He did not appear irate, mad, or even mildly upset. The PPG pilot who was suspected of the cattle incident addressed the concern of the rancher personally and assured him he was not chasing his cattle, though it may have appeared that way.

The pilot was apologetic and the rancher was fine.

The usual policy we PPG pilots follow includes flying high over cattle and if they start to run, we turn in the opposite direction. That’s what happened and that was the end of it. The hang glider pilots who were present did not express any dismay to me. I was told by a local hang glider pilot (Page) that this was supposed to be a hang glider’s weekend. I explained that it was my first time there and I was not aware of that and apologized.

I personally have not returned to Hat Creek for PPG fl ight nor do I intend to.

Having flown the site once, I realize the site is not conducive to motor paragliding. Some of the other PPG pilots who were present were new to the sport and most likely left an impression that none of the PPG pilots “knew what they were doing.” It can be argued that if they were new to the sport, then they had no business being there. I cannot speak on their

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behalf, but I do not believe they have returned to Hat Creek.

I was under the impression that the “incident” was over until I saw it surface on a few message boards and then in this magazine. As with most things, as time goes on, the original incident becomes exaggerated. My goal is to put it in perspective. I understand how the hang glider pilots are protective of their flying site and as they think about this incident, the more upset they become. I also understand they are not accustomed to the noise of the motors we use for powered fl ight.

I offer a public apology to the local pilots and hope their impression of the group I fly with will no longer be tainted.

I believe we share a common thread for fl ight regardless of the vehicle we use to pursue and enjoy it.

Todd DeGrandmont

Bogdan “Don” Pieniak photographs his son Steve soaring above Lake Erie at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park.

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August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Point of the Mountain Announces the Grand Opening of the South Side “Toilette” Article and photos by Mark Gaskill

In July 2006 (that’s “last month” as you read this article, but “next month” as this magazine goes to press) a toilet was installed at the South Side of the Point of the Mountain in Utah. This was not a mere replacement for the porta-potty that had for years accented our flying site – the porta-potty that vandals had routinely rolled down the hill. No, this “toilette” is a two-stall, State of Utah Parks Department-approved, permanent facility. And, this spiff y new toilette has a story to tell.

For background, we have to go back a few years to when the Point of the Mountain was part of the Wild West.

There were few rules; none were needed.

Hang gliding (and eventually paragliding) was about freedom. You found your way to the Point, you launched, did whatever you wanted to do in the air, and then you landed. Nobody much cared who you were, what you were flying, what you smoked, or where you were living.

(Several people once called the Point of the Mountain home and lived in a virtual shantytown of campers, trucks, tents and makeshift shelters.) Furthermore, nobody much cared where you relieved

your bladder or bowels as long as it was not in plain view or anywhere that might come in contact with anyone’s wing. The only competition those early pilots had for Point of the Mountain real estate was with the snakes.

Eventually, the mining operations started to creep toward the onceundisturbed community of pilots. Not far behind the mining people were the developers gobbling up land to build housing for Utah’s rapidly growing population.

All of a sudden the snakes seemed less significant. Talk could be heard about needing to “save the Point.” Committees were formed, club officers made promises, and the occasional city council and planning commission meetings were attended. The club held a lease on the land that comprises the South Side flying site.

This lease was negotiated in good faith but was tenuous at best, and it was eventually nullified when the landowner fi led bankruptcy.

As the encroaching mining and development drew closer, tempers flared. The local community of pilots knew something must be done, yet the free-spirit personalities characteristic of many hang

Mike Steen still trying to perfect his in-air relief technique at the Point of the Mountain. The pictured “facilities” have recently been replaced with up-to-date restrooms with financial assistance from the United States Hang Gliding Foundation.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

gliding and paragliding pilots seemed to come in confl ict with the cooperation and organization required to negotiate with the forces behind the growing threat.

Luckily, an eclectic group of concerned pilots stuck with it and progress is finally being realized. The Point of the Mountain is no longer a place completely open to expressing one’s free spirit. There are rules, fees, some restrictions, and the shantytown of campers, trucks and tents had to move elsewhere. (Incidentally, some of our best current-day pilots at one time resided at the infamous South Side shantytown.) Most importantly, there is the toilette, but more on that later.

The recent accomplishments include an arrangement with a public water utility to construct a five-acre landing zone, built to our specifications, on the north side of the Point. This acreage could have easily become a Wal-Mart, which would have shut down flying from the North Side, but an international grass-roots effort helped the local club sway the scales toward the utility and away from commercial development.

Another accomplishment is the recent award of a $600,000 grant to improve the North Side fl ight park. By this time next year we should have several acres of irrigated turf on which to launch, land, and fold our wings. We should also have a running water bathroom facility and better parking. The North Side, although surrounded by housing communities, mining operations, and an impressive water treatment facility, now has an assured place in the community – ensuring that future generations of pilots will have a fl ight park from which to get plenty of airtime. The original 4WD road up to launch on the North Side is long gone, but the flying remains.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the South Side of the Point has been named a Utah state park. This means the South Side will remain a fl ight park for all posterity. The Utah Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association has been

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named the steward of this park. Th is was accomplished through a very complicated land swap orchestrated between the Utah Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the Utah Department of Transportation, the current landowners, and the State of Utah. The official dedication of the Point of the Mountain South Side Flight Park occurred June 30th and was attended by Governor Huntsman and an impressive group of politicians, pilots and press. The details behind this land swap and dedication are too numerous to mention in these paragraphs; however, the local flying club had one ace up its sleeve that helped seal the deal: the toilette.

The cost of the South Side toilet facility was $35,000. For the land swap to go through it needed to present a minimal burden for the state. They were willing to help in any way they could as long as it did not represent too great a drain on the coffers. The local club offered to underwrite the cost of the toilet without knowing exactly how much it would

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set us back. However, the club officers were confident the funds would be raised, and the deal was struck.

Luckily, we were able to contribute $10,000 from our membership. We were also successful in soliciting the support of the United States Hang Gliding Foundation (www.ushgf .org), who recognized that sometimes a toilet is much more that just a toilet. The Foundation contributed another $10,000 – essentially Recording history: Mike Steen touching down behind the ancient outallowing the land swap to house that will soon be only memory. The new “toilette” was still en move forward. The State of route to the Point when this article went to press.

Utah will be picking up the we are turning our efforts to other enremaining $15,000. deavors. The local club is unveiling an The community of Utah pilots still exciting competition this summer (The seems to have some of that Wild West Utah Triple “A” Sprint). Read about it persona left in their veins. Steve Mayer of at www.UHGPGA.org. Also, local club Cloud Nine Paragliding (our USHPA re- members are currently writing grants to gional director) has been able to raise nearly underwrite an adaptive flying program, $10,000 to repay the Foundation. The which will hopefully open the skies to pilots who fly the persons with physical disabilities. For Point, while rec- more information on this, email Mark ognizing the Gaskill at AirUtah@hotmail.com. Now generosity of the that the stress of encroachment is reFoundation, seem lieved, we can get down to the business to want to be self- of fun and flying! sufficient.

The There have been too many people Foundation has an involved in saving the Point to menimportant mission. tion here. However, two names must be Their assistance highlighted: Ty McCartney and David with helping us Nelson. Dave is a Salt Lake attorney save the South who has skillfully represented the sports Side was critical of hang gliding and paragliding both in and much appre- court and on paper for several years – and ciated. However, has single-handedly made telling attorwe certainly do ney jokes very difficult for many Utah not want to take pilots. Ty was state legislator turned advantage of this paragliding pilot who has used his pasgenerosity, and we sion for the sport and his political savvy look forward to to solidify the Point’s future. There are seeing any funds not enough thank you’s out there to repay we can repay the debt the flying community owes being used else- these individuals. where to promote If you’re in the Salt Lake City area, the Foundation’s stop by and use our toilette – it means mission. a lot to us. While you’re here, enjoy the What’s next for air! the Point? Now that the immediate threat seems to have been quelled, August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Recognition Is Important – It Works!

USHPA Solicits Nominations for the 2007 Awards Photos by Paul Voight, Region 12 director and chairman Financial Redistribution committee

Every year, the USHPA issues awards and commendations to those people who have made contributions to our sports that their peers consider worthy of recognition. In order for this process to work, nominations must be submitted to the Awards committee by any individual prior to or during the fall BOD meeting.

Some awards require examples of award-worthy material (newsletters, photos, videos), which need to be in the hands of the committee members at the meeting in order for them to judge the relative merits of nominees. For submissions to arrive prior to the BOD meeting, please submit your nomination(s) by mail to USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330, or online at http://www.ushga.org/emailaward.asp,

by October 1.

USHPA presents awards in the following categories: PRESIDENTIAL CITATION – Th is is the USHPA’s highest award, and is given to a member or non-member who has made significant contributions to the sport.

The contributions need not have been made during the previous year. The list of past recipients reads like a “Who’s Who” of hang gliding and paragliding: Volmer Jensen, Francis Rogallo, Bill Bennett, Bill Moyes, Bob Dickenson, Richard Miller, Lloyd Licher, RV Wills, John Lake, Pete Brock, Roy Haggard, Dennis Pagen, Donnell Hewett, Richard Boone, Jerry Forburger, Pete Lehmann, Doug Hildreth, Bobby Bailey, Robert Beck, Gregg Lawless, Russ Locke, Rob Kells, Liz Sharp, Bill Bryden, Paul Rikert, Steve Roti, Chris Santacroce, David Barish.

Tree Toppers, Wings of Rogallo, Sylmar Hang Gliding Association (multiple times), Southern Arizona Hang Gliding and Paragliding, Sierra Sky Surfers, Northern California Foot Launched Pilots Association, Houston Hang Gliding Association, Crestline Soaring Society, Water Gap Hang Gliding Club, and Austin Free Flight.

NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR – This award recognizes an outstanding club publication (printed or Web-based) that has been supportive of the sport and the sponsoring chapter’s activities. The award is based on service to members, layout, article variety, safety promotion, and promoting the sport.

These newsletters have been selected for this award: Windwriter (Houston HG Assn.), Air Times (North Carolina Region 4 director JZ accepting Bill Holmes’s award from Awards committee chair Len Smith HG Assn.), Skyline (Capitol HG Assn.

– multiple times), Branches (Tennessee Joe Gregor, Dick Girard, Rob McKenzie, Tree Toppers), High Times (Sylmar), Tad Hurst, and JZ and the Green Team. Flatland Flyers (North Texas HG Assn.), NAA SAFETY AWARD – The NAA Safety Award is given to an individual who has contributed to safety promotion in some significant way that should be recognized. Mike Meier, Doug Hildreth, Greg Shaw, Pat Denevan, Claudia Stockwell, Erik Kaye, Northern California Foot Launched Pilots Association, Luen Miller, Mark Shipman, Pete Reagan, Malcolm Jones, and Peter Birren have received this award.

CHAPTER OF THE YEAR – This award

recognizes the USHPA chapter/club that has conducted successful programs that reflect positively upon the chapter and EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AWARD – the sport. Activities include, but are not This award recognizes outstanding ser- limited to, site procurement, developvice to the USHPA during the year by ment and retention, safety, membership any member or non-member. Past recipi- development, and beginner and novice ents are Vic Powell, Erik Fair, Liz Sharp, programs. Chapters honored in the past Gregg Lawless, Fred Stockwell, Tim are Capitol Hang Gliding & Maryland Herr, Paul Rikert, Joe Greblo, Steve Roti, Hang Gliding Association, Tennessee August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Region 3 director David Jebb accepts the Instructor of the Year award for Ki Hong.

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The Flyer (unknown), Cascade Lines (Oregon), The Flocker (Rocky Mountain HG & PG Association), Mountaineer (unknown), Ridge Dancer (Bay Area Paragliding Assn.), The Oz Report, and the Fly Paper (Northwest Paragliding Club).

Len Smith and Region 3 director Tad Hurst

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Stroop, and Ki Hong. Hang gliding instructors honored with this award are Christian Thoreson, Rob McKenzie, Pat Denevan, Mark Windsheimer, Sunny Venesky, Steve Wendt, and Bill Holmes.

SPECIAL COMMENDATIONS –

Special Commendations are awarded to INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR – The any number of organizations and nonInstructor of the Year award recognizes members who have done exceptional the importance of our certified hang volunteer work that has significantly gliding and paragliding instructors in enhanced and promoted our sports in promoting safe flying practices and the U.S. The Special Commendation is contributing to the positive image and a way for our organization to recognize growth of our sports. Nominations landowners, drivers, restaurant owners, should include letters of support from government officials and any others who three students and the local regional have contributed in a non-member capacdirector. Considerations will include ef- ity during the year. Past recipients are fectiveness as a teacher, being a safety listed in the sidebar. role-model, and other factors that the nominating parties deem worthy of rec- COMMENDATIONS – Commendations ognition. One award per sport per year are awards to any number of USHPA will be given. Past paragliding instruc- members who have contributed to hang tors of the year are Dixon White, Marty gliding and/or paragliding on a volunDeVietti, Chris Santacroce, Rob Sporrer, teer basis in any areas including site deGabriel Jebb, Denise Reed and Doug velopment and retention, competition

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

organization, public relations, heroic rescue efforts, and/or basically getting off their duffs and doing something for someone else’s enjoyment of flying and the pro-motion of the sport. Past recipients are listed in the sidebar.

BETTINA GRAY AWARD – The Bettina Gray Award was created to honor the woman who contributed so much to hang gliding through her photography.

This award is issued to the photographer (male or female) whose work is judged by the committee to demonstrate the highest quality in aesthetics, originality, and a positive portrayal of hang gliding or paragliding. One award will be given each year. Ines Roberts, Ralph Sickinger, and the Sea-to-Sky team of Stef Brendl and Jimmy Hall have been honored as Bettina Gray photographers.

BEST PROMOTIONAL FILM – Th is award recognizes the videographer whose work is judged best by the committee in consideration of aesthetics, originality, and a positive portrayal of hang gliding or paragliding. One award will be given each year. This award was created in 2005, and Ryan Voight was the recipient.

There have been numerous years where USHPA has received no nominees for several of these awards. The Awards committee would welcome some fodder for debate at the fall meeting! Please look critically at your club, your newsletter, your local instructors, your flying buddies, the members of your community who support your flying. Surely someone is deserving of recognition, and would be honored to receive one of the abovelisted awards.

For more information contact Len Smith, chairman for the Awards committee, SmithLI@bv.com. Please forward all nominations and supporting materials to the USHPA office: USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330 or online at http://www .ushga.org/emailaward.asp.

Special Commendations and Commendations are a way of offering a tangible “thank you” to all the people who make things happen in the flying community. There is no limit to how many of these awards can be presented each year. If you know someone who’s dedicated that extra bit of time, effort or financial support to an event or a site or a project, please let them know they are appreciated, and nominate them for one of these awards.

Spark, Frankie Watson, Roger Baker, Andy Austin, Ernie Reguly, Eves Tall Chief, Gary Paulin, Jackie Danskin, Larry Smith, Belinda Boulter, Davis Straub, Gary Osoba, JJ Lamarche, Joe and Karen Gorrie, Ken Baier, Malcolm Jones, Mark Forbes, Peter Perrone, Steve Kroop, Bill Wixon, Dick Vobroucek, Matthew Graham, Mike Daily, Dave Wheeler, Denise Reed, Doug Stroop, Honza Rejmanek, Jack Eckert, Pete Lehmann, Stan Hicks, Ben Rogers, Doug Allen, Marty Beckenback, Pete Reagan, Wayne Michelson

Commendation recipients (from 1985 to 2005):

Special Commendations

Branches Newsletter, Doug Hildreth, recipients (from 1994 to 2005): Free Spirit Hang Gliding Club, Gary Scheer, Hawk Talk Newsletter, Paul Art Greenfield, Barbara Voight, Rikert, Phil Haynes, Rich Romero, Producers of Newton’s Apple (TV Rod Hauser, Scott Lesnet, Barbara show), Charles Brodie (Randall Flynn, Beth Ann Miller, Bill Bryden, Airport), Elaine Elgart, Frank Menefee, Bruce Hawk, Dixon Wikner, Jerry Ranger David Carter, Emma Jane Thorenson, Peter Brookhart, Robbie Carbaugh, Mary and Karl Dahlsten, Smith, Scott Lesnet, Steve Flynn, Michele Lewis, Bonnie Bernard, Curtis Morehouse, Dan Uchytil, Dottie Harrison, Malcolm Fishburn, Deborah Beach, Eric Smith, Jacque Mr. And Mrs. Repoges, Doug Watson, Neff, Larry Majchrzak, Marilyn Raines, Bill Clayton, Bob Bonham (Reno Air Paul Voight, Frank Gillette, Jeff Elgart, Race committee), Corine Albright, Ray Rauen, Robert Ward Carter, Scott Kathy Gruentzel, Kim Bartel, Ray Westfall, Woody Abel, C.J. Sturtevant, Beaudreaux, Rick Vandam (Reno Air Dan Buchanan, John E. Lane III, Race committee), Shane Theiss and Lionel Space, Pamela Kleweno, Betty Buzzard Aeromotive, Bob McVey, Pfeiffer, Francis “Tut” Woodruff, Charles Averitt, Lawrence and Fay Gregg McNamee, Jabe Blumnethal, Kopp, Mr. and Mrs. Walker (Texas Joe Suncay, John Williamson, Sr., John ranch owners in Zapata area), Bobby Heiney, Keishya Salko, Linda Meier, McDonald, Col. James Little, Pete Reto Schaerli, William “Ben” Knight, McHugh, the Allen family and staff of Jr., Ann Sasaki, Ben Davidson, John Long Acre Farms Harris, Jules Gilpatrick, Ken Harrison, Lynda Wacht, Sharon Tubbs, Stuart Ryan Voight received the Best Promotional Video award for his short film, Destiny August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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The Awesomeness of Hang Gliding

By Meaghan Leonnig Photo by Lori Allen

Hang gliding is awesome. And I should beer you drank hanging out together in the know, because I’ve never done it. I’ve rarely landing zone.

But the craziest thing, more so than been around when you people are doing it, I don’t understand what you’re talking the fact that every one of you people went about when you speak of it, and I don’t even through intensive training to become a have the desire to hang glide myself. So pilot and you pay money to do this, is that Some of the people who make hang gliding so awewhere does my intimate knowledge of the you often have loving family members some (L to R): Donna Mathias and John Spurlock awesomeness of hang gliding come from? who support you in this. These loving and (lower launch directors), Scot Huber (winner of the Eiji Yokoda memorial trophy for the longest flight supportive family members sometimes go during From the fact that I Know People. the meet), Terri Edington (upper launch direcMy friend Lisa, in particular, is the one so far as to spend all day waiting around tor) and Lisa Tate (meet director). Terri and Donna who’s given me most of my insight into for you to get the perfect weather condi- do not fly but they still take time off work to help out, and donate their time because they love this sport hang gliding. It is in large part thanks to tions to launch and fly for 20 minutes, then (and the King Mt., Idaho, meet) so much. her that I didn’t entitle this piece “Hang these people drive around for several hours Glidering, and The People Who Love searching for you through dirt roads and to differentiate between hang gliders and Hang Gliderers.” There are a lot of fancy cow fields with nothing but a GPS and paragliders and no one else cares about the words used in this sport, as you know, but ham radio for guidance. When it comes to powered harness debate and, quite frankly, Lisa has always been kind enough to ex- fun ways to spend a Saturday, I’d put that the world could become overrun with fireplain them to me. Often this happens right up there with stamp collecting and a breathing grasshoppers before we’d be without my consent: There’ll be pilots root canal. But that’s me, and my idea of concerned about how well the organizaaround talking about how they take their an adrenaline rush is finding a second layer tion is or is not functioning. But to you, it’s flex wing out during glassoff and catch a of chocolate in the Russell Stover’s box. all important, and you’ll email each other really good thermal and then sky out, and Obviously, there’s something about the and call each other and post hate mail on Lisa will catch the glazed-over look in my sport that makes people want to do it, and Web sites and get into fights on launch, and eyes and attempt to explain what the hell there’s something about the people who I can’t help but feel a little sorry for those just happened. I smile and nod and pretend do it that makes people want to be around of us who go through life without finding to understand, but deep down inside I sus- them. And that’s pretty awesome. something to love to that extreme.

Indeed, I love being around my friend pect that she’s just making it all up – hang The point: You people are cool. You are a glider pilots just come up with a lot of odd- Lisa and all the other people I know who big-word-talking, adrenaline-seeking, passounding words so they can seem impor- hang glide. It’s especially fun when you sionately crazy, super-cool community. And tant and specialized. Either that, or you’re all are in a group together because you’re that last part of it, that community part, is just talking about stereos or pets. Why else always excited and animated and fun. I – I think – the best part about you. There would you say “wuffo” so often when I’m in still can’t decide if you hang glide because are so few unusual sports out there that your company? But still, I’ve got to admit you have these qualities or if you get these become almost a way of life, and you guys that having your own vocabulary, imagi- qualities because you hang glide. What I have embraced that and embraced each nary or not, is pretty cool, so that makes do know is that you’re a tight-knit com- other and made hang gliding into a thing munity. You’re so close that you’ll travel that is mysterious and amazing and humhang gliding awesome.

Another thing that makes hang glid- several states away to attend each other’s bling all at once. Your passion for it leaks ing awesome is that it takes guts to do it. Christmas parties, for goodness’ sake! And into the rest of us almost by osmosis so that You’ve got to have guts, and you’ve got to if you don’t know another pilot, chances are we can’t help but love hang gliding just a be at least a little crazy. I mean, the whole at least one of your friends does. But, for all little because we love how you are about it. point to hang gliding is wrapping yourself this tightness, you’re not snobbish. Hang So, I suppose what it all boils down to is in a sleeping bag, clipping yourself to some glider pilots just seem to want to enjoy life, this: The most truly awesome thing about synthetic material stretched across a metal and you’re continually welcoming us lesser hang gliding is the people who do it. frame, and proceeding to throw yourself off mortals into your group without requiring various mountains and cliffs in the hopes us to pass some sort of initiation rite first A disclaimer to paraglider pilots: The awethat there will be enough wind to keep you – unless you count driving as an initiation someness mentioned above applies to you, too, afloat, right? You’re defying the laws of rite. I do. for all the same reasons. I just didn’t specify nature, trying to be something you’re not.

But you’re also a passionate community, it because most of my acquaintances are hang You’ve got to be a little crazy. Shockingly and – as an outsider – it’s always interest- glider pilots, and I want to get invited to enough, most of you seem to have pretty ing to hear about the latest drama in the their Christmas parties next year. I’m weak. good use of your mental faculties, or at hang gliding world, since no one else but Forgive me. least those faculties you had before all the those involved knows how important it is

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August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

George Whitehill launches a Falcon 3 at Ed Levin in California.

Photo courtesy Wills Wing

Hang Glider Maintenance

By Rob Kells, staff writer, rob@willswing.com

Most pilots would not consider driving their car for years without changing the oil, but some fly their glider for years without tuning it! The best source of information on tuning your particular model should be in the owner’s manual.

Here are a few important areas that I believe pertain to almost all flex-wing hang gliders.

Tip Flutter

As you accumulate hours on your glider the sail “seats” on the frame, and it will tend to stretch chord-wise, making the batten tensions looser, especially at the wing tips. It is critical that you check and adjust the tip batten tensions, (say the shortest three curved battens), every 50 hours.

If the tip ribs become loose the sail will flutter at higher speeds. If you do not correct this immediately with tuning, the only way to get rid of the flutter will be sail work. This requires the removal of the sail from the airframe, a take-up in the tip panel, and then re-scalloping the

trailing edge. Generally if you “re-tune” your tip ribs at the first sign of flutter you can correct the problem without sail work.

In most cases just increasing the tip batten tensions to what they were when the glider was new will stop the flutter. If not, there are other options.

Twist the string: If you still have flutter after adjusting the tip battens and your glider has string batten(s) at the tip, try putting a twist in the bottom batten string before putting it on the shortest cambered batten. This will move the action point of the string closer to the trailing edge, pulling a higher percentage of the tension span-wise, as opposed to cord-wise. Doing this essentially makes a small take-up in the trailing edge by pulling the grommets slightly closer together.

Try a zip tie: If the sail still flutters after doing the steps above, try threading a plastic zip tie through the grommets at the wing tip and tighten it such that it pulls the grommets 1/8 inch closer to-

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

gether. Don’t cut off the tail of the zip tie until you’ve flown it to see if the flutter is gone. Still have flutter? Tighten the zip tie another 1/8 inch. If that didn’t fix it, the next step is sail work, unless you have a string and jam cleat in your trailing edge.

Trailing edge string: This pertains to Wills Wing gliders with curved tips. (On any other glider, I suggest that you check your manual or consult your manufacturer before changing the trailing edge string tension.) Tightening the trailing edge string will increase the tension in the scallops (curved cut) between the battens. The trailing edge string is terminated mid-span so you’ll need to detension the ribs to that point in the sail before making the adjustment. Untie the overhand knot where it exits the jam cleat at the wing tip’s trailing edge.

Unwrap the string from the cleat. Mark the string with a pen where it exits the cleat. Using a pair of needle-nose pliers, grab the string about four inches from the cleat. Twist the pliers 360 degrees so

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the string is wrapped all the way around the jaws. Failure to take this wrap when you pull the string will tear the sheath of the string. Using your pen mark for a reference, pull the string 5/8 of an inch out of the cleat, re-secure the string in the cleat, rewrap it and replace the overhand knot. Do not tighten it more than 3/4 of an inch, as it will cup the trailing edge.

If after these steps you still have flutter, contact your manufacturer to arrange for sail work.

Turn Trim On A Glider With Sprogs

In most gliders the sprogs are just floating in the sail when the VG is set at less than 50%. If you have a turn at looser VG settings and you are sure that your airframe and battens are not bent, twisting a tip down on the side the glider wants to turn towards, or up on the opposite side, is usually the best way to solve the problem.

If there is no turn at looser VG settings, but a turn appears at tighter VG settings, adjusting the sprogs is the proper tuning Root Rib Batten Tension tip. Lowering the sprog on the side the Many older gliders with 205 leech glider wants to turn towards, or raising line for batten ties experience a differ- the sprog on the opposite side, will solve ent problem than discussed above. Over the “sprog turn.” time the batten strings tend to shrink on the longer root ribs, causing them to be Reflex Support Bridle Adjustment tighter than they were set at the factory.

Over time the glider’s sail tends to Because it happens slowly over time, you shrink span-wise. This causes the grommay not notice the change. Too much mets that the bridles are mounted in tension in the root ribs introduces more to get closer to the keel, which lowers reflex in the glider, causing an increase in the setting. Also, as the glider ages the stall speed and a decrease in handling. If bottom side wires stretch and the bridle your glider has become stiffer over time cables stretch, both of which also lower check the root rib tensions. Excessive ad- the bridle setting. We pitch-tested one of verse yaw (nose yaws left when you try to our gliders that had 400 hours on it and it roll right) is a good indication that the did not come close to passing the test. It root ribs are too tight. did test normally after we shimmed the

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bridles back to the original spec. Check your bridles in fl ight. On a sunny day you can see their shadows through the trailing edge. If they move excessively when you shake the control bar back and forth in pitch, they are probably too loose.

Again, check the manual or ask the manufacturer for guidance here.

Bottom Side Wire Replacement

I’ve written about this before, but I do so again because it is the easiest-toavoid structural failure in hang gliding, and one of the most common. We put a 90-degree kink in a 3/32 - 7x7 stainless cable, and then loaded it 100 times to simulate one G in fl ight. When new, this cable will fail at 1000 pounds. Our test sample failed at only 500 pounds! It is good insurance to replace your bottom side wires once a year, or any time you see that there is a noticeable bend in a wire.

The bottom side wires are the most critical because they carry most of the load in fl ight.

I welcome your comments on this or any other subject. Please fly safely!

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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Paragliding Accident Report

By Jon Goldberg-Hiller, staff writer

One likely, though not proven, cause A P-4 pilot died this spring after failing to exit a deep spiral. The pilot launched of this tragic accident may be a deep and his DHV 1-2 wing in light thermal con- “locked-in” spiral. A spiral should not be ditions in the late afternoon at an inland confused with a spin; it is, rather, a steep site. Winds were reported to be below turning maneuver with a full-flying wing 12 mph and thermals were described by in which the pilot’s body has swung wide fellow pilots as gentle, steady and abun- of the wing’s turning radius. Older wings dant. After flying for about half an hour, may be more susceptible to deep spirals, the pilot was witnessed to start a turn and and wings with a smaller aspect ratio to experience a small asymmetric defla- or shorter lines may also surprise pilots tion while several hundred feet over a with their spiral behavior because of their bailout landing zone. His wing then en- benign appearances, but any wing may tered a very tight spiral. The reserve chute enter a tight spiral after an asymmetric was found deployed, but it did not appear collapse, cravat, or stall. Deep spirals may to have inflated before the pilot collided “lock in” when the canopy rotates towards with the ground. A fellow pilot radioed the ground; g-forces on the pilot increase others and made an emergency descent dramatically and brake pressures intento the site of the crash and began CPR. sify quickly and severely with the added Emergency services were called and para- wing loading, making usual inputs inadmedics arrived about 20 minutes later and equate for recovery. As a partially psychocontinued CPR with an unsuccessful out- logical situation, it is the disorientation caused both by the high g-forces and the come.

22

perceived lack of control that makes the wing feel locked.

It is possible to recover from spirals of this intensity with the proper inputs.

These may include bringing the hands up to a neutral position and weight shifting to the outside while releasing pressure on the inside brake to permit automatic recovery, as is commonly done with spirals.

Under conditions of continuing rotation, it may be necessary to use both brakes together to slow the spiral enough for recovery. In more extreme conditions such as following a big asymmetric collapse, it may take all the strength of both arms on the outside brake to slow the spiral.

Even though some of these recovery techniques may appear to be regular inputs to a locked-in wing, the confusion of a quickly rotating wing, the dizzying effects of powerful rotation, or the need to use much more than the normal or

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

expected force to actually deflect the brakes makes these especially troubling events.

The use of the reserve may be the most successful recovery method, particularly when close to the ground. Deep spirals can involve descent rates as high as several thousand feet per minute and pilots experiencing disorientation due to rapid rotation may have only seconds to grab a reserve handle prior to impact. SIV courses may increase awareness of the rapidity of entry, and they may serve to lessen confusion in light of the intense sensations of a locked-in spiral. But just like hypoxia, in which unawareness of disorientation is a symptom, any maneuver causing disorientation poses a danger of misrecognizing the danger we are in.

Unfortunately, this is not the first fatality reported in the past year to have involved a spiral into the ground. Because these spirals can involve confusion, it is important to remain aware of both the possibility of and the recovery procedures for exiting confusing and disorienting maneuvers. Never forget the opportunity of reaching for your reserve in situations that you cannot understand or sort out.

In another accident, a P-3 pilot who had recently lost weight and was contemplating acquiring a more appropriatesized wing was demoing a smaller DHV 1 glider at a coastal soaring site in light conditions. The pilot was low at ridge level, downwind of a promontory known by some locals to produce mechanical turbulence, when he suffered a 50- to 70percent asymmetric deflation. The glider rotated about 90 degrees during recovery and the pilot found himself flying directly towards the promontory again. He suffered another small deflation in the turbulence and his glider surged in front of him as he touched down on the cliff. His glider continued to fly forward and pulled him down into a small ravine where he struck his face on a rock that successfully navigated his full-face helmet. He required 11 stitches to close his face wound.

Flying downwind of any natural obstruction is a risky venture, even in light winds, but the danger in this case was likely compounded by the increase in wing loading of the smaller glider. The pilot reported to a witness that he had not expected the surge that followed the

second deflation. In general, a larger wing loading (resulting from a smaller wing surface for a given weight) leads to a more dynamic recovery and larger altitude loss during the recovery. This may result in a surprise to a pilot accustomed to flying a large wing under its weight range.

Tandem pilots are more used to the handling and recovery characteristics of different wing loadings since their students come in varying sizes. Special caution should be taken by solo pilots changing wing sizes – even when the change is made to more adequately match the glider’s placarded weight range – as the demands of deflation recovery and handling in turbulence are likely to be unpredictable. This caution extends to other flying activities as well, as the next accident reveals.

An experienced pilot was kiting an undersized wing in a coastal landing zone in winds of 15 to 18 mph. He was approxi-

It is important to remember that even while kiting we remain pilots: We may become temporarily airborne. mately 100 pounds above the weight range for the glider and was being pushed by another pilot, which allowed him to gain several feet of altitude before he settled back down to the grass. A beginning pilot took over the play but pushed in such a manner that the pilot gained greater height. At the top of this arc a strong gust of wind topping 22 mph rushed through the LZ, and the pilot was blown backwards into a nearby parked car. His right foot crashed through a rear passenger window and his left crashed through the driver’s window up to his knees. He was then dragged up and out of the vehicle, during which time broken glass and plastic window guards deeply cut his legs and a foot. He continued downwind to another parked car that he hit with his head. Other pilots in the kiting field ran for his wing and held onto it while he unclipped. He suffered serious lacerations to his feet, knees and legs and was hospitalized overnight.

This accident warns us of the dangers of strong winds, even with the expected

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mitigation of a smaller wing. Although a smaller wing – all other aspects being held equal – will have somewhat better penetration in strong winds, kiting so far out of the weight range makes handling unpredictable, especially in gusty conditions. Wind forces rise geometrically with velocity, and strong gusts can quickly reduce the perceived differences between a small and a larger-sized wing in the high wind speeds that this pilot experienced, dissipating the 100 pounds handling advantage that the pilot thought he had.

The danger in this case was compounded by having another person play beach ball with the kiting pilot. There are some activities such as lifting pushes that are difficult for the pilot to control, making him much more passive than is prudent for a pilot in command. But wind and gusts of this magnitude are not likely to help; gusts as fast as a glider can fly put the pilot at their mercy, reducing or eliminating the possibility of control. It is important to remember that even while kiting we remain pilots: We may become temporarily airborne. Choosing conditions, locations, and activities that keep us in control is crucial to safe piloting.

Every reported accident holds a lesson (or several lessons) for the rest of us.

Please continue to send in your report on any accident or incident that you witness or experience. The online accident report form is easy to fill out; you’ll find it at http://www.ushga.org/emailacc.asp.

Jon Goldberg-Hiller was licensed to fly sailplanes at the age of 16 and began flying paragliders (now his exclusive access to airtime) in 1990. He founded the Cascade Paragliding Club in Portland, Oregon, to develop flying sites and friendships among pilots back when there were few sites or pilots, and to develop and share safety information in a sport too young to have accumulated much information to share. Jon moved to O‘ahu in 1993 where he now flies along the Ko‘olau Mountains when he can sneak away from his teaching job at the University of Hawai‘i. He has flown throughout the North American west and in the Alps where he likes to consider Annecy, France, a second home base. He cried when peer pressure and his safety awareness finally forced him to give up his ITV swing seat.

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HANG GLIDER-RELATED PHILATELIC ART & GRAPHICS, Part 2

By Terry Ferrer ©2005

BRAZIL ‘79 SOUVENIR SHEET

ANTIGUA ‘79 HANG GLIDING CARTOON SOUVENIR SHEET

A lovely pastoral scene of Walt Disney characters enjoying a sunny day in the countryside. This is a single souvenir sheet based on a 1979-80 Transportation set of stamps depicting Disney characters in various modes of transport.

Nothing illustrates the phrase “being behind the glider” better than this image of Goofy as he hangs on for dear life, shortly after launching a biplane-type glider from a giant slingshot, off a watercolor-green bunny slope. Two buzzards are shaken up.

Mickey shoots a photo of Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie as they observe Goofy’s aerial antics. But wait, Huey’s got his duck-bill immersed in a magazine – probably the latest issue of Playduck, or a copy of an AFLAC brochure. Goofy’s obviously flown this glider before as it has fabric patches on the wing and tail (presumably from hard landings on the grassy plain). In his rush to take off, he forgot his harness! We hope he only does a little ground skimming before he slips off the leading edge of the wing. The

The first hang glider on a souvenir sheet!

Shown at 90% Issued July 16, 1979, this souvenir sheet commemorates the Third Exhibition of Topical Stamps of the World, and the First Inter-American Exhibition of Classical Philately, September 15-23, 1979, at the Hotel Horsa Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Too bad the hang glider art didn’t make it onto the stamp part of the souvenir sheet – it would’ve rivaled Indonesia for the world’s first hang gliding stamp. The glider resembles a Wills Wing Swallowtail SST, circa 1978-79. But this one has deflexors. Its front and back bottom flying wires are missing. It also has some of the Brazilian national colors on one wingtip. These days hang gliders and paragliders regularly glide past the Hotel Nacional on their way to a beach landing in Rio. Got a magnifying lens? Look at the stamp closely. Check out the figure in the bushes in front of the hotel. By the way, the hotel is now a condominium.

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alliterative phrase, “Get a grip, Goof!” comes to mind. I’m sure the Disneyana collectors and the folks in Antigua view this stamp and think, “Yep, that’s ‘hand’ gliding. See him hanging by his hands!”

It’s a nice, collectible Disneyana souvenir sheet, even with an overly large empty area of sky above the scene. The font choice is odd. At first glance it reads “Anticua” instead of Antigua. For maximum readability, a font with more differentiation between the “C and the “G” would’ve been a better choice.

FIRST POWERED HANG GLIDER FLIGHT From LONDON to PARIS – 1979

Scan courtesy of Andy Braidwell, British hang Glider pilot. (He and I got into a bidding war for this cover on eBay. He won, but was gracious enough to email me a scan of the cover after I told him I was writing this article.)

August 25 through August 28, 1979. “This cover is one of 1000 flown on the first powered hang glider fl ight from London to Paris. It was carried in a pouch on the back of the pilot, Mr. Gerry Breen. The fl ight was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first commercial operations between London and Paris, and was sponsored by British Airways and the Royal Air Force Museum.

“The hang glider was a Hiway Super Scorpion with a McCulloch 125cc converted go-cart engine. The maximum cruising speed was 40 mph in zero wind conditions.

“The fl ight started at 0915 hours on the 25th day of August, 1979, from Biggin Hill, England. Because of light winds, the take-off was made from the roof of a vehicle traveling at 30 mph, a take-off method pioneered by Mr. Breen. Once airborne, he followed a route over Sevenoaks, Ashford to the old WW2 airfield of Hawkinge. This stage took one hour and 50 minutes.

“The next day it was decided to attempt the Channel crossing although the conditions were far from perfect. Turbulent winds made take-off hazardous but Mr. Breen became airborne on his second attempt. An RAF search-and-rescue helicopter escorted the hang glider across the channel while a fast launch August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

unsuccessfully endeavored to follow below. The crossing took 40 minutes. The glider landed at Le Torquet airfield 30 minutes later.

“Take-off the next morning was delayed because of certain minor engine problems. The hang glider had been airborne only for about 30 minutes when the engine drive-shaft sheared, causing Mr. Breen to land hastily in a corn field near Conchet le Temple, France. A French lightplane pilot saw the glider land and sped to the spot to see if he could help. In a matter of hours, he and the escorting ground crew had repaired the shaft and the hang glider continued to Abbeville.

“Although the fl ight took only 40 minutes, Mr. Breen became exhausted because of wind turbulence. However, upon reaching Abbeville, he learned that another hang glider had landed at Le Torquet intending to be the first to Paris. Mr. Breen therefore decided to press on and flew to Beauvais.

“The weather had by this time calmed and conditions were perfect. Breen made good time until he was about 30 minutes from his destinat ion when he caught up with a storm front moving in the same direction. He knew that it would be dangerou s to fly into the rain and so he circled in the clearer weather whilst it passed. The fl ight from Abbeville to Beauvais took 1 hour and 35 minutes.

“The next day, 28th of August, he took off from Beauvais. After an uneventful fl ight, hampered only by a head wind, Mr. Breen completed the final stage of the fl ight to St. Cyr airfield in Paris in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Throughout the whole journey he used less than five gallons of petrol.”1 Like the 1974 British FDC in the fi rst article in this series (May 2006), the pilot, Gerry Breen, also signed this one. Gerry Breen started his long aviation career when only 13 years old at the Bristol & Gloucester Gliding Club. In 1972 he became one of the first people in the UK to successfully fly a hang glider (a homemade polythene plastic and scaffold tube “Bamboo Bomber”).

He was the first person to hang glide from the summit of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, and he held the British and European duration record several times. He was undoubtedly the first person to coin the word “microlight.” He and his late great friend Kelvin Wilson were the first people to fly hang gliders from the summit of Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall (3000’), in Venezuela.

Gerry has taken part in many fi lm and television documentaries. They range from flying as a stunt pilot to training pilots for a James Bond fi lm. In 1985, Gerry and his late wife, Manuela, moved to Lagos, on the southern coast of the Gerry Breen in his Acrosport Biplane Algarve region of Portugal. They opened up a fl ight school, where he is the chief flying instructor, teaching both weight-shift and three-axis microlights, and aerobatics in his Acrosport biplane. He also fl ies helicopters, seaplanes, autogyros, sailplanes, hang gliders and paragliders. He has now amassed over 14,000 hours flying experience on more than 200 aircraft types. 2

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SPORT In SUID AFRIKA, HANG GLIDING CACHET – 1983

This July 20, 1983, first day cover commemorates sports in South Africa, the subject matter of the four stamps being soccer, horse racing, rugby and sailing. Three “lesser” sports made it onto the cachet art, but not as regular-issue South African postage stamps.

South Africa has yet to issue a hang gliding theme postage stamp.

The cachet illustration on the left side of the envelope is what we’re interested in. It’s an exciting work of art

in a realistic style – a composite image “standards” were introduced. of a hang glider and pilot, road-racing We know they weren’t flying standard motorcycle and rider, and surfer and hang gliders in South Africa in 1983. wave. Again we find an illustration of The artist who did the illustration of the a “standard” hang glider executed standard glider wasn’t given an image of more than 10 years after an up-to-date hang glider as a reference source. Even though the one side flying wire could’ve been a tad more prominent, it’s still really good art.

The view is a low-angle illustration of the hang glider and motorcycle, but a flat angle view of the surfer. Placing the motorcycle below the glider, and the surfer and wave under the wing would have made a better composite image, as the curved top of the wave would’ve followed the curve of the trailing edge of the glider sail. With the title text placed under the cachet image there would have still been ample space for a return address.

Footnotes: 1 Info card, First London to Paris Flight by Hang Glider FDC 2 www20.brinkster.com/gerrybreen/index1.htm

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Central Utah:

So Many Mountains, So Little Time

Article and photo by Stacy Whitmore

I am standing on Cove launch, 8700’ MSL, with the valley floor 3000 feet below me on a beautiful summer day. I took my first paragliding lesson just over a year ago. It was love at first fl ight. I have been driving my wife and kids crazy ever since with talk of flying, and I have been spending every spare minute searching for and trying out launch sites.

The wind this evening is southwest at 10-15 mph. Perfect. I had hurried home from work to try and squeeze a fl ight in because the NOAA weather station on the ridge indicated that the flying might be good. I call my wife on the radio.

“I’m launching now.”

“OK, dear, have a nice time but remember the play starts at 7:30.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

My son is doing vocal percussion for the high school production of Charlie Brown. He is less expensive than a drum

got buried in Pharaoh’s Tomb. I ended set, and sounds better.

I do a nice reverse launch and get up landing 1000 feet below launch and it lifted off before I make it to the edge of was 11 p.m. before I got back to the car. I the ridge. As I feel the steady lift I feel have soared to the top of Cove Mountain a freedom, a calm power that frees me before but that was on the north side. It’s from the stifl ing imprisonment of the a much easier climb from there.

Pharaoh’s Ridge is treating me well two-dimensional world. I am now a creature of the air, peer to the eagle and the – I am climbing with each pass, but if I turn away from the ridge I get turbuhawk who join me oft times.

Turning south, I work the lift for a lence. Like a drunk guy in a car crash, I minute before benching to the “Cab,” 400 remind myself, remembering the advice feet above launch. “Be patient in the lift,” of Chris Santacroce. He had seen me I remind myself. “Just relax and enjoy it.” flying at Point of the Mountain earlier in Now I bench back to Pharaoh’s Ridge, a the spring and told me, “Lean back, keep nice southwest-facing slope, very smooth your feet together and relax. Magical and a half-mile long, that will take me up things will happen when you loosen up and feel the wing.” another 600 feet.

At 400 feet above the top of the ridge Pharaoh’s Ridge is my destination for this fl ight. Three weeks earlier I had I head out in front. My vario indicates tried to bench from Pharaoh’s Ridge to this is more than just ridge lift, and I the “N,” the last ridge before the top of start a smooth circle. Whoa! This could Cove Mountain at 11,223 feet MSL, but be better than I’d expected! After five

Cove Mountain from the north side, taken from Richfield, 11 miles northwest 1. Cove launch, 8700’ 2. The Cab, 9100’ 3. Pharaoh’s Ridge, 9700’ 4. The “N,” 10,200’ 5. The top of Cove Mountain, 11,223’ 6. Pharaoh’s Tomb – a lousy place to sink out

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circles I am right over the “N.” I never me to the east is Koosharem Valley and even had to bench; I just rode the ther- the 30-mile 2000-foot ridge coming off mal clear across Pharaoh’s Tomb, and Parker Mountain.

Almost as soon as my courage is back I’m still going up. I’m passing my altitude record of 11,500’. Chris, you were right my vario begins singing again. I ride the second thermal up to 13,200’ and – this is magical.

At 12,500’ I straighten it out and head look 2000 feet down directly at the top back down the mountain. OK, I chick- of Cove Mountain. Wow, what a view ened out. I was worried about the winds – what a feeling!

My wife calls on the radio. “I am leavaloft, I tell myself, although at 12,500’ I ing for the play. I have some food for am penetrating just fine.

What a view! The Sevier valley Robert because I want him to have somestretches for 50 miles in a panorama thing to eat before it starts. How are you before me. I think it is the most beautiful doing?”

“I am at 13,000 feet. I want to fly diplace in the world, in no small part because there are so many great places to fly rectly from here to the play. I have 8000 and so many LZs. I look to the south and feet and 11 miles to Richfield. With any I can see past Marysvale to the Junction luck I could land right at the park. Would Mountain launch that has a morning you mind picking me up if I come up a thermal site that the hangies have ridden couple miles short?”

“Absolutely not! I have Robert’s supper clear back to Point of the Mountain.

To the north is the 1500’ Bull Run hill to worry about and besides, what about where I have pioneered four different your car? Do you know how busy tomorlaunch sites, and beyond that the Venice row is already?”

“Oh, yeah, reality.” So I follow the hill where a herd of 200 deer and a single antelope race me when I fly, and beyond ridge back down and make a nice top that the Sigurd Gap, and then the Salina landing right by the car. I have 29 minwaves… all good places to fly. Behind utes to get to the play.

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As I slide into the seat next to my wife at 7:31 she says, “ The play hasn’t started but you missed the overture.” I just smile and nod, and with some difficulty I draw my thoughts away from my incredible fl ight. With that “Wow!” feeling still lingering in the back of my mind, I find myself anticipating with great pleasure my talented son’s performance.

Stacy Whitmore, age 46, has been married to Judy for 22 years and has six children between ages 12 and 21, He learned to fly paragliders in 2004, was a P-2 at the time of this flight in July of 2005, and has recently received his P-4 and T-1 ratings. A math and music teacher by profession, he’s working with Ken Hudonjorgensen to get his T-3 rating this summer. Stacy says, “I earned my airplane pilot’s license when I was 18, but with college and family it became too expensive. After my first paragliding flight I realized that airplanes fly – you are inside of them. With paragliding you are really flying, and as soon as I am airborne, I am home.”

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Revisiting “Speed is Life” in the Chasing Phantoms : June 2006 issue

By Mike Meier

they attempt to maintain the perception of groundspeed they have become accustomed to while flying down the gradual slope of the training hill.)

If a pilot is turned downwind and finds himself flying towards that same slope, he is presented with a drastically different picture of a groundspeed that is much higher, and is apparently increas° You can’t prove it by Brad’s equa- ing, as well as a perception that he is diving towards the ground. The temption, R = V2 /g. ° It may have limited applicability to tation to respond by “slowing down” is so compelling as to be almost irresisthang glider fl ight. ible, and by the act of slowing down, the Let’s talk hang gliders first, because pilot virtually guarantees that he will not the physics and the equations are unlike- have the control to turn away before hitting the hill. Accidents of this type are ly to interest most readers.

Brad makes a very valid point in his often attributed to “stalling” on the part article, and the point is this: A significant of the pilot, but in many cases, if there number of serious hang gliding accidents is a stall, it is an almost irrelevant byhave occurred because pilots have found product of the true underlying pilot error themselves flying too slowly to have adequate that causes the accident.

So in this sense, the admonition to control of the glider, and subsequently have failed to speed up promptly enough to regain keep one’s speed up is both relevant and entirely appropriate, and probably control prior to hitting the ground.

The classic scenario for this accident is cannot be repeated too often.

On the other hand, there are limithat shortly after launch the pilot turns or gets turned towards the hill, and thus tations to this advice that should be at least partly downwind, and fl ies into recognized. Another all-too-common the terrain before recovering control. The scenario in hang gliding is one that reason that this scenario can lead to a crash Until we become very experienced at so quickly and so easily life in three dimensions in a moving is that until we become very experienced at life and invisible medium, we are extremely in three dimensions susceptible to becoming confused between in a moving and invisairspeed and groundspeed. ible medium, we are extremely susceptible to becoming confused between airspeed involves our first-time high-altitude and groundspeed, especially when the pilot alluded to above. After launch, visual cues we’re receiving include the the pilot experiences the perception of very significant difference in sight pic- a loss of airspeed while gliding away ture between gliding over terrain which from the hill. Worried about “stalling,” is sloping away beneath us, as opposed he pulls in to try to maintain the perto over terrain which is rising in front of ceived groundspeed to which he is acus. Flying away from a slope, into the customed. As his speed increases, his wind, presents a picture of relatively slow glider becomes rapidly more sensitive groundspeed, with the additional per- to roll control inputs, whether intendception that our groundspeed is dimin- ed or inadvertent, and pretty soon he ishing as our altitude increases. (This can is in a diving turn. He quickly moves lead to pilots mistakenly flying too fast over on the bar to correct the turn, during their first high altitude fl ights, as but the wing overshoots his intended

It may be true, as Brad Spencer writes, that the best way to recover an F4 Phantom from straight down at 200 knots at 10,000 feet is to go to full afterburners and accelerate to 400 knots before initiating a pull-up. Not ever having been a Phantom pilot, I don’t know. If it is true, I believe two other things are also true:

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

heading, and goes into an even greater turn in the other direction. Feeling that he is losing control, he speeds up even more, because he has been taught that more speed yields more control (which is true only up to a point), and again aggressively moves laterally on the bar against the turn. Within two or three cycles, the pilot is in a full-blown highspeed roll/yaw oscillation, from which his only hope of recovery is to slow down.

In most cases, pilots figure this out, slow down and recover before hitting the ground, but there have been documented cases of fatal accidents where pilots flew into the terrain after losing control in a high-speed oscillation.

So the question of whether “Speed Is Life” or not may be very context sensitive.

I think what we can say without qualification is that CONTROL is life. Control will be lost for sure if one fl ies too slowly,

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but it can also be lost in a modern flexwing hang glider by flying too fast.

Finally, there is another reason to call into question the applicability of the recommended F4 procedure, and that is the specified initial conditions. In the real world, we very seldom find ourselves really pointing straight down in a hang glider. What feels like straight down is usually something considerably shallower.

Thus, we’re more likely to hit the ground as a result of an inability to turn away due to loss of directional control than we are from not being able to pull out of a steep dive before reaching the ground.

What is true about Brad’s advice is that a certain amount of airspeed is necessary for control, and consequently, you don’t want to prevent the glider from accelerating to that speed where you can effectively turn the glider away from the hill. In a true vertical dive, there’s virtually nothing you could do to prevent that acceleration – it will happen so quickly that nothing you do will affect it much one way or another. In the more common

30

scenario of a slightly nose-down attitude, combined with a very low airspeed, and a heading that is towards the slope of the hill, you could significantly and dangerously delay the glider’s acceleration to minimum controllable airspeed by holding the control bar out. In this situation, letting the bar in and picking up some speed to regain control as quickly as possible, and then turning away from the hill, as Brad describes, is exactly the right thing to do.

This ends the relatively non-technical, and primarily hang gliding part – the rest is mostly physics and arithmetic. For those of you not interested in either, this is the time to skip ahead to some other part of the magazine.

Brad’s equation, R = V2 /g, gives the radius of the circular path for an object moving at speed V, and undergoing a centripetal acceleration of magnitude g.

The term g in this equation, more commonly written as “a,” is not really a “force” as Brad characterized it, but an acceleration. One could, however, think of it in terms of the number of “g’s” the object would feel, by dividing its magnitude by the value of one g of acceleration produced by a normal gravitational field.

Brad’s claim is that if you can produce a higher centripetal acceleration, since the “g” factor is in the denominator, you can make the R value smaller – i.e. reduce the radius of the turn. Up to that point, this is a true statement.

However, you cannot, by this equation at least, reduce the radius by speeding up, because the speed appears in the numerator of the

equation as well. You can think of this equation in these terms – the numerator gives the acceleration required for a given radius turn, and the denominator gives the acceleration provided or available.

The force to produce that acceleration in a turning aircraft comes from the lift provided by the wings, and the maximum lift those wings can produce turns out to be, to a first approximation, proportional to the square of the airspeed. Thus, in essence, “V squared” appears in both the numerator and denominator, and cancels itself out with regard to affecting the value of R. It would be my guess that computing the optimum speeds for various maneuvers in an F4 is probably somewhat more complex than the simplest analysis Newton’s mechanics would provide, and probably takes into account the specific performance parameters of that aircraft, which are likely not the same across its entire speed range.

Even without considering variations on aircraft turn performance as a function of speed, however, Brad’s equation alone is incomplete with regard to even the simplest application of Newtonian mechanics to computing the pull-out of an aircraft from a vertical dive. It does not include the effect on the trajectory of the weight of the aircraft, which adds a constant force in the downward direction, which has to be included in the computation of the aircraft’s fl ight path.

Because of this additional force acting on the aircraft it turns out that it is advantageous – in producing a smaller radius of turn during a pull-up – to have more speed during the maneuver. However, it also turns out, at least in the simplest analysis from Newton’s mechanics, that in terms of minimum recovery altitude, you cannot gain any advantage by diving straight down to gain this speed. It’s possible to write some pretty simple equations for computing the trajectory of a hang glider – given an initial condition of moving straight down at some speed, and having the pilot apply nose-up pitch control at varying points during the maneuver. What they show is what one might intuitively suspect – the recovery to level fl ight consumes the least altitude when it is started as soon as possible.

The graph shows two such computed

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Recovery Trajectories 0 0

5

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-5

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Mike Meier has been a master-rated hang glider pilot since 1980, and has test-flown more hang gliders than most of us will ever see in our lifetime of flex-wing flying. He’s also one of the sport’s most reader-friendly technical writers, and is often called upon to de-mystify the more cerebral aspects of flying a hang glider.

Pilots waiting to launch at Mara Lake, B.C.

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Brad continues the discussion with a response to the above article. You can read his comments online at http://www.ushga.org/article41.asp.

Photo: Naomi M. Gray

trajectories. Both start with the glider moving straight down, traveling at 10 mph. In one, the pilot initiates the pull out immediately by going immediately to the maximum lift angle of attack (just below stall). In the other, the pilot holds the angle of attack at near zero, diving straight down to gain speed, and then goes to maximum lift angle of attack.

The first pilot pulls out higher, with less total altitude lost. The second pilot pulls out more quickly with less loss of altitude after the recovery is initiated, but the total altitude lost in the recovery, including the initial dive to gain speed, is greater. In your likely experience in the real world, you can probably neglect both graphs, because, as we’ve said, you probably won’t find yourself pointing anywhere near straight down. In the situation you are much more likely to face – a somewhat nose-down attitude, with a low airspeed and heading towards the hill but with room to recover, let the control bar in to gain speed as Brad advises, and then turn away.

31

;^cY^c\ i]Z H`n/ AZVgc^c\ id HdVg! EVgi By Paul Villinski

Photo courtesy Swing

32

Photo courtesy Philippe Renaudin, Sup’Air USA

An early “parapente” with nine bulging cells

Paragliders are quite a recent arrival in the world of heavier-than-air flying craft.

Todd Bibler, a veteran cross-country pilot and major presence in the world of competitive flying, told me recently that he’d started flying paragliders about fifteen years ago. I asked if that wasn’t about the time they were invented. He replied dryly that it was a couple of years before that.

In the late 1970s, French alpinists who liked climbing up mountains but didn’t relish the descent began experimenting with the idea of gliding back down.

Using square parachuting jump canopies they began to hurl themselves off mountainsides, with enough success that gliding under a lightweight, all-fabric wing soon became an interest in its own right.

Calling the new sport “parapente,” they developed the first dedicated paragliding canopies, which were, needless to say, extremely primitive by today’s standards.

Rectangular in shape, with nine bulging cells, they barely managed a glide ratio of three-to-one, traveling forward a mere three feet for each foot they descended.

Basically, they fell like a rock.

Still, the idea of a backpackable flying machine which could easily be hiked up a mountainside had taken hold, and the gliders rapidly evolved. Within a few years, the “squares” were gone, replaced by wings that were shaped more like, well, wings.

These were narrow ellipses, with spans five or six times their chord, or width. The number of ribs and cells increased as well, giving the airfoil a smoother silhouette for less drag. By the mid ‘80s, as the performance of the wings improved and glide ratios of five-to-one were achieved, the game changed again.

Now, rather than simply launching from an elevation and gliding down to land at a lower point, pilots discovered that soaring, or staying aloft by flying in air which is rising more quickly than the aircraft is sinking, had become possible.

Preceding the developments in France by two decades was the work

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of David Barish, an American engineer who specialized in theoretical aerodynamics. Between 1964 and 1968 he was at work on designs for a huge parachute to bring NASA’s five-ton Apollo space capsules safely back to earth. To evaluate some of his initial models, Barish, a New Yorker, used a charmingly low-tech testbed, deploying them in the breeze created by the Staten Island Ferry as it steamed across the harbor. His research resulted in the “Sailwing,” a narrow, doublesurface parachute made of low porosity spinnaker cloth which achieved a glide ratio of 4.2-to-1 in Air Force tests.

In September of 1965, Barish made what can safely be called the first paraglider fl ight, launching himself under a Sailwing off a slope at Bel Air, a ski resort in the Catskills.

Many fl ights and a few tree landings later, he realized the potential for a new sport, and dubbed it “slope soaring.” The following summer he and his son set off on a demonstration tour visiting U.S. ski resorts. He was, as they say, too far

33

Photo: Bill Nikolai

Photo courtesy Philippe Renaudin, Sup’Air USA

David Barish flying one of his early wings in New York State

ahead of his time, and slope soaring had to take a back seat to his other professional interests. Twenty-seven years later, he got a glimpse of the sport he’d anticipated when he happened to drive past the flying site at Ellenville, N.Y., and spotted dozens of paragliders in the skies overhead, all flown by pilots who’d never even heard of a Sailwing. His interest in paragliding rekindled, the 80-year-old Barish has recently designed several new prototypes, sewing them up himself in his Manhattan apartment, and test flying them at Ellenville. (See the Pilot Profile article on David Barish in the October 2004 issue of this magazine. – ed.)

As paragliding came into its own in Europe, dozens of designers and manufacturers sprang up, and the ensuing competition furthered the performance and safety of the wings. To objectively measure and rate the comparative safety of the new gliders, two independent organizations, one German, the other French, were born. There, experienced test pilots fly each wing through a set routine, in-

34

ducing all the malfunctions that might be encountered by a paraglider, and evaluating the ease and speed with which it recovers to normal fl ight. After subjecting the wing to collapses, stalls, spins and the like, it is certified as either a Beginner glider, (extremely safe and fully self-recovering), a Standard glider, (very safe, but may require some input from the pilot to recover), or a Competition glider, (requiring pilot input to recover, but very high performing). The German (DHV) testers rate the wings numerically.

In 1991, once paragliding had established a foothold in the U.S., it was brought under the auspices of the United States Hang Gliding Association, a pilotsupported organization of 11,000 members at the time. Paragliding and hang gliding fall under the category of “ultralight” aircraft which the Federal Aviation Association allows to be “self-regulated,” and the USHGA, incorporated as a non-profit in 1974 (now USHPA), is the means by which the sports achieve that regulation. Although it is possible in

Paragliding in Japan August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

some places to fly a paraglider without a USHPA ticket, most American pilots are members. The USHPA created standards for training and pilot proficiency, and offers certifications from the P-1 beginner rating to a P-5 master rating, along with endorsements for special skills such as tow launching, cliff launching, flying in turbulence, and cross-country flying.

A current novice (P-2) or intermediate (P-3) rating is required at many U.S. flying sites. Additionally, the USHPA oversees training and certification of instructors, and covers its members who fly at sanctioned sites with a twomillion-dollar liability policy. Similar organizations exist to govern free-flight in many other countries where paragliding occurs.

The contemporary paraglider is a CAD-designed amalgam of high-tech materials which belie its apparent simplicity. Lightweight, low-porosity, ultravioletresistant ripstop nylon is the material of choice for the wing’s outer surfaces, while the ribs usually employ a Mylar stiffener

along the leading edge to help the airfoil hold its shape. Generally, paragliders now have between 30 to 50 cells, with internal cross-porting to keep the wing uniformly pressurized. Suspension lines have cores of Kevlar or Dyneema, both materials of fantastic tensile strength.

An outer shroud of colorful nylon protects the cores and makes the lines easier to handle.

Every component of the glider is designed and tested to withstand twelve positive G’s of

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35

36

Soaring in the Alps Photo courtesy Swing

Photo: Dick Jackson

St. Hilaire, France

loading, as spiral dives and certain aerobatic maneuvers will, in fact, subject them to tremendous stress.

Although the performance of today’s paragliders is still surpassed by traditional delta-wing hang gliders, paragliding has come a long way in the last decade.

Now many intermediate gliders routinely achieve sink rates of 200 feet per minute and glide ratios of eight-to-one, surpassing the hot competition ships of only a few years ago, yet with far more passive safety. The record for straight-line distance is continually being revised upward, the most recent by Will Gadd for a fl ight from Zapata, Texas, of nearly 260 miles (423.4km). Gadd feels certain that the 300-mile mark will shortly be broken – impressive for an aircraft that’s really nothing more than a 15-pound nylon bag fi lled with air.

Today there are more than 40 manufacturers of paragliders, in most of the European countries, as well as Israel, Japan, and Brazil. My wing, made by the well-known Nova company, was designed in Austria and sewn in Hungary.

My harness and reserve parachute come from France. My helmet comes from Italy, my fl ight instruments from Germany, Taiwan and Japan, and the container

which holds them from Brazil. Sadly, there are no U.S. manufacturers of paragliders. This is due largely to the fact that the U.S. represents only a tiny sector of the market.

Although the USHPA membership is nearly 10,000, more than half of these are pilots of traditional delta-wing hang gliders. Of the 4000 paragliding members, some percentage of these are inactive, making the American paraglider pilot a very rare bird indeed.

Consider these numbers in light of the fact that approximately half a million

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37

Photo: Dick Jackson

Coupe Icare wackiness

Americans become newly certified to SCUBA dive every year.

In Europe and Japan it’s another story. Japan alone is said to have perhaps 50,000 who consider themselves paraglider pilots. The numbers are equally impressive among the progenitors of the sport, the French. Philippe Renaudin, a French paragliding instructor who took up the sport in 1987, describes watching entire families – mom, dad, and the kids – hiking up to launch in the Lake Annecy region of the French Alps, each with a paraglider bag on their back. (Now that’s a family outing!) Every September the French Alps is also home to the Coupe Icare, or “Icarus Cup,” a largescale flying festival which annually attracts 100,000 visitors. It features what is incontestably the most eccentric of all free-fl ight events, in which hundreds of ambitiously-costumed pilots launch from the mountains overlooking St. Hilaire.

During the festival, it is not unusual to see a pilot contained inside a realistic 12-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower ambling down the grassy launching area and

38

floating off towards the valley. Or a team of four stilt-walking pilots, wearing costumes that suddenly inflate, transforming them into giant flying Michelin men.

Wackiness of the Coupe Icare aside, in these countries paragliding is no fringe activity – announcing that you are learning to paraglide will no more raise eyebrows than declaring you are going to take up skiing.

The list of countries where paragliders are flown is a lengthy one. Leading the way in terms of sheer numbers are France (with 30,000 plus), Germany, Switzerland and Japan, followed by Italy, Spain, Austria and England. Many Eastern European countries, South America, South Africa, and Australia all have growing populations of pilots.

Basically, anywhere there are mountains you can find paragliders in the air overhead. In the U.S., however, it may be that the reputation garnered by hang gliding in its early days as a “death sport” has limited the appeal of foot-launched fl ight.

Visiting European pilots always seem to remark on the surprising scarcity of

pilots here, particularly given the wealth of marvelous flying sites throughout the country, especially in the western states.

It wasn’t always this way. In Wind & Wings, The History of Soaring in San Diego, Gary Fogel describes a time when multitudes of average Americans were taking to the air in gliders. In 1930, there were more than 40 local soaring clubs in the area between San Diego and L.A. alone.

Typically, these clubs had several dozen members who would pitch in together to build or buy a “primary glider” or sailplane, in which all the members would learn to fly on the weekends. There were even soaring clubs exclusively for women, one of which was the Anne Lindbergh Gliders Club, with its namesake serving as honorary president. In January of 1930, Anne Morrow Lindbergh became the first woman in the United States to earn a first-class glider license. Two weeks earlier, her famous husband had become the ninth American awarded the first-class glider ticket. After soaring fl ights in the San Diego area, including the first sailplane fl ight at what is today

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Photo: Steve Roti

the renowned Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla, Charles Lindbergh was enthusiastic: “Gliding not only offers a flying medium of safety because of a landing speed of 10 miles an hour, but it is much cheaper to learn to pilot a glider than a powered plane....There is a thrill, too, to gliding. It is a superlative sport which appeals to Americans, young and old. A few can band together and buy a good glider. I see a great future for gliding in America. It will sweep the country during 1930 and I expect to see a million glider pilots within the next three years.”

According to Fogel, in the early ‘30s, the favored project in wood shop classes at the San Diego Senior High School was the construction of full-size gliders, which the students were then taught to fly.

By 1933, 22 motorless aircraft had been constructed by Letain Kittredge’s “aircraft rigging classes” within the confines of the shop walls. Today, the idea of high school students building and flying soaring aircraft may strike us as incredible, given the current context of America’s extreme risk aversion, and our legal system’s voracious appetite for liability suits.

Nonetheless, William Langewiesche, in his thoughtful 1998 book, Inside The Sky, proposes with some seriousness that paragliding be offered as an alternative to civics, geography and gym classes by every public high school. “Imagine,” he writes, “the arrival of an entire generation in which people truly had learned to see themselves from above.”

If paragliding had been offered at my high school, I would have eagerly boarded the bus each morning. As it were, paragliders did not exist until well after I graduated from college. And this realization – that I am flying a craft which has only recently come into being, experiencing a form of fl ight which was not even possible two decades ago – I find compelling. I remember thinking when I saw them for the first time, that I must learn to fly a paraglider, simply because in all the history of humankind, such a thing had now become possible.

Bruce Tracy hiking to an a Alpine launch

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ADVANCE test pilot Martin Steuri passing over Blumestein, Switzerland Photo courtesy ADVANCE

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43

Forty Days Over Mongolia: A Paragliding Expedition to the Lands of Genghis Khan

By Jeff Cristol

Photos by Jeff and Ursula Cristol

I

stand alone, clipped to my paraglider, on a barren windswept summit. The view is the open vastness of central Mongolia. Another gust pulls at my glider, which twists and jerks like an animal struggling to free itself. Overhead, cumulus clouds expand into tall dark masses. Even at one in the afternoon the cycles have significant lulls, but the peaks are too strong to launch into.

It is a serious moment of reflection, a time to look deep within, to question my heart, my motivation. I ask if this type of adventure, this level of commitment

44

is really what I want. Every launch is so significant, the step leaving the earth so grand.

I wait for a lull, then with no one to hear, I call out, “Clear!” and pull my glider above me. Immediately I’m plucked from the ground, untwisting in the air as I fly away from the mountain. As I slide back into my harness my vario squawks out the lift. Soon over the rocky peak I begin circling up towards the clouds. Looking down past the tiny jeep parked at the bottom of the hill, I spot a dozen horses galloping across the

steppes. Wild and free, I feel a common connection with them, to their lives and feelings, as they kick dust into the sky.

Several thousand over now, my drift is southeast, away from the small town of Karakoram. My wife Ursula and I had already planned to drive south, to hot springs, waterfalls and hopefully more launch sites. I radio to her that I’m away, following the river south. She is already driving, at the ford in the river below launch.

Unfortunately dark clouds have merged into an ominous sky. In the

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Photos this page: Karakoram

distance rain begins to fall in diagonal sheets. The thermals drift too far east and I leave long before reaching base. Under a threatening sky, flying downwind, I’m out-running Ursula and the retrieve jeep.

After several climbs the wind picks up even more. It’s time to land before the gust front hits. I stop turning in lift, then begin spiraling toward the rolling grassy hills below. I land with almost no forward speed. Several young boys run down from a nearby ger, or summer home, and watch as I struggle to pack up in the wind. They stand back, afraid of the foreigner and his strange flying machine. When I call to them to help they run still farther away.

Once the gear is packed, I walk down to the dirt road that runs along the river.

Just beyond where I land I find one of the huge granite carved turtles that Genghis Khan placed at the four corners of his capitol city nine hundred years before.

Ursula and I have clear radio contact, but she’s surprised at how far I flew so quickly.

It was a grand day until it overdeveloped.

Our trip across Western Mongolia had just begun.

As soon as we’d arrived in the land of Genghis Khan, Ursula pointed out, “You will not suffer for a place to land.” There are almost no trees, no power lines, and no fences. There are occasional streams, fewer roads and dotting the open countryside, small round gers.

It was a voyage of thousands of miles on rough dirt roads in stiff Russian jeeps.

So many hills hiked up and flown off, and flying cross-country. Even with a tow after 40 days it’s a blur of dust and dirt. rig, there are still the logistical challenges The whole experience was shaken and of slow bumpy roads and no services.

To some the total lack of infrastructure jostled by bumpy roads and the dramatic swerves as our drivers tried fruitlessly to is part of the lure of visiting Mongolia.

Looking at it from the other side, the few avoid the rocks and holes.

I expected to discover a paragliding towns, people, stores, restaurants, even paradise, my hopes raised by an email I’d gas stations makes one’s decisions easier received from Louise Crandal just before – by going completely self-sufficient, it is we left: “Have a good trip. In my opinion easier to go anywhere that looks good. you are going to the most fantastic region Often following the roads is worse than I’ve been to.” I realize now that while driving across the steppes cross-country. there is huge potential, it’s extremely Drivers pick the direct route across valhard to realize. Perhaps, because Louise leys, looking for old tracks but not staying is such a superb pilot, she can thermal to on a road that leads the wrong direction. cloudbase from the smallest hills; I need Looking back on Mongolia I realmore vertical, more time in the air to ize that the adventure of traveling and find lift, lose it and find it again. I felt flying there was well worth the effort, more than once, if I’d turned the other though the lack of comforts and amedirection, or more quickly, I might have nities – paved roads, restaurants, hotels caught it, the one chance I was given that with showers – make it a place that most day. Maybe I needed more motivation, pilots would not enjoy. At the same time, to hike the bigger mountains we finally while so much of the world is “modernfound in western Mongolia. ized” and overrun by pollution, industry I think it’s fair to tell someone who’s a and tourism, the heart of Mongolia will pilot, if they are visiting Mongolia, definitely bring your glider. But I hesitate to suggest visiting Mongolia to a pilot trying to maximize airtime. The endless, moderately high, treeless hills are perfect for a novice pilot; and doing the site analysis is great for learning with an instructor.

I found myself fantasizing of flying here with a tow rig, daydreaming of a sick Trans-Mongolia Red-Bull style race Checking maps with driver, Arvda, from Karakoram where teams alternate towing each other

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Hand pumping gas at a remote station

Jeff adding a sacred scarf to an ovoo atop a pass

After landing in the Altan Valley

stay true, if rough, for years to come.

The Mongolian experience was much more than just a paragliding expedition.

In our travels Ursula and I met almost no English speakers; all communication with our drivers was in Mongolian. Our last driver even spent our final days teaching us Russian, in Mongolian, which we then translated into English. This was a deep immersion into the country, the culture and the people.

Buddhism, horrifically suppressed during the Soviet era, is blossoming again. We took the opportunity to attend many prayer ceremonies in small monasteries, recently rebuilt around the country in the last 15 years. Buddhism is reawakening for Mongolians who considered themselves Buddhist and practiced in secret throughout the Soviet era. Tantric Buddhism came from Tibet in the distant past, before the times of Genghis Khan, and the subtle influence in people’s lives is seen and felt in a thousand different ways.

Everywhere are signs of people’s reconnection with their historic beliefs, many of which extend to times before Buddhism’s influence to ancient practices from the Bon religion. Every pass and highpoint has a sacred pile of stones, called an ovoo. Travelers passing by make three counterclockwise circumnavigations, adding a stone or two and asking

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the local god for blessings and safe passage. I gave thanks for so many magic fl ights above the open steppes. During the trip we strung countless scarves, left fluttering in the wind joining thousands of others streaming from the tops of the ovoos. Our drivers often lit incense that we obtained at monasteries, to create their own small shrine.

Vodka is also left as an offering at ovoos. Drinking vodka follows a solemn ceremony as well: Before taking the first drink from a newly opened bottle, the first capful is thrown to the air, the second to the ground. A glass is passed, then refi lled for the next person. With your first drink you first dip your ring finger into the vodka and fl ick first to the air, the ground and finally for yourself.

Another vodka-drinking ritual is always pouring with the mouth of the bottle towards the door.

Vodka drinking is serious business in Mongolia. Small shops have hard candies, cookies, ramen noodles, beer, soda and vodka. Sometimes the vodka shelf takes as much room as all the other supplies combined. It was fortunate we trained in Mongolia for the heavy vodka drinking the Russian pilots did in the Altai Republic the next month!

July 23, 2005: our 25th day in Mongolia. Yesterday I’d had a great fl ight and easily climbed to cloudbase.

Unfortunately, going on glide downwind led over the back, across the range. To chase meant a four-hour drive around the

mountains for Ursula, without knowing the roads and with no radio contact. I had been conservative, flying out into the broad valley. I’d found lift, but each thermal topped out sooner than the last and the climbs tracked back toward the mountains. Flying into the wind challenged me the whole trip, but flying downwind would so often leave my retrieve crew stranded, or at least a half-day away.

That was yesterday. Last night we’d camped below another perfect set of mountains, facing what had been the wind direction for days. We awoke with the wind switched 180 degrees.

Frustrated, with one last look at the hills I couldn’t fly, we drove over the range.

The other side of the mountains was steep and rocky, the wind strong in the venturi of the pass. I wrote the day off to changing weather, then half an hour later we stopped the jeep and stood next to Tsetseg Nuur, a large aqua lake on the edge of the Gobi Desert. I kicked dust and looked up at the long line of mountains. Above us lay another brutally steep, hot hike, but the wind was perfect, and it was still early enough that I had to try.

Once again, Ursula said, “Don’t forget your radio, I love you and be careful”.

Sharp shale rocks slipped on each other and made footing difficult. Black outcrops radiated heat, but when I stopped mosquitoes and biting fl ies descended. I finally topped the ridge after noon, with just a hint of wind. Thousands of feet below, the tiny jeep was lost among the rocks. Surely there was a good chance of a big fl ight this time.

I waited for the start of a cycle after a long quiet lull; with a clean inflation, I pulled my Gradient Aspen above me and ran off the sharp rocky launch. After several passes I was above launch. When I lost the lift, I tried farther down the ridge, but found nothing. I flew to the edge of the first canyon west. Just as I turned to head back, well below launch, I found a thermal. It wasn’t strong but I could turn in it and soon I was above the ridge again.

The drift was back into the canyon, and rather than commit I stayed out front and lost the thermal. Back over launch I still found no lift. Again I headed west and again low at the first gap I found my

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began to fall out farther west, but my progress up the range was slow. Several times I found myself low and headed out in the direction of the now indiscernible road, with slow headway into the wind.

Over the flats I’d find another thermal, track it back over the mountains and make my best gains. At 13,000 feet I approached the darker rain clouds. A last climb took me to 14,000’. While I Feeling very alone after landing crossed a big canyon, Ursula radioed that she thought she saw my glider. Rather “Yes, I see you – and I really think it’s than fly into the rain clouds, I flew out, away from the mountains, looking for you this time! You’re way west of me.” flatland thermals to keep going, but soon They turned off the rough track they were landed. I felt swallowed by the flat, enor- following. Through dry creek beds and mous valley, which stretched out around boulder fields they drove cross-country. me. The mountain range ran towards After half an hour they saw me, standing Sutai Uul, a beautiful snowy peak off in alone amidst the emptiness. There was the distance at the head of the valley. not a tree in sight, nothing to distinguish I was relieved to still have radio con- the lonely place I’d landed. tact with my driver and Ursula, but Ursula We gathered around, took photos and sounded frustrated on the radio. My de- laughed. I guzzled water and told our scription of where I landed – “below the driver I’d gone 30 km. He was impressed, Cloudbase and snowy ridges mountains out on the flats” – was useless- but Ursula couldn’t believe it was such ly vague. I stared into the distance and a short fl ight. At two and a half hours jeep only a speck in the distance.

With smooth slow climbs I wasn’t hoped to see the jeep. Finally it seemed a it felt three times that long, to both of taking any collapses. The air felt bumpy tiny dot in the distance was moving. us. For some reason it all seemed harder, “Yeah, Ursula, I see you. I think you’re longer, farther here than it really was. only when I found or lost thermals. My Camelbak tube slid into my harness and headed right for me, just keep going.” I “Do you think the GPS and vario are though I twisted and turned, I couldn’t felt her relief come over the small hand- right?” Ursula asked. quit reach it, and my glider pitched and held radio.

“Yeah, it’s right. I guess maybe we just After I packed up my glider, I turned aren’t, or Mongolia isn’t…” rolled from my contortions until I finally again to look for the jeep – only to realize gave up trying.

To say visiting Mongolia is brutal is Though I anticipated the big air and the little dot was still there, in the same overstatement. To say it’s very rough is cross-country fl ight, there was an under- place. accurate. Most Mongolians are nomadic “U.C. copy J.C.,” I tried. lying tension to the day. Perhaps it was herders, living in gers, named in English Her radio transmission was broken, by the Russian word yurt. The herders finally getting high, and cold, and going big after so many tries, or the jeep so far “Copy J.C. I still don’t see you.” move the round felt houses seasonally, “Yeah, what I thought was you hasn’t as they have for generations. The local from the range, or the long hike and lack of water, but for some reason I didn’t relax moved. Sorry.” I scanned the horizon as diet has changed little as well. People the heat shimmered up from the floor of eat few vegetables, relying on meat and into my fl ight the way I usually do.

My vario’s clock showed a little after the Gobi Desert. Then off farther west, dairy. The language exemplifies this: In 3:00 p.m. It seemed wrong, since it felt I spotted a speck with a tiny dust cloud Mongolian there is no specific word for like I’d been flying for hours. Dark clouds behind! vegetable – they use the same word for house thermal. This time I kept with it, accepting the drift and letting go of the ridge I’d launched from. After gaining a thousand feet I radioed Ursula to start driving.

I made my way down range with an eye on the jeep, now just a dot with a plume of dust rising behind it. After several small climbs I found a thermal stronger than 400 fpm and took this to 10,000 feet. I could see the top of the range and snowy peaks at both ends. Below, the road ran farther from the mountains, the

Flying near Altai with Sutai Uul in the distance

Russian jeep and Ursula arriving for the retrieve

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Laying out to fly near Uliastai, with Otgon Tenger in the background

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Both photos: Flying near Uliastai

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grass.

In several weeks of travel and discovery we visited and flew sites near Ulaan Baatar, Karakoram, Tstserleg, Uliastai and Altai, on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

My GPS fi lled with waypoints, my journal with sketched maps to launches no one will ever visit again. Exploring mountain ranges along the edge of the Gobi Desert, we went five days without seeing another person.

Towards the end of the trip we arrived in the more populated western aimags (similar to provinces or states) of Khovd and Bayon-Olgii. Here we discovered high glaciated peaks and green valleys fi lled with gers. We also found rainy weather, or clear days with howling wind.

Still, I flew several sites, often with spectacular mountain backdrops or camels in the landing field. One rainy afternoon we found a family that keeps eagles for hunting. Dressed in the traditional hunting outfit, we held the huge birds and

posed for photos.

As everywhere in Central Asia, eagles joined me almost every fl ight. Even on the shortest sled ride an eagle launched beside me, accompanied me to my landing, then circled above me as I packed, as though asking why I flew down so quickly.

During the trip we dressed in traditional coats, called dels. Knee length, wrap-around, they fasten with buttons and a brightly colored sash. My del was earth brown and heavy wool, while Ursula’s was lighter and a beautiful deep blue with embossed dragons in the material. The sashes were yellow and bright orange. They seemed odd to me at first, but to the locals we fit right in.

There are no road signs in Mongolia, and often not even a real road to follow.

We stopped at hundreds of gers to ask directions. With famous nomadic hospitality, families welcomed us into their homes.

Seated on carpets in the back of a ger, we

Jeff and eagle

Cooking deep-fried cheese inside a ger

were offered an array of dairy products and drinks such as dried milk curds (aaruul), deep fried cheese, and yogurt.

Next came airag (fermented mares’ milk) and then white airag or clear spirits, then vodka. Happy, with hands full of chunks of aaruul, we would step outside only to be invited into the neighbor’s ger to do it all over again. I grew to love the aaruul, which the Lonely Planet guide describes as “hard as rock and about as tasty.” I also drank airag by the liter by the end of the trip, though Ursula never acquired a taste for it.

The jeep veered right then left, and then slowed as we hit a deep hole. Almost none of the roads are paved in Mongolia, and those few are in worse condition than the dirt tracks that run beside them.

The most common vehicle in the country is a rugged but simple four-wheel-drive, commonly known as a Russian jeep or by its model number, a 69. For Ursula and me, our two-month trip across the vast open space of Outer Mongolia revolved around this rough means of travel. Many visitors to Mongolia go for horse trips, and after almost two months of bouncing, weaving and jostling in the jeep, this makes sense.

In the evenings our driver and his wife gathered dung to cook over. Ursula and I cooked on a gas stove for ourselves.

Often as we sat in our tent we fi rst felt, then heard the distant pound of hoof beats. In the gathering dusk, horses galloped, sometimes with riders, sometimes for what seemed just the joy of it, dust kicked up and blown into the wind.

During our last weeks in the BayanOlgii region, I flew a couple times in windy conditions. Though we saw beautiful mountains with great flying potential, my motivation for long hikes was waning.

Jeep stuck in a deep ford

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Landing with Tsambagarav Uul in background

Altai’s rocky, rugged terrain

Gers here were bigger, Kazakh-style, like the ones we saw later in the trip in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz Republics. We visited Altai Tavanbogd National Park, below magnificent snowy peaks on the border with China, but alas, it was too windy to fly.

Our plan to hitchhike through a seldom-used border crossing into the Altai Republic, in the far south of the former Soviet Union, took several days to pull off. We felt relieved to successfully cross the border, which had only opened the fall before to foreigners, for the first time in several hundred years. We heard rumors it was closed just two weeks before we arrived. So fulfi lled, with nostalgia and anticipation we finished one

adventure and began another. Once in Russia we were only a couple hours from the small village of Kurai, where the International Russian Open Paragliding Championships were about to be held.

Ah, but that’s another story…

From Telluride Colorado, Jeff and Ursula Cristol explore the world looking for adventure and flying. Through Adventure Tour Productions (adventuretourproductions.com), Jeff offers tandem paragliding, photography and video production as well as international and western U.S.-based paragliding tours. Contact him at (970) 728-1754 or jeff @adventuretourproductions.com.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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My Longest Night: Part One Article, photos and artwork by Naomi M. Grayray

Suppose you had an unforgettable flying experience, but you were so overwhelmed by this big story that you could not figure out how to put it into words. I like telling stories about my flying, and I like painting, but I like making a painting that tells the story even more. This time I needed to make a story-telling painting to even finish writing about what happened.

It was June of 2004, and I was in Lumby, BC, for the Canadian hang gliding nationals. Since my husband Peter had to go on a work trip, I entered this meet without him. During the fi rst three days of the meet, we did not have much luck with soaring due to the weather. Day 4 was a wonderful day for most pilots, but the worst day for me. My painting shows my state of mind just before landing out

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on a mountain in deep timber country.

After days of bad weather, this day started out sunny, and conditions looked the best so far. At the launch we all rushed to grab good setup spots. Half the flyers were already there, including a few paraglider wind dummies getting ready to launch from the west-facing takeoff. I put all my instruments on my 135 UltraSport, including two Garmin GPSs and a Brauniger vario. Although I am usually one of the first pilots to line up and launch, I was delayed by some complications with changing batteries in the unfamiliar vario I’d borrowed from Peter, and I ended up behind most of the pilots.

At 3:00 p.m. I finally stood on launch, looking down on Mara Lake. The wind crossed slightly from the northwest, and

hang gliders were scratching in front of the hill. I struggled to gain a little altitude after launch. I could not stay in the first lift, but finally caught a thermal and just held on. The maximum lift I saw was 900 fpm, and it averaged about 200.

The thermal was drifting moderately fast from the northwest, and then the drift seemed to accelerate. About 3000 feet above launch, I fell out of the thermal over a high, flat, tabletop mountain.

I did not think I could keep scratching to get back to the thermal I’d lost or find another one nearby. Even with a strong tailwind, I did not think I could glide SSE across the mountain range – over about 10 miles of forested ridges – and reach civilization. I decided to head back to the valley on the west side, but within about three minutes I lost nearly all my

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screen. Each time I looked at something, I recalled the horrible incident, and I crossed it off my landing options. All my memories of hang gliding accidents appeared in front of me, like a layer of computer-generated drawings on the inside of my glasses. This simulation kept going throughout my scanning process so quickly – what if…, what if…, what if… – but all this scanning happened with no time to put words in my mind. I had to act quickly on instinct, but I knew ravine, I yanked on the harness zipper ground clearance in tremendous sink.

I started looking for an emergency I could not afford a mistake. A lot of the handle, and opened the harness to get landing area, and I saw a road cutting time I feel that I have imaginary critics my legs out for landing. across the ridge. As I am familiar with complaining about what I do and holding As I followed a gradual downslope mountain contours and forest roads me back from acting or communicating. to the west, I tried to optimize my glide, through my experience in mushroom But now it seemed that my imaginary using weak, inconsistent ridge lift genhunting and recon trips with Peter, I critics were cohesively analyzing my erated over the north edge of the mesa. was able to tell how the west side of this limited options, giving me the power to With little ground clearance, and to be ready for better maneuverability for landmountain was shaped. The road indi- decide and take action.

I looked straight below me, at the ing approach, I chose to leave off the VG. cated that the hill is like a big tabletop mesa sloping down gently to the west thick carpet of timber covering almost I was not covering much ground. With with a steep drop-off into a deep gully the entire mountain range. But the forest arms and hands tucked in toward my on the north. I tried to stay over high was mainly conifers and it did not look chest, I kept my chin as close as possible land instead of flying out over the gully, dense enough for landing on the top of to the basebar to reduce drag.

Ahead, the flat slope covered with where it looked turbulent. I kept follow- them. I looked to my right, the north, ing the road as much as I could, for easier and saw Blurton Creek in a steep and lumpy hills, tall trees and big stumps retrieval in a vehicle. I did not see any deep ravine full of trees; I did not want to looked worse for landing, and I would open fields within glide range, and the sink out in that. No one would be able to get there with even less ground clearance. cattle fields in the valley seem to be get- reach me by radio or cell phone, and the My odds of surviving a landing anywhere ting narrower and shorter behind the tree GPS would not work. I also realized that on the lower portion of this hill seemed once I had gotten over the gorge at this worse than if I landed on the upper hill, lines.

The first thing I thought of was my low altitude, I could be in severe rotor. I and I preferred to have more control in husband Pete. I’ve been in a few serious recalled a fellow pilot who tumbled in the selecting the time and location for landsituations before, but this time it crossed lee side of a steep ridge with a moderate ing, rather than passively crashing into my mind that I might not be able to crosswind, and ended up in the hospital. trees or stumps while trying to get a few I looked at the other side of the ravine; hundred meters closer to home. I made make it back intact and see him again. I realized what a terrible thing I had just a huge, steep clearcut full of tree stumps up my mind to find a landing spot on the done to him, because there were so many looked almost tempting for an uphill relatively flat, high ridge. And from field things I wanted to do and talk about landing. I remembered a pilot who landed experience, I thought I would have better with him. But, I could not spare another on a shorter stump than those, impacted communication, including GPS recepmoment for this despair and shame, and his chest hard, and was airlifted to the tion, cell service, and radio signal.

I had unfinished business to take care of; hospital.

There was a small meadow, about the When I realized that my best option size of a volleyball court, on my left. It I had to be the pilot in command. “So sorry, honey.” I said goodbye to Pchan was to land on the south side of the was the only open area without trees or because the possibility of a normal, gentle bushes. But the meadow was surrounded landing was gone. Now my task was to with tall pine trees, and the center of survive and minimize injury. the field was covered with some creepy Then I started scanning the mounbrowns and greens, and it looked wetter tain for places to end my flight. I went and deeper than a rice paddy field. I did through my mental archive of accident not think I would fit in it. I was also reports and anecdotes I have heard or afraid that I might end up hitting the read about, as fast as I could, like fl ipping tree trunks at the end of the meadow by through a phone book or index cards. overshooting my target. I have heard of All the data were processing like a scene a pilot who crashed into a cliff, broke from the movie Matrix, in which charboth hands, and could not use his radio Photos this page taken on Mara launch acters run down and across the computer to get help; hours later, some hikers in August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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déjà-vu slow-motion, without pause or playback options because it was happening real-time.

I started flying my final leg over bigger bushes but in front of the tall tree line to make the landing pattern as short as possible. I paid extra attention to my fingertips to control airspeed, then leveled off, skimming above the bush tops. I passed over some puff y bushes, hoping I could find more of them ahead; I realized that I’d overflown my first good option.

I was looking straight ahead with my chin slightly up, while paying attention to what was under my feet by moving my eyes very quickly, because I knew what was at the end of this field: a huge wall of pine trees with big exposed trunks.

As I approached the center of the field, I became more and more convinced that I would not want to land right there beMark Kawalsky taking off from Mara launch cause there was a big mound of bare rocks the bottom of the canyon discovered a road. I had to focus all my energy to pre- with part of a dead bush sticking out.

Once I passed that point, the ground hang glider hanging from the cliff above pare for the landing. I made a slight right them. I wanted to make sure I would end turn to the north and approached the start declining a little bit; then I realup with at least one arm intact to radio bush field, in upright position with my ized that I might have missed my second about my status. feet out of my harness. chance. There were only about 10 yards I spotted the only bushy field nearby The wind was still NW at about 10 left to the tree wall. Right after a relawide enough for a safe crash landing. The mph or so. The slope was gentle, but I tively big Christmas tree, about 10 feet field of small young trees and bushes, decided to land going north with a slight tall, I flared, with my head up and hands brighter green than the rest of the forest, crosswind. I did not have enough altitude tossed over my head. looked about 100 yards in diameter, sur- to fly directly over the field to analyze it, It seemed as if time stopped then. My rounded with tall timber. I have landed so I made a few S-turns over the edge feet should have been on the ground by in bushes similar to this before, and I of the clearing. My approach sequence now… Then, I realized that the trailfelt confident about it. At this point, I probably did not take more than a few ing edge was caught in the trees and couldn’t care less about proximity to the seconds, but it felt as if this part was in the glider was pitching down. I took my hands off the downtubes and slid my hands by my ears by instinct. Next I saw the basebar fly down in front of my face.

As my eyes followed the basebar, I saw the ground still a few yards away. The basebar suddenly stopped against the top of another small Christmas tree. It was like the climax of the ship wrecking in Titanic where the hero Jack and heroine Rose hang onto the outside of the bow that is finally about to dive into the dark Atlantic. Jack tells Rose to hold her breath before diving into the water. The voice said, “OK, this is it!”

The slow motion went back to normal speed. I saw my glider rotate down around the basebar. After seeing the nose and undersurface in the corner of my eye, all the noise and vision went blank for a moment. Then I heard a loud bang of the nose hitting rotten dead wood on the

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Competitors waiting on Mara launch

ground. At the same time, I felt a severe yank around my shoulders; I wondered if I had dislocated my shoulders or broken bones.

The first thing that bothered me was swarms of mosquitoes buzzing in and out of my helmet with face shield half closed on impact. Then I became more aware that I was finally on the ground. First I wanted to make sure that my arms were all right. I found my hands in front of my face, and I tried to slide my left sleeve up to see what time it was. It was 3:35 p.m. I realized that both arms were intact.

As soon as I found myself in one piece on the ground, I radioed on the meet frequency to say that I just landed out, south of Mara takeoff. I stated my GPS coordinates in UTM, and gave the distance as 4.3 km, true bearing 358° to launch. I heard some people responding to my call.

Alex, a competitor who was flying above me, tried to spot me from the air, but he was unable to find me. In the meantime, he relayed my position to the other people. Due to this effort, Alex sank out and landed at the bottom of the hill.

After I unhooked, at 3:41 p.m. according to my call log, I called Kathy’s cell phone, and Glenn, who drove down with Kathy in my truck, answered. I gave him GPS coordinates and described my condition. I was going to call Pete, but then I remembered that he was doing fieldwork this week, outside cell phone service range.

I expected to be packed up and back in civilization by dinnertime. I was very wrong.

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(Next: How what should have been a two-hour retrieve became a 16-hour searchand-rescue marathon)

Naomi

Naomi Gray, an advanced hang glider pilot from Tokyo, Japan, is currently studying full-time at Central Washington University, and pursuing her career in fine art. She met her husband Peter through their first attempt at cross-country flying on Falcons at Wallaby Ranch three years ago, and they decided to take a lifelong XC flight together.

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Soboba: An Old SoCal Site With a New Hike-and-Fly Option

Photo: Jérôme Daoust

Photo: Scotty Farnsworth

By Scotty Farnsworth

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most people from flying there. Roman Pisar and Marcello Debarros took me under their wing for my first fl ight at Soboba back in 2000. They are both fun and knowledgeable, and they knew how to navigate the 11 miles of dirt roads that traverse the reservation and lead to the top.

The launch site is at 3850 feet MSL, 2200 feet above the valley floor. There is an “S” on the mountain, visible to all Hike-and-fly launch below, so many locals refer to the mounThree years of paragliding at Marshall tain as the “S” mountain. Technically and Crestline in Southern California it is North Mountain. We call the site provided a lot of enjoyment, but I was Soboba because that is the name of the ready for a new adventure. Thanks to road at the bottom, as well as the name Jérôme Daoust’s incredible Web site, of the tribe. expandingknowledge.com, I discovered The wind at the top is occasionally Soboba in San Jacinto – closer to home too strong for safe paraglider launches, a for me and one of the best flying sites situation that has been resolved recently anywhere. thanks largely to a friendly land owner, a Acquiring local knowledge on any local pilot named Darrel Wood, and help new site is a prudent endeavor. Soboba from a few others including Bob Coombs, has been well known for some of the Phil Broesamle and Rod Mitchell (Eagle world’s best paragliding and hang glid- Hang Gliding) who have created a trail ing for a couple of decades, but the un- going up the mountain to almost 500 certainty of survival while crossing the feet.

Soboba Indian Reservation dissuaded Hiking provides a little exercise, but

also enables one to evaluate the conditions prior to launch. The real reward stems from launching, then catching a thermal and benching your way up to and over the top. If the conditions aren’t perfect, you can land, wait, hike back up and try again. Most of the time, we are successful in benching up from the hikeand-fly. Even hang glider pilots occasionally use the hike-up option, since it’s only a 15% grade and not too long.

In the winter months you can usually fly all afternoon, but in the summer the best flying is typically before 11 a.m. or after 5 p.m. If the air gets too strong you can just turn away from the ridge and it usually calms down while you gain a little clearance from the hill. If you start losing altitude, getting a little closer to the hill enables you to gain altitude again. The normally dry San Jacinto River is across the road from the bottom, and offers an open, soft landing site.

Then there is the “magic air,” as the locals call it, which occurs right about sunset. The winds turn slightly downslope so you just point away from the hill and fly out over the city of San

Scotty at Soboba August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Scotty Farnsworth learned to paraglide in 1997 from Rob McKenzie, and currently holds a P-3 rating with 425 flights and about 300 hours. He and his wife own Farnsworth Jacinto. The whole valley seems to pro- nearby, which offers excellent fishing. vide gentle smooth lift. On several occaMorgan owned 1400 acres of Soboba Farms Equestrian Center, a horse boarding sions we ended our fl ight not because we at one time, including 400 acres on and training facility in Thousand Palms. couldn’t stay up, but because it was get- the top. The recession of the early ‘90s Although paragliding consumes most of his ting dark. Awesome! thwarted his plan for an old-world spare time, Scotty also enjoys scuba diving, The owner of the property, Roger European resort on the top with an motorcycle riding, spending time with his Morgan, has plans to develop the bottom aerial tram leading up from the bottom, nine-year-old daughter, and traveling to fly into a guest ranch and airpark with a but he is happy to at least re-incarnate out-of-area sites. diversity of lodging, food and entertain- the dream at the bottom. In his words, ment. The property is between two golf “Soboba is one of the best places in the courses and very near to the Soboba world for paragliding and hang glidCasino. Diamond Valley Reservoir is ing. The hike-and-fly launch sites largely

Trails to the lower launch

Rick Thompson launching

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Photo: Scotty Farnsworth

Rick Thompson building a wall

Photo: Jérôme Daoust

Photo: Scotty Farnsworth

solve the access problem that has always plagued the prospects for making this a hospitable location for flyers. Making it easily accessible for people from all over the world will be good for the sport, and add an economic boost to the city of San Jacinto.”

As the development plan progresses, and we fulfi ll our mission of creating a site chapter and club, the accommodations will improve. In the interim, anyone interested in flying can contact me at horsejumping@aol.com (the name refers to my wife’s passion, not to me jumping off the mountain), or visit our new Web site at http://groups.yahoocom/group/ sobobasoaring, or contact a local pilot.

We will be happy to share our incredible site with you.

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Scotty soaring Soboba Photo: Jérôme Daoust

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The Flyingest Flying: The Evolution of Hang Gliding Presented by Precision Video Produced by Josh Criss Reviewed by Thayer Hughes, staff writer

For those of you with an interest in learning the history behind hang gliding, The Flyingest Flying: The Evolution of Hang Gliding is a DVD you won’t want to miss. Early history and the evolution of the sport are intertwined with the present as first-time fi lm maker/director/ writer Josh Criss presents to the viewer the visionaries and inventors, both failed and successful, who made foot-launched fl ight possible for the likes of you and me.

The story begins over five centuries ago with the man most recognized as the grandfather of hang gliding, Leonardo da Vinci. And although Leonardo never personally experienced the rewards of a good XC fl ight back in 1490, the reader might be interested to learn that one of Leonardo’s fi xed-wing designs actually did fly, albeit 500 years later, in 1993.

The DVD presents rare footage of the more recent pioneers such as Francis Rogallo, inventor of the rogallo wing in 1948, and Australian John Dickenson who, in the 1960s, conceived and developed the single-point suspension and control bar that we use today. Interviews with forerunners in hang gliding such as Bill Bennett, Bill Moyes and others are also featured.

Some readers may be aware of Bennett’s 4th of July fl ight in 1969 over the Statue of Liberty and landing on Liberty Island.

In keeping with their routine of oneupsmanship, Moyes quickly followed with a fl ight into the Grand Canyon.

Although Bennett got off with a wink and a warning from the harbor policeman, Moyes wound up with a few days in jail and had to pay a $133.50 fine for “holding a special event in a National Park without a permit.” The Park service denied that Moyes had made the flight but Edwin Hooper, who documented the event, was also fined ($22.50) for “engaging in commercial photography” in the park without a permit. You can be sure

those early days of innocence are gone!

Another historical tidbit, from which is drawn the title of the DVD, occurred back in 197l, on the day we now realize marked the birth of the sport of hang gliding. In part to pay homage to Otto Lilienthal by celebrating his 123rd birthday, a group of enthusiastic experimenters in this new concept of flying decided to gather together on a California sand dune and share a little gliding (such as it was back then). Out of that small group of 14 only one rogallo wing was represented, but a later Reader’s Digest article on the event reported the meet as “the flyingest flying there is” and, from that point on, the word was out. Thousands of letters began pouring in from readers to those who had attended, asking for more details. It was the rogallo that attracted the majority of attention and, as this video documents, evolved into the hang gliders that we know today.

It is also worth commenting that Chuck Yeager, test pilot extraordinaire and the first man to fly through the sound barrier, took up hang gliding while in his late 70s. For all his experience in multitudes of aircraft he also viewed hang gliding for what it is, “the flyingest flying there is.” And he would know!

The later portion of the DVD follows the efforts of the fi lmmaker and another student as both work towards the day they can make their own highaltitude solo fl ights. Their instructor, Steve Wendt of Blue Sky Hang Gliding, relates some the evolution in wing design since he began flying in the mid ‘70s.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

The efforts of all those involved, beginning with Mr. da Vinci, serve to remind that fl ight has never been a casual accomplishment and even today there are no guarantees. But as Josh ultimately soars to several thousand feet AGL, we are reminded of those aeronautical pioneers who lead the way for us, and the visions that make it all possible.

The DVD, released in 2003, is in DVD-R format and runs for about 80 minutes. It also includes the original music score written and performed by Josh Criss. The Flyingest Flying DVD is available at http://www.customflix .com/209102 for $16.95, a small price for so much history.

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My Two Lives As a Hang Glider Pilot

By Marcos Rittner Photos courtesy the author

I am Marcos, a guy who just turned 39 but thinks he is still 29, born in São Paulo, Brazil, descending from Italians and Austrians. The Brazil melting pot thing. When I was a six-year-old kid, I began building model airplanes from balsa wood and rice paper with my father.

And of course I had all the magazines and books about man’s journey to the moon.

By that time I had decided that my life was going to be linked to that kind of adventure, but I did not really know how was I going to do it.

In 1972, my family moved to England for a couple of years. When we went back to Brazil I started thinking about being an airline pilot. My aunt was a fl ight attendant at a prestigious airline, and she traveled a lot on those beautiful jets. She had a boyfriend who was a pilot, and for

g in ustraorida.

one of their longer trips, she took me with them. He let me go in the cabin and pilot that big plane, for some minutes, on altitude hold. It was awesome!

Of course back home, Mom and Dad were not very enthusiastic about the idea.

Both came from academic careers, working on their Masters and PhDs, and in a subtle way they suggested that it would be better to graduate as an airspace engineer. Then I could be an astronaut, a jet pilot and still design and build those things.

That was it! The problem was, there was only one school in the whole country that offered the course. (It was called ITA, a college created in the 1950s in the MIT model, by Brazilian visionaries who believed in creating a Brazilian airspace industry. You know the rest of the story

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there.) Approximately 5000 candidates applied and tested every year, and 80 were admitted. So in 1982, there I was, five days of four-hour-long tests in math, physics, Portuguese, etc. And in 1983, to São José dos Campos and the Air Force base called CTA I went, to begin my journey as a college student.

During my fourth year I got involved with colleagues who were hang gliding pilots. It was all the rage. I made some contacts and started flying school with a guy called “Chico Chiclets” (translated as “Bubblegum Frank”). I had to carry those rogallo wings up and down training hills forever. The sites were less than ideal; many did not have minimum safety requirements. If you missed a landing spot, you would end up in a fence with barbed wire. Finally I saved some $800

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August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

The end could have been a tragedy, be(a small fortune for a student, especially in Brazil), and bought my first glider in cause there were power lines very close to 1987, a white and green single surface the beach, and after turning those 360s I had no idea which way the wind was, “Quero-quero.”

Countless times we would drive hours and landed downwind. Luckily only a to a launch site, and would realize the downtube was broken, but it could have conditions and wind were not ideal, so been my life.

Alfredo, who took off after me, had a we just headed for the local coffee shop and spent hours talking about past fl ights different problem: a tree in the middle of and how great it would be if we could fly the beach. There were thousands of feet of empty space along the beach, but he that site and that other one.

One of the successful outings was fi xated on that tree from the minute he really a disaster: We went to Baraqueçaba, took off, never taking his eyes from it. a beach in the north coast of the state of You can guess what happened. Later on, São Paulo, Brazil. It was a very narrow the fire department people came around strip of sand, in a mile-long beach. The to unhook Alfredo’s glider from the tree. launch was about 1000 feet above sea The main problem there was the mocklevel, and I went fi rst. I got hit by a couple ery and the laughter of the firemen. How of gusts right after launch, but managed frustrating! You wait weeks and weeks to to keep straight and out of the mountain. fly and that’s the ugly result you get.

One of those days I got so mad I deThe problem was that soon I was over the water, and that freaked me out. I was not cided to go to a local hill, climb it myself, prepared for that emotional impact at all, and launch from there. The funny part and I did a couple of desperate turns to was that on the other side of the hill get closer to the beach, and fly over land. there was a “favela” (a Brazilian shantytown), and some kids just rushed to the I ended up doing 360s.

site and wanted to touch and look at the glider from up close and personal. I had some friends take pictures, for me to observe attitude in fl ight, how was I making the curves, and so on.

After a couple of years of this occasional flying, I got married, and my glider remained in storage until it was completely rotten. I could not even think about sparing an hour to go and drive and see how it was, so great was my frustration about flying. I could not hear about it.

The pleasure of flying, at that point, could not surpass the anger and frustration

Boys from the favela climb up to help assemble the glider, 1987

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59

of spending weekends without being able to do a launch. I really loved it so much, I believe that making myself ready for flying and not being able to do it was too much of a disappointment. In 1990 was the last time I had seen my glider.

So here we are in Florida, a decade and a half later, my two children – my son who is 10 and a daughter who is six – and me. Recently coming out of a divorce, I suddenly found myself with lonely weekends. A girl I dated talked to me about skydiving, and I started to surf the Internet. Then I decided to also take a look at hang gliding opportunities, because someone mentioned to me that they towed gliders in flat places like Florida.

I found Miami Hang Gliding’s Web site and left them a message. I am not really sure, but I believe it was May 21, 2003, close to my 37th birthday, that I met James Tindle and started looking at a totally new perspective for free fl ight.

Beginning training with Miami Hang Gliding

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The sport now seems to be an organized, methodic, professionalized arena. I took those packages from Miami Hang Gliding, the Pilot I, Pilot II, and I forgot the names of the other packages…

The next year I came back to Florida and did my first tandems over land in Clewiston, at the Florida Ridge. My children just loved hanging out in the pool, washing Dan’s jeep, playing with Dingo (Dennis’s dog), and setting up a tent. We were also there during a competition, when there were some four tugs and dozens of pilots; I took so many pictures and made a DVD with it.

So that’s how it ends, or it begins again.

I am not an astronaut, not a jet pilot, and I really work at a computer company. Even working on a hangar as a jet maintenance engineer or a wing designer was not for me. The world of business administration, sales and marketing was the place I chose to make money from, help people be successful, and develop my abilities in

Marcos taking a tandem lesson in Florida

management. I do love what I do.

But also I feel so blessed that I had a second chance of falling in love with this sport, and instead of frustrations accumulated weekend after weekend, this time I get a lot of fun, relaxation, good friends, and things to remember.

Like on Saturday, September 17, 2004, when preparation paid for itself again and again. During the first tow, the release opened up after I’d rolled just 20 feet. No problem at all. We started again. Then the weak link broke at 1500 feet, because of a thermal. Not too bad, because that same thermal allowed me to go up to 2500 feet. A nice 37-minute fl ight for a guy who has only some 2030 fl ights aerotowing in his second life.

After that, cooling off in the swimming pool with pilots and friends, to refresh from Florida’s 100 º F heat.

My second launch was even better, when for the first time I circled in a thermal with other pilots; David Whittle and his purple Moyes were out-climbing me on my Falcon 195, some 200 feet west of me. I went over to circle beneath David and observe what he was doing, to improve my rudimentary thermaling skills.

He was nice enough not to flee from this encounter, or shout out to me to “get the @#$% out of there,” so I followed the rules of circling below him and in the same direction, keeping a safe distance always.

Marcos preparing to aerotow in Florida August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

was afraid it could not take me back. I barely made it to the field, with a 50-foot margin. I also had this old vario that was telling me I was 150 feet above ground when I landed, even though I had calibrated it for zero at launch. Later I drove the two hours back from Clewiston to Miami to go out to a bar and have a party.

I was so in awe that I just went home and relaxed to enjoy that great feeling all you pilots know, after you’ve accomplished Marcos mixing quality family time with quality air something. time at the Florida Ridge I’d like to thank these people who After a few turns together, David left made my second way back into free flight to search for other clouds, and after near- a safe and fun one: Miami Hang Gliding ing cloudbase at 3100 feet, I felt like it instructors Chik, Bob, Jonathan and could be the fi rst time I got sucked into a Diane; Henry, Derek and Neil, great tow cloud. Just seconds later I had the control pilots; Dennis, our do-it-all glider asbar on my knees, diving out of there, re- sembly assistant for launch at the Ridge; covering at 2900 feet. Enough thrills for Dan Critchett and Barry for the insights one Saturday! on aerotow, and most especially, James Not quite, because this would also be Tindle, whose dedication, professionalthe first time I would complete a soaring ism and concerns about the safety and fl ight over one hour. The concern was not pleasure of the experience of free fl ight staying up there. It was the drift, because should be a role model for all you instructhe Falcon was great for soaring, but I tors out there.

After almost 17 years with IBM, Marcos left the company where he was a software sales manager and joined a small venture (GEMCOM) from Canada, that makes computer applications for mining. He is now general manager and president of this company’s subsidiary in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, where the city of Governador Valadares hosts hang gliding and paragliding world meets. He brought his glider and his aerotow dolly, and plans to introduce aerotowing in the region as soon as he gets settled. His many friends with sailplanes, ultralights and power sailplanes are excited to learn this technology that is not used in Brazil.

Marcos is now a H-3 pilot and a basic instructor. His goal is to improve his skills in coaching, mentoring, and developing awareness of safety for flying, and share that with all pilots and instructors. You can contact him at marcosrittner@hotmail.com.

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61

The Airborne Planet Expedition Volume 3: Guatemala

By Kris Coppieters, with translation assistance from Matt Gerdes, staff writer

Photos courtesy Airborne Planet

After two months of almost daily thermal and soaring fl ights in Costa Rica, Aude and I took it for granted that Guatemala would be similar. We were sure that we’d find many good launches on the multitude of perfectly coneshaped volcanoes, and we looked forward to meeting the indigenous Maya families.

In the end we realized that in these two respects Costa Rica was far more accommodating, but Guatemala did prove to be an exciting experience. The country is rich in history, and the history is apparent everywhere you go – even in the streets of Guatemala City people still dress traditionally, and it is easy to distinguish the different tribes.

From Guatemala City we caught the chicken-bus to Panajachel, one of the few official paragliding sites in this country.

An old bus passed by at full speed with a man hanging out of its door, shouting out: Panajachel? When we raised our hand to the bus, its rear lights – of which only the left was functioning – immediately turned red, and the bus careened dangerously to the right, almost driving into and destroying a fruit-juice marketer.

We heard the brakes and saw the luggage on top of the bus slinging all over.

The bus finally halted but no passengers flew out. A couple of hundred eyes looked at us from behind the many broken windows. Panajachel? Yes, Panajachel. The same man who had been hanging out of the bus door took our heavy backpacks on his head – like they were feathers – and he tightened them in a minute onto the roof. Two minutes later, we found places in the front of the bus, squeezed between the other passengers, with almost no space to breathe. We were happy to occupy the very last seats as this was the day’s last bus.

Only a couple of minutes later, we became even more squeezed between even more passengers, and then even more passengers. It was impossible to move even an arm, but passengers still need to be at the entry door before the bus halts where they want to get off. You

62

can imagine the continuous struggling.

The bus simply was one big moving mass.

We understand why our Lonely Planet guidebook calls this the chicken-bus!

Then, as we approached a police checkpoint, the driver politely asked everyone in the middle to lie down. The middle mass simply lay down on the right and on the left mass. People even stopped talking. Some held their breath.

With some luck, the bus could just drive through, and it did. The driver dropped a Walking through Panajachel, so far the only known paragliding mecca of Guatemala cool thanks to the passengers, but then a kilometer farther, he furiously shouted at over and over again to buy their artifacts, everybody to move on in order to allow and we were ready to move on. another two passengers to join the party.

Before we left we got some nice fl ights He refused to continue the trip until the above the lake with views of the volcatwo were packed in with us. noes. However, from what we’d been By now, I could only look in one di- told, in the category of beauty this region rection or push my nose in the arse of the is nothing compared to the unexplored woman that was pushed against my right scenery in the “far north” of Guatemala ear. And so it went on. I wondered how where the Cuchumatanes mountain our paragliders were surviving on the range crosses the country from west to roof between the goats and ducks. east. Unfortunately, we learned that we’d We enjoyed the atmosphere, though need police escorts to visit most of the I mistrusted the warm breezes that blew volcanoes, due to the fact that they are against my face on a regular basis. We had completely infested with bandits. to negotiate hard about the price of our On our way to the Cuchumatanes ticket as the driver’s assistant wanted to range, we attempted to fly from the charge us double. And then we found out Tajamulco volcano which, at 4200 meters, that the bus was not going to Panajachel is the highest mountain in Central at all, but that we would need to catch America. Tajamulco is one of the few volanother bus from Los Encuentros, if canoes that are generally considered safe, there still was one, to Solana. And so we began the ascent without guides from Solana we’d need to contract a private pick-up down to Panajachel. Welcome to Guatemala! We loved it!

Panajachel is the popular holiday destination for the majority of tourists (both national and international) and it has lovely street markets everywhere. But after four days we were tired of the many children asking and pushing us Aude taking off at Panajachel August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

or a police escort. Before our climb, we’d collected all of the information we needed in the village below. It turned out that we might have talked too much! A mere 150 meters from the summit, we saw four bandits armed with machetes.

Ducking into the bushes, we escaped, but we spent three hours in terror, absolutely fearing for our lives. We heard the bandits searching the trail and walking the perimeter of our planned launch site as we cowered in the underbrush. We swore to each other that we’d never stray into the mountains without guides again, but we also vowed to return to this volcano one day, as the views from the top are beyond amazing, the launch site is perfect, and the fl ight down would be over 3000 meters in vertical.

We began our exploration of the Cuchumatanes Mountains at Huehuetenango. There, we flew the lee side of the mountains in turbulent thermals, and landed in the fields of some friendly farmers who helped us find the way back to launch. Just to the east of this flying area we discovered a fabulous plateau with great soaring sites, and decided to spend the next week there. With horses, we explored the surrounding terrain and we flew several tandem fl ights with the enthusiastic natives in one of the more scenic settings of our trip so far.

After each fl ight, we always counted at least two gold teeth in the widely smiling mouths of our passengers. In Maya culture gold teeth are very attractive, and they willingly add gold teeth and gold designs to their smiles – it’s Central American “bling”!

From Huehuetenango, our journey continued into the very rugged mountains of the northeast. Here, we could only fly in the early mornings – starting at about 10:00 a.m. we could see enormous thermals bending the treetops and sending birds into orbit. We reluctantly admitted that these conditions were beyond our abilities.

That was a very difficult decision to make. The views of the canyons were breathtaking, and we longed to be able to topland on one of the distant plateaus.

We found good flying sites at every village on our itinerary, and most of the natives we encountered offered us food and drinks with very entertaining enthusiasm.

However, the frequent stories of violent and deadly robbers convinced us that we shouldn’t travel too far alone in the beautiful valleys. In one village, we met the family of an elderly woman who was killed two days earlier for just 50 quetzal (5 euros). It’s tragic, and it became clear that the lurking criminal gangs will stop at nothing in their quest for drugs, money and weapons, and are now endangering the whole country.

At El Estor, in the eastern part of Guatemala, we discovered a good thermal site above a large lake in a region that is well known for being safe. It’s a much nicer feeling to be

Kris scans the air above of El Estor.

in the air, knowing that you don’t need to worry about getting robbed when you land!

Also located in the Cuchumatanes Mountains is the Santa Maria volcano, near Quetzaltenango. The summit of

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Aude demonstrates how to inflate the glider on the remote highlands of the Cuchumatanes.

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This Maya family, who had been praying for three days on the top of the Santa Maria, successfully asked their gods to clear the clouds from the sky below us.

this peak is a perfect launch site, on the rare occasion that it is not enshrouded in a veil of cloud. We decided to attempt it and hoped for a clearing, and began our ascent. On the summit, we met a Maya family that had already spent three days in a fasting ceremony on the cold mountaintop. They were praying for their own health and well-being. Their prayers sounded to us like painful cries, but we were quite sure that their gods would understand everything.

As we spread the tandem glider with the hopes of having a clear moment in which we could launch, all prayer activities were stopped and the fasting family came to look. Moments later, we were unwittingly involved in a traditional cer-

emony in which the head of the family put his trembling hands on our heads while casting a series of spells meant to exorcize the bad spirits from our bodies and to protect us from the bad spirits which surround us. When he finished this, he then asked his god to open the sky so we would be able to fly down. Amazingly, the sky cleared and we were graced with a terrific view into the valley!

Unfortunately, we hadn’t explained to him that we needed at least ten minutes to launch, and before we could get ready the clouds covered the peak again and shortly afterwards it began to rain. We

had the displeasure of hiking back down this peak, but fortunately we had been freshly exorcised and were protected from bad spirits.

Kris Coppieters and Aude Piercy set out on a 12-month adventure with the goal of traveling around the world from Europe in a westerly direction, visiting native people in tropical countries and sharing paragliding with them. The accounts of their first two stops are in the June and July issues of this magazine.

Our advice for travelers and paraglider pilots in Guatemala: Guatemala is a poor country, where 20 days of painful and annoying infecmany families are self-sufficient and tions. live mostly from their small gardens.

The Guatemalan population has But their unique culture is of the finest been terrorized for decades by the milinature. The people, no matter how poor tary and fully corrupt governmental they were, almost invariably invited us regimes, and we pray for the people in to their homes and served us their that the situation will improve, as this best food. country has great potential for paraIt is very important to talk with the gliding and tourism in general. We local people before going anywhere off promise to return soon in order to reatthe main tourist routes, and it is essen- tempt the volcanoes we missed, and to tial to check multiple sources. fly cross-country in the Cuchumatanes Watch out for the colmoyote, a fly Mountains. that lays its eggs inside your skin! Kris’s leg gave birth to a nest of larvae after

High above Lake Atitlan

Kris tests the magic energy around the sacred Maya temples.

64

End of the day above Lake Atitlan August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

Gallery

Kyle Cardinal pushing his Seedwings Sensor “Pinky” into a loop at Torrey Pines, with La Jolla in the background Photo: Jerry Gillard

Jimmy Hall winding it up at Miraflores, Lima, Peru Photo: Stefanie Brendl

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“Marginal” Mark Lilledahl racing above the Westlake ridge and rooftops at Fort Funston in Daly City, California Photo: John Heiney

' '

I

~

a: a

II

-·~ . .. ..

"

Bill Heaner and his Saturn 167 on final at North Side, Point of the Mountain, Utah Photo: John Heiney

Swiss pilot Jan Voegeli approaches Golden, Colorado, after launching from nearby Mt. Zion (Lookout Mountain).

Photo: Karl Decker

A captured moment of people now gone, Norman Laush soars the terraced ruins of Pisaq in “El Valle Sagrado,” or the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Urubamba River valley, near Cusco, Peru.

Photo: Jerome Maupoint

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September 17: Torrey Pines Gliderport, San Diego, California. First annual “Parade of Sails” fund-raising benefit for YMCA Kinship children’s program. First-place awards for three hang glider and three paraglider categories. Paragliding is open to all ratings (less than P-3 must fly under instructor supervision), hang gliders H-3 and above only. Competition runs from noon to 5 p.m., low tide is at 1:08 p.m. Radio required (can be rented on site). Judges and shuttle drivers back to Torrey provided

by San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association volunteers. Your family can picnic on the grass at La Jolla Shores beach and watch you SANCTIONED COMPETITION compete. Entry fee $40, first 50 sign-ups get T-shirt with a Fine-Tuned August 6-12: Big Spring Open. Includes Single-Surface and Sport- design. Dinner and awards dished out afterwards at Torrey. See flytorrey Class Nationals and Flex-Wing Pre-Worlds. Entry fee $450.Reduced fee .com for rules and details or contact davidj@flytorrey.com. ($195) for Single Surface and Sport Class. More information at Flytec January 3-10, 2007: Forbes (Australia) Flatlands Hang Glid.com. ing Championship. Aerotow-only, HGFA and FAI sanctioned, 72 pilots August 27-September 2: Sun Valley, Idaho. U.S. Paraglid- max, $200 entry fee includes welcome party and awards dinner, $300 ing National Championships. Entry fee $400. More information at aerotow fee includes unlimited tows from January 2-10. More information: Vicki@moyes.com.au. www.flysunvalley.com.

Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative.

Please include exact information (event, date, contact name and phone number). Items should be received no later than six weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead time for regional and national meets. For more complete information on the events listed, please see our Calendar of Events at www.ushga.org.

January 13-20, 2007: Bogong Cup, Bright, Australia. More infor-

COMPETITION August

12-13,

September

16-17,

mation: Vicki@moyes.com.au.

October

6-8:

Northern California Cross-Country League weekends, location to be decided three days before the weekend. All sites will be within a four-hour drive of the San Francisco Bay Area. Cost: $5 per race. More information: Jug Aggarwal, jaggarwal@es.ucsc .edu, or check the Web site for the Northern California XC League at http://www.sfbapa.org/ and follow the link for the XC League.

August through September: Intermountain League Paragliding

Series:

FLY-INS September 2-4: 16th annual Pine Mountain Fly-In, near Bend, Oregon. Pine Mountain produces epic evening glass-offs and excellent XC flying for both HG and PG pilots. Come share the food, fun, and flying with the 150+ pilots from all over the country who usually attend. For details contact Billy Gordon, xc_cloudbase@yahoo.com, (541) 610-2200, or visit http://desertairriders.org.

August 31-September 4: Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Second

August 4-6: Jackson, Wyoming August 11-13: Warm up for the U.S. Nationals in

Annual Wildwest Airfest and Airmen’s Rendezvous, Storm Peak Hang Gliding and Paragliding. Get hours of high-altitude airtime and let your family bike, soak in hot springs, horseback ride and shop. Vintage airSun Valley, Idaho planes, RC activity, balloons, skydiving, town BBQ, HG and PG awards September 22-24: season finale at King Mt., Idaho party, Fly to Pig Roast and Disco Party (possibly). Spectacular altitude Date TBD: Bozeman, Montana (put on by Andy Macrae) Entry $25, all goes to drivers and prize money. This year Super Fly has gains, over-the-Divide XC, awards for course flying, Harry Martin T-shirt. generously offered to sponsor the Intermountain League, providing beer Launch 10,400’ MSL, numerous LZs (6660’ MSL). All site rules apply, and support for thirsty pilots who want to brag about great days of flying. H-4/P-4, call to get your place and approval. Lesser ratings with sponsor on a case-by-case basis. Storm Peak HG/PG contacts: Ken Grubbs, Contact info for each meet at leaguemeet.com.

(303) 888-1255, kengrubbs@msn.com; Mark Cahur (970) 846-3824; August 5-9: Golden, BC. Race Willi – paragliding points meet, run in Tom Wood (970) 846-4427; Roberto Frias (970) 870-8873. Campconjunction with the annual “Willi XC Challenge” biwingual event. Entry ing and conventional lodging contacts: http://www.steamboat-chamber Fee: $25 + the Willi XC Challenge Fee (about $60, mandatory). The Willi .com/.

XC entry fee gives access to all Willi XC events (parties and beverages, often breakfast), and allows pilots to compete in the Willi XC classes for August 31-September 4: Macedon, New York. Fourth annuprizes and cash. More information on the USHPA Web site (ushga.org) or al Flaming Fall Foliage Festival and Fly-In, Labor Day weekend at the Finger Lakes Aerosport Park in upstate New York. $75 per pilot infrom Will Gadd, gadd@gravsports.com, (403) 678-5728. cludes Sunday dinner and all festivities. For further information go to September 16-17: Seattle (Washington) Aerobattle. A mix of cos- www.fingerlakesaerosportpark.com and click the bar for the 2006 Flytume flying, aerobatic demonstrations, friendly competition. Lots of air- In information. sports-related activities, as well as music, food, fun! See June Pilot BriefCLINICS, MEETINGS, TOURS ings column for details. $300 for competitors, donation to cover cost of tows requested from costumed and demo flyers. More information August 5-12: Snowbird, Utah. Snowbird-to-Colorado XC record atat www.seattleparagliding.com or contact Chris Santacroce at chris@ tempt. For event description and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com superflyinc.com. or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail .com.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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August 31-September 4: Near Rochester, N.Y. Hang glid-

November 11-25: Oxaca, Mexico. Improve your thermal and XC ing instructor training/recertification seminar and “scooter tow”/sta- skills with world-team pilot David Prentice. Week-long tours include, airtionary winch clinic, hosted by Finger Lakes Aerosport Flight Park port pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, XC retrieval. Plenty in conjunction with their 4th Annual Flaming Fall Foliage Festival and of other fun and adventure for the family. More information: (505) 720Fly-In on Labor Day weekend. Michael Robertson (OBE) of High Per- 5436, www.earthcog.com. spective will be conducting the clinic. A limited number of “real students” (first come, first served) will be permitted to take advantage of November 12-December 2: Fly Iquique (Chile) and Mendoza the instructor-rich learning environment. For details and/or to regis- (Argentina) this November with Luis Rosenkjer and Todd Weigand. Luis ter please contact ONLY Michael Robertson, info@flyhigh.com, (905) is a multiple Argentinean Champion and owner of Atlanta Paragliding.

294-2536 (Toronto area), 800-359-9979 (rest of North America), Todd is a top internationally ranked competition and acro pilot from Orwww.flyhigh.com, High Perspective Inc., 1150 Hwy 7, RR #1, Locust Hill, egon who has been seasonally guiding, instructing and perfecting his acro and XC skills in Chile since 2001. Multiple tours available. Choose ON L1Y 1A2, Canada your week at www.atlantaparagliding.com. Contact Todd at (541) 475September 9-10 (11 rain date): Paragliding tandem instructor 6935, wallowaparagliding@gmail.com or Luis at (404) 931-3793, info@ clinic with Bob Hannah and Jeff Greenbaum, at a non-coastal location in atlantaparagliding.com. the San Francisco Bay Area. Applicants seeking a T-3 (tandem instructor rating) should have achieved, prior to this clinic, requirements stipulated November 12-19: Phoenix, Arizona. Escape the winter cold – fly in Part 104 guidelines including minimum 25 flights as a T-1. Pilots can three drive-up sites minutes from the airport and more sites around. also attend to pursue a T-1 rating. Please review Part 104 for full tandem Details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/phoenix.php. requirements. Contact: jgreenbaum@sftandem.com.

December 9-January 20: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Improve your thermal and XC skills with world-team pilot David Prentice. Week-long September 22-24: Point of the Mountain and Utah flying tours include, airport pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, sites. PG thermal clinic. For clinic description and prerequisites go to XC retrieval.

Plenty of other fun and adventure for the family. More inforwww.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, mation: (505) 720-5436, www.earthcog.com. twocanfly@gmail.com.

October 1: Deadline for mailing USHPA awards nomination material,

December 3-10: Southern California and the Baja Peninsula. Fly where it is still warm – we pick you up at the airport and handle the rest.

Details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/Southwest.php.

for consideration by the Awards committee at the fall BOD meeting. Mail to USHPA, P.O Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901-1330. Awards nominations may be made online (http://ushga.org/emailaward.asp) up January 3-14, 2007: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Thermal and XC until the fall board meeting. Some awards require tangible examples be instruction tour. For more information and prerequisites go to www mailed (newsletters that are not online, non-digital photos, videos) in or- .twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, der for the nomination to be considered. It is recommended that all nomi- twocanfly@gmail.com. nations, mailed or online, be made by the October 1 deadline.

January 7-14: Mexico with Parasoft Paragliding School. We’ve been October 5-8: USHPA fall BOD meeting, in the San Francisco Bay taking pilots to fly in Mexico since 1991. We have been to Valle de Bravo Area, California. More information at www.ushga.org. and Igualla, but Tapalpa is world-class. The P-2 week focuses on long easy flights. Mexico P-2 pilot details at http://www.parasoftparagliding October 7-November 4: Tapalpa, Mexico. Improve your thermal .com/travel/tapalpa%20_mexico.php. and XC skills with world team pilot David Prentice. Week-long tours in-

clude, airport pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, XC re- January 14-21: Mexico P-3 week. We tailor our weeks to your pitrieval. Plenty of other fun and adventure for the family. More information: lot level; second week focuses on thermaling. P-3 pilot details at http:// (505) 720-5436, www.earthcog.com. www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/colima.php.

October 7-8: Utah flying sites. PG mountain flying clinic. For clinic

January 21-28: Mexico P-4 week. Geared towards flying XC from 4

description and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com.

sites. www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/iguala%20_mexico.php.

October 20-22: Point of the Mountain and Utah flying sites. PG

instructor training clinic. For clinic description and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com.

February 10-17: Southern California tour. For more information and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com.

October 20-21: Point of the Mountain and Utah flying sites. PG in-

structor re-certification clinic. For clinic description and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com.

October 28-29: Point of the Mountain and Utah flying sites. PG tan-

dem (T-2 and T-3) clinic. For clinic description and prerequisites go to www.twocanfly.com or contact Ken Hudonjorgensen, (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com.

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72

Photo: Ursula Cristol

Safety Tips

Jeff Cristol in Mongolia August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

New Pilot Ratings Ratings issued during April 2006 Paragliding Division Rating Region Name City P-1 1 Konstantin Terentjev Kent P-1 2 Hideki Yoshimoto San Jose P-1 2 Clemens Drews San Jose P-1 2 Ken Kurtzig Sausalito P-1 2 Karen Holtemann San Jose P-1 3 Eric Smith Lake Elsinore P-1 3 Tom Swanson Ontario P-1 3 Rick Shacket La Jolla P-1 3 Scott Walker Loma Linda P-1 4 Jurgen Durrschmidt Vail P-1 4 Cynthia Clark Colorado Springs P-1 4 Peter Elliott Jr South Jordan P-1 4 Chris Louderback Flagstaff P-1 4 Jesse Rader Pagosa Springs P-1 4 Ross Lemons Los Alamos P-1 5 Pam Kimpton Billings P-1 5 Jakab Walton Missoula P-1 7 G Jennings Iv Commerce Twp P-1 9 Kevin Ayers Tunkhannock P-1 9 Robert Vonfrisch Weatherly P-1 10 John Melfi Tampa P-1 12 Neel Mullick Plainsboro P-2 1 Konstantin Terentjev Kent P-2 1 David Morison Kirkland P-2 2 Vincent Borel San Francisco P-2 2 Julien Borel Menlo Park P-2 2 William Rossmann Fernley P-2 2 Daniel Sapoznick San Francisco P-2 3 Raymond Broad Farmersville P-2 3 Eric Smith Lake Elsinore P-2 3 Oleg Sotnik Chatsworth P-2 3 Scott Walker Loma Linda P-2 3 Chirath Thouppuarachchi Pasadena P-2 3 Daniel Kleinberg San Diego P-2 3 Benjamin Pelletier La Canada P-2 3 Danielle Cole San Diego P-2 3 Jim Roy Ramona P-2 4 Kip Mc Clain Clovis P-2 4 Tyler Aldrich Wolcott P-2 4 David Boueres Salt Lake City P-2 4 Chris Louderback Flagstaff P-2 4 Jesse Rader Pagosa Springs P-2 5 Scott Creel Bozeman P-2 5 Jakab Walton Missoula P-2 9 Sergio Osuna Easton P-2 9 Wil Nicoll Silver Spring P-2 9 Kevin Ayers Tunkhannock P-2 10 Alek Gavrilovska Atlanta P-2 12 Jason Gerow Averill Pk P-2 12 Neel Mullick Plainsboro P-2 13 Lam Wai Kit Mong Kok P-2 13 Jonathan Chuter London P-3 1 Heather St. Clair Shoreline P-3 2 Jesse Meyers Lahonda P-3 2 Josh Seaton Sand City P-3 3 Diana Niesser Los Angeles P-3 3 Rick Wallace Malibu P-3 3 Greg Launt Lake Elsinore P-3 3 Gary Glibbery Crestline P-3 3 Richard Ferro Los Angeles P-3 3 Stephen Bishop Oceanside P-3 4 Faris Alaboudy Salt Lake City P-3 4 John Lee Edwards P-3 4 R T Zak Hargraves Durango P-3 7 Klaus Wagner Madison P-3 10 Marge Variano Huntersville P-3 12 Luiz Coelho Green Island P-3 13 Ma Chiu Kit 4-8 Ching Wah St P-3 13 Jeremy Hanen Vancouver Bc P-4 1 Michael Angiulo Issaquah P-4 1 Adrian Beebee Anchorage P-4 1 Nick Neary Seattle P-4 2 Spencer Mathews Davis P-4 3 Robert Kuczewski La Jolla P-4 3 Robert Hammond Jr San Diego P-4 4 Faris Alaboudy Salt Lake City P-4 4 Stacy Whitmore Richfield P-4 5 Robert Kimpton Billings

Hang Gliding Division State WA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CO CO UT AZ CO NM MT MT MI PA PA FL NJ WA WA CA CA NV CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA NM CO UT AZ CO MT MT PA MD PA GA NY NJ WA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA UT CO CO WI NC NY WA AK WA CA CA CA UT UT MT

Rating Official Robert Rinker Jr Jeffrey Greenbaum Julie Spiegler Jeffrey Greenbaum Jeffrey Greenbaum Brad Weiss Brad Weiss Bill Armstrong Rob Mckenzie Gregory Kelley Chris Santacroce Ken Hudonjorgensen Tanner Patty Chad Bastian Bill Armstrong Chris Santacroce Stephen Mayer Bill Armstrong William Umstattd Alistair Ritchie Rob Sporrer Bruce Kirk Robert Rinker Jr Marc Chirico Jeffrey Greenbaum Jeffrey Greenbaum John Van Meter Ricardo Mantilla Alejandro Olazabal Brad Weiss Rob Sporrer Rob Mckenzie Rob Sporrer Bill Armstrong Rob Sporrer Gabriel Jebb Joshua Meyers David Prentice Gregory Kelley Dale Covington Tanner Patty Chad Bastian Andy Macrae Stephen Mayer Thomas Mccormick Dwayne Mc Court William Umstattd Luis Rosenkjer Alistair Ritchie Bruce Kirk John Mcdonald Kevin Mcginley Kelly Kellar Rob Sporrer Hugh Murphy Jeff Wishnie Rob Sporrer Rob Mckenzie Rob Mckenzie Rob Mckenzie David Jebb Ken Hudonjorgensen David Champaign Kyoung Ki Hong R C Estes Rob Sporrer Bohan Soifer John Mcdonald Rob Sporrer Marc Chirico Rick Ray Douglas Stroop Honza Rejmanek Ken Baier Kyoung Ki Hong Ken Hudonjorgensen Ken Hudonjorgensen Chris Santacroce

Rating Region Name City H-1 1 Jeffrey Lemon Port Orchard H-1 3 Sharon Dubil Romona H-1 4 Ron Stahl Monument H-1 9 Stephen Manglitz Greenbelt H-1 10 Bill Schell Stuart H-1 10 Wing Wong Stuart H-1 10 Juan Martinez Surfside H-1 10 Donald Guynn Raleigh H-1 11 Joshua Burrus Edmond H-1 12 Norm Seelbinder Ransomville H-1 12 Michael Tesla Himrod H-1 12 Robert Hartl Athol Springs H-2 1 Jeffrey Lemon Port Orchard H-2 2 Michael Stott San Juan Bautista H-2 2 Victoria Vlasenko Berkeley H-2 3 Tommy Austin Los Angeles H-2 3 Daniel Sunshine Pasadena H-2 3 Allen Binder El Segundo H-2 3 David Schwartz Santa Monica H-2 4 Ron Stahl Monument H-2 9 Steve Walko Oakmont H-2 10 Clay Humphrey San Juan H-2 10 Bill Schell Stuart H-2 10 Wing Wong Stuart H-2 10 Juan Martinez Surfside H-2 11 Joshua Burrus Edmond H-2 12 Patrick Kilkenny Poushquag H-2 12 Norm Seelbinder Ransomville H-2 12 Joshua Vilches Little Falls H-2 12 Michael Tesla Himrod H-2 12 Robert Hartl Athol Springs H-3 1 John Geisler Monroe H-3 1 Bradley Smith Anchorage H-3 1 Julie Bacon Amity H-3 4 Michael Aielli Austin H-3 4 David Williams Albuquerque H-3 12 Tony De Blasio Flushing H-4 2 Dr Alexander Wiessner Santa Clara H-4 3 Jrans Petrosian Glendale H-4 13 Scott Newman Ontario

State WA CA CO MD FL FL FL NC OK NY NY NY WA CA CA CA CA CA CA CO PA PR FL FL FL OK NY NY NJ NY NY WA AK OR TX NM NY CA CA

Rating Official S Doug Campbell Steve Stackable James Tindle Gordon Cayce Robert Lane Robert Lane James Tindle H Bruce Weaver Iii Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Robert Lane Gordon Cayce S Doug Campbell Patrick Denevan Barry Levine Andrew Beem Paul Thornbury Paul Thornbury Paul Thornbury James Tindle John Alden Robert Hastings Robert Lane Robert Lane James Tindle Gordon Cayce Tony Covelli Gordon Cayce Christopher Mc Guiness Robert Lane Gordon Cayce Russell Gelfan Michael Foy Robert Hagewood Gregg Ludwig Jean-paul Chevalier Paul Voight James Richardson Joseph Szalai Michael Robertson

Steve Pieniak, with Cleveland in the background Photo: Bogdan “Don” Pieniak

73

HANG GLIDING ADVISORY: Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with non-circular holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges.

PARAGLIDING ADVISORY: Used paragliders should always be thoroughly inspected before flying for the first time. Annual inspections on paragliders should include sailcloth strength tests. Simply performing a porosity check isn’t sufficient. Some gliders pass porosity yet have very weak sailcloth.

HARNESSES – 5’0”-6’5”. Cocoons $125+up. High Energy Cocoons $200+up, Pods $200+up. Inventory, selection changes constantly. Some trades accepted.

(262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding .com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

MOSQUITO POWERED HARNESS – Pre-NRG $3500.

Larry (810) 630-1296, Michigan.

POWERED HARNESSES SKY BIKE WITH TRIKE – low hours, lots of extra equipment, tow machine new tandem wing, etc. Located in Florida. $5000 OBO. (386) 961-9551.

If in doubt, many hang gliding and paragliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. BUYERS SHOULD SELECT EQUIPMENT THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR SKILL LEVEL OR RATING. NEW PILOTS SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION FROM A USHPA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR.

MISSION SOARING CENTER – Distributor for AIR Atos, world’s most popular rigid wing. New! Atos VX tandem or powered harness, incredible sink rate with a solo pilot.

(408) 262-1055, www.hang-gliding.com.

FLEX WINGS

ULTRALIGHTS

EVEN-UP TRADES – Looking to move up from your beginner or novice glider, but can’t put up cash? (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding .com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

DRAGONFLY AEROTUGS – For up to $10,000 off the price of new ones! Enclosed trailer available for pickup/ delivery. www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports, (262) 473-8800.

FALCONS CLEARANCE SALE – School use, one season. Falcon 1s and 2s. All sizes $1250-$2500. (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding .com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

KOLB FIRESTAR II – 503 dual carb, dual ignition, excellent condition. BRS, new covering, always hangered. $13,000 OBO. (435) 789-0721 or (435) 790-6655.

FALCON 195 with harness and helmet, all bought new in 2000. Red and gray. EXCELLENT (LIKE NEW) CONDITION – less than 5 hours airtime! Prefer selling together. $2300 for everything, OBO. Glenn (435) 840-2697 or glenn@tvsc.aros.net.

MOYES LITESPEED S4 – Mylar sail, carbon RLE, inserts and sprogs. New condition, orange/purple, 30 hours, $4950, (541) 504-5416.

PREDATOR 142 – Screaming fast! New wires, speed ribs, <125 hrs. on sail (blue and orange). Located in SLC, Utah. $1300 OBO. Craig (801) 699-9889.

EMERGENCY PARACHUTES INSPECTED RESERVES – For HG or PG $199+up.

Used Quantum, all sizes $475+up. Some trades accepted. info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports, (262) 473-8800.

EMPLOYMENT NORTH WING DESIGN – is accepting applications for metal shop/wing and trike airframe mechanic. Also accepting applications for sail maker and sewing machine operator. Send application to: 3904 Airport Way, E. Wenatchee, WA 98802 or Fax (509) 886-3435 (www .northwing.com).

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HARNESSES

RIGID WINGS

SCHOOLS & DEALERS ALABAMA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

CALIFORNIA AIRJUNKIES PARAGLIDING – Year-round excellent instruction, Southern California & Baja. Powered paragliding, clinics, tours, tandem, towing. Ken Baier, (760) 753-2664, airjunkies@sbcglobal.net, airjunkies.com.

DREAM WEAVER HANG GLIDING – Competitive prices, state-of-the-art equipment. Complete lesson programs.

Northern California Mosquito harness dealer. Ideal training hill. Tandem instruction. USHPA advanced instructor Doug Prather, (209) 556-0469, Modesto, California. drmwvrhg@softcom.net.

EAGLE PARAGLIDING – SANTA BARBARA offers the best year round flying in the nation. Awardwinning instruction, excellent mountain and ridge sites. www.FlySantaBarbara.com, (805) 968-0980.

FLY ABOVE ALL – Year-round instruction in beautiful Santa Barbara! USHPA novice through advanced certification. Thermaling to competition training. Visit www.flyaboveall.com, (805) 965-3733.

THE HANG GLIDING CENTER – PO Box 151542, San Diego CA 92175, (619) 265-5320.

MISSION SOARING CENTER – Largest hang gliding center in the West! Our deluxe retail shop showcases the latest equipment: Wills Wing, Moyes, AIR, High Energy, Flytec, Icaro. West Coast distributor for A.I.R. Atos rigid wings including the all-new VX Tandem Atos. Parts in stock. We stock new and used equipment. Trade-ins welcome. Complete lesson program. Best training park in the West, located just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Pittman Hydraulic Winch System for Hang 1s and above. Launch and landing clinics for Hang 3s and Hang 4s. Wills Wing Falcons of all sizes and custom training harnesses. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035.

(408) 262-1055, Fax (408) 262-1388, mission@ hang-gliding.com, www.hang-gliding.com, Mission Soaring Center, leading the way since 1973.

O’CONNOR FLIGHT SCHOOL – Specializing in Safety In-Flight Training & Maneuvers Clinics and Aerobatic Instruction. Enhance your knowledge, increase your level of confidence, take your piloting skills to new levels. Overthe-water safety and aerobatics clinics. Enleau and Ann O’Connor, www.oconnorflightschool.com, (530) 2274055 and reserve your clinic.

TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT – Come soar in San Diego! This family-owned and operated flying site offers USHGA certified instruction, advanced training, equipment sales, tandem flight instruction, motorized pg/hg instruction and site tours. We also have an extensive pg/ hg outfitting shop offering parachute repacks and fullservice repairs. Bring your family for our amazing sunsets and dining at the Cliffhanger Cafe. Importers for Para-tech and Independence gliders. We also carry AustriAlpin, Center of Gravity, Crispi and Sup’Air. Check us out online for sales and questions at: www.flytorrey.com, or call toll-free at 1-877-FLY-TEAM (359-8326). Also, tune in to the Internet Paragliding Talk Show at www.worldtalkradio .com every Tuesday 9-11:00 a.m. (PST).

WINDSPORTS – Don’t risk bad weather, bad instruction or dangerous training hills. 350 flyable days each year. Learn foot-launch flying skills safely and quickly. Train with professional CFI’s at world-famous Dockweiler Beach training slopes (5 minutes from LA airport). Fly winter or summer in gentle coastal winds, soft sand and in a thorough program with one of America’s most prestigious schools for over 25 years. (818) 367-2430, www.windsports.com.

COLORADO AIRTIME ABOVE HANG GLIDING – Full-time lessons, sales, service. Colorado’s most experienced!

Wills Wing, Moyes, Altair, Aeros, High Energy, Ball, Finsterwalder, Flytec, MotoComm and much more. Call (303) 674-2451, Evergreen, Colorado. AirtimeHG@aol.com.

GUNNISON GLIDERS – Serving the western slope.

Instruction, sales, service, sewing, accessories. Site information, ratings. 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, 1-866-238-2305.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

PEAK TO PEAK PARAGLIDING LLC – THE Front Range paragliding school, located in Boulder. Offering excellent state-of-the-art instruction. Equipment & tandems.

(303) 817-0803, Info@peaktopeakparagliding.com, www .peaktopeakparagliding.com.

GEORGIA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Discover why 5 times as many pilots earn their wings at LMFP. Enjoy our 110-acre mountain resort. www.hanglide.com, 877hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

FLORIDA FLORIDA RIDGE AEROTOW PARK – 18265 E State Road 80, Clewiston, Florida, (863) 805-0440, www.thefloridaridge.com.

GRAYBIRD AIRSPORTS – Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfly aerotow training, XC, thermaling, instruction, equipment. Dunnellon Airport, (352) 245-8263, email fly@graybirdairsports.com, www.graybirdairsports.com.

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Nearest mountain training center to Orlando. Two training hills, novice mountain launch, aerotowing, great accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

MIAMI HANG GLIDING – For year-round training fun in the sun. (305) 285-8978, 2550 S Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 33133, www.miamihanggliding.com.

QUEST AIR – FROM 1ST FLIGHT TO 1ST PLACE – From your first tandem to advanced XC racing, fly with the innovators of aerotowing and champion instructors.

No-wait lessons. Higher tows = more airtime. 7 Dragonfly tugs. Safer carts. Huge LZ. Demos. Rentals. Storage. Sales & repair of everything HG. Clubhouse with kitchen, PC, satellite TV, cool toys, kegs, snakeboard races. Pool. Hot tub. Shade. Free wireless. Private lake. Rooms. Bunkhouse.

Tent camping. RV hookups. Indoor/outdoor showers. Laundry. Bobby Bailey sightings. Flytec Championships. 2006 Worlds. Largest U.S. HG record/comp sponsors, helping to keep it all going for YOU. Minutes from Orlando in Groveland, FL. www.questairforce.com, questair@mpinet.com, (352) 429-0213.

SEMINOLE-LAKE GLIDERPORT – We specialize in hang gliding/paragliding transition to sailplanes. Located between Quest and Wallaby in central Florida. (352) 3945450, www.soarfl.com.

WALLABY AEROTOW FLIGHT PARK – Satisfaction Guaranteed. Just 8 miles from Disney World. Year-round soaring, open 7 days a week, six tugs, no waiting, every direction.

50+ nice demos to fly, topless to trainer gliders: Laminar, Moyes, Wills, Airborne, Airwave, Exxtacy, La Mouette, Sensor; also harnesses, varios, etc. Ages 13 to 73 have learned to fly here. No one comes close to our level of experience and success with tandem aerotow instruction. A great scene for family and friends. 10 motels & restaurants within 5 minutes. Camping, hot showers, shade trees, sales, storage, ratings, XC retrievals, great weather, climbing wall, trampoline, DSS TV, ping pong, picnic tables, swimming pool, etc. Flights of over 200 miles and more than 7 hours.

Articles in Hang Gliding, Kitplanes, Skywings, Cross Country and others. Featured on numerous TV shows, including Dateline NBC, The Discovery Channel & ESPN. Visit us on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com. Please call us for references and video. 1805 Dean Still Road, Disney Area, FL 33837 (863) 424-0070, phone & fax, fly@wallaby .com, 1-800-WALLABY. Conservative, reliable, state-ofthe-art. F.H.G. INC., flying Florida since 1974.

HAWAII FLY HAWAII – Hawaii’s hang gliding, paragliding/ paramotoring school. Mauna Kea guide service. Big Island Hawaii, Achim Hagemann (808) 895-9772, www.aircotec .net/flyhawaii.htm, flyaglider@yahoo.com.

ISLAND POWERED PARAGLIDING & THERMAL UP PARAGLIDING – The Big Island’s source for USHPA certified instruction. Power or tow from a private 25acre ranch. Guided site and flight tours. Equipment rental, service and sales. Call Yeti, (808) 987-0773, www.IslandPPG.com, www.ThermalUp.com.

TRAVERSE CITY HANG GLIDERS/PARAGLIDERS – Put your knees in our breeze and soar our 450’ sand dunes.

Full-time shop. Certified instruction, beginner to advanced. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands.

Visa/MasterCard. 1509 E 8th, Traverse City MI 49684.

Offering powered paragliding. Call Bill at (231) 922-2844, tchangglider@chartermi.net. Your USA & Canada Mosquito distributor. www.mosquitoamerica.com.

NEW YORK AAA E-VILLE OUTFITTERS, MOUNTAIN WINGS INC. – Aeros, North Wing (845) 647-3377, mtnwings@hvc .rr.com , www.evilleoutfitters.com, Ellenville, N.Y. FLY HIGH, INC. – Serving New York, Jersey, and Connecticut areas. Area’s exclusive Wills Wing dealer. Also all other brands, accessories. Area’s most INEXPENSIVE prices! Certified instruction/service since 1979. Excellent secondary instruction! Taken some lessons? Advance to mountain flying! www.flyhighhg.com, (845) 744-3317.

PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING – Call Dexter for friendly information about flying on Maui. Full-service school offer- SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK COOPERSTOWN ing beginner to advanced instruction every day, year round. – 160’ training hill with rides up. 600’ ridge – large LZ. (808) 874-5433, paraglidehawaii.com.IDAHO Specializing in first mountain flights. Dan Guido, 293 Shoemaker Road, Mohawk NY 13407. (315) 866-6153, dguido@dfamilk.com.

IDAHO KING MOUNTAIN GLIDERS – Alluring site plus shop supplying all your HG/PG needs. Instruction, equipment sales, tandems, complete accessories. Visit our Web site www.kingmountaingliders.com or (208) 390-0205.

INDIANA CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – See Cloud 9 in Michigan.

MAINE DOWNEAST AIRSPORTS – Paragliding and hang gliding instruction, quality equipment sales.

Extended training/tour packages with lodging available. www.downeastairsports.com, in_a_cloud@hotmail.com, Marc (207) 244-9107.

MARYLAND HIGHLAND AEROSPORTS – Baltimore and DC’s fulltime flight park: tandem instruction, solo aerotows and equipment sales and service. We carry Aeros, Airwave, Flight Design, Moyes, Wills Wing, High Energy Sports, Flytec and more. Two 115-HP Dragonfly tugs. Open fields as far as you can see. Only 1 to 1.5 hours from Rehoboth Beach, Baltimore, Washington DC, Philadelphia. Come Fly with US! (410) 634-2700, Fax (410) 634-2775, 24038 Race Track Rd, Ridgely, MD 21660, www.aerosports.net, hangglide@aerosports.net.

MICHIGAN CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – Aerotow specialists.

We carry all major brand hang gliders and accessories.

Cloud 9 Field, 11088 Coon Lake Road West, Webberville MI 48892. Cloud9sa@aol.com, http://members.aol .com/cloud9sa. Call for spring tandem lessons and flying appointments with the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club at Cloud 9 Field. (517) 223-8683, DFSCinc@aol.com, http://members.aol.com/dfscinc.

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

NORTH CAROLINA KITTY HAWK KITES – FREE Hang 1 training with purchase of equipment! The largest hang gliding school in the world. Teaching since 1974. Learn to fly over the East Coast’s largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Ultralight instruction and tours. (252) 441-2426, 1-877-FLY-THIS, www.kittyhawk.com.

OHIO CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – See Cloud 9 in Michigan.

PUERTO RICO FLY PUERTO RICO WITH TEAM SPIRIT HG! – Flying tours, rentals, tandems, HG and PG classes, H-2 and P-2 intensive novice courses, full sales. (787) 850-0508, tshg@coqui.net.

TENNESSEE LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Just outside Chattanooga. Become a complete pilot – foot launch, aerotow, mountain launch, ridge soar, thermal soar. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

TEXAS AUSTIN AIR SPORTS – Hang gliding and ultralight sales, service and instruction. Steve Burns (512) 236-0031, sburns@austinairsports.com. Fred Burns (281) 471-1488, austinair@aol.com, www.austinairsports.com.

GO...HANG GLIDING!!! – Jeff Hunt. Austin ph/fax (512) 467-2529, jeff@flytexas.com, www.flytexas.com.

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UTAH CLOUD 9 SOARING CENTER – Once again, we are the closest shop to the Point of the Mountain. Utah’s only full-time PG/HG shop and repair facility. Contact 1-888944-5433 or www.paragliders.com.

VIRGINIA BLUE SKY – Full-time instruction at Blue Sky Flight Park near Richmond. Scooter, platform and aerotowing available. All major brands of equipment, with Mosquitos and Doodlebugs in stock. Steve Wendt (540) 432-6557, (804) 241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com.

SILVER WINGS, INC. – Certified instruction and equipment sales. Arlington, VA. silverwingshanggliding.com, (703) 533-1965

WASHINGTON AERIAL PARAGLIDING SCHOOL AND FLIGHT PARK – Award-winning instructors at a world-class training facility.

Contact Doug Stroop at (509) 782-5543 or visit www.paragliding.us.

MINI VARIO – World’s smallest, simplest vario! Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on batteries, 0-18,000 ft., fast response and 2-year warranty. ONLY $169. Mallettec, PO Box 15756, Santa Ana CA 92735. (949) 795-0421, MC/Visa accepted, www.mallettec.com.

OXYGEN SYSTEMS – The world-class XCR-180 operates up to 3 hours @18,000 feet and weighs only 4 lbs. Complete kit with cylinder, harness, regulator, cannula and remote on/off flowmeter, only $400. 1-800-468-8185.

RISING AIR GLIDER REPAIR SERVICES – A fullservice shop, specializing in all types of paragliding repairs, annual inspections, reserve repacks, harness repairs. Hang gliding reserve repacks and repair. For information or repair estimate, call (208) 554-2243, pricing and service request form available at www.risingair.biz, billa@atcnet.net.

WYOMING

TANDEM LANDING GEAR – Rascal™ brand by Raven, simply the best. New & used. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http:// stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

JACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING – A perfect flying day: Launch the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Aerial Tram in the morning, tow at the Palisades Reservoir in the afternoon. Contact: scharris@wyoming.com, www.jhparagliding.com, (307) 690-TRAM (8726).

WHEELS FOR AIRFOIL BASETUBES – WHOOSH! Wheels™ (Patent Pending), Moyes/Airborne & Wills Wing compatible. Dealer inquiries invited. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http:// stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

INTERNATIONAL

WINDSOKS FROM HAWK AIRSPORTS INC – 1673 Corbin Lake Rd, Rutledge, TN 37861, 1-800-826-2719. Worldfamous Windsoks, as seen at the Oshkosh & Sun-N-Fun EAA Fly-Ins. Hawk@windsok.com, www.windsok.com.

MEXICO – VALLE DE BRAVO and beyond for hang gliding and paragliding. Year-round availability and special tours, winter 05-06. Fly the extinct volcano, vagabond tours for those with wanderlust and more sites in the Valle area. Standard package in and out on a Sunday, $895 PG $1095 HG - includes all transpo, lodging, guiding and HG rental. www.flymexico.com, 1-800-861-7198 USA. VOLER PARAGLIDING – Argentina, Chile, Brazil Guided tours with certified instructors info@ volerparapente.com.ar - Transportation, lodging, guiding.

More Info www.volerparapente.com.ar.

PARTS & ACCESSORIES BIG EARS PTT – $99.95. Includes speaker and microphone, radio connection, sealed finger switch. Choose the full-face or the open-face model. www.bigearsptt.com, (805) 965-3733.

FOR ALL YOUR FLYING NEEDS – Check out the Aviation Depot at www.mojosgear.com featuring over 1000 items for foot-launched and powered paragliding, hang gliding, stunt and power kiting, and powered parachutes.

24/7 secure online shopping. Books, videos, KITES, gifts, engine parts, harness accessories, electronics, clothing, safety equipment, complete powered paragliding units with training from Hill Country Paragliding Inc. www .hillcountryparagliding.com, 1-800-664-1160 for orders only. Office (325) 379-1567.

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GLIDERBAGS – XC $60! Heavy waterproof $100. Accessories, low prices, fast delivery! Gunnison Gliders, 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, orders 1-866-238-2305.

PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS *NEW* AND THE WORLD COULD FLY – And the World Could Fly tells the story of how piloting for the masses became a possibility and then a reality. This is a tale of free flight in every sense of the term. Edited by Stéphane Malbos and Noel Whittall, And the World Could Fly contains contributions from many parts of the world as well as much new writing. Together, the editors have more than fifty years of undiminished enthusiasm for foot-launched flight. And the World Could Fly is produced by the International Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL) to celebrate the centenary of FAI. It is a book which will appeal to anyone with an interest in free flight, whether an old-stager who can remember the early California days or a newcomer who wonders where it all came from. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www .ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

BIRDFLIGHT – Otto Lilienthal’s genius in scientific observations and analysis, documented in this work, became the basis for the experimentation of the early pioneers in aviation. The “hero” of the Wright brothers, Otto is considered to be “The Father of Gliding Flight.” Lilienthal’s definitive book has been out of print for almost a century, but is now available to everyone for a wonderful and absorbing journey into aviation history. 176 pages, 16 photographs, 89 drawings and 14 graphs. $19.95 (+$5 s/h) Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. *NEW* CONDOR TRAIL, PARAGLIDING THE CENTRAL ANDES – the guidebook to paragliding and traveling in the Central Andes. It’s packed with 256 pages of maps, site descriptions, local lore, free-flight contacts and photos, all the information you need to plan your own Andean paragliding adventure. Most of the launch and landing access throughout the Andes is done with cheap public transportation. Condor Trail gives you bus routes to catch, areas to avoid, traveler tips, and contacts for the local flying communities throughout Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina, and Northern Chile. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www .ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

“FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS: A HANG GLIDER PILOT’S VIEW OF LIFE” is a self-help book written by USHPA member Chris Waugh who started flying in 1974.

She uses hang gliding as a metaphor for how you can succeed in a world of change and uncertainty. Full of photos and inspirational flying quotes, it sells for $14.95 and shipping is FREE. Buy it at www.reNvision.com.

FLY THE WING! HOOKING INTO HANG GLIDING –

By Len Holms. This is the perfect book for those curious about the sport of hang gliding. Written at a level that will not swamp the reader with a daunting amount of technical details, you will learn about hang glider wings and the skills needed to fly them. 84 pages with photos and illustrations. $12.95(+$5 s&h). Call USHPA at 1-800616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

SEMINOLE-LAKE GLIDERPORT – We specialize in hang gliding/paragliding transition to sailplanes. Located between Quest and Wallaby in central Florida. (352) 3945450, www.soarfl.com.

SOARING – Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $64. SSA, PO Box 2100, Hobbs NM 88241.

(505) 392-1177, ssa.org.

Jeff Cristol in Mongolia Photo: Ursula Cristol

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW VIDEOS FROM USHPA – WWW.USHGA.ORG – WWW.WORLDTALKRADIO *NEW* DARE DEVIL FLYERS – The 94-minute .COM. Listen live or to the archives! Live Tuesday 9digital video docupicture covers all thirty years of hang 11:00 a.m. (PST). Call tollgliding and all seventeen years of paragliding. It begins free, 1-888-514-2100 or with the Bob and Chris Wills story – they founded Wills Wing, the only surviving American manufacturer/dis- internationally at (001) 858268-3068. Paraglider pilots tributor of hang gliders and paragliders. Two legendary and radio hosts David and pilots guide the audience through these extreme sports Gabriel Jebb want to hear with their narrative. The docupic features competition in about your stories, promothe extreme sports of aerobatic hang gliding, speed hang gliding and high-altitude cross-country paragliding. Wing- tions/events or insight; they mounted POV cameras provide the docupic with an in- also take questions! the-air thrill ride from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific CLASSIFIED ADVERTIScoast. Narrator Bobby Carradine threads us through the ING RATES – The rate for three decades. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order classified advertising off our Web site, www.ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado is $10.00 for 25 words Springs CO 80901. and $1.00 per word af-

VIDEOS & DVDS

PURA VIDA FLYING – By GW Meadows. 3 pilots, 3 weeks, 1 jungle, no rules. A trio of competition hang glider and paraglider pilots discover the true meaning of “pura vida” as they enjoy the jungles and beaches of Costa Rica. Hang gliding, paragliding, ultralight towing, kiteboarding and more. Awesome flying. $24.95. Order yours at www.ushga.org/store.

RISK & REWARD – By Jeff Goin. This 70-min. DVD exposes the risks and rewards of powered paragliding in a fun, action-packed adventure. You owe yourself this inside look that could easily save your life. Three years in the making, Risk & Reward gathers wisdom from a long list of instructors. Spectacular video from around the world sheds light on essential concepts with clarity and realism. $29.95. Order yours at www.ushga.org/store. *NEW* USHPA MAGAZINE ARCHIVE 1971-2004 – The DVD set holds the history of our sport, from the earliest days of bamboo and plastic to the present. Within these pages you’ll find the evolution of foot-launched flight from the first days of bamboo dune-skimmers to the modern variety of hang gliders, paragliders and rigid wings. Each PDF file is one complete magazine, just as originally published. Pages with color are produced as color scans, the rest scanned as black and white images. Future issues will be available on an update disk. Each disk includes Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. $30 for members and $90 for nonmembers. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushga.org. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

MISCELLANEOUS “AEROBATICS” POSTER – Full color 23”x 31” poster featuring John Heiney doing what he does bestLOOPING! See www.ushga.org under store/misc for example. Available through USHP A HQ for just $6.95 (+$5.00 s/h). USHPA, PO Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters are NOT AVAILABLE on international orders.)

DVDS-VIDEOS-BOOKS-POSTERS – Check out our Web store at www.ushga.org.

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS ACE SIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ANGLE OF ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CHARLES JOHNSON . . . . . . . . . 49 CRITTER MOUNTAIN WEAR . . . 33 DIGIFLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 FLYTEC USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 HALL BROTHERS . . . . . . . . . . . 29 HIGH ENERGY SPORTS . . . . . . . 14 JUST FLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 MOYES AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . 58 NORTH WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 O’CONNOR FLIGHT SCHOOL . . . 37

OZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SKY WINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 20 SUPERFLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12,21 TORREY PINES . . . . . . . . . . 34,79 TRAVERSE CITY HG&PG . . . . . . 30 USHPA CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . 26 USHPA DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 USHG FOUNDATION . . . . . . . . . 28 USHPA RENEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 WILLS WING . . . . . . . . 5,35,59,61

MARKETPLACE ADVENTURE PRODUCTIONS. . . 71 CLOUD 9 SOARING CENTER . . . 71 NEPAL PARAGLIDING . . . . . . . . 71 FFI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 FLYTEC USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 JUST FLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

ter 25. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $10.00. Phone number=2 words. Email or Web address=3 words. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions & cancellations must be received in writing 2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. March 15th is the deadline for the May issue. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE PREPAID. If paying by check, please include the following with your payment: name, address, phone, category, how many months you want the ad to run and the classified ad. Please make checks payable to USHPA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. If paying with credit card, you may email the previous information and classified to ushga@ushga.org. For safety reason, please call your Visa/MC or Amex info to the office. No refunds will be given on ads cancelled that are scheduled to run multiple months. (719) 632-8300.

Fax (719) 632-6417

KITTY HAWK KITES . . . . . . . . . 71 LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN . . . . . . . . 71 OZ REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 THEWINDYPLANET.COM . . . . . 71 USHPA BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 USHPA XC FLIGHT AWARDS. . . 72

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS PRO-DESIGN TITAN II – Stolen mid-December 2005 from a locked car in Honolulu, Hawaii. White, yellow at back of bottom sail with Pro-Design MOVE harness, Kiwi helmet. $1000 reward for recovery of gear in good condition. Contact Ken Berry (808) 479-2115.

SKYWALK CAYENNE – Stolen mid-December 2005 from a locked car in Honolulu, Hawaii. Black with yellow and white striping, with Pro-Design Jam Pro harness, Kiwi helmet. $1000 reward for recovery of gear in good condition. Contact Ken Berry (808) 479-2115.

STOLEN WINGS ARE LISTED AS A SERVICE TO USHPA MEMBERS. NEWEST ENTRIES ARE IN BOLD. THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE, AND LOST-AND-FOUND WINGS OR EQUIPMENT MAY BE CALLED IN TO (719) 632-8300, FAXED TO (719) 6326417, OR EMAILED TO USHGA@USHGA.ORG FOR INCLUSION IN HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE. PLEASE CALL TO CANCEL THE LISTING WHEN GLIDERS ARE RECOVERED. PERIODICALLY, THIS LISTING WILL BE PURGED. Kinsley Wong pauses between flights at Shell Beach, California Photo: Jamie Thomas

August 2006: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushga.org

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