ing in the Race and the Sprint, that
named the main players: Dan and
teer support, I want to thank Mike and
he’d barely known before coming to
Mary Beth, Pete “Reaper” Michelmore,
Gail Haley for their vision and legacy,
the AO.
Tom Chesnut, the wing fluffers. Zoe
and Dan and Mary Beth Wells along
gets specific about Tom: “He was really
with the RVHPA club, for continuing it
at the Rat Race had left her feeling a
important to me. His attitude and com-
onwards.”
bit lonely and discouraged; not so this
mitment are truly remarkable. I was
year! “Meeting Mary Beth whose smile
so grateful for his presence on launch
opened up like an umbrella! Bumping
every day.” She also offers kudos to
into pilots I’d met in Mexico and the
Rob Campbell, the retrieve driver for
Sprint pilot Janet’s 2009 experience
Canadian Nats in Pemberton 2017! I
the Super Clinic pilots—“He was amaz-
felt like I’d come home.”
ing, always going above and beyond.”
Cedar, whose enthusiasm for the
The Super Clinic pilots’ chant of “Kari
sport and love for the flying commu-
and Ken! Kari and Ken! Kari and Ken!”
nity seems to burst from between the
came through loud and clear.
lines of his email, declares that he “will definitely be back to Applegate next year to test myself against my
Lisa found it “really encouraging to see all the fantastic female pilots flying well in the meet. From thermal-
peers, and more importantly to spend
ing with old friends like C.J. Sturtevant,
time with the flying tribe that I’ve
as well as new ones like Anneka
grown to love and that has become
Herndon, and getting para-gaggle ther-
such a big part of my life.”
mal advice from Krista Auchenbach— every gal was so inspiring and helpful!”
Shoutouts
Krista adds, “While no event is com-
Every one of my contributing pilots
plete without the tremendous volun-
Northern California
PILOT FORUM northerncaliforniapilotforum.com
November 3rd - 4:30pm | Sunnyvale, California
Author’s aside: I just celebrated my 71st birthday, and with the wisdom that comes with age, I’ve determined that paragliding in “big air” just isn’t my thing any more. I sign up for the Sprint class, but joke about flying in the Geezer category of the Leisure class, where the goal each day is to have a good launch, fly as much of the task as fits into my comfort zone, and land happy. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve completed a task and landed at the official Sprint goal, but it’s a rare flight at Woodrat where I don’t score my personal goal. And that, along with the “family reunion” aspect of this annual event, is what has kept me coming back—for 16 years and, hopefully, well into the future.
Join us for an evening of informative discussion on a variety of free-flight topics. Hypoxia and flight safety Weather forecasting Creating stunning videos Strategies for successful SIVs Flight instrumentation Airspace at flying sites XC routes at Bay Area Sites Your first aid kit and how to use it ... And More!
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USHPA PILOT MAGAZINE
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