hang gliding & paragliding vol38/iss02 feb 2008

Volume 38 Issue 2February 2008 $4.95

A Publication of the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. www.ushpa.aero

Che Galus in Anzere, SwitzerlandPhoto ©www.gregbabush.com

USHPA, Publisher: [email protected]. J. Sturtevant, Editor: [email protected] Hartman, Art Director: [email protected] Palmaz, Advertising: [email protected] writers: Alex Colby, Steve Messman, Dennis Pagen, Mark “Forger” StuckyStaff artist: Jim TibbsStaff photographer: Josh Morell

Offi ce Staff:

Paul Montville, Executive Director: [email protected] Butler, Information Services Director: [email protected] Palmaz, Business Manager: [email protected] Russell, Offi ce Manager: [email protected] Burtis, Member/Instructor Services

Administrator: [email protected]

USHPA Offi cers and Executive Committee:

Lisa Tate, President: [email protected] Estes, Vice President: [email protected] Hass, Secretary: [email protected] Forbes, Treasurer: [email protected]

REGION 1: Rich Hass, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Dave Wills, Urs Kellenberger, Paul Gazis. REGION 3: David Jebb, John Greynald, Brad Hall. REGION 4: Steve Mayer, Jim Zeiset. REGION 5: Lisa Tate. REGION 6: Gregg Ludwig. REGION 7: Tracy Tillman. REGION 8: Gary Trudeau. REGION 9: Felipe Amunategui, L.E. Herrick. REGION 10: Dick Heckman, Steve Kroop, Matt Taber. REGION 11: Gregg Ludwig. REGION 12: Paul Voight. REGION 13: Dick Heckman. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Leo Bynum, Riss Estes, Mike Haley, Jon James, Dennis Pagen.EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR: Art Greenfi eld (NAA).

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Inc. is an air sports organization affi liated with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), which is the offi cial 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.

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.

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 offi ces email: [email protected]. ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHPA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS.

The USHPA is a member-controlled sport organization dedicated to the exploration and promotion of all facets of unpowered ultralight fl ight, and to the education, training and safety of its membership. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of fl ight. Dues for Rogallo membership and Pilot membership are $69 ($90 non-U.S.). Dues for Contributing membership and for subscription-only are $52 ($63 non-U.S.). $15 of annual membership dues goes to the publication of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. 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: [email protected].

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING (ISSN 1543-5989) (USPS 17970) 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) 632-6417. PERIODICAL postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing offi ces.

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

Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement #40065056. Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS:

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 © 2007 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 fi les smaller than a megabyte.

Calendar of events items may be sent via email to [email protected], 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, [email protected], (516) 816-1333.

For change of address or other USHPA business, call (719) 632-8300, or email [email protected].

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.

Flight Report: First Time Thermal Soaring . . .6

CLOUD CONSCIOUSPART III: THUNDERSTORM LOREDennis continues his “occasional” series exploring cloud forms and formation, in quest of insights into the mysteries of the sky that will lead to improving performance and enhancing safety.

THE “MASHUP” PROJECT Th e “Mashup” project combines beautiful photos with striking abstract sketches to produce images that are defi nitely more than the sum of their components.

THE SONOMA WINGS ALMOST-ANNUAL FLY-INHang glider and paraglider pilots gather for some excellent fl ying – and an outstanding barbecue – in Northern California.

ZEN AND THE ART OF PARAGLIDER MAINTENANCEEven the most conscientious among us will put things off on occasion. When it comes to maintenance – of wings or relationships – it’s best not to procrastinate.

HOW TO LOSE YOUR MOUNTAIN – AND REGAIN IT!Not quite two years ago, the landown-ers closed Mt. Sentinel to fl ying. Th is is the story of how a group of pilots, with persistence and careful planning and great humility, reopened their beloved site.

Departments

Editor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Pilot Briefi ngs: News and Events . . . . . . . . . .8

Airmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Foundation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PG Accidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Comp Corner: 2007 Northern California Cross-Country League: Bigger and Better Than Ever! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Feature: Hang In There Part Deux – Inadvertent Cloud Flying. . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Feature: Magnifi cent! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Feature: Flying songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

New Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Classifi eds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

One Last Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Index to Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

C.J. Sturtevant at Black Mt., Washington State

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COPYRIGHT © 2007 by Dennis Pagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Photos/artwork: Andy Stocker / Karen Stocker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

By Pete Arroyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

By Michael O’Leary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

By Leo Bynum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

4 February 2008: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – www.ushpa.aero


UPLIFT: THE MAGIC OF FLIGHT AND LOSSOn one beautiful August day, the author experienced the magic of her fi rst high fl ight, and the loss of a dear friend. On that day her world became

“vaster, more frightening, and more spectacular” than it had been the day before.

THE ELECTRAFLYERFor many fl atland pilots, motorized fl ight might off er welcome airtime options – except for the noise annoy-ance. An electric-powered trike may fi ll a niche for those whose opposition to motors stems mainly from decibels and engine grime.

NYLON ORIGAMI, OR THREE DAYS AT AN SIVParticipants in an SIV clinic pay good money to be coached into total terror in the air. If you’re not an adrenaline junky – and most pilots aren’t – why bother?

Gallery. . .62

By Christina Ammon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

By Randall Fishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

By Brett Hardin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

I’m writing this column just a few days before George and I hop on a plane to Ecuador, right on the equa-tor and, hopefully, a lot warmer and sunnier this time of year than here in the “Northwet”! I couldn’t resist using Darren Darsey’s summer-y photo on this month’s cover – it was taken a couple of years ago, but that’s the wing and harness and fl ying suit that I’m still using today, as I fl y off into my new life as a retired magazine editor. Who knows what adventures await discovery, just beyond the horizon!

February is, for a signifi cant number of us, a short month with way too few opportunities for quality airtime. Hopefully you’ll fi nd some worthwhile “armchair fl ying” in this magazine, providing both entertainment and edu-cation for keeping skills sharp through mental practice when the weather precludes the real thing.

Staff writer Dennis Pagen has two features in this issue. One is the third segment of his “Cloud Conscious” series, focusing on thunderstorms. Please continue to submit your high-res images of interesting cloud forma-tions for his use with future articles. His other feature is an equal-opportunity dissing of the sports that are near and dear to all our hearts. Dennis points out that if we can’t laugh at ourselves, and with each other, we’re denying ourselves much of the sheer joy of being part of our tiny, exclusive group of aviators.

Dale Mattice’s “Magnifi cent!” feature celebrates those almost indescribable emotions that we experi-ence as we fl y. Also celebrating the sheer beauty and wonder of our sports is Andy and Karen Stocker’s

“Mashup Project” feature. This brother-and-sister team has combined their artistic talents to produce images that are far more dramatic than either photos or sketch-es alone. If you’re an artist, please keep in mind that our readers appreciate fl ying-related art in whatever medium you work in, and submissions of quality art are always welcome.

It may be winter now, but it’ll be full-on fl ying season before you know it. Jugdeep Aggarwal invites para-glider pilots to join the Northern California XC League weekends, beginning in March; details are in the Comp Corner. Michael O’Leary reports on another Northern California group’s event in “Sonoma Wings Almost-annual Fly-in” – a biwingual event, as long as one group doesn’t blow off the task to go en masse after XC miles! Staff writer Mark “Forger” Stucky reminisces once again on his early days of hang gliding, and extracts lessons that are more relevant to today’s pilots. Staff artist Jim Tibbs had to do some research in order to create a realistic Pliable Moose to insert into the photo at the beginning of Forger’s “Hang In There Part Deux” feature. Brett Hardin provides yet another perspective on a paragliding maneuvers clinic in his feature, “Nylon Origami.” When I watch the Olympic athletes, I always wonder, How did they learn to do those incredible moves? It seems that every article on paragliding SIV clinics provides an answer: With the right coach, and in the right setting, some pretty amazing feats are both possible and reasonable.

I met Leo Bynum at last fall’s USHPA BOD meeting, and learned fi rst-hand about the incredible work one group of pilots undertook to save a Montana fl ying site. Leo’s “How to Lose Your Mountain” feature is an eye-opening tale, with many excellent lessons for us all to take to heart.

Randall Fishman called me to see if I’d be interested in his article on motorized hang glider. I was less than enthusiastic – until he pointed out that his “ElectraFlyer” is battery-powered, and almost silent. Hmmmm – an-other way to take to the air in silent fl ight is defi nitely worth considering!

Staff writer Alex Colby’s “Accident Report” column features paraglider pilots in the lead roles, but Alex’s discussion of right-of-way rules pertains equally to all of us.

Just a week ago I said goodbye to a young lady pilot who was barely half my age, who fl ew a paraglider that was identical twin to mine, who was so full of sunshine and laughter and energy and adventure that it’s diffi cult to comprehend that she won’t be part of our fl ying com-munity this coming season. Three of this month’s ar-ticles were written by pilots who speak from the depths of their love and loss. Pete Arroyo’s “Zen and the Art of Paraglider Maintenance” is a thoughtful discussion on some very good reasons not to put off things that we know are important – especially when it comes to relationships. In “Uplift,” P-2 pilot Chris Ammon refl ects on how her love for her canine companion and her de-light in learning to paraglide will be forever entwined in her mind and her emotions. Steve Messman closes this issue with “Some Thoughts on Living,” a timely remind-er that, as the new fl ying season approaches, we need to focus on what’s really important, what truly makes our lives worth living.

And now, as I fi nish writing this column and putting the fi nal touches on this February issue, I pass the baton to your new editor, Nick Greece. He fl ew out to Seattle in early December for some full-immersion training in the duties of editor of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine; in addition to the nuts-and-bolts passing of informa-tion we spent much time brainstorming, and laughing, and probably way too much time cookie-eating… Nick brings to his new position many skills, considerable enthusiasm, and a strong vision of a bright future for the sports of hang gliding and paragliding and for our magazine. Please offer him the same incredible support that you gave me during my four years as your editor. I thank you all for your participation in making this maga-zine a quality publication, and I hope to see lots of you at the fl y-ins and comps this year.

As always, you can submit your articles, photos and artwork by going to ushpa.aero/editorial_dropbox.asp, and you can reach Nick via email at [email protected].

7January 2008: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – www.ushpa.aero

USHPA 2009 Calendars Need Your Photos!

It’s that time of year again when we ask all USHPA members to dig through your slides and digital pictures to select your best for consideration in the next generation of calendars. You are our most valuable resource, and you have helped bring the calendars to a new level. Please send us your best-composed, most colorful HORIZONTAL-format 35mm slides or digital photos as candidates for the 2009 edition. If you have a photo that represents the thrill and beauty of why we fl y, please send it in!

Since our calendars are printed large format at high resolution, we prefer slides for the best reproduction possible. High-quality digital photographs are also ac-ceptable if they are a MINIMUM of 3120 W x 2400 H pixels (7.5 megapixels), although 3900 W x 3000 H pixels (11.7 megapixels) is preferred. Please submit digital photos on CD or DVD if pos-sible, but ftp is also available at http://www.ushpa.aero/calendarproject.asp. DO NOT RESIZE YOUR IMAGE. SUBMIT IMAGES UNALTERED AT HIGHEST RESOLUTION.

Th e deadline for submissions is May 31. So don’t delay – take advantage of winter’s down time and dig out those out-standing photos that deserve to be seen by all. Send your best HORIZONTAL format photos to USHPA Calendar,

Attn: Martin Palmaz, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901-1330. All contributors will receive confi rmation of receipt, and photos will be returned upon completion of the project. Call or email Martin at 1-800-616-6888, [email protected] with questions.

Submissions must include photog-rapher’s name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, AND each photo must also include a photo caption, site name, site location, pilot name and wing name.

News From APCOAPCO now off ers a “lifetime” warran-

ty on its paragliders. Anatoly Cohn sends this announcement:

We at APCO were the fi rst to use Gelvenor cloth on our paragliders. We also were the fi rst to off er a three-year/200-hour warranty in the mid-’90s, showing our confi dence in this cloth – this was big news at that time. For the last 15 years we have been fi rmly identi-fi ed with Gelvenor’s cloth and for most of this time we were the sole defenders of this cloth.

Gelvenor is famous for its durability, strength and porosity readings, which never deteriorate despite intense use of a glider over the years. Despite these clear advantages, the cloth had a hard time making its way onto the market and was not used by other manufactur-ers, at least partly due to its reputation for being heavy and diffi cult to manipulate when producing gliders (it is very slip-pery, due to the secondary silicon coating, applied on top of the regular PU coat-ing). APCO learned how to handle the extra weight and slipperiness of the cloth so that our gliders would have no disad-vantages when compared to other gliders in safety and launch characteristics, but wings made with Gelvenor were still signifi cantly heavier than most others on the market.

Now, fi nally, Gelvenor has developed a new cloth. It retains the advantages of the well known, time-proven origi-nal Gelvenor paragliding cloth, but is lighter by 10 to 11 grams, making the cloth as light as what is used by most other paraglider manufacturers. Th is breakthrough was possible due to newly installed sophisticated coating equip-

ment at Gelvenor. Th e new cloth is not only lighter, but also signifi cantly thin-ner, dramatically reducing both bulk and weight, without sacrifi cing any other properties of the cloth.

Our intensive testing over a long period of time confi rmed that the cloth is superior in all aspects and we are now fully confi dent of its advantages and will gradually shift all our production to use this new cloth on all our wings.

Its porosity measurements are three to four times better than the previous Gelvenor cloth, measuring 3000-4000 seconds on a JDC porosity meter. Washing and tumbling results are un-precedented as well, showing exceptional durability and resistance to elements.

GELVENOR commented on their new cloth: “In spite of the reduction in the mass, the new coating line also allows us to lay a more uniform fi lm of paste on the fabric and this has resulted in better JDC values with less coating.”

APCO will off er on all gliders pro-duced from this new Gelvenor cloth a revolutionary 5-year/500-hour warranty against porosity deterioration, which in our opinion is equal to a lifetime war-ranty on a paraglider.

An extended lifetime warranty is available from APCO for a modest fee.

APCO’s Helmet Selection Updated for 2008

APCO’s helmet line has a fresh look, including some additional colors as per customer requests.

Cloud Chaser: now in red, as well as white, silver, grey and blue

photo must also include a photo caption, site name, site location, pilot name and wing name.

News From APCO

ty on its paragliders. Anatoly Cohn sends this announcement:

Gelvenor cloth on our paragliders. We also were the fi rst to off er a three-year/200-hour warranty in the mid-’90s,


Free Air Com (for paramotor-ing): now in white, metallic blue, me-tallic grey and steel.

An eff ort has been made to keep prices

at the same level, making these helmets

competitive and aff ordable. For full in-formation on APCO’s helmet range, see http://www.apcoaviation.com/products.asp?section=helmets.

News From Wills WingWills Wing’s new carbon speedbar

will fi t all gliders fi tted with Slipstream or Slipstream 2 control bars (Talons, T2s). A Litestream-compatible version will be available in the spring of 2008. Features of the new carbon speedbar in-

clude a re-designed shape, with a deep off set planform. Th e grip positions are optimized for comfort, control and aero-dynamics in all phases of fl ight. Specially designed fl ares in the grip area allow for eff ortless maintenance of optimum bank angle when thermaling.

Structural features include an extra-thick laminate constructed from aero-space-grade carbon and Kevlar pre-preg, cured at 230°F and 105 psi pressure. A

stainless steel internal safety cable and corner fi ttings machined from solid blocks of wrought aluminum insure the structural reliability of the base-tube.

Th e 19mm x 77mm speedbar airfoil section is analytically optimized for

minimum drag and wind-tunnel tested, and includes linear and “V” boundary-layer trips for further drag reduction.

New Hydraulic Winch, Designed by a Rocket Scientist!

Salt Lake City-based Cloud Street LLC has debuted a new hydraulic winch that weighs in at only 200 pounds and rides on a trailer hitch. With a back-ground in rocket engineering, Justin Brim committed to making a practical hydraulic winch solution for the average paraglider pilot/pilot group and came up with the Cloud Street. Th is size and style of winch is capable of working from sun-up to sun-down, being switched from car to car or car to boat, and can even be stored in the house. It is the natural solu-

tion for a towing club where members aim to share the device without having to devote a vehicle or a trailer to the cause. It sells for $8000 with 5000 feet of 1 2 0 0 -p o u n d-t e s t Spectra and ships to most parts of the world for about $500. Check www.cloud-street.blogspot.com for more details.

Free Air Com (for paramotor-ing): now in white, metallic blue, me-tallic grey and steel.

stainless steel internal safety cable and corner fi ttings machined from solid

minimum drag and wind-tunnel tested, and includes linear and “V” boundary-

at the same Red Cloud Chaser

Metallic Blue Free Air Com

Optimized airfoil section with extra-thick walls

WW’s second-generation carbon speedbar

Optimized grip positions for comfort and performance

Wills Wing Spring 2008 Fly-In at Wallaby Ranch, March 25-30

Come to the 11th Annual Wills Wing Fly-in and Party at Wallaby Ranch, Florida, USA.

Help us celebrate 35 years in the hang gliding business! All the new Wills Wing models will be available to demo, and fi ve Dragonfl ys will be on hand to tow you to cloudbase. For more information contact [email protected], or visit www.WillsWing.com.

The members of Sylmar Hang Glid-ing Association continue to beautify the local landscape by sowing seeds of California poppies from their hang gliders.

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9February 2008: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – www.ushpa.aero

Th e opinions expressed in the letters pub-lished in this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect those of the magazine staff or USHPA offi cials. While every eff ort is made to verify facts stated in letters, readers are urged to check the accu-racy of any statement before taking action or forming an opinion based on the contents of a letter.

Thank You, Steve Messman, for “One Last Thought…” in the December Magazine(Web site, 12/10)

You’ve put into words this Sparkle, this Zeeple,

‘Cause I’ve met some Mirkles – what WONDERFUL people!

Who delp us and help us to live our life’s passion,

It’s kind of like heaven, after a fash-ion.

Th ose who chase us, embrace us and care, after all...

Even – especially – after we fall.How lucky we are to have such

friendsWho love us and teach us and help

make amends,When we, ourselves, don’t know our

heads from our ends.

Th eir patience is great, their hearts big and true,

Th ey give of their time so we can chase blue.

I thank you for this, my eloquent friend,

For putting to words what my heart does intend.

So keep on writing your prose so true,And I’ll keep on reading – and dream-

ing, too,Of days that are past and times, so say

some, When we can all fl y in the skies yet

to come.Kevin Stewart Dawkins, USHPA #75087

Toy Story’s Woody Gets Some Airtime(email, 11/260)

I took the following photos on Th anksgiving in Boise, Idaho, with my nephew Harrison. We used a ram-air stunt kite and tied Woody from Toy Storyto it. My goal was to teach Harrison how

to fl y the kite and how the wind works and such (he loves my real paraglider). Woody fl ew over 100 feet and also soared in one spot for over 45 seconds. Seven-year-old Harrison thought that was all pretty cool!

Patrick Harper, USHPA #81097


One Final Comment on the “Flight to the Borderlands” Article(email, 12/2)

Please do not allow the wonderful USHPA magazine to become a forum for political or religious proselytizing. Paul Gazis’s “Flight to the Borderlands” article (Vol. 37, issue 9) included an ac-count of thoughts that went through his head in a dangerous moment (and should maybe have been edited, with his per-sonal views on religion – “ignorant desert pastoralists” – removed). Th e letter from John Hudson and Michael Roth, how-ever, (Vol. 37, issue 12) was a deliberate attempt at Christian evangelism, and was most defi nitely not appropriate for a hang gliding magazine. Th e letter should not have been printed.

Nicolas del Grazia, USHPA #85396

I have received letters both from those who agree with you and those who appreci-ate our publishing their opposition to Paul’s viewpoint. I agree that our magazine is not an appropriate forum for religious or politi-cal discussions. However, since I did not edit out the material you reference from Paul’s article, the USHPA SOP regarding maga-zine content provides this guidance: “Th e AirMail department is primarily intended to present reader feedback about articles that have appeared in previous editions of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine (Editorial SOP-5-1-03-B).” Th e SOP con-tinues: “Th e editor has the option of editing letters for brevity as long as the original meaning remains intact.”

Th e letter in question (which was consid-erably longer in its original form) seems to clearly fi t this SOP; for me to choose not to publish it simply because I (or you, or anyone else) do not agree with the opinion expressed therein would appear to be censorship, and in violation of the SOP. Th e disclaimer at the beginning of this column is there for a reason. While the editor is not obligated to publish every letter that supports or refutes any particular perspective, my interpreta-tion is that the editor IS obligated to publish a dissenting opinion that is directly related to an article that has been published.

Over my decades of association with USHPA I have heard numerous accusa-tions of censorship and conspiracy. Most of the accusations have been based on absolutely nothing at all, but a few have arisen from a

well intentioned judgment call such as you have asked me to make, or from legal neces-sity. No harm was done to anyone by my printing John and Michael’s letter, given the disclaimer on the top of the page and the fact that we’re all adults and quite capable of making up our own minds on what we choose to believe or dismiss. On the other hand, my refusing to publish that letter could have resulted in a perhaps justifi ed accusa-tion of editorial censorship. To me, the choice was obvious.

I would strongly suggest that this thread end right here. Th e next magazine you re-ceive will be edited by my successor, Nick Greece, and any comments addressing my decisions as editor will no longer be relevant.

Does Anyone Have Plans For Old Hang Gliders?

A Pilot Wants to Restore an Icarus V(Web site, 12/5)

More than 30 years ago I, along with two others, built an Icarus V hang glider. I have the glider once again in my posses-sion, as the one partner who had total in-terest in the glider perished in an airplane accident. Th e glider is in great shape and I would like to go through it thoroughly to once again bring it back to a safe fl ying condition.

I’m writing to you hoping to fi nd a source of the plans, as I have long since lost my set.

Possibly, just possibly, I will fl y it again. I fl ew it for many hours in and around Missoula, Montana, in the years 1973 to 1975.

I would gladly relate any information about the glider if you are interested.

By the way, I was a very early member of the USHGA. I see it has changed somewhat, but the thrill of fl ying never does.

Ron Rudnick, [email protected]

An Author Wants Authentic Plans To Include in His Novel(Web site, 12/14)

I am an author of children’s litera-ture and am in the process of writing a middle-grade historical novel where the main character is involved in hang glid-ing in the early ‘70s.

As part of the research for the book, I’ve enjoyed reading the Low & Slow and Ground Skimmer newsletters that were included in the USHPA’s magazine ar-chive DVD set I purchased.

A key section of my book deals with the teenagers building and fl ying their fi rst hang glider, a bamboo-and-plastic model.

Does the USHPA have a set of plans (or know where I might obtain one) for Richard Miller’s “Bat-Glider” or Taras Kiceniuk’s “Batso”? ANY help in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Th anks in advance.

Craig Th ompson, [email protected], (404) 783-1417


Foundation for Free Flight Strives for Non-pro� t Excellence!By D. Randy Leggett, president Foundation for Free Flight, a 501(c)(3) charity

Awarding grants to save fl ying sites, funding educational tow clinics, and helping send our pilots to major competi-tions are among the more exciting parts of being an offi cer with the Foundation for Free Flight. Spending countless hours developing and refi ning policies and documents which ensure donors of our accountability and integrity, is, well, not so much fun. Yet, for the Foundation

to deserve your patronage and continue to support our sport, these are important elements for us to establish.

And so, developing and document-ing the Foundation’s code of ethics and our commitment for handling potential confl icts of interest were high on the agenda at our last board meeting, held on October 29 by phone this time to keep down the out-of-pocket expenses of our all-volunteer board. Th e Foundation thanks volunteer Jenn Beach who worked tirelessly with the trustees to craft policies that meet and exceed nationally accepted standards for non-profi t foundations and

assure you that your donations are ethi-cally tended. Jenn has tremendous exper-tise in this area, and she kept us on task no matter how hard we tried to derail the process with a fl ying story!

In keeping with our commitment to full disclosure, the details of the code-of-ethics and confl ict-of-interest policies are available for review on the Foundation Web site, http://foundationforfreefl ight.org/. Audited fi nancial statements will also be made available online after we close out the books for the year.

By the time this article goes to press the Foundation will have begun a new fi scal year, but it’s never too late to help us preserve hang gliding and paraglid-ing. You can donate online at our Web site or by mail anytime; if you donate when you renew your USHPA member-ship, your donation will be matched by the USHPA.

All the pilots whose sites and projects have benefi ted from Foundation grants thank for your support!


I was hoping that the league would grow steadily from year to year, but I had no idea how great the participation would be in this year’s events! At the fi rst task of the year in March at Potato Hill we had a record turnout of 35 pilots, 30 of whom were competing. Apparently word has leaked out about our series of low-level competitions in the Bay Area, events that are not super-competitive but instead are fun fl y-ins with a mission: Keep the em-phasis on fun and on tasks appropriate for

a wide range of pilot skill levels. By the end of the season at the Owens Valley we had over 40 competing pilots…

As in previous years, tasks ranged from very modest to the positively ri-diculous. Early-season tasks were short – sometimes less than 10 miles – and at the height of the season distances were over the 100km (60-mile) mark. Th ey were all challenging in their own way.

Setting tasks has sometimes been quite diffi cult since the aims of the tasks include keeping even the most junior pilot appropriately challenged. Th e tasks are built in three parts, with the fi rst part set on easy course lines across easy ter-rain so that even the least experienced pilot can enjoy competing without feel-ing overtaxed. Th e second part of the

task is usually a little more involved with per-haps a valley crossing or two and maybe getting into some more challeng-ing terrain. Th is section is meant to test the more skilled pilots. Th e fi nal part of the task is set up across more committing terrain where the aim is to stay in the air to avoid a horrendous walk out. Th ese fi nal legs are set to give the better pilots a run for their money.

While the skill levels of the pilots are clearly not equal, the competition is set up so that pilots are only competing against their equally skilled peers. Hence three categories have been set up: those fl ying competition and DHV2-3 gliders (Category 1), those fl ying DHV 2 gliders (Category 2), and those fl ying DHV1 and 1-2 gliders (Category 3). Th is has resulted in a much more level playing fi eld.

One of the key objectives of the league is to allow those pilots who cannot fl y all

The winners for 2007 were:Category 1

First place: Eric ReedSecond place: Josh CohnTh ird Place: Tom Moock

Category 2First place: Jugdeep AggarwalSecond place: Mike Fifi eldTh ird Place: Tim O’Neill

Category 3First place: Susan KentSecond place: David IsmayTh ird Place: Frank Marquis

2007 Northern California Cross-Country League: Bigger and Better Than Ever!By Jugdeep AggarwalPhotos courtesy League participants

Background Photo: Launch gaggle

Getting help with GPSs


16 tasks an opportunity of winning. So, similar to the PWC league, pilots’ fi nal scores are taken from their own scores for half of the tasks set, enabling a pilot to win even if he or she did not fl y all tasks. Clearly, however, it is advantageous to attend as many tasks as possible.

In keeping with the “fl y-in with a mission” theme, registration costs have been kept to a modest $10 per person per race. For this trivial entry fee pilots get to compete in and be scored on the tasks, which are scored in an identical way to the bigger competitions. Non-competing pilots are always welcome to help map out the air for the competing pilots.

New for the league for 2007 were two major developments. First, to help pilots get back home on Sunday, email sub-mission of tracklogs was accepted. Th is proved to be a great success, allowing the pilots and scorekeepers to hit the road sooner rather than later after Sunday’s task. Second, a buddy system was initi-ated. Since the turnout for the league meets has grown in size it has become increasingly diffi cult to keep track of all pilots. In the new system pilots split into buddy teams of up to fi ve equally skilled pilots. When a pilot lands he or she must inform someone in the buddy team that he or she has landed safely. When all pilots have checked in with their team-mates, any pilot in that buddy team can sign off that the other pilots in the team are safe and accounted for. Th is system has worked remarkably well, and we have

not lost anyone yet.As in the previous year scores are

posted on the Leonardo Web site (http://norcalxcleague.pgcomps.net/comps/) giving pilots the opportunity to view their fl ights, download their tracklogs and play animations for the competition. In addition Leonardo off ers sponsors a much higher profi le by displaying logos on every Web page. Th is means that our sponsors this year (Flytec, MPH Sports, Super Fly, Fly Above All, Mountain Hardware, Mojo’s Gear, Cross Country magazine, Adventure Productions and Eagle Paragliding) were very visible.

Th e 2008 season is about to kick off , and we are hoping to see just as many pilots attending as did in 2007. I look forward to meeting you all again at the fi rst event in March. Keep it fun and see you in the air…

Some Statistics:Total number of tracklogs: 292Total number of participating

pilots: 77Total distance fl own by all com-

peting pilots: 5748 km – 90 km more than last year. For perspective, that’s equivalent to fl ying from Santa Cruz to Kamchatka (Russia), the North Pole, northern Greenland or some-where warmer such as the Caribbean or Colombia…

Total value of donated prizes: $2800

Dates for 2008 with provisional locations:

March 29-30: Potato HillApril 12-13: DunlapMay 17-18: To be decidedJune 21-22: DunlapJuly 19-20: Potato HillAugust 9-10: To be decidedSeptember 6-7: DunlapOctober 4-6: Owens Valley

Memorable Events for 2007:

• On launch at Paiute in the Owens Valley, Kari Castle noted that there have never been so many pilots at that site before.

• Having four national champions at a league meet

• Th e total number of pilots (77!) attending all of the meets

• A pilot desperate to reach goal just once, fi nally making it in on the last task of the year – well done, Chris!

Launching on a developing day at Dunlap

Hitching back to Bishop…

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Setting up at Paiute Launch


CLOUD CONSCIOUSPART III: THUNDERSTORM LORECOPYRIGHT © 2008 by Dennis Pagen

We continue with our occasional series de-picting clouds and off ering insights into the mysteries of the sky. By applying these in-sights we can then hope to improve our per-formance and enhance safety. Th at’s what everybody wants, I hear tell.

Th is installment will focus on those aerial behemoths we all should treat with fear and loathing: thunderstorms. A glib observer may say thunderstorms aren’t a problem –just avoid fl ying when there is any possibility they will exist. But unfortunately, the pos-sibility of thunderstorms is associated with very unstable conditions, and who wants to be so self-punishing as to stay grounded when thermals are leaping at the chance to become a cumulus cloud?

THUNDERSTORM SHAPESTh understorms rock. Th ey also roll,

fl ash, smash, thrash, rain, hail, suck and blow. Quite often these features combine to deliver severe conditions dangerous to pilots. Th ere are many aspects to a thun-derstorm cloud that help us predict the maturity, the severity and the danger of a thunderstorm, but all these details will have to wait for a future series of articles devoted to this subject. For now, let’s

concentrate on the visual clues that help defi ne and identify thunderstorms.

Our fi rst pair of photos shows two very diff erent thunderstorm conditions. Photo 1 is a mature thunderstorm in humid conditions. Th e site happens to be Governador Valadares, Brazil, a hot, humid area ideal for thunderstorm build-up. What can we learn from this shot? Surely no one would be fl ying around this monster, would they? We shall see, but in the meantime, take a close look.

To begin, note the great fl ush of rain-fall. Th ere is rain falling across the entire width of the photo. Th is is a very mature thunderstorm and we would expect it to be pulling down lots of air (downdrafts) and thus creating gust fronts (see the glos-sary sidebar). Indeed, I was in the local landing fi eld when the photographer em-pixelated this image and I experienced a sudden 40-plus-mph blast that was built to last. Th e sight of widespread rain (or any rain) should make the wary aware that a gust front is a distinct possibility.

Gust fronts and their attendant severe

t u rbu lence

and high winds are no doubt the greatest dangers that thunderstorms aff ord to our type of fl ying.

Next, observe the several small cumu-lus clouds in the foreground. Th e thun-derstorm is moving towards the viewer, pushed by the general wind, and these small clouds are being formed as cold downdraft air plows under the warm surface air and sends it aloft in thermal updrafts to form a cloud at the condensa-tion level. Th ese clouds eventually grew to be part of the main body of cloud as new cumulus developed in front of the storm. We’ll see what their signifi cance is a little later.

Another matter to check out in this photo is the cumulus towers springing up from the top of the cloud. We can see they are tilted by the upper winds and indicate what is propelling the storm for-ward. On the right within the cloud mass is a smaller tower that looks like a mini thunderstorm. It is the sign of a localized powerful updraft. Th is tower grew to the top of the cloud and became part of the main body.

Finally, we should point out two im-portant things. First, look at how dark the entire area appears. Such darkness is a sign of a heavy load of water vapor blocking out the sun and being ripe to rain on your – or anybody’s – parade. In this case the rain is already there. Now look at how spread out the cloud is, with-out much distance from top to bottom. Th e tops are probably not over 15,000 feet above the ground. Tropical thunder-

storms are often built this way – they don’t have to get very tall to drop rain because of all the excess moisture in the air.

Contrast the Photo 1 thunderstorm with

the clouds in

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oin

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Photo 2: Multiple potential thunderstorm clouds build in a widespread area.

Photo 1: An advancing thunderstorm pummels the area.


Photo 2. In this photo we see towers growing upward to quite an extent. Th e airplane vantage point is at 30,000 feet and these babies are pushing up to 20,000 feet or more. Of course, thun-derstorms can reach over 60,000 feet in extreme cases. Look at how the tower-ing clouds are in among general cumulus clouds. Th ese towers grow at particular hot spots and can become thunderstorms if the warmer surface air continues to feed them. Th rough careful inspection, we can determine that there isn’t much wind aloft because the towers are spread-ing out in all directions. Th is factor tends to lower the chance of thunderstorm de-velopment because the building cloud isn’t moved over areas with fresh supplies of warm, moist air. Often in this situation the cloud towers up, then slows its build-up and fi nally dissipates or collapses.

In 1979, I recall watching a humun-gous towering cloud build for two hours from the launch at Crestline, California. I thought (with unbridled pessimism) our fl ying was done for the day. I didn’t count on the lack of upper wind and the dry L.A. basin air. Th e storm grew to epic proportions, but then began to dry out, top to bottom, as it exhausted its supply of warm air in the basin. I couldn’t be-lieve how rapidly the whole thing disap-peared after growing for hours. Th en we fl ew. Of course, we were too unschooled back then to know that the thermals were depleted so we had an epic sled ride – but

a sled ride nonetheless.All that being said, note in the fore-

ground of Photo 2 there is extensive build-up with several towers emanating from the same mass. Th is little beauty could be the fi rst thunderstorm of the day. Only time would tell. Th e point to remember here is that thunderstorms come in a variety of shapes and each area may have a characteristic thunderstorm makeup and behavior. I expect thun-derstorms associated with fronts in the eastern U.S. to grow more rapidly than those out West where the dry air requires hours to send up enough moisture to tip the balance and spawn a storm. Keeping

an eye on such a storm is important when we are contemplating aviation.

RIDERS ON THE STORMDespite the signs of thunderstorm

danger and imminence associated with Photo 1 above, some pilots remained in the air and found the conditions shown in Photos 3 and 4. Th e storm is the same one shown in the fi rst photo, about 15 minutes later. In Photo 3 we can clearly see a massive rain dump, very likely to impart a gust-front pulse. Also note the smaller cumulus building on the forward side of the storm. Th e lift associ-ated with these clouds is what the pilots are working.

Photo 4 shows even more clearly what is going on around this cloud. Now we are looking west along the storm instead

of north into its maw. We can see what is usually referred to as the “bench.” Th at’s the area to the right of the photo and in front of the storm (which is moving from right to left in this shot). It is a ledge of cloud produced by the cold air from the storm’s downdraft lifting the surface air until it forms cloud. Typically the lift is widespread and may be quite strong under the bench.

Yes, these pilots chose to fl y in such a magnum thunderstorm. Th ey followed it for a ways, then turned away from it and ran as far as they could before land-ing. None of them had a problem be-cause the storm was so slow-moving.

Photo 3: A danse macabre with Mother Nature: Note the little cu-mulus springing up in front of the massive storm cloud.

Photo 4: The escape route south features some iffy sky.

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However, in Photo 4 we can see that the overcast extends quite a bit down-wind of the main storm (to the left in the photo) and things could easily get out of hand if the storm were to suddenly jump forward with a surge of lift from a hot spot. Something of a similar nature hap-pened to a friend of mine who was fl ying a local site while a storm moved up an adjacent valley. Th e day was humid and ideal for thunder bumpers. As the storm approached it began to drop rain, which resulted in some low-level gusts and a fl ow that caused a quick development of a storm right in front of my friend, pin-ning him against the huge bowl-shaped site. Th e wind increased until he couldn’t penetrate forward (his glider was one of the original double-surface hang glid-ers of yesteryear, performing about like a modern paraglider) and eventually he was lifted until he had enough altitude to head over the sea of trees behind the site to land at a distant reservoir. Th e point to be taken: Th understorms can jump quickly and surprise the unsuspecting. Th is warning is especially true when the air is very humid and thus extra unstable.

In the above paragraph we alluded to the pilots running as far as they could away from the storm and landing. I have had a similar experience to that of the pilots in the photos, occurring at the same place (Governador Valadares) in 1991 – 14 years earlier. In this case we were fl ying in a hang gliding competi-tion and about 30 pilots were heading south perhaps 10 miles from the area of our photos. A large thunderstorm was looming in the west as we worked along. Unfortunately, it intersected our pathway before we could skirt it. Most of the pilots chose to land, but they were caught by

the gust front and had some interesting landings, especially since the high wind was further confused by the hilly terrain (visible in Photo 4). A couple pilots were mildly injured in their controlled crash-es. I was fresh from a summer of fl ying thunderstorms in comps at places like Dinosaur, Colorado, and Sandia, New Mexico. I knew better than to try to land near a thunderstorm! So I used the lift under the bench to zoom along – I stayed level with the bar at my waist going 35 mph – until I was past the storm and still thousands of feet up. I then used this al-titude to get as far away from the storm as possible to the side of its track. I found I had fl own over 15 miles in a straight line, eff ortlessly.

Th e point of the above discussion is to assess the diff erent situations. In my view, based on the experience of many others and myself, it is nearly always much less risky to use the lift around a thunderstorm to get high, and then use this altitude to get away. I know of many cases where a pilot tried to land when a storm threatened and was caught by the gust-front outfl ow, sometimes with grave consequences. Landing near a thunder-storm to escape its clutches is a bit like kneeling down in front of an advancing buff alo stampede. Th e gust fronts in the storm I experienced and the one in the photos extended only a few miles from the storm. Part of the reason for this lim-ited extension is that the cloud base, and more importantly cloud height, wasn’t too high above the ground. Th at means the falling rain, which drags down the surrounding air to make a gust front, had less velocity than with a taller cloud. Typically, the gust fronts in humid condi-tions project a shorter distance from the

thunderstorm cloud than in dry conditions.

To make a fi nal assess-ment of the situation de-picted in Photos 1, 3 and 4, I would be very wary of fl ying a hang glider where the pilots are winging. Th e instability along the escape route in Photo 4 renders the situation un-reliable. I would not want to be in a paraglider be-cause of the slower speed

and lesser glide ratio (note that sailplanes with their enhanced speed and glide capa-bilities often play around thunderstorms with no bad consequences – as long as the pilots know what they are doing). In both a hang glider and a paraglider, I believe the wisest choice in the case depicted here would be to land well before the storm arrived in the area, as did the 50 other pilots in the air at the time. In case you are wondering if I am being a bit namby-pamby about the matter, look at Photo 5, taken at the same time as the others. Enough said.

Note: In future cloud articles we will continue with thunderstorms, then segue to cloudstreets, waves and other strange phe-nomena. Keep those cloud photos coming

– the more unusual the better! We will also present a series covering much more on thun-derstorms, so until then, remain clear, safe and sane.

GLOSSARY

DOWNDRAFT: A falling mass of cold air typically found in the midst of a mature thunderstorm. This air is dragged down by the tons of falling rain or ice crystals that form in the upper reaches of the storm.

CONDENSATION LEVEL: The alti-tude at which cloud forms. On a given day it is where the air cools off to the point that it can no longer hold the water vapor as a gas, and water droplets – which we see as cloud

– appear. The temperature at the condensa-tion level is also known as the dew point.

GUST FRONT: When a downdraft hits the ground it splashes outward to project beyond the immediate area of the cloud. This projecting air mass is cooler than the surrounding air and it plows under the sur-face air to lift it like a mini cold front. The re-sult can be an extreme wind velocity change as well as strong turbulence.

HOT SPOT: An area of the ground that heats more than the surrounding area or has some other feature that promotes the growth and release of thermals (such as a windward-facing slope). Such hot spots are the breeding grounds of thunderstorms in very unstable conditions.

Photo 5: Tempting fate

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The “Mashup” ProjectA while back, staff writer Matt Gerdes was surfi ng the

Web and came across a collection of fl ying photos beauti-fully enhanced with overlaid artwork. We’ve used many of Andy Stocker’s images in the magazine in the past, but with his sister’s sketches superimposed, these photographs take on a whole diff erent dimension.

Andy Stocker, paraglider pilot and photographer:It’s hard to explain to non-pilots such as my sister

what fl ying feels like. Th e movies and photos on my Web site seek to show the freedom, camaraderie, soli-tude, frustration, elation, anxiety and peace we feel as pilots. Non-pilots, however, still don’t come away with a sense of the pilot’s experience when they see a photo of, say, a glider banking into a thermal. When I saw my sister’s sketchbook for the fi rst time, the shapes and lines contained the rest of the message.

Karen Stocker, artist:Th e idea of pilots feeling peace and solitude

resonates with some of the feelings behind the art. Abstract artistic expression is, for me anyway, some-what meditative, as I imagine paragliding to be, at its best.

Triptych

Treetips


The drawings that are paired with my brother’s photos were done indepen-dently of his “mashup” project. When he came to visit, though, he found that my sketchbooks contained shapes and feel-ings that resonated with those he’d cap-tured on film.

This isn’t the first time people have seen things in my drawings that I didn’t necessarily intend. Where I see abstract lines, others have seen cornfields, build-ings, or, say, turbulence. People are wel-come to interpret a shape or drawing however they choose. Sometimes my own sentiments at the time I did the drawing seem evident to viewers, and sometimes they don’t. The “Extrap-elation” mixes both shapes and sentiments well. That drawing was somewhat uplifting to do,

The Point

Sprung

Last Raise

Tail Rotor


Hot Hill

Extrap–elation


and I think that matches the feeling the pilot in the photo must be experiencing. “Last Raise,” originally drawn with the rays pointing down-ward (and flipped for the mashup) was drawn in calmness, and I think that emotion comes across in the combination with the photo. The same goes for “Air Forks.” “Treetips,” on the other hand, was originally drawn in anger, and I am glad to say that the combination with a photo softens it.

Editor’s note: Please don’t wait for us to declare an “artwork” issue, or for someone to discover your artwork on the Web! You can submit artwork for any issue by contacting the editor via email: [email protected].

Air Forks

Be-low

Ice-cycle


I am in the air right now as I’m writ-ing the column for this issue. Th ese new tiny laptops are just the thing for typing in smooth ridge lift! Actually, I’m on a plane, returning home to Hawaii from an uncharacteristically snow-covered na-tion’s capital, and I’m sad to say I’m writ-ing this on a notepad because my laptop battery is old and worn out.

For most of us, a chilly season of snow and rain has arrived with a vengeance, and many of us will be impatiently wait-ing for spring before fl ying our local sites again. Even Hawaii is feeling winter’s wrath right now: While away on busi-ness these two weeks in December, I missed gale-force winds and widespread fl ooding as a fi erce low-pressure system passed through.

And of course, some air-starved pilots are planning to take traditional winter fl ying vacations in warmer climes, but overall there is just a lot less fl ying hap-pening everywhere. And naturally, this means that since the last column, we have seen a proportionate drop in the number of accident reports submitted. But even out of that small number, I had no problem choosing three noteworthy incidents to ponder and share with you during this marathon plane ride home. As always, I appreciate all your accident-report submissions, and I sincerely thank you for the chance to share your hard-earned lessons with the rest of the fl ying community.

Mid-air collisionsQuick: You fi nd yourself heading

straight for another glider – what should you do? If only there were always one right answer to that question! Reality is inevitably a bit more complicated than the neat diagrams in our fl ying texts. Just remember that the closer you can come to unambiguously doing what the other pilot expects, the better your chances of avoiding a mid-air collision.

At a small desert ridge-soaring site, a crowd of six pilots fl ew in evening ridge

lift. As he approached an oncoming glider along the ridge, a novice pilot with the ridge on his right unexpectedly turned away from the ridge, cutting directly across the path of the more experienced pilot, whose legs became momentarily snagged in the lines of the turning glider, causing it to collapse. Th e expe-rienced pilot managed to roll over the top

of the lower canopy, fl ying away with a riser twist, from which he quickly recov-ered. Th e novice pilot’s wing spun 270 degrees and re-infl ated facing away from the ridge. Th e wing was subsequently observed to enter a series of stalls and re-infl ations, before the pilot fi nally im-pacted the side of the ridge, injuring his ankle. Th e reporting witness ascribes the diffi culty with re-infl ation and recovery to excessive brake inputs. (Th e glider was a DHV-1 glider, which likely would have reacted best to a hands-off recovery tech-nique in this case.)

Th e injured pilot later said he’d seen the other pilot approaching, but as-sumed that since he had the right of way, he could make a turn in the path of the other pilot, and he also assumed that the more experienced pilot would graciously

yield to a novice anyway. Th e experienced pilot later said he’d thought the original fl ight paths didn’t require any deviation – and to make matters worse, he just didn’t notice the other pilot’s turn until it was too late.

In another incident, over thirty pilots shared the air on a weekend morning at a densely populated desert ridge-soaring site. We received two reports of this inci-dent, one from a pilot who had just top-landed, and one from a pilot who was preparing to launch at the time of the accident. Th e reports agree on the basic details: Two pilots approached each other along the ridge, and as they converged, the wing of the lower pilot with the ridge on his right impacted the lines of the higher glider, which suff ered a mas-sive collapse, followed by a rapid de-scent variously characterized as a stall or a spin for about 100 feet before the pilot impacted the ground.

Th e top-landing reporter says the wind was not gusty, and he doesn’t be-lieve the wind blew the injured pilot into a collision course, but the witness at launch describes a last-minute course change upwards and towards the ridge as the pilot encountered unexpected lift, changing what might have just been a close pass into a dramatic mid-air colli-sion. Both witnesses reported hearing a loud bang just after impact.

Later, one reporter heard the unin-jured pilot say he’d had the right of way, and therefore the other pilot should have yielded. Th e other account describes ample room above the ridge for course deviation, at the risk of merely a possible unintended toplanding.

Both of these accidents involve assumptions about the very simplest rule governing the right-of-way in paragliding ridge traffi c: In a head-on approach, the pilot with the ridge on his right has the right of way, and the other pilot should turn away to yield. But we need to remember two important points. Th e concept of the right-of-way is just

Paragliding Accident Report ColumnAvoiding Unpleasant EntanglementsBy Alex Colby, staff writer

After unsuccessful attempts

to clear the snag by pulling sus-

pension lines, the pilot tried a

quick stab to the brake on the

tangled side, while still maintain-

ing a course along and near the

ridgeline. Th e glider entered a

deep stall towards the terrain.


a convention designed to help us know what to expect when fl ying in traffi c. It never justifi es maintaining a collision course! Assumptions about right-of-way can smooth out close encoun-ters when everyone fl ies according to expectations, but the same assumptions can steer us into danger if we rely on them as natu-ral law, or if we ignore other factors. In a traffi c situation, all pilots must be vigilant to the intentions of others and also make their own intentions clear as early as pos-sible. We can’t aff ord the airborne analog of an awkward sidewalk passing shuffl e or standoff . If there is any doubt about the intentions of others, remember that early evasive action taken by both parties can be a safe compromise in many cases. In sailing, they say that right-of-way can be given, but not taken. Give early and give often, especially when ridge soaring in close proximity with other gliders.

It’s true that novice pilots are typically accorded more leeway in traffi c situations; experienced pilots need to be extra atten-tive when approaching novice pilots. For this reason, novices in some countries are expected to fl y with streamers notifying other pilots of their status and their unpredictability. But novice pilots also need to leave themselves more room for error, and avoid crowded skies until they have acquired a decent sense of safe separation. Flying in crowds entails making eye contact with nearby pilots and also keeping a close eye on their fl ight paths. Th is can be especially challenging in gusty conditions which can alter our courses unexpectedly, and equally demanding in light condi-tions when pilots are fi ghting to share limited sources of lift.

Out of all the dangers lurking in the air, collisions with other pilots have always inspired a special dread. (Th is includes colli-sions with other aircraft, including hang gliders and even small unmanned craft under radio control.) Th ere is just something about suff ering from the equivalent of friendly fi re that strikes us as unnatural and terrifying.

Mid-air collisions are also unique in the catalog of potential paragliding accidents in another way: Th ey off er a tantalizing opportunity to avoid responsibility for our mistakes, to shift the blame to other people for once. It’s not uncommon after a col-lision or near miss to hear people assigning various proportions of blame, with the preponderance of guilt invariably falling to the other party. Th is is where those right-of-way rules really come in handy!

But alas, we are always the pilots in command of our own craft. Avoiding collision has to be a mutually shared responsi-bility. Learning (and heeding) the right-of-way rules will cer-tainly help us all know what to expect when fl ying together. But ultimately, for each of us, there is always going to be some minimum amount of separation that will keep us safe in traffi c, and give us time to react to unexpected course deviations.

One fi nal note: I have heard from many sources that in the event of a mid-air collision, both pilots should deploy their reserves immediately, and sort out the detangling later, although I’ve

never heard of anyone actually doing that. It seems like a good plan to me, especially if the collision involves severe entanglement and lots of altitude. But both of these recent incidents involved momentary entangle-ments near terrain, and perhaps that is a category of minor

collision that would undoubtedly be made worse by reserve throws. But I wonder if either of the injured pilots in these cases might not have fared better descending under silk.

Other EntanglementsWe received another notable accident

report from a pilot fl ying a peak in the wintry north. After a forward launch in no wind from a spot notorious for line-tangling rocks and twigs, the pilot immediately noticed knotted lines on one side that were causing the glider to fl y sluggishly, with a pronounced turn. Th e rotation couldn’t be countered with weight shift alone, so some opposite brake was also engaged. After unsuccessful attempts to clear the snag by pulling sus-

pension lines, the pilot tried a quick stab to the brake on the tangled side, while still maintaining a course along and near

Assumptions about right-of-way

can smooth out close encounters

when everyone fl ies according

to expectations, but the same

assumptions can steer us into

danger if we rely on them as

natural law, or if we ignore

other factors.


ALWAYS hook up your speed system before you fl y – even if there’s only a breath of wind on launch. The valley winds may be much stronger than you anticipate, even on days with little or no thermal activity.~Burki Martens, in Thermal Flying

Safety Tipsthe ridgeline. Th e glider entered a deep stall towards the terrain, slowly rotat-ing as it descended. Th e glider recovered when the pilot raised his hands, but it was too late to avoid an impact with a snowy bush-covered fl ank of the ridge. Th e pilot was sore and had badly twisted his knee, but he nevertheless packed up his gear and managed a painful hour’s hike back up to launch, getting air-borne successfully with an easier reverse launch this time, and heading in for an uneventful landing.

Th is incident is remarkably similar to one I witnessed earlier this year in Hawaii. (Our launches are notoriously challeng-ing for pre-fl ight checks as well!) A local pilot spun his glider after trying to pump out a compression knot, while fl ying low over the ridge soon after launching.

Although it’s hard to resist trying to resolve line tangles right away, we need to remind ourselves to get high and away from terrain (if at all possible) before attempting to sort them out. Use oppo-site weight shift, and a minimal amount of opposite brake if necessary, but be very wary of pumping brakes, since the glider

is often already close to a stall angle on the side with the deformation.

Unpleasant entanglements are a sig-nifi cant risk when fl ying under a fl oppy contraption attached to so many long strings. But by checking our lines care-fully before and during the launch sequence, and by fl ying defensively in traffi c, we can increase our chances of keeping our lines clear and straight.

Please continue to share your excellent reports with us through the USHPA Web site, especially during this slow winter season when we have fewer opportunities to fl y and more time to refl ect on improv-ing our safety and risk management.

Please report accidents or incidents that you witness or participate in; the online accident report form is at ushpa.aero/emailacc.asp.

WWW.USHPA.COM WWW.USHPA.COM

.aero

.aero


By Michael O’LearyPhotos by Ernie Camacho

Last August, Sonoma Wings held their almost-annual fly-in at St. John Mt./Potato Hill in Northern California. This event has occurred, on and off, for the last 12 years, and was attended this year by 22 flex wings, five rigids and eight paragliders. There was a defined task on Saturday – out-and-return for hang glid-ers and a race to goal for paragliders – and free-flying on Friday and Sunday.

The out-and-return task from St. John Mt. was meant to be challenging, with the “out” leg in the usual XC downwind direction heading north, and the return leg coming back into the wind to the LZ and party field. The rigid wings had a turnpoint eight miles farther out than the flex wings, making for a 48-mile task, while the flexies had 37 miles to fly.

The paragliders had a 7.5-mile cross-wind task from Potato Hill launch, up and over a ridge to the party field. As the day turned out to be very inviting for straight XC, the paragliders, one and all, bailed on the task and went as far down-wind as they could. They all had fun, but failed to place in the competition.

Launch conditions on St. John were

good, if a little light, with the wind coming in at 5 to 10 mph with stronger cycles a little cross. Most pilots climbed out to between 9 and 10K and, with a 20-mph tailwind at altitude, had little problem getting to the turnpoints.

But getting back through that wind was a different story. Only first-place fin-isher Rich Sauer, on his ATOS VR rigid, made goal. Second-place finisher Chris Arai made it within a mile of the LZ in his flex-wing WW Talon, his first flight in over a year. Chris’s flight was especial-ly impressive because he chose to go to the rigids’ turn point at Red Mt., topping everyone but Rich.

Given the conditions, some pilots opted to get high on the mountain and not go on course but fly directly to Mary’s LZ where they frittered away their al-titude to land at the barbecue. One big

advantage of Mary’s LZ was the cool irrigation canal flowing under the trees 30 feet from the barbecue, where pilots could sit and soak after a hot flight. A portion of the canal is conveniently con-creted over, allowing family-friendly ca-vorting while watching the pilots landing out in the heat.

A delightful dinner of marinated tri-tip beef and chicken was cooked up by Ernie and Ernie Jr. (otherwise known as

The Sonoma Wings Almost-annual Fly-in

Dave Clement breaks down his Stalker in the LZ with help from his brother Fred. The red tarp out in the field was the spot-landing target.Top Image: St. John launch. Photo: Rich Sauer


EC) with awards presented afterwards. After dark, with no moon, the Perseid meteor shower was amazing for those who stayed up to watch the sky.

Sunday proved to have better fl ying conditions and lots of buoyancy over the LZ, providing more fun for those who hung around for the free fl ying.

While I was the offi cial meethead, the real thanks go to Ernie and EC for the barbecue and their endless and hard-

working help. Donna and Charley get accolades for their assistance in acquiring awards, along with the many people who donated prizes. Rich Sauer’s daughter Kim (newly licensed) did some Hang-4 driving that helped many pilots, and the LZ owner, Mary, made everything possible with her convenient landing fi eld. Mary was pleased with the hand-made opal pendant presented by Sonoma Wings in thanks.

Th e Sonoma Wings club is known as a cross-country-oriented group, and this fl y-in did a lot to encourage fun cross-country competition. More pictures of the fl y-in and links to other events can be found on www.sonomawings.com.

Final results

Rigid division: 1st – Rich Sauer; 2nd – Scot Huber; 3rd – Vince Endter; 4th – Kurt Bainum; 5th – Dave Clement

Topless division: 1st – Chris Arai; 2nd – Todd Robinson; 3rd – Wayne Michelson; 4th – Eric Frolich; 5th – Dave Merriman

Kingpost division: 1st – Bob Stanley; 2nd – Joe Jackson

Paraglider division: With no paraglider making progress toward goal from Potato Hill, placements were not de-termined in this division.

The barbecue in full swing

Meethead Mike O’Leary congratulates fl ex-wing fi rst-place fi nisher Chris Arai.

The Bobbleheads chow down: (L-R) Ben Dunn, Bruce Bousfi eld, Heather Stoddard (honorary Bobblehead), Wayne Michelson

Mary receiving her opal pendant


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or you will miss the March magazine.If your USHPA membership expires on 3/31

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Interested in joining USHPA? Download an application at www.ushpa.aero/forms,

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A Brief History of the Sonoma Wings St. John Fly-inBy Charley Warren

Th e fl y-in started in 1995 when the club presi-dent, Todd Robinson, got the idea to hold a fl y-in to try to expand the XC potential of the site. We called members from all the area clubs we could think of and invited them all, and all their best pilots, to come fl y St. John and push its limits.

Th is year, 2007, was the 10th fl y-in. One year everyone showed up but the sheriff ’s depart-ment wouldn’t let us go up the mountain because they were chasing escapees from Snow Mountain Academy around the area. One other time the fl y-in was canceled on account of a forest fi re.

In the 10 years we have held the event, pilots from 11 area clubs have attended: Sonoma Wings, Mother Load Sky Riders, Cloud Street Gang, Wings of Rogallo, Humboldt Wings, Fellow Feathers, Marin County Hang Gliding Assn., Berkeley Club, BAPA, Northern California Hang Gliding Assn., and San Luis Obispo Soaring.

Over the course of the years, the fl y-in has indeed achieved its original goal as the site record has gone from 28 miles at the fi rst meet to 158 miles today.

We would like to recognize our many sponsors over the years. Th e hang gliding community has been incredibly generous, donating great prizes every year. Rest assured this generosity has not gone unnoticed as we are all buying your products. Th e sponsors include USHPA, Wills Wing, Moyes, Gunnison Gliders, Angle of Attack, Hall Brothers, Mission Soaring, Adventure Productions, Arai Design, Flytec, US Aeros, Kevy Metal Graphics, the Timberline Bar and Grill, and others that are no longer in business.

Th e fl y-in format has changed from time to time and will probably continue to do so. It started as a two-day open-distance format. A few years ago paragliders began to be included, fl ying from nearby Potato Hill. Since the fl y-in is no longer primarily to stretch the limits of the site, out-and-return tasks are the usual fare. Recently the fl y-in has become more of a social aff air, with a Saturday night bar-becue and more families attending. Sonoma Wings has had a great time hosting the St. John Mt. Fly-in and has no plans to stop.

The canal was a cool treat for hot kids and pilots.


On the bookshelf of every philosophy professor, psychology student, wannabe hippie, pseudo-intellectual, and punk rocker in western civilization is a pinkish- purple paperback. Th e thing is nearly four inches thick, with very small type, and weighs more than a paperback has the right. If you inspect this weighty tome, you will fi nd that, in better than ninety percent of cases, the binding shows evi-dence that its owner has never fi nished it; most likely, only about a third of the book has ever been read. Go look at your own library. If you were a young person in the 1960s or ‘70s or if you’ve ever been interested in the “Big Questions” about life, the mind, and the nature of the Universe, chances are you’ve bought this book; odds are, you’ve never fi nished it either. You’re in good company.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig, has sold millions of copies. Th is 1974 book is not about “Zen” or “art” or even “motorcycle maintenance.” Instead, it describes a journey across the United States, punctuated by numer-ous philosophical discussions, among them: epistemology (philosophy of the

mind); the philosophy of science; “Life, the Universe, and Everything.” It has become one of those books that everyone seems to own, but has never managed to read cover-to-cover; like Atlas Shrugged or the Holy Bible.

My old professor and mentor, a Zen Buddhist and epistemologist, recom-mended it to me when I was a sophomore in college. It wasn’t until my second year of graduate studies, after many stops and starts, that I actually fi nished it.

If you’ve never read it ...well ...after a long treatise, it leaves the reader dissat-isfi ed, by off ering no new insights into

“Life the Universe and Everything.” It simply reminds us of some things that we all know.

I’m not going to drone on about Pirsig’s philosophical inquiries; this is not a book report, it’s a dialogue between pilots ...and it is not about “Zen” or “art” or “paraglider maintenance.”

Ya see ...I was standing in the middle of a rock slide, on a nearly vertical cliff face, staring up at my beloved Ozone Vulcan as it fl opped about precariously in 15-mph winds at the base of a telephone pole, fi ve feet from a busy state highway,

when several brake lines snagged on sharp lava rocks and thorny plants. Th at’s when I fi nally ac-cepted the fact that I had several lines that needed to be changed. I should have changed some of them months before, but I always seemed to put it off . I tend to put off a lot of stuff . I decided that I might as well change all of the lines. After all, many of the lines had long been stretched by acro and snags. Plus, a line replacement would be cheaper than buying a new glider.

It wasn’t that I had crash-landed in this para-glider pilot’s nightmare of a place. I hadn’t gotten blown off course and landed out in this inhos-pitable terrain just to save my neck. Th is rock-slide-

above-cliff -face-beneath-power-lines is one of our most popular launches.

Yes, that’s right …I said this is a “launch.” We call it “Crazy Man” –

“Crazy’s” for short. It’s one of several of our launches that have “power lines” or

“major highway within 15 feet” or “only works in winds of 12-18 mph” as compo-nents of the “degree of diffi culty.”

But, this is not a critique of launch-site safety…it is a dialogue between pilots.

Th ere are 280 individual lines connect-ing the fabric to the risers of the medium Vulcan. It takes a long time for the manufacturer to fabricate a new line set and for our Ozone representative to get them through customs. So, I continued to fl y the glider. One day, as my vario was screaming something about going up at a very high rate, my right brake felt mushy. I looked up at a deformed trailing edge and realized that one of my brake lines had snapped as I was launching (getting dragged about on launch) in high winds and there was a small hole in the lower skin of the glider – both victims of the lava.

I’ve changed a few lines over the years, but I’d never stripped and redressed

Peter fl ying his Ozone Vulcan (with Mad Dog)Photo: Alex Colby

when several brake lines snagged on sharp lava rocks and thorny plants. Th at’s when I fi nally ac-cepted the fact that I had

Zen and the Art of Paraglider MaintenanceBy Pete Arroyo


an entire glider before. So, naturally, I discussed the task with a couple of in-structors and some of my fl ying bud-dies. Th ey all had plenty of advice. Th e most common tidbits were: “Save the old lines, ‘ just in case’,” and “make sure you have ‘ample time’ to complete the task.” Also, it was important to have a quiet, wide-open, and windless environment in which to work. I chose the parking garage under my offi ce building on a hot, humid, windless Sunday afternoon. Feel free to question the wisdom of that deci-sion.

I could have just cut the lines from the glider. Doing so would have saved a great deal of time, and to be honest, the old lines were in pretty bad shape. However, as instructed, I was intent upon saving and labeling all of them, “ just in case.” Besides, I had all day. So, I began unty-ing the lines, one riser at a time. Th is is a very time consuming and diffi cult task; it causes you to bloody nailbeds and abrade fi ngertips.

You learn a lot about your fl ying habits when you are this intimate with the com-ponents of your glider. For example, it is apparent that I muscle the heck out of the right brake in high g-force maneu-vers, as evidenced by the unbelievable tightness of the lines closest to the left wingtip as compared to the right. I have been meaning to “go left” more often. I guess I’ve just gotten comfortable “going right” since I injured my left arm a few years back.

Also, I don’t seem to take very good care of my toys, because I discovered two new pinholes that I would have to patch when I fi nally got around to patching that little rip that occurred when that brake line broke. I’d been meaning to get to that. I’d just kind of put it off . I tend to put off a lot of stuff …

I was looking forward to kiting my glider once the lines were tied and the trade winds returned to the islands.

Most people who know me will think that someone other than I must have written that last sentence. Up until very recently, you would never see me ground handling. My fl ying buddies have chal-lenged me about this defi ciency on sev-eral occasions in the past. I knew darned well that I needed the practice and I’d been meaning to put in the work. But...

well...have I mentioned that I tend to put off a lot of stuff ?

Ya see...I recently went through a T-3 clinic so that I could have the USHPA authority to take friends and family tandem. Th ere were a bunch of us in the clinic; some of us were seeking the cre-dential, others just wanted the informa-tion. I wanted to be a tandem instructor. I have wanted it for a long time. I really wanted it.

It was a great course and I learned a lot...but...well...long story short: I did not receive the rating. I had some additional work to do – mostly ground handling.

Th is was very diffi cult for me. I was angry and humiliated. I am not accus-tomed to failure.

Of course, humiliation and determina-tion fi nally made me get off my lazy rear end and kite. For months, while every-one else was fl ying, I was kiting. When one of my best fl ying buddies, who was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times, would ask me to hike up to launch with him, I’d suggest that we do some kiting instead. When newer pilots ar-rived at the LZ and saw me kiting, again, they would ask me, “Don’t you ever fl y?”

Replacing line after line is a long, fairly monotonous task. Th e thing about long, fairly monotonous tasks is, your mind tends to wander: a form of meditation. Of course, I thought about a plethora of topics related to fl ying. For instance, I began to consider how high paraglid-er pilots in general, and our club pilots in particular, have raised the bar of ac-ceptable risk. A few years ago, most of us would NEVER

consider launching under a power line. Now, I can name at least four launches on Oahu, two on the U.S. mainland, and one in Chile that are nestled snug-gly beneath “the juice.” Not long ago, an

“S.A.T.” was a test you took to get into college and a “helicopter” would “chop your ass.” Now, P-2s are pulling SATs and P-3s are transitioning from heli-copters to ass-choppers. Th e risk-reward ratio has started to spiral (pun intended.)

Inevitably, my mind wandered to-wards other more philosophical issues, such as the nature of God, whether or not the brain can understand the mind, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and the apparent paradox of the lack of orbital decay of an electron around a proton. But, as usual, I had no good answers...so...I won’t bore you with the details.

I decided to make it a point to call one of my best fl ying buddies, who was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times. I had been mean-ing to invite him to come out and grab


a beer and some ridge lift (not in that order!)...and...you know...just be there if he needed an ear. Th at’s what friends do. But, I’ve been busy...and...well...I tend to put things off .

It took 13 hours – 13 long, hot, thirsty, painful, bleeding, sweaty hours – to change my lines, patch my holes, and stuff hundreds of old, dirty, useless (yet labeled, “ just in case”) lines into a plastic bag.

After more than two weeks of bad weather, there was fi nally a “margin-al” fl ying day. A bunch of airsick pilots were out para-driving, para-hiking, and para-waiting. After weeks of being land-bound, these addicts needed a fi x. I was going out to join them after the football game.

Th en my phone rang.One of my best fl ying buddies, who

was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times, had been in an accident: a bad accident.

He had executed a perfect launch in good conditions, but about 40 feet from

launch, he began to pendulum. He col-lided with a set of power lines. Th ere was a “Big Blue Flash” as the ghost left the

machine and he drifted back onto the ridge, plowing through a fence.

Th e details aren’t important. I’m not

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Peter heading up to launch in the Rat Race shuttle


the person to detail the accident. Besides, I have trouble seeing the words through the tears.

Ya see...I had been planning to fl y with him that day...I was going to come out earlier...but I put it off .

Th e following week was spent dog-sitting and helping the family and the girlfriend and the two little dogs clean

up the details of a life cut short.

A week later, I received a letter from our regional director inform-ing me that I had been promoted to tandem instruc-tor: the yin to this terrible yang.

So, just like Mr. Pirsig, after a long treatise I will leave the reader dissatis-fi ed, by off ering no new insights into

“Life, the Universe and Everything.” I

will simply remind you of some things that we all know: You need to kite; you need to take better care of your toys; you need to call your friends and family, invite them out for a beer and some ridge lift (not in that order…) – don’t put it off !

************

It has been a year since I wrote this article. Our club has done its best to deal with our loss: Life does, after all, go on. We’ve placed a bronze plaque at our friend’s favorite launch site, to honor his love of fl ight and, perhaps, to remind us all that life is precious.

One thing has changed: I have re-placed my “beloved Ozone Vulcan” with my “beloved Ozone Addict.” One thing, however, has not changed. I am still unable to read this article without a long pause; I still have trouble seeing the words through the tears.

Dr. Peter J. Arroyo, Jr. lives and fl ies in Honolulu, Hawai’i. He’s the president/CEO and assistant janitor of Range Of Motion Rehabilitation Centers, obligations that, all too often, get in the way of para-gliding. Peter is a P-4 pilot and a tandem instructor.

Johan’s commemorative plaque

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Johan


Th is is a story about the death and life of a mountain – an historic hang gliding and paragliding site, a piece of hallowed ground that is so dear to so many it stirs emotions on the scale of Braveheart. It is a story like David and Goliath with a happy ending, at least for David, and it has a good moral with lessons to keep against the peril of losing your own mountain.

Th e mountain in this story is Mount Sentinel, which proudly overlooks the western Montana town of Missoula from the height of 2000 vertical feet. Its grassy moderate slopes are stamped with a giant letter “M” for the University of Montana, whose campus lies right at the base. Missoula is a town with an attitude. Standing between two of the largest wilderness areas in the continental U.S., Missoula is the essence of the rugged mountain west and embodies the spirit of freedom and adventure.

History It was here in the early ‘70s that an

impetuous character named Bill Johnson cobbled together a Standard hang glider from plans and fl ew from the top of Mt. Sentinel, landing in the middle of the University campus. His exploit inspired dozens of students, locals and even some of the faculty into taking up this new sport of hang gliding, and the oldest inland free-fl ight site in the country was thereby established. In a few short years a vibrant club emerged with dozens of pilots fl ying nearly every day that weath-er would permit.

Th e proximity of the mountain to the town made these fl ying bird-men highly visible to Missoula residents, generating a sense of pride as they represented that same sense of freedom and adventure the town embraced.

In 1978 I moved to Missoula to attend the University. I was captivated

not only by the hang gliders, but also by the mountains, skiing, incredible quality of life, and potential that was just wait-ing outside my door – a fairy-tale land for this transplant from the suburbs of Chicago. Missoula was an incredible secret that we all were sworn to keep for fear that the rest of the world might fi nd out and move here.

I took my fi rst hang glider training fl ights at Charles Lindberg’s ranch, (yes, the Charles Lindberg) 30 miles north-east of Missoula. I progressed from my fi rst high fl ights on Mt. Sentinel, to my fi rst hour, to watching sunsets at nearly 10:00 p.m. over the city from 8000 feet in glass-off s during those amazing long and late Montana summer days. It was an in-credible world of possibility and wonder for a kid barely 22 years old.

How to Lose Your Mountain – And Regain It!By Leo Bynum

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Chris Gibisch launches from the top of Missoula’s Mt. Sentinel


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University and the Tower Th e top of the mountain and the golf

course where we land are University of Montana property and the hang gliding/paragliding club has had a long-standing agreement of over 35 years to fl y there. As a courtesy before fl ying, the pilots call the control tower at Missoula International, a

regional airport eight miles to the north-west that, according to www.airnav.com, averages little more that six commercial arrivals per day.

Hang gliding prospered on Mt. Sentinel for years – actually, decades. Th e relationship with the university was

good but not particularly close or active. Th e relationship with the FAA-staff ed control tower was similar, with no real need, so we thought, to do much more than notify them before we fl ew.

In recent years as a result of privatiza-tion, the FAA air traffi c controllers were

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The author in a UP Mosquito, 1983

Bryan Steubs in a wingover above University of Montana campus, 1982


removed from Missoula tower and Serco, a private corporation, was contracted to staff the tower.

Airspace Mt. Sentinel is only eight miles from

Missoula Regional Airport, and launch is almost in line with runway 29. Th is had not been a problem because the terrain makes straight-in approaches to the air-port undesirable – they involve a too-steep descent, too close to terrain, and would bring jet traffi c across the city unnecessar-ily. As the sectional chart (below) shows, the class “E” keyways for approaches into Missoula use the valleys to the south and northwest of the airport. Despite this, and despite the fact that there is a hang gliding symbol over Mt. Sentinel on the chart, local pilots began to notice that more traffi c seemed to be getting cleared to make steep straight-in approaches to the runway, rather than being vectored up the valley. Consequently, many more aircraft were passing right over the city and the mountain through airspace that could be occupied by hang gliders.

Turn of Events One afternoon in July of 2006 a local

pilot fl ew from Mt. Sentinel without making the courtesy call to Missoula tower; later, a regional jet pilot was sur-prised to see a hang glider about 1000 feet below and within a mile. With cock-pit alarms audible in the background, the pilot radioed the tower about this close encounter, saying that he was taking eva-sive action. It was very dramatic – and it was faithfully recorded on the ATC tapes. Of course, the cockpit alarms had nothing to do with the hang glider – the alarm was likely a ground-proximity alert from the jet fl ying so low over the mountain – but to a non-pilot, it doesn’t sound that way!

Th e following month several pilots fl ying from another site west of the air-port got up high enough to venture cross-country to the east with the intention of fl ying north of the airport to the next range and beyond. Due to poor planning and a lack of concern for the airspace a hang glider pilot sank out and landed about a mile from the airport, well inside the airport’s Class D airspace. Th e tower chief called the police.

Later in October a pilot who had fl own from Mt. Sentinel, having noti-fi ed the tower, was standing in the land-ing area when he saw a jet fl y low over the mountain on approach to the airport. He called the tower to remind them that hang gliders were fl ying and to ask about the jet. Th e exchange with the controller seems to have become heated, and later that day we got some disturbing news.

The Hammer Th e Serco contract tower chief had

decided to take action to eliminate the potential for confl ict above the moun-tain. Armed with the dramatic recording from the regional jet months previously, he took an unexpected tack. Rather than following normal procedures of escalat-ing a safety issue to the local FAA offi ce, he took the recording to campus security and the mayor of Missoula. Painting a picture of fl aming jets and people rain-ing onto our idyllic mountain town, the tower chief demanded that the university and Forest Service cut off hang gliding/paragliding access to the mountain by locking the gate. Given the choice be-tween a presumed representative of the FAA who controls the safety of hundreds of passengers and a bunch of hang glider pilots driving pick-up trucks, the univer-sity and Forest Service, not surprisingly, complied.

It was October (2006), nearing the end of Montana fl ying season, so the club decided to step back, let tensions ease and try to diplomatically resolve the situation over the winter months.

The USHPA Staff Team I’d like to say that we called USHPA

headquarters and a USHPA staff team of FAA and fl ying-site experts settled it all with a couple of phone calls. Th e truth is that the USHPA is staff ed and run by people like you, like me – a volun-teer board of pilots, advocates, and shop owners doing their best to stay on top of safety, ratings, and keeping us insured. Suffi ce it to say that there was no such staff team.

You Are the USHPA Team Fortunately we do have some very

bright and motivated members, and USHPA president Lisa Tate formed a

MSO Class E keyway approach airspaceNo radio contact requiredHigher visibility and cloud clearances requiredNo hang gliders without permission

MSO Class D AirspaceRadio contact requiredNo hang gliders without permission

Hang gliding clearly indicated


strategy team of Missoula locals, a former NASA engineer, a Wall Street equities analyst, and a captain of a major airline. We decided to try to settle the issues in-crementally starting with the controllers at Missoula tower, then Serco (the tower contracting corporation), the university, and lastly the FAA if necessary. Most of all we wanted to keep the situation out of the public eye and resolve it with discre-tion. Th ere was no telling how this sensa-tional story of drama in the skies would play with a post 9/11 public.

The Disaster In February of 2007 a meeting was ar-

ranged between the tower chief, two local pilots, the mayor of Missoula and our airline captain to discuss the issues and options. Our strategy was to talk about the 35-year tradition of hang gliding, its value to the town, and how hang gliding has co-existed near much busier airports like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Again we were surprised. Before we could even begin the meeting the con-tract tower chief handed us a copy of a

letter that he had just sent to the uni-versity stating that free fl ight over Mt. Sentinel, an established practice for over three decades, was now an air traffi c hazard and…

“Since Mount Sentinel lies outside of the Missoula Tower Class D airspace, we at Missoula Tower have no way to force or enforce a ban on hang glider activities. Since the University of Montana owns the land that the hang gliders operate from, you are the ones with the fi nal authority to allow these operations to occur in this area and would possibly bear the liability resulting from any accident or incident with commercial or private aircraft.”

When we asked whether his assertions and conclusions had the knowledge and support of his corporation or the FAA, the tower chief abruptly stormed out of the meeting slamming the door and shaking the pictures on the wall. Our well-intentioned meeting with the tower chief and the mayor had ended in a com-plete disaster.

Afterward the local members realized

they might very possibly have to resign themselves to the loss of the mountain, the tradition, and one of the biggest quality-of-life assets the town had to off er them.

Dangerous Precedent We on the strategy team were even

more worried. What had transpired had set a dangerous precedent. If a local air-port manager could close a fl ying site simply by expressing an opinion with-out any further review, then most of our fl ying sites near any city of any size were at risk. We could lose Sylmar and Crestline in L.A., Funston, Mission and Ed Levin in San Francisco, and count-less others: Albuquerque, Santa Barbara, Reno, Boise, all the way to the East Coast. We had to win this battle and set a precedent of our own.

We proceeded with our plan of esca-lation, fi rst to the U.S. headquarters of Serco. We felt that the contract air traf-fi c controllers should be working with the FAA and the local fl ying community rather than acting unilaterally, off ering


questionable legal advice to the university, and generating negative safety concerns about fl ying throughout the community. We received a strongly worded response from Serco headquarters that largely supported their employee’s actions, but did not completely preclude hang gliding and paragliding from returning to fl ight.

Nick’s Film To add to the random twists and turns,

one of the local pilots, Nick Franczyk, was working on his Master’s project at the University Film School. Th e proj-ect was on hang gliding, of course, and evolved into a documentary on the de-veloping situation between the tower and the hang glider/paraglider pilots. Spring was well upon us and as is the nature of fi lms, Nick’s needed to be screened. Th ere went any hope of keeping the story from public attention – and possibly alarm.

P.R. Experts… Now! Soon the press was onto the story

and movement, previously measured in months, could now be measured in hours. We had to be ready with talking points, cogent responses to questions and careful control of what we said. One bad sound bite or off -the-cuff remark could be di-sastrous. We realized that we needed to set the context of the story, that if we were drawn into defending the alleged incident we were letting the tower set the

context – and the tower would frame it as a safety concern. We needed the story to be about the 35-year tradition, the decades-long safety record, and why, here in Big Sky Country where we pride our-selves on our freedoms, we couldn’t fl y hang gliders when even over-regulated big-city folk on both coasts were able to do so – and close to much larger airports than ours. Most of all we needed to praise the university for their years of support, not criticize them for closing the site.

The Press In mid-June a front-page story came

out in the Saturday newspaper, and by Monday afternoon two local TV stations were interviewing the (now well-prepared) local pilots and calling the tower staff . We told our story as we had planned – the long tradition, the joy of fl ight, our thanks to the university and Forest Service for three decades of support – and held our breath. Which context would they choose? Would this be a “scare-the-reader” story about fl am-ing jets falling from the sky, brought down by “crazy hang gliders,” or a “human interest” story about a local tradition being threatened by big corporations?

To their credit, the journalists did neither. Th ey did describe the potential for confl ict, but they did it accurately, without alarmism. However, our PR planning had served us well, as much

of the focus in each story was on the human-interest side – the tradition, the pilots, and the joy of fl ight. By Tuesday the AP had picked up on the story and it went national. By the end of the week there were hundreds of letters to the editor of the paper, and the TV stations were airing opinions of the university students and local residents. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the response was overwhelmingly in support of the Mt. Sentinel pilots.

The Resolution Meanwhile, the strategy team pursued

the small opening in Serco’s response and requested a return to fl ight. Within a week the University had a press con-ference where they announced that their legal team had determined that we were in appropriate airspace and as such the university had no liability. Our access to the mountain was immediately restored without any further involvement of the tower. By now it was late June 2007 and after being closed for nine months, we were back fl ying from our beloved moun-tain and over our town.

Epilogue Th is really could have gone either

way. Th ere were some key decisions that I believe made a diff erence. In a group of pilots, everyone is going to have a strong opinion. Organizing people who have experience in dealing professionally with the powers-that-be is critical.

When the press is involved, you have to be ready with talking points and sound bites that have actually been re-hearsed. All the coverage will be based on a phone call that will come too soon, before you’ve thought to organize your words. One careless remark – the pilot who excitedly tells the journalist about the time when he could count the rivets on the 737, or the one who tells death-and-destruction war stories, or the one who attacks the university, or the one who says “well, mistakes have been made” when asked about midair confl icts can easily become the clip or the quote that everything will turn on.

Recognizing the need to defi ne the story was essential. Th e refl ex would have been to argue the purported safety issues, which would have focused the

Jeff Shapiro soaring the face of Missoula’s Mount Sentinel

Phot

o: J

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hapi

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The closer you can come to unambiguously doing what the other pilot expects, the better your chances of avoiding a mid-air collision.

Safety Tips

story on hazard concerns. Th e story of freedom, tradition, and wonder of fl ying was a better play. Incidentally, accord-ing to NTSB databases there has never been an accident or incident between a hang glider or paraglider and another aircraft reported anywhere in the entire U.S., ever. So why make an air hazard the center of the story?

Th e decision to praise the university, the Forest Service and the town, thanking them for all the years of support, wasn’t obvious, given that it was the university and the Forest Service who shut down the site. Taking the high road turned out to be absolutely the right thing to do. Th ese folks are the landowners; we never had any right to use that land, and the proper thing was to thank them for 35 years of letting us use it, not criticize them for exercising their absolute right to ask us to stop.

All of the problems could have found a more friendly reception if good rela-tionships had been cultivated all along. You can buy a lot of future good will and understanding with a Christmas card,

a holiday fruit basket, or a recognition award given to the people that make our fl ying possible. Lastly, know your air-space. Anyone who doesn’t know or re-spect the airspace where they fl y is asking for trouble and inviting the loss of their mountain.

Leo Bynum is a hang glider pilot, an instrument-rated airplane pilot, an engi-neer and a jazz pianist. He is chairman of the USHPA Membership and Development committee and currently resides in Albuquerque.

Credits On behalf of the Missoula Hang

Gliding Association, I’d like to thank the following people for their essen-tial contributions to saving the moun-tain: Th e strategy team (Finbar Sheehy, Captain John Kangas, Karl Hallman, Bryan Steubs, Bob Shook, Nick Franczyk and Lisa Tate); also Craig Johnson, Missoula Mayor John Engen, UM Campus Security Chief James Lemcke, and UM president George Dennison.

LinksNick’s terrifi c fi lm can be found at www.mtnick.com.

TV clips as the story progressed: http://mtnick.com/tv_clips.html http://mtnick.com/tv/kpax.mov http://mtnick.com/tv/keci.movhttp://mtnick.com/tv/keci_7_7.mov http://mtnick.com/tv/kpax_7_7.mov


Last summer I learned how to fl y. Th ough the Montgolfi er brothers realized “humanity’s oldest dream” long ago, when they sent up a sheep, a rooster, a duck and fi nally two men in their hot-air balloon, I can’t shake the feeling that I made this discovery on my own. Perhaps it’s just the nature of fl ying: Each person invents it for him- or herself. Now, I no longer believe that there are no new places left, or that “the wild West” has been tamed. Flying is a frontier that renews itself for each person. It’s just that magical.

Magical, but completely rational. Bernoulli’s law of fl ight explains that planes fl y because the air above their wing moves faster than the air below. Still, like other bedrock mysteries – where beings go after they die, or the miracle of birth

– sometimes no amount of logic can tar-nish the magic.

My fi rst fl ight was at Woodrat Mountain in Ruch, Oregon, last August

13. I woke that summer morning after spending a night on the front lawn, my nose nestled into my 14-year-old dog’s brittle coat. I had a macabre knowing in my stomach. He’d hardly walked for three days, and like that fi rst irrefutable crisp of autumn, I sensed an ending.

Like every dog owner, I fi ercely be-lieved that mine was the best dog in the world – I loved his lazy ways, the way he could fi t three tennis balls in his mouth at once, and even loved his smell, which was grainy and sweet, like fresh bread. I was awed by his happy spirit, which lingered long after he could no longer hike or play fetch. My vet, Dr. Sarah, explained that certain dogs never lose heart, no matter how much pain they are in. Th at’s the kind of dog he was.

I called and left a message for Dr. Sarah on that August morning, then got in the car to drive to Woodrat Mountain. My dog’s gray stare followed me, like it did every time I have ever left to run an errand or drive to work. I thought to stay, but felt compelled to show up for my fi rst fl ight, partly because I needed the distraction. But more than that, I needed the metaphor; fl ying symbolized the ultimate letting go. Now the two memories – of my fi rst fl ight and the passing of my dog – glow together like colors at sunset. I can’t separate them. Th at day the world became vaster, more frightening, and more spectacular than it was the day before.

At Woodrat Mountain the morning sun lit up the oaks and pines with a sharp orange cast. Th e mountain is popular for

paragliding because of the way three valleys terminate at the site, their winds funneling up in just the right way. My instructor, Kevin Lee, toured me and the other students around the pasture that was the landing zone. We fol-lowed him like a line of little fl edglings, listening closely as he doled out tips: Pay attention to the windsock, look where you want to land. Kevin is tall, compe-tent, rugged, and serene as a pond. He has taught paragliding for 12 years, last year winning USHPA’s “Paragliding Instructor of the Year” award. It was easy to see why. Intuitive by nature, he never pushes his students out of the nest until he senses they are ready, ushering them into the magic realm of fl ying seamlessly. He has taught every kind of person, from the bold adrenaline junkies to the timid, all the while maintaining a humble and guru-like reserve.

We drove up to launch and unpacked our gear. My cell phone rang. It was Dr. Sarah. “I think its time,” I said. Th e words felt forced.

“I think so,” she replied. Th e phone line fell winter-silent. She’d been helping me think through this for a while. I’d spent the last two years helping my dog in and out of the car with a ramp, depleting my bank account on pain medications, and exhausting my lower back picking up his worn-out hips whenever he wanted to stand. “Th is isn’t working for either one of you,” she once prodded. Finally, I conceded. We made an appointment for an at-home euthanasia at 4:00, after I returned from my fl ight.

Uplift: The Magic of Flight and LossBy Christina AmmonPhotos © 2007 Scott Harding, scotthardingphoto.com

Chris and dog


I set up: unfurled my nylon wing across the ground, untangled the web of lines, buckled into the harness. Th e bare-bones logistics of setup comforted me, the simple importance of the routine serving as a sort of sleight-of-hand dis-tracting me from both the sadness prying into my chest, and my pre-fl ight jitters.

“Radio check,” said Kevin, holding his radio close to his mouth. His voice transmitted through the radio attached to my shoulder. As a beginner, I de-pended on his instruction during fl ying and landing.

He gave me the go-ahead; I tugged on the lines and the wing infl ated with a quick snap. I ran with the full commit-ment that it takes to launch and in mere seconds I felt my body lift away from the hill, away from Kevin. My feet dangled below me, limp and useless. Th e horizon line became a wide circle, soft wind fi lled my ears, and the terrain below took on childlike proportions. In that moment, the world belonged to me: the barns, the fences, the cars like little toys I could pick up and rearrange at will.

“Just let go of those steering toggles

and let that wing fl y,” Kevin’s voice piped in over the radio, snapping me out of my spell. Let the controls go? “I bet you didn’t expect that,” he laughed. He wanted me to trust the wing. “Shake your shoulders and enjoy the view,” Kevin instructed. I’d come to love his voice, the way it swaddled me like my fi rst baby blanket. “Just shake your shoulders out and enjoy the view.”

I practiced a few turns, tugging at the right and left brake lines and carving “S” patterns in the sky. My mind’s habitual chatter stopped with a sudden hush. For once, I was not thinking about lunch, or dinner, or what to do with my life, which path to take, whether to have babies or not have babies, get married or stay free.No thoughts, just awe, pure sensation – like falling in love. As the ground neared, I pulled the brake lines and stepped easily onto the ground like stepping off a small curb. My feet woke up again. A good landing has a particular satisfaction.

I decided to learn paragliding last July. My friend Allison and I started together. Both of us around 30, we’d ar-rived at the age where you see a fork in

the road and pursuing certain types of adventures seems more urgent, in the event that domestic urges start to arise. So, we’d been chasing adventures as if they were balloons vanishing into the sky. We’d wrestled our food away from bears in the Tetons, run rivers, and skied the peaks and ridges of the backcountry. Paragliding was our next frontier.

So, on the sharp sunny mornings of July, we’d drive out to meet Kevin at the small training hill at the far edge of Emigrant Lake. As we bumped along the road toward the site, coff ees in hand, we’d see the same blue heron standing like an elegant bare branch on the end of

Continued to Page 42

Allison Trafton (L) and Chris Ammon relax in the main Woodrat LZ after an afternoon of fall fl ying

Continued to Page 42


Photo: Jeff O’Brien [email protected]

a sandbar. “He must be watching over us,” Allison suggested. “He’s a sort of fl ying totem.” She named him Bob.

During those mornings on the train-ing hill, with Bob’s blue gaze watching over us, we learned how to control the wing on the ground and, eventually, got our fi rst small feelings of fl ight – the thrilling tug of the glider, which would occasionally pluck us a few feet in the air. Kevin coached us on the radio, teaching us how to slow the glider and then return to the ground feather-soft. After lessons, Allison and I would drive back to town with astonished smiles and have lunch. We felt let in on a secret that no one else knew. As if in the quick hands of a ma-gician, we’d been transformed from one thing into another – from simple hand-kerchiefs into doves.

Up until last July, paragliding had never occurred to me as a sport to pursue. Many paraglider pilots will reminisce about magical childhood dreams of fl ying, reading aviation books when they were young. Bill Kaelin, a local pilot, once said to me, “If you played with kites as a kid, if you jumped off the roof with an umbrella thinking it might slow you down, if you wrapped a towel around your neck like a cape and ran around, this sport might be for you.” Not me. I was too busy making mud pies and operating on earthworms.

Paragliding came into my life as a chance to begin something new, as a way to off set a bunch of things that crashed all at once: Aside from releasing my dog, I’d lost my aff ordable apartment, ended a three-year relationship, and quit a great job I was burned out on. But loss is a great purifi er, and what was left sparkled. Suddenly, I just wanted to enjoy each thing.

Like many people who learn to fl y, I was unprepared for the way paragliding would change my life. While I’ve taken dozens of airplane fl ights across the country, they mostly felt like long waits in the doctor’s offi ce. But in a paraglider

– unlike a jet, with its engine noise, its many gauges, its fi berglass and artifi cial air – I feel the air on my face and the sensation of fl ying enters my body. And I have a new intimacy with the world as I obsessively look at the sky and track the weather. No change in the wind escapes my attention – I now note the way leaves

rattle on a cottonwood tree, the sideways drift of a piece of litter, or the path of dust devils spiraling across the landscape. In this way, learning to paraglide is a sin-gular experience – a transformation.

I am amazed at the diversity of people who take up the sport, people of both genders, and who range widely in age. At Woodrat Mountain, a girl started

when she was 15 and was so enamored with paragliding that she was reportedly skipping school to fl y. Now her mother is learning to paraglide.

If there is something in common among the people who pursue paraglid-ing, it is that most likely they have all examined the role of risk in their life. Th ough in the right hands paragliding

Continued from Page 39

Student pilot Chris Ammon prefl ighting her glider on Woodrat mid-launch

Paraglider pilots lined up on the west launch at Woodrat Mt. during the 2007 Rat Race in which approximately 120 pilots competed


Pilot’s view of Mount Shasta while fl ying from Whaleback Mt. near Weed, California, in the Klamath National Forest

43

is reasonably safe, it certainly looks and feels dangerous and inevitably spawns some meditation on death. On the whole, people who fl y are the sort of people who have realized that death often comes in random and mundane ways – while cross-ing the street, for instance – and that life is best lived fully, no matter the cost.

On the afternoon of my fi rst fl ight at Woodrat Mountain, I returned home to my dog with a dread expanding in my stomach. Dr. Sarah was scheduled to come in a couple of hours, so I curled up with my dog, petting his soft ears, and feeding him bits of steak. Occasionally he’d wag his tail.

Dr. Sarah arrived and, sitting on the lawn, explained the procedure. I held my dog’s head in my lap and whispered,

“Good boy!” over and over in my most loving tones. Th is was exactly the way I wanted him to leave the world – in my arms, knowing he was the best dog. She gave him the injection; his head fell heavy in my lap. In that moment, that space on that simple suburban lawn became, for me, hallowed ground.

I buried my dog at the farm I had been working at for eight years, underneath a walnut tree that I’d deemed the “best place on Earth” for its arching branches that provided shade in August. Friends arrived to help dig the hole and to drink wine, to place big sunfl owers on his grave and to celebrate his life. Th e entire day felt poem-perfect – full of bleak and beautiful emotions and lovely contradic-tions: tears and exhilaration, gratitude and grief, fl ying up a thousand feet in the sky and returning home to dig a deep hole in the earth.

In the following weeks I continued my fl ying lessons, returning to the training hill to practice my ground handling. One day I took a swim out into the lake, feel-ing the coolness of the water hold me in my fresh grief. A heron fl ew low over my head – Bob, maybe, in perfect fl ight form. Protecting me. I tend not to read into the world this way, believing things are for the most part random. But certain co-incidences are striking. Like why some-times do losses come all at once? Does the universe try to teach us lessons?

Woodrat Mt. on the fi rst day of fall 2007 with rising moon in background (view looking back toward west launch)


After my dog’s death, my thinking overall had become less rational. I still saved the crusts of my morning toast for him, still stepped over his spot on the rug as if he were still there sleeping. At night, I covered his grave with blankets to keep him warm. I felt consoled reading writer Joan Didion’s recent book about the year following the death of her husband. She speaks of the strange habits that persist after such a crisis, founded in the irratio-nal belief that the deceased is not really deceased, that they are just away for a short spell. Didion calls this “magical thinking.”

I still wake some mornings and reach down to pet my dog, wondering how he could possibly be gone. Where did he go? He was buried in front of my eyes. I tossed dirt on his body with my own hands. All things die. Like Bernoulli’s law of fl ight, there were rational expla-nations for this phenomenon. Still, I felt that there had to be more. Was he really merely a body that became part of the walnut tree where he was buried? Part of the squirrels that ate the walnuts?

“He’s up there some-where,” said my friend Mary Pat, standing near his grave on the day that he died. She swept her hand across the sky above. “He’s fl ying around.” She winked at me. “And now you fl y with him.” It was interesting that people often explained heaven in this way: as souls fl ying up in the air, into the sky, the last frontier.

Christina Ammon is recipi-ent of an Oregon Literary Arts fellowship for nonfi ction. She fl ies and writes in southern Oregon. She can be reached at [email protected], or visit www.christina-ammon.com.

Chris Ammon launching from Woodrat mid-launch under instruction of Kevin Lee


Th ey say that every cloud has a silver lining and one sterling benefi t resulting from totaling my fi rst hang glider was it dramatically reduced my chances of kill-ing myself before my 18th birthday. From 1974 to 1976 dozens of people were killed each year fl ying hang gliders. I remember one week where three renowned pilots died fl ying rogallo wings. Pat Conniry, a competition pilot and holder of several records, died when his Seagull dove in from a thousand feet. His death hit me hard because it was the fi rst of the dread-ed full-luffi ng unrecoverable-dive fatali-ties that I somehow couldn’t rationalize away as due to pilot error. Curt Stahl, an accomplished teen-age pilot, died when his newer model Seagull dove straight in after a series of intentional low-altitude porpoises. And then the current world-record duration holder, John Hughes, fell hundreds of feet to his death after hooking his carabiner into his swing seat improperly. (He was known for his laid-back attitude and once used a broomstick

to fi eld-repair a broken downtube.) Th ankfully, hang glider designs as

well as pilot attitudes and competence improved. Performance was improved by reducing sail billow and wing sweep, uncontrollable terminal dives became a thing of the past with the addition of luff lines, and radial wingtips facilitated weight-shift roll control while eliminat-ing tip stalls.

In the spring of 1977, after 15 months away from hang gliding, I heard the new designs were better and I made the long drive to see them in action. Th e Lake Wilson fl ying site was located on the far side of this Kansas lake and my fi rst view of the new gliders across the water will be forever etched in my mind. On a good soaring day I expected to see one or two rogallo wings parked motionless several dozen feet above the hilltop, but on this day my disbelieving eyes spied at least a half-dozen gliders eff ortless soaring back and forth hundreds of feet AGL! To this day that drive around the lake was prob-

ably the most anticipation-fi lled 15 min-utes of my life. I knew that I was back into hang gliding big time!

Making the transition to the new de-signs took me several weekends of har-rowing fl ights. My fi rst launch of the new Wills Wing SST went smoothly but almost immediately I was in a dra-matic roll PIO, trying my best all the way down the hill to not get turned sideways. Miraculously, I somehow pulled off a smooth landing. Nobody but the Moose folks would allow me to demo their glid-ers after that fl ight. My results with the higher-aspect-ratio Mooses were similar. I had to learn to adapt to the changes in roll response due to the heavier airframes, increased spans, and tighter sails.

I was heading home after another PIO-fi lled weekend, trying my best to visualize just what the glider was doing and what the proper response should be. I somehow fi gured it out and surprised everybody when the next fl ight went smoothly. To this day I often “chair fl y”

Hang In There Part Deux – Inadvertent Cloud FlyingBy Mark “Forger” StuckyArtwork by Jim Tibbs


complex fl ight maneuvers on the ground using such visualization techniques.

It took me seven diff erent fl ying trips, 16 fl ights spaced over two months and many hours of visualization before ev-erything “clicked” and I could suddenly fl y the new crop of gliders. I purchased a used Pliable Moose Elite (aspect ratio of 8.5!) and rode along with the Moose team to the 1977 Th anksgiving Fly-in at Lookout Mt., Tennessee. By this time I was actually a pretty good pilot. Like most Kansas pilots I was unrated but I felt I possessed honest intermediate-to-advanced skills. Th e meet director cau-tiously issued me a yellow helmet sticker that cleared me to launch in winds of up to 20 mph.

My fi rst fl ight was a late-afternoon sledder. It struck me as odd that every-body was using a wireman to launch in just a breath of wind. Each pilot would yell “Clear,” take one or two steps and dive off the ramp, losing 20 to 50 feet. Coming from small hills where each foot of altitude signifi cantly aff ected my total fl ying time, it really rubbed me the wrong way to discard altitude in such a

manner. I was a lightweight pilot and was also a very fast runner who took pride in how quickly I could get air-borne in calm winds. So I convinced the launch team that I didn’t need a wireman, backed myself up to the rear of the ramp and charged forward like a sprinter out of the blocks, fl ying off the end of the ramp without wasting a foot of altitude. Although it worked well that time, I have since learned that a visiting pilot should think long and hard before going against the advice of locals.

We arrived back on launch the next morning greeted with smooth soarable winds but with the realization that our altitude would be capped by an overcast layer of stratus clouds forming a gray ceil-ing a couple hundred feet above launch and stretching from horizon to horizon. In short order there were eight of us hanging out just below the cloud deck enjoying the smooth lift. Cloudbase rose slightly in the ridge lift and I got used to the sight of the ceiling a few hundred yards in front of launch being slightly below me. I was really keeping my head on a swivel, however, because nobody was

venturing far from launch and everybody was scooting back and forth just below the mist at roughly the same altitude.

I must not have been looking forward enough, though, because I was surprised to see an approaching cloudbank that dipped signifi cantly below me. I imme-diately turned perpendicular to the ridge and pulled in the bar in an attempt to get farther in front of the lift band and to dive beneath the fast-approaching weather.

It was too little too late, and almost immediately I was enveloped in a cocoon of grayness. I initially maintained the dive in hopes of quickly clearing the cloud but soon chickened out when I began wondering if I might suddenly be enveloped by the forest of trees that blanketed the slopes. Besides, if I cleared the clouds too far down the mountain I would be hard pressed to make the glide to the LZ. So I slowed the glider in the hopes that I could maintain my orienta-tion to the mountain and my time in the clouds would be short-lived.

No sooner had I made that decision when I noticed it was rapidly becoming


much darker on my left side. In a fl ash I realized that I wasn’t alone in the clouds and was about to have a mid-air! I slammed my body hard to the right, pushed out hard, and did a quick wingover to reverse direction. I never actually saw the form of the glider or pilot but I knew that I had narrowly avoided impact. Now I was frantically looking everywhere and within seconds the sky in front of me suddenly darkened and once again I threw my wing into an aerobatic maneuver to avoid impact.

I repeated this rapid-fi re evasive ma-neuvering several times before the think-ing part of my brain caught up with the reactionary part (it takes a while when the thinking part is so undersized). In a moment of clarity I came to the real-ization that the dark forms that I was trying so hard to evade were only thicker portions of the cloud. I somehow thought I had a sense of orientation and decided that if I maintained a constant heading at best glide speed I would hopefully descend out of the clouds well in front of launch with enough altitude to make

the LZ.To this day I do not know why I felt

I could maintain my heading without instruments or visual reference to the ground. I’ve accumulated thousands of hours in powered aircraft in the years since and I know there is absolutely no way to keep orientation without some sort of reference. Th e clouds were thick and there was no glow from the sun to help out. Perhaps the more vertical fl ow in the lift band provided some kind of subtle cueing. What I do know is, a few long minutes later the sky mysteriously opened up on my right side and just as quickly as I had disappeared into the grayness, I was released from its grasp.

I was very pleased to see that I had indeed maintained my basic orientation. I was a few hundred yards in front of the mountaintop but had drifted with the slightly crossing winds and was nearly a mile north of launch. I was below launch level and turned to run back to the ridge. It was still soarable but the winds were now lighter and I could only maintain a hundred feet above the cliff

top. Th e Lookout Mt. ridge extends north to the town of Chattanooga and on a good day a 25-mile round trip was possible. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to fi ght the headwind back to launch so I decided to turn north and enjoy my fi rst cross-country fl ight, how-ever long it might turn out to be.

I knew there were three sets of monster power lines that needed to be crossed en route to the end of the ridge. As I approached the fi rst set I had to fl y out away from the ridge a short ways until they were comfortably below me. I tried to regain the altitude but the second set was

fast approaching and I was forced to repeat the process. After clearing them I scooted back to the ridge but could not regain all my lost altitude. I contin-ued downrange only a wingspan or two above the treetops but still soaring and still covering distance. A mile later came the fi nal set of wires. Th ese lines crossed the ridge at an angle from the southwest and to cross them would mean fl ying so far out over the valley that I would be too low to get back to the ridge top or make any potential LZ. I reversed course into the quartering headwind and began a serious search for a reachable landing spot. I could no longer maintain altitude and had no choice but to take a shallow angle down the mountain trying to use whatever ridge lift there was to extend my glide.

Th e most promising LZ was a large fi eld on the far side of the second set of power lines. It was especially inviting because it was bordered by a paved road, which could be a major factor in get-ting back to launch since I had no way to communicate with my teammates and they had no idea what had happened to me. I then heard some rifl e shots that weren’t too far away. I had no reason to think anybody might steal a pot shot at the large bird that had a teenager suspended beneath it but this was the south, I wasn’t a southerner and I had seen Deliverance…

Th e power lines towered over the sur-rounding forest. I angled my fl ight path slightly for maximum clearance but I was so far down the hill and the slope was so shallow that it wasn’t helping much. If I couldn’t make it across the lines then my only other alternative was a small postage-stamp fi eld bordered by a river, ringed by tall trees and with no road in sight. As I approached the lines I hit a patch of sink and was suddenly eye level with them. I really, really wanted to make it to the large LZ and the power line towers were so tall and massive that the reactionary part of my brain told me to do something I had never before con-templated: Fly under the power lines.

Sure, just a few minutes prior that same brain had me doing aerobatic shadow boxing in the clouds but I didn’t have time to argue. I pulled the bar in and started my dive. Th e trees blurred by just below me and I had to wait a couple


When planning a topland-ing on a rounded knoll, be aware that on the top there is hardly any lift but plenty of wind. You may fi nd yourself descending faster than you expected.~Burki Martens, in Thermal Flying

Safety Tips

of seconds to cross the tree line before I could stuff the bar the rest of the way and dive at the ground directly beneath the lines. As I did so I noticed the ground wasn’t getting closer. I took a quick glance at the rapidly approaching wires and realized I was now in some lift and might not be able to dive under them! I exercised my fi nal option by pushing out hard and doing one last wingover for the day.

Th e audible buzzing of the high volt-age lines faded away and with a sigh of relief I pulled out a decent landing in the small LZ. I packed the glider up as best I could without any ties or glider bag and started lugging it in the one direction that I had not been able to scout from the air – due west over a shallow rise. Luck was still with me because immediately on the other side was a farmer and his son who gladly gave me a lift back to launch as soon as they fi nished feeding the hogs.

Back at Lookout, I learned that all of the pilots who were in the air had been surprised by the sudden low cloudbank. Th ree gliders had gone into the trees

behind launch; the only pilot still miss-ing was my teammate Bill. Th ankfully he showed up a couple of hours later. He, too, had ended up north of launch and continued downrange but hadn’t made it as far as I had – he’d landed on the wrong side of the river and had a much more demanding hike out to a road.

Th ere were a lot more lessons learned that day than should ever have had to be learned. Weather conditions can change suddenly when you’re scud-running be-neath a cloud deck. Doing so in close proximity to terrain and other gliders further increases the risk. I don’t know why or how I was able to maintain a sense of direction in the clouds despite doing aerobatics but I do know I’ll never tempt fate in such a way again. Th ere are probably not too many good reasons to attempt to fl y under power lines and the convenience of an LZ isn’t one of them. On a positive note, I am very glad that I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket and exercised a back-up plan while there was still time to do so.

Some folks get away with cheat-

ing death and start to think they have a combination of skills and luck that make them better than most so they keep on pushing the limits. History has proven time and time again that when luck runs out, extraordinary pilot skills often are no match for poor judgment.

An honest and frank review of the risks versus rewards is an instrumen-tal part of good decision-making. May you have blue skies, good lift, and great decisions.


When I was a kid I had lots of fl ying dreams, both the sleep-

ing and awake kind. When I saw hang gliding on TV in the early ‘70s I didn’t hesitate. I looked for information and found it in the back of Popular Mechanics. I ordered Dan Poynter’s book, read it, ordered Eipper plans and built my fi rst hang glider. I really loved the free-dom and self-reliance of fl ying. You are responsible for your own fate – you and no one else. For years I was gung-ho, fl ying as much as I could, taking days off work to soar at the beach cliff s and the mountains.

In the early ‘80s I got a new glider (my sixth one) and converted my Manta Fledgling to an ultralight trike. Now I had a second group of guys to fl y with when the conditions for soaring weren’t right. I had a lot of fun fl ying the trike, but the noise and vibration defi nite-ly take away from the pure, bird-like fl ying experience.

I have followed the progress of elec-

tric vehicles for many years. Th ey seemed interesting except for the massive pile of lead-acid batteries they had to carry for a low-speed, short-distance drive. But in the last fi ve years things have changed. New motor designs enable high power in a small, light package with very high ef-fi ciency. Batteries have come a long way as well. Lithium-ion chemistry off ers amazingly high power-per-weight (power density). Lithium-ion polymer off ers the high-power density in combination with the ability to discharge quickly when de-sired. Th ese cells, though expensive, are now available.

I built a lithium-ion powered scooter two years ago; it’s incredibly fast and has great range. Th at project convinced me that batteries have fi nally reached the level of development to enable the dream of electric fl ight to become a reality.

Th e catalyst for my developing the electric trike was a discussion with a hang gliding and ultralight fl ying friend of mine. He suggested we build an elec-

tric self-launch system for hang gliders. No more waiting for the conditions to get just right for launching and soaring. No more distant travel to the good hang gliding sites.

What if we could combine the best aspects of both hang gliding and ultra-light fl ying? What if we could fl y our ultralights with very little sound other than the rushing air, no earplugs needed, no vibration? What if we could design a glider that could take off from level ground, climb thousands of feet, then turn off the thrust and soar or just fl y quietly in the smooth evening air for a little sight-seeing – all without disturb-ing the neighbors?

I’d had some experience with the new batteries and motors, lots of ultralight and hang gliding experience, and I wanted to fl y electric. I did some more research and took my ideas, notes and product information to Irwin Rodgers, the fl ying friend who suggested the powered hang glider. He is a great engineer and had

The ElectraFlyer:Motorized Flight Without the Noise!By Randall Fishman, randall@electrafl yer.com

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designed and built a soaring ultralight years ago called the Cloud Dancer. He has lots of fl ight-specifi c formulas at his fi ngertips. We went over how much thrust would be needed to maintain al-titude for diff erent wings with the all-up weight of the trike and pilot. Th en we calculated how much additional thrust would be needed for takeoff and climb. It looked like my plans could work out well.

Th e lithium-ion cells I used in the scooter (laptop cells) had the power but they were not designed for fast discharge

and so got hot in use. I bought a selec-tion of lithium-ion polymer cells to test. Some of them were so good, they could be used at the full discharge rate needed for takeoff and climb without even get-ting warm! I wanted to make the system very practical with a good climb rate and at least one hour of duration between charges so the trike could be used on any nice day, with or without lift. For hang glider self launch, low save, and glide extension, a smaller battery pack could be used. Th e lighter weight will in-crease soaring performance and the more compact size is more aerodynamic and less expensive.

I went to work ordering parts and designing some of the specialty parts required for the project. I was able to get a low-RPM, high-torque motor built and found a folding carbon prop. Battery pack design for the cells was fi gured out.

As the components came in, the specialty parts were made: a welded motor mount to fi t the new motor and be integrated into the trike, a machined propeller hub to fi t the motor shaft and the new prop, battery boxes to contain the built-up battery packs and allow airfl ow and mounting to the frame. More materials were ordered: high-power connectors, motor controller, power cables and lugs, gauges, copper

sheet, aluminum plate and bar stock, all the equipment and raw materials needed.

Th e static balance of the trike was checked with weights to equal the bat-tery packs, motor, equipment and pilot. Th e mounting locations were fi nalized.

It took about a year to build the system. I showed the trike at Sun-N-Fun 2007 in Florida last April. Hundreds of people came to look the trike over.

At the show many people expressed interest in using electric power for all kinds of ultralights and light planes. John Moody (“father of the modern ultra-light”) and Larry Mauro (designer of the Easy Riser) were right next to me with their machines and were very supportive and friendly. John asked about electric-powered thrust for his Easy Riser. Any kind of ultralight can be powered this way. Th e more effi cient the machine, the Ph

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better electric propulsion will work. After the show I did a little more work

on the trike to make it ready for fl ight-testing. Static balance was rechecked. I stopped at Mike Th eeke’s Fly Hard Trikes near Chattanooga on the way from Florida to New York. He was very helpful and loaned me a North Wing Stratus for fl ight-testing.

I arrived at Fly Hard late Friday after-noon, not expecting to fl y until Saturday but since conditions were good we hooked up the trike to the wing and started test-ing. Th e fi rst few fl ights were low passes down the long runway at about 10 feet of altitude; the next day I fl ew some circuits around the airport. Th e trike fl ew just like a regular ultralight, no surprises.

Sunday afternoon I was feeling pretty confi dent so I attached my hang glid-ing variometer, altimeter and airspeed instruments to the control bar and went for a fl ight. Th ere was a little lift north of the airport and I was able to climb up with the electric thrust to the areas of lift, then shut down or cut the power way back and core a few thermals. Th ere were also large areas of strong sink. When I found myself sinking out I just turned my power control knob up and powered out of the area.

After an hour of this I came back to the airport and landed. I couldn’t get the smile off my face. It is one thing to fi gure something is going to work well and quite another to experience it.

Th e voltmeter on the trike was now

showing that I had used about 40% of the available charge. In these same con-ditions another one-hour fl ight was still possible without recharging. Some of the duration was due to thermal lift, so I estimate a no-lift run time of about 1½ hours with this trike/wing combination.

Since then I have put about 40 hours on the trike. A 1½-hour fl ight at the Ellenville, N.Y., hang gliding site was the longest with the folding prop. I took off from Wurtsboro airport, fl ew down the ridge about nine miles past the hang glider takeoff to the town of Ellenville, and was able to soar there for a while. Th e thermals coming off the town were great! At times the vario was pegged at 1000fpm up with the power unit off . After playing in the lift there and buzz-ing the hang glider takeoff I fl ew back to Wurtsboro to land. Again, I still had some battery capacity left in the packs. I usually fl y about an hour when there is no lift and land with substantial power left in the battery packs. Th is partial dis-charge use increases the cycle life of the batteries greatly.

One thing people noticed about the trike was that it was not completely quiet. Although no earplugs were needed, the direct-drive, 53-inch prop was spinning at 3000 RPM at full power and about 2300 RPM at cruise. Th ough low-pitched and not off ensive, the prop-tip noise was a little more than I wanted.

A reduction drive was made. I needed an odd ratio, 1.75 to 1, so the pulleys

had to be custom-made and the mount-ing plate designed for the electric motor. Calculations were done and a larger prop was ordered to spin at the reduced speed of 1800 RPM at full power. Th e new prop is 63 inches and very, very quiet. Th e maximum thrust has increased from 140 to 155 pounds.

In July I took the ElectraFlyer to the

had to be custom-made and the mount-

TECHNICAL DETAILSMotor: DC- 19HP initial at full chargeMaximum Thrust:155 pounds with reduction drive and 63-inch propeller, 140 pounds with direct drive and 53-inch folding propel-ler. System designed so that when battery power approaches minimum, the trike can still climbMotor controller: 300 amp max. – pulse width modulationBattery System:Max capacity: 5600 watt-hours, total weight of cells 75 poundsMedium capacity: 3350 watt-hours, total weight of cells 41 pounds Trike weight: 85 pounds with motor, controller, etc. (not including battery system)North Wing Stratus wing: 84 pounds Totals: Trike 85 poundsBatteries with boxes, connectors and cables 80 poundsWing 84 pounds

___________________________Total 249 pounds

This is a legal, Part 103 ultralight!Charge time: These batteries can be recharged in about an hour. However, the common 110V socket cannot deliver enough power to do this. The standard 110V charger takes about six hours to charge the maximum-size battery system. An optional 220V charger can charge the big pack in two hours. The charge times for the medium-capacity battery system and for the smaller (“self-launch”) pack will be about 3½ and 3 hours respec-tively with the 110V charger.

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big airshow at Oshkosh. I fl ew the trike in front of the crowds and the trike was mobbed with people every day. Th e EAA folks really loved the idea. Th e ElectraFlyer won the Grand Champion Ultralight and Innovation awards.

I’m now building the ElectraFlyer trike with a new feature: regenerative charging. Th e pilot can choose whether he wants to maximize soaring performance with the prop folded, or recharge the batteries with the windmilling prop. It is theoretically possible to self-launch, climb up, fi nd the thermals, and land hours later with a fully charged battery pack! I call this Regenerative Soaring.

For more information and to see the video, go to www.ElectraFlyer.com.

If I’ve caught your attention, please take a look at the ElectraFlyer.com Web site. Th ere is an electric propulsion parts kit listed there. All the components will work to-gether right away. Prop selection, reduction ratio, battery-pack capacity and other details can be worked out for each individual system. John’s Easy Riser has a good L/D and sink rate and would be a good candidate for electric power. Many 3-axis machines would work great as well.

Come to Sun ‘N’ Fun in Lakeland, Florida, in April to see the ElectraFlyer “in the fl esh.”

Advantages of electric propulsion:• Quiet fl ying enjoyment – like a magic carpet ride!• Good neighbor relations – possibly more fl ying areas

available due to no noise• No vibration, pure rotary power, no oscillating parts• Instant motor starting, instant restart for soaring

conditions, completely dependable restart • No smelly handling of gasoline and oil, no soot,

no dirt• No maintenance for motor, batteries rated for 300 to

500 full-charge/discharge cycles or over 1000 partial cycles – this equates to many years of fl ying, no memory eff ect. No top overhauls, no carb adjustments, no vibration damage, no major overhauls at around 300 hours

• “Refuel” cost is about $.60 for a full recharge vs. about $20 for fi ve gallons of gas and oil

Advantages of gasoline power• Longer duration, about 2.5 hours on fi ve gallons

of gas depending on setup• More power, faster climb, only limited by the

254-pound maximum limit for ultralights


A crisp morning breeze blows down-valley and scallops the surface of the water. A dozen people mill about a lone shade tent planted on a peninsula of brown dirt. Paragliders, harnesses, life jackets, radios and all sorts of gear are stacked in little piles. Someone points up into the blue sky and says, “She’s off tow.” Several thousand feet above the lake, the towline and its little orange drogue chute fall away from the pilot.

Brad Gunnuscio has his hoody and sunglasses on, and a radio in hand. If I didn’t know Brad and I bumped into him on the street, I would be apologizing pretty quickly – he is a stocky, formidable-looking character, but his smile is as wide as his shoulders and will quickly put you at ease.

Brad looks up and talks into his radio. I can hear him talking and I can also hear his voice coming through a nearby radio, but with a slight delay. Another radio is turned on, and now his voice comes over the two radios in stereo. His real voice blends with the delayed radio voices, and now it sounds like his voice is coming from everywhere all at once... My ears revel in this acoustic alchemy. Each transmission ends with a crack of static that makes me feel like we are on some covert mission in the middle of nowhere, and in a way we are, because something special is about to happen here on the edge of this pristine lake in southern Oregon.

High above the lake, the red-and-yellow paraglider starts a spiral turn

and picks up tremendous speed. With incredible energy, it suddenly straight-ens out, and the pilot swings under the wing and pendulums up and over the top of the canopy. At the top of the arc, the wing pivots around and faces the ground, and the pilot drops like an anvil, stretch-ing the skinny lines. Th e g-forces build and the pilot and wing become one as they slice the sky apart with rhythmic precision.

Using nothing more than his keen eyes and the instructions he relays to the pilot by radio, Brad creates a three-dimensional dance between human, wing and gravity. We watch in awe and anticipation – soon each of us will have our turn above the lake. As it turns out, the pilot doing one of the best

By Brett Hardin

Tow launching

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Brad coaching Dave Cantrell, SIV clinic in Oregon

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asymmetric spirals seen during the clinic is Kelli Brooks. Watching her perfectly timed asymmetrics, one might think she was an acro pilot, but nothing could be farther from the truth – Kelli doesn’t have her P-2 rating yet. As a matter of fact, her total airtime doubled at the end of the fi rst day of towing. Despite being as novice as it gets, she is fearless – by following Brad’s radio instructions ex-actly, we watch as she experiences the ex-treme opposites of gravity: One minute she is compressed into the bottom of her harness, the next she is almost fl oating weightless as she looks down at her wing and the earth below it. Kelli is quickly learning the fi ne art of canopy control and energy management.

As the clinic progresses, the maneu-vers become more demanding and stress-ful. Th e fl ights are less about fl ying, and more about moments when everything goes eerily quiet, the wind stops, your wing crumples and disappears and the lines spill into your lap like wayward spa-ghetti noodles. Next comes plummeting backwards followed by your wing awak-ening with a God-almighty surge. Back on land and between tows, I wonder what is safer, cross-country fl ying or attending a maneuvers clinic over the water...

It’s my turn on the sharp end of the towline. I am really glad this is the last day of the clinic. Th e weather has been

changing, a system is moving in. It started as a high milky haze advancing towards us from the horizon. Th e blue sky was replaced with overcast, and now successive waves of dark cloudbands roll over us – mammata clouds are bulging out of the bottoms. Something doesn’t feel quite right...

Th e sky improves just a bit, and the decision to continue towing is made. Five minutes later I am 3000 feet over the lake. I force myself to take deep breaths because I will need a lot of oxygen real soon. Stu Caruk turns the towboat 90 degrees, signaling to me that the tow is over, and I pull the release. Th e drogue chute drops away and I suck in a huge lungful of air, then blow it out like it was smoke, and now it’s showtime. Brad’s voice comes over the radio: “OK, stow your bridles, relax, take a deep breath and enjoy your last peaceful moments....” Just as his transmission clips off , I hear him giggling, but he comes right back on the radio with, “Just joking... Are you ready?”

In about fi ve seconds Brad will give me explicit instructions on how to self-destruct in mid-air, and he is expecting me to follow his instructions without hesitation; if I do it exactly as he says, my self destruction will be immediate and complete, and I will then start plummet-ing... If that isn’t enough pressure, I have

a dozen comrades looking up, watching my every move. I simply smile because I know if anyone can talk my wing back to life, Brad can do it, and this becomes my only real hope.

I follow the instructions and bury and hold my right brake. My wing stalls and spins violently and a gallon of adrenaline dumps into my bloodstream. A voice in my head screams, “What the hell are you doing? Go hands up!” I fi ght the voice and hold down the brake as the wing stalls and spins. My lunch asks if it can come back up; I deny it permission. A few more simple instructions from Brad follow: hands up, check the surge, and as my wing settles back into normal fl ight, I realize I am not going to die after all. I ponder the realization that I am ac-tually paying good money to get this scared – surely it would make more sense if someone were paying me to take such a thrashing, wouldn’t it…?

So why am I doing this? It’s not for the adrenaline, and I don’t like being scared. I’m doing it because I fl y enough that eventually something nasty is going to happen to my wing and when it does, I want to have several tools in my bag of tricks so I can recover and fl y on. After three days of mashing my canopy, I know my wing a lot better, and I’m reasonably certain the others do, too.

At the end of the last day, Brad takes a couple of tows and links together a se-quence of serious acro moves, and I get a sense that he truly lives the fl ying life-style. Brad lands just as the local instruc-tor, Kevin Lee, pulls up in his van; out comes a barbecue, a table, and cuisine ranging from pickled buff alo to home-made salsa, garden-fresh veggies, and cold beer. While the smell of grilling burgers drifts downwind, the wind sock gently sways on the shore of this peaceful little lake, and eight tired pilots, two in-structors, and a towboat captain recount the stories of the last three days. Laughs and smiles go all around.

Tomorrow the shade tent will be gone and the birds will have the blue sky and this little lake all to themselves…

Brad and student, SIV clinic in Arizona

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By Dale K. Mattice Photos by Timothy Tilden

I still have not fi gured out what life is really about. But the longer I live, the faster life passes, and even if I never do fi gure it out at least I’ll know that in my lifetime I did a magnifi cent thing.

I believe that I am among the lucki-est of people on this planet because I get to fl y with my own wing, with only the power of gravity and the elements. How many people in the history of the world have done this? And even in our current era, the percentage of hang glider pilots in the population at large is so small, it makes those of us who are among this group an extremely rare breed.

I sometimes talk to friends and col-leagues about this incredible activity. When I do, they tend to respond in pre-dictable ways. Th ere is the sense I get from some who are convinced beyond all reason that I am a lunatic. Th ey will smile and say, “Wow!” or “Cool” and then step away and want nothing more to do with my possible infl uence over them or their family, especially their children, god forbid.

Th ere are some who seem to truly

admire this great activity to the point of envy. Th ese are the non-hang glider people whose company I most enjoy. I don’t enjoy their envy, but I enjoy their appreciation and enthusiasm for my ex-perience to the point that I wish I could share or give them a Vulcan mind-meld so they could really feel the pleasure of free fl ight.

Th ere are a rare few who have ex-pressed an interest in actually trying hang gliding for themselves. I wish it were easier in Hawai’i to do so, but the situation here makes it very diffi cult for any but already experienced pilots to fl y hang gliders.

Th ere are members of the paraglider community who routinely express how they envy the fl ight characteristics of my wing as compared to theirs. I don’t blame them. Th e paraglider guys have many more options for learning, launching and general convenience. Th ese advantages, among other considerations, no doubt account for their growing numbers. And paragliding is also a magnifi cent sport. I can feel their enthusiasm and identify with it. If I weren’t a hang glider pilot I might possibly envy them. But, I am and I don’t for this very reason.

I have a few close friends who won’t even go near our launch site. Th ey fear for me, they fear for themselves, they are usually afraid of heights and I’m not sure what else. I very much respect these folks and their feelings. But I don’t understand them and can’t help but think they are not even allowing for the possibility that, because of fear, they have closed their minds to the beauty, the grace, and par-ticularly, the relative safety that modern hang gliding technology and experience have brought to this sport over the past 35 years. I am not a brave or fearless person. But experience and knowledge in the world have led me to conclude that, although the potential dangers of hang gliding are signifi cant, it is nonetheless more probable I’ll get injured on the tennis court than while hang gliding. As far as injuries go, maybe I’ve been lucky hang gliding and not so lucky playing tennis. But it is my real experience.

Th e few hang glider friends with whom I’ve bonded over the last few years have enhanced my experience beyond measure. Th ey have unfailingly off ered me the advantage of their experience, advice and fellowship. I have gained by their insights more than they know and

Magnifi cent!


I’m so grateful to have been accepted by this “fraternity.” Th ey continue to guide me and it’s my continued honor and priv-ilege to call them friends. You know who you are.

Th ere are a very few who, although seeming to have no real interest in hang gliding themselves, have assisted us pilots in launching and driving and have will-ingly given their time to help us out. Th ey seem to have a fascination and wonder that is infectious. Perhaps they caught it from us. In any case, we are all in debt to you.

Th ere are some who seem to give no thought at all even to the idea that hang gliding might be a worthwhile activity. I have experienced disdainful attitudes, as if hang gliding is something in which only some lower order of animal life in-dulges. Th is attitude is truly beyond my comprehension.

It is diffi cult to express the feeling I am here trying to convey. When in the air, it is sometimes like a dream. I feel like Superman but know I am just an or-dinary guy. Th e intensity of feeling alive

and attuned is beyond words. Th ere is simply no describing the emotion when on a rare occasion a Manu Iwa bird soars and keeps pace on my wingtip and ac-cepts me like a brother. Or when I get to a place down range where this man, at least, has never gone before. Or when I’m blasted by a thermal for a screaming climb, and top out and then get blasted by another. Or when I nail a landing in ad-verse conditions (or even good conditions in our tiny LZ). Th e experience itself can be described, but I miss the mark when I try to convey the emotions.

It sounds corny, but there are song and verse that seem to capture the feeling, although the writers have not a clue re-garding the literal truth they convey. Th e terms “fl y” and “sky” have been overused symbolically, but when I hear these tunes I imagine they are singing of my literal experience. Jimi Hendrix says, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.” We know he was singing about another kind of fl ying.

And so is Kelly Clarkson when she sings, “Out with my wings and I’ll learn how to fl y, I’ll do what it takes till I

touch the sky.” Th ere are thousands of such pithy phrases. But I can’t help think they are singing my tunes, and they are putting into words the feeling that hang gliding evokes. Th at emotion deserves its own word, but if I made up the word nobody would understand.

So I say that whatever else I do in life, whatever ups and downs may come my way, I will always be able to claim, along with the other few who have shared this dream, that I have done a truly magnifi -cent thing, and my life is the richer for it.

Dale is an attorney with a solo practice in Honolulu (discounts off ered for the free-fl ight community). After extensive fl ying in the

‘70s, Dale dropped out of hang gliding but returned in 2004 after many years away from fl ying. In 2005 he regained his Hang 4, and currently is a regular over Makapu’u in his Aeros Discus 14B.

Dale and his Discus


FLYING SEATED ON YOUR ASSCopyright © 1999 by Dennis Pagen

(Capo IV) Intro (slowly):

Think how Rocket Man and Rocky, Mighty Mouse and Cupid,Pegasus, Icarus and Mercury would look stupid,If they chose to change their style and lose a bit of class,By zooming ‘round the planet Flying Seated on Their Ass!

Verse 1a:When I was just a little boy I had a secret lust,I would sit upon a grassy hill and feel the warm wind gust,I’d look up to the sky and see the birds soar to the sun,I longed to join them in the air and share their special fun.

Verse 1b:So I learned to fl y one summer from a dune along the shore, Hang gliding was my greatest joy, I needed nothing more, When paragliding came along, I thought that I would try, But I had to give it up real soon – I didn’t want to die!

Chorus I: I want to rise above the ground, I want to taste the open air, But I don’t want to fl y around sittin’ in a rocking chair. At the risk of sounding schoolish, at the risk of sounding crass, Wouldn’t all those birds look foolish Flying Seated on Their Ass?

Verse 2a:I fl ew my old hang glider a dozen years or more, But I got so sick of setting up I asked myself, What for? I bought a paraglider, learned to fl y it in a day, I laid it out, infl ated clean and simply fl ew away.

Verse 2b:I was fl ying high so blithely when a thermal called my bluff.It was rowdy, rude and rasty, rodeo and rough.It shook me like a terrier; my wing was in a wad,There was no dispute, I threw my chute and called out to my god!

Chorus II:I want to rise above the ground; I want to taste the open air,But I don’t want to fl y around sittin’ in an easy chair,Well, I always get the willies when I see those wings collapse, And wouldn’t Superman look silly Flying Seated on His Ass?

Verse 3a:Now I’d rather be a stiffy than a softie any day –Those wimp wings look like jellyfi sh; we look like birds of prey.I’d rather be a plumber than a dope on a rope And soar, up o’er those baggy wings, and let them hug the slope.

Verse 3b:I’m gonna go get my old glider, the one with all the tubes,I’ll call up my old girlfriend, the one with all the boobs.She’ll drive me up the mountain and chase from shore to shore,And I swear I’ll never put my butt in a bag-wing anymore.

Chorus III:I want to rise above the ground; I want to taste the open air,But I don’t want to fl y around sittin’ in a padded chair,It’s a basic rule of thumb; it’s as clear as virgin glass:Wouldn’t those little bats look dumb, Flying Sittin’ on Their Ass?

Verse 4a:Ragwing or bagwing, you’re gonna have to choose,But remember when your wing wraps, it’s bad juju news.To set up or lay out, to shift your weight or brake –Don’t be tempted by the devil, ’cause it’s your life that’s at stake.

Verse 4b:You can go for convenience; you can go for the fl ash,You can go for the light weight, but remember when you crash:If God wanted man to paraglide, one thing’s very plain,We would all have bigger butts, and a much smaller brain!

Chorus IV:I want to rise above the ground; I want to taste the open air,But I don’t want to fl y around sittin’ in a moving chair,Well, I fi nd it inconceivable; I just can’t let it pass:Wouldn’t angels look unbelievable Flying Seated on Their Ass???

Outro (Slowly with same chords as Intro):Well, there’s Tweetie Bird and Dumbo, and the Masked Marauder too,The hawks and all our heroes would look asinine it’s true,If they chose to change their style and lose a bit of class,By cruising ‘round the planet Flying Seated on Their Ass!

Phot

o: M

ike

Gre

en


THE OLD SCHOOL Copyright © 2004 by Dennis Pagen

Verse 1:Like most working stiffs, I barely survive,Staring out the window ’til the clock strikes fi ve.Then I bust out the door and jump in my car,And race to the hills where my soaring buddies are.

Most evenings I see this wizened old crow,With gray hair, a beer gut and a shuffl e kinda slow.He’s a hang glider pilot, what a curious breed, With a rack on his roof and a life adjustment need.

Chorus I:Oh, he’s just a poor plumber with pipes in his wings.What could be dumber than to fl y those antique things?He spends every summer mostly waiting on the hill –It must be such a bummer to rarely get your thrills.But he’s not a numbskull; no, he’s not a fool,He’s just a relic who comes from The O-o-o-l-d School.

Verse 2:Well, I lay out my wing and I clear all the lines,I hook up my harness and I’m ready to go fl yin’.With an easy infl ation I’m aloft and soaring ‘round,I look back at launch; that poor plumber’s on the ground.

Phot

o ©

RedB

ull


He’s trying to untie that awkward glider from his car;With the welter of knots, he hasn’t gotten very far.And after half an hour when I land back on top, He’s still stuffi ng battens, panting like he’s gonna drop.

Chorus then Verse 3:I get a drink, I take a whiz, then saunter to the slope.As I re-launch I wonder who’s the real dope-on-a-rope.It don’t matter if your wing gets a twenty-to-one,The only fl ying’s in the air, when all is said and done.

I kick back, relax as I’m arcing through the air,With the sun sinking low, I’m aloft without a care.I ply the evening thermals, and I pity that old guy –He’ll be lugging his tank to the takeoff, by and by.

Chorus then Verse 4:I head out to land and join the pilots on the ground;Someone pops some tops and hands a beer all around.We talk about the fl ying and those old hang gliding coots,’Cause that plumber’s now a tuber and he’s putting down roots.

Later on he launches in the last weak whiff of wind,It’s a sled ride in the sink, and soon he’s coming in.I can only imagine the constriction in his brain,With a step-trip-whack! he’s a lawn dart again.

Chorus then Verse 5:It was on one Saturday when he fi nally got to soar.The breeze was awfully stiff; you could hear a background roar.It took a fi ve-man wire crew to get him in the air –He was bobbing like a cork with a wild-eyed terror stare!

Just when he came to land, the wind switched cross and tail;He pounded in a cloud of dust, and broke the Richter scale,So we passed around the hat to help him pay for what he needs:A couple brand-new uprights and replacement BVDs.

Chorus II:Oh we pity that old plumber with pipes in his wings.What could be dumber than to fl y those crazy things?He spends every summer mostly waiting on the hill.It must be such a bummer to rarely get your thrills,But he’s not a numbskull, he’s just stubborn as a mule –Oh, he’s a relic who comes from The O-o-o-l-d School.

Verse 6:My momma taught me young not to judge another manUntil I wore his shoes and his views could understand.But it’s not a sin to judge when you know something is true,’Cause it’s clear hang glider pilots need to tighten up a screw!

So if I ever get the urge to fl y that geezer gear,You know I must be wacko or smoking something queer.Please shoot me with a tranquilizer, tie me to a tree,Send me off to Bellevue for some psychotherapy!

Phot

os: P

aul V

oigh

t, ed

ited

by R

yan

Ryan Voight buzzing launch: Three sequential photos have been composited, and lens blur effects have been added.


Chorus III:I don’t wanna be a plumber and lumber off the hill,

Nothing could be dumber than to risk a high-speed spill.I don’t wanna spend my summer setting up and breaking down –

It sure would be a bummer to rarely leave the ground!It’s a general rule of thumb that the past tense isn’t cool,

Like those hang gliding bums from the O-o-o-l-d School.

Dennis Pagen, author of both these songs, reminds readers that he’s a long-time member of the O-o-o-o-l-d School but also occasionally flies Seated On His Ass, and suggests that if you’ve taken offense at either of his

bits of nonsense, you contact him directly at [email protected].


Gallery

Alex Ploner buzzing the ridge at Mt. Cucco, Italy Photo: Ignazio Bernardi

62

Jeff O’Brien raising some dust at Point of the Mountain, UtahPhotos: Chris Gibisch

Team cross-country fl ying in Chelan, WashingtonArtwork: Naomi Gray

63

Ricardo Tejada over the “Dragon tail” dunes, Alto Hospicio, Iquique, ChilePhoto: Orlando Abreu

64

Steve Prepost launch-assisting Davis Straub at the Finger Lakes Aerosports Park, New York, 2004Photo: Bob Grant

Woodrat Mt., Oregon

Photo: Josh Morell

65

Charging off launch to join the gaggle above Woodrat Mt., OregonPhoto: Josh Morell

66

Matt Combs full stalling over Palisades Reservoir, Wyoming Photo: Nick Greece

David Bratt barely beats the sun down after a fi ve-hour fl ight at Andy Jackson Flight Park, CaliforniaPhoto: John Wright

A sunset fl ight at Pacifi ca, CaliforniaPhoto: Klaus Schluter

67

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 informa-tion on the events listed, please see our Calendar of Events at www.ushpa.aero.

SANCTIONED COMPETITION:

June 8-14: Woodrat Mt., Ruch, Oregon. West Coast Paragliding Championships. Registration opens February 15, $325 until April 15, $395 after. More information: mphsports.com.

June 29-July 4: Chelan, Washington. Chelan XC Classic, cross-country fl ying for hang gliders and paragliders. Score is best 4 out of 6 days. Registration $80 until April 30, $100 after, or come for part of the week and pay $25/day. Includes T-shirt and barbecue. Best 4 out of 6 days. More information: cloudbase.org.

July 6-12: Woodrat Mt., Ruch, Oregon. Paragliding Rat Race. Regis-tration opens February 15, $395 before April 15, $450 after. Introduc-tion to competition with education and training in GPS use and com-petition strategies, mentoring program, evening classroom discussions, much more. Additional information: mphsports.com.

July 27-August 1: Chelan, Washington. Chelan Paragliding XC Open. Registration opens March 15, $285 by June 26, $325 after. More information: chelanXCopen.com.

August 17-23: Lakeview, Oregon. Hang-on Hang Gliding Nationals. Registration opens March 15, $295 postmarked by May 15, $350 post-marked May 16-July 31, $425 after. More information: mphsports.com.

September 14-20: Bishop, California. Owens Valley Paragliding Nationals.

COMPETITION

February 17-23: Dominican Republic. The Ozone Caribbean XC Challenge is a low-key, education-oriented paragliding competition with few rules, stress-free ambience, pure XC fl ying, amazing location, coaching from expert pilots and the assistance of Jocky Sanderson to help maximize your time in the air. Categories and prizes for pilots fl ying DHV 1, 1-2, 2 and 2-3 (CEN A, B, C and D) wings, plus an Ozone glider raffl ed among competitors. Registration opened on September 15. More information: http://www.caribbeanxc.com.

March 11-22: Corrego do Ubá, Castelo ES Brazil. First FAI Pan-American Paragliding Championships. Entry fee $430US by entry dead-line of February 12; entries received after that date will be charged an additional 10%, or may be refused. Rules and more information at http://www.hipoxia.com.br/evento_pan/index.php.

March 29-30, April 12-13, May 17-18, June 21-22, July 19-20, August 9-10, September 6-7, October 4-6: Dunlap, Potato Hill and Owens Valley, California. 2008 Northern Cali-fornia XC League. $10/task for pre-registered pilots. Prizes awarded on Saturday nights. For more information email Jug at [email protected], or go to www.santacruzparagliding.com.

July 14-19: King Mt., Idaho. 2008 King Mountain Hang Gliding Championships, in Idaho’s Lost River Range, near Arco and Moore. Open, recreation, and team classes, driver awards, raffl e, trophies and more! Collectors-edition shirts designed by Dan Gravage. Free camping, BBQ’s, prizes, and tons o’ fun...PLUS some of the best XC fl ying the sport has to offer! For more information and registration forms, go to www.fl ykingmountain.com or contact Lisa Tate, (208) 376-7914, [email protected].

FLY-INS

May 24-26: King Mt., near Moore, Idaho. 2008 Spring Fling at King. Welcome the mountain XC season with this fun-fi lled event. Open XC with 1st place cash prizes for hang gliding and paragliding. All-you-can-eat outdoor buffet, with dessert. More information from www.kingmountaingliders.com or (208) 0390-0205.

June 21-29: Girdwood, Alaska. Come fl y under the Midnight Sun! Peak to Peak Paragliding Kay Taushcher will lead a trip (experienced P-2s and up) for some amazing fl ying during the Arctic Airwalkers’ an-nual fl y-in. For details see www.peaktopeakparagliding.com or contact Kay at (303) 817-0803 or [email protected].

July 3-6: Lakeview, Oregon. Umpteenth Annual Festival of Free Flight. Hang glider and paraglider pilots will compete for cash prizes and a chance to catch the thermals that rise over the high desert. This year’s festival includes a fl our bomb drop, as well as a pig roast for pilots and their families. Cash prizes for the hang glider trophy dash from Sugar Hill to Lakeview, and spot landing for both hang gliders and paragliders. Paraglider pilots compete to accumulate the most air miles during the contest. More information at www.lakecountychamber.org.

CLINICS, MEETINGS, TOURS

February through March: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Again after over 14 years, FlyMexico keeps going and growing. Sunday-Sunday packages, hang gliding and paragliding. Every stinkin’ day we go fl ying! Contact: www.fl ymexico.com, 1-800-861-7198.

Through Feburary 17: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. VOL VALLE! allows pilots to choose what level of service they want, from just a room to ev-erything including guide, meals, transportation. Based on the sprawling Rancho de San Ramon, a large hacienda with stunning views that can house up to 20 guests. A 10-minute drive from Valle de Bravo with its own large LZ, on the route to the butterfl ies. Nightly shuttles to and from Valle de Bravo included. Lots of activities for the family: sailing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, sightseeing. More information: David Prentice, (505) 720-5436 or [email protected].

February 2-9, 9-16, 16-23, March 1-8, 8-15, 15-22, 22-29: Costa Rica with Nick Crane, paragliding instructor, tan-dem instructor and veteran Costa Rican traveler. Small groups, qual-ity accommodations, safe and fun fl ying for all levels in exot-ic Costa Rica. Fly over tropical forests and land on uncrowded beaches. Share the sky with toucans, macaws, king vultures and pel-icans. We have pioneered some of best sites in Costa Rica. For de-tails contact [email protected], (541) 840-8587, or www.paracrane.com.

February 2-15: Dominican Republic. Big Sky Paragliding will spend two weeks fl ying the varied sites in the Dominican Republic with local pilot Sebastian Mier. Green and mild to dry and strong, this small island


has diverse conditions appropriate for most pilots. $1600 includes trans-portation, lodging, breakfast and coaching. Contact Dale Covington at (801) 699-1462 or visit www.bigskyparagliding.com.

February 10-17, 2008: Southern California PG fl ying trip with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanfl [email protected], www.twocanfl y.com.

February 23-27 and February 27-March 2: Phoenix, Ari-zona. Come to warm Phoenix to get your fl ying started for the year. Para-soft offers pilots rated P-2 and higher a chance to improve your skills in warm thermals. Fly into Sky Harbor on these dates and we will take you fl ying nearby. We have hotel, transport and guiding all arranged. Details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/phoenix.php.

February-March: Governador Valadares, Brazil. Leave the cold northern hemisphere and enjoy the beauty and warmth of Brazil. Feb-ruary and March are the best months for soaring and consistently good thermaling with fl ying virtually every day. With 10 years of fl ying in GV we can offer bilingual guide service, USHPA hang gliding and paraglid-ing instructor, transportation, retrieval, hotel accommodations and a warm welcome at the GV airport. Limited to 4 - 6 pilots at a time to insure personal attention and service. Every level of pilot skill welcome. 10 days: paragliding $1500; hang gliding $2000 with your glider, or with our equipment $2500 single surface, $3000 double surface. Special airfares available plus assistance with all your travel plans. Adventure Sports Tours, (775) 883-7070, email [email protected], more info at http://www.pyramid.net/advspts.

March 14-16: Colorado Springs, Colorado. USHPA spring BOD meet-ing at the Doubletree Inn, COS. Annual awards banquet Saturday eve-ning, March 15. More information: [email protected].

March-April: Various sites in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico & Arizona. Three-day over-the-water paraglider courses with Peak to Peak Paraglid-ing. More information: www.peaktopeakparagliding.com, email [email protected], phone (303) 817-0803.

May 9-19: European Alps. The fi rst annual Nova XC Flying Camp, organized by Nova team pilot Kay Tauscher and Peak to Peak Paraglid-ing. Join Kay and some of her fellow Nova team pilots to learn XC fl y-ing skills or become a better cross-country pilot in places with amaz-ingly consistent XC conditions. For P-2 through P-4 pilots. Space is limited and the trip is already fi lling quickly. More information: www.peaktopeakparagliding.com, email [email protected], phone (303) 817-0803.

May 15-18: Tow XC Clinic. This is the easiest way to get high and go far. With our payout winch expect to get 3000’ high and just start turning in lift. Parasoft has offered these clinics since 1999 and seen pilots rated P-2 and higher fl y many miles XC. See details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/lessons/xc_clinic.php.

May 15-25: France, Switzerland, Italy. Experience the Alps where it all began! Join Luis Rosenkjer and Todd Weigand to fl y world-famous sites every day: St. Hilaire, Annecy, Chamonix, Mieussy, Verbier, La Madeleine, Les Saissis and more. Luis has been guiding international pilots to France for the last six years – last year one group was able to fl y from the Aiguille du Midi on Mont Blanc, launching at 12,000 feet and landing in Chamonix, 9000 feet below! More information: www.atlantaparagliding.com, [email protected], or Todd at [email protected], www.paraglidefrance.blogspot.com.

September 13-16: Ridge Soaring Clinic, near Grand Junction, Colorado. Otto’s Ridge is an undiscovered ridge-soaring paradise. We soar above our tents in the morning, midday we tow up in build-ing thermals, and in the evenings we enjoy glass-off fl ights. P-2 pilots will learn to ridge soar and tow up into thermals. Details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/lessons/ridge_soaring_clinic.php.

November 1-5 and 5-9: Phoenix, Arizona. Come to warm Phoe-nix for some last fl ights before winter. Parasoft offers pilots rated P-2 and higher a chance to improve your skills in warm thermals. Fly into Sky Harbor on these dates and we will take you fl ying nearby. We have hotel, transport and guiding all arranged. Details at http://www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/phoenix.php.

Photo: Andy Stocker


Rat ings issued during October 2007

Hang Gliding ratings issued in October are on p. 72.

Rating Region Name City State Rating Offi cial

P-1 1 Kelli Brooks Bend OR Kevin Lee

P-1 1 Stosh Anderson Kokiak AK Aaron Culliney

P-1 2 Jeffery Leung Fremont CA Wallace Anderson

P-1 2 Jonah Hillman El Cerrito CA Wallace Anderson

P-1 2 Kimberly Phinney Petaluma CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-1 2 Mateo Lettunich Watsonville CA Mike Steen

P-1 2 William Talbot Vacaville CA Bruce Kirk

P-1 2 R Neil Mappee Scotts Valley CA Mike Steen

P-1 2 Sati Shah Oakland CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-1 2 Melody Dos Santos Oakland CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-1 2 Thomas Davis Santa Cruz CA Mike Steen

P-1 2 Andrea Mucignat Santa Clara CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-1 2 Gianluca Barbieri San Jose CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-1 4 Jeff Wise Mapleton UT Mike Steen

P-1 4 Colin Bagley Salt Lake City UT Stephen Mayer

P-1 4 Garrett Gardner Vail CO Stephen Mayer

P-1 4 Larry Taylor Roy UT Patrick Johnson

P-1 4 Michael Brice Boulder CO Granger Banks

P-1 4 Wade Elston Taos NM David Prentice

P-1 4 William Houze Montrose CO Jonathan Jefferies

P-1 4 Kyle Swenson Telluride CO Ryan Taylor

P-1 5 James Crowley Jackson WY Christopher Brindisi

P-1 5 Christy Marsteller Jackson WY Christopher Brindisi

P-1 7 Doug Ritzinger Vadnais Heights MN Bruce Kirk

P-1 8 Eli Schned Norwich VT Patrick Johnson

P-1 9 Stephen Eigles Columbia MD Chinlong Yeh

P-1 10 Darren Peterson Marietta GA Ken Hudonjorgensen

P-1 13 Werner Waldboth Feldthurns Jonathan Jefferies

P-2 1 Lars Boschek West Richland WA Denise Reed

P-2 1 Thomas Bacon Yelm WA Denise Reed

P-2 1 Dr. David Harrell Mukilteo WA Ross Jacobson

P-2 1 Kelli Brooks Bend OR Kevin Lee

P-2 1 Forest Mcmullen Port Townsed WA Bill Armstrong

P-2 1 James Cecil Jr Issaquah WA John Kraske

P-2 1 Stosh Anderson Kokiak AK Aaron Culliney

P-2 1 Julie Demaree Portland OR Kahn, Lee

P-2 1 Steven Nicholson Puyallup WA Douglas Stroop

P-2 2 Jeffery Leung Fremont CA Wallace Anderson

P-2 2 Rollan Kim Palo Alto CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-2 2 Jerome Crochat San Francisco CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-2 2 Mateo Lettunich Watsonville CA Mike Steen

P-2 2 William Talbot Vacaville CA Bruce Kirk

P-2 2 R Neil Mappee Scotts Valley CA Mike Steen

P-2 2 Thomas Davis Santa Cruz CA Mike Steen

P-2 2 Dana Hazzard Las Vegas NV Ron Peck

P-2 2 Gun Kim Las Vegas NV Ron Peck

P-2 3 Fernando Lutteroth San Ysidro CA Bill Armstrong

P-2 3 Zsuzsanna Garamvolgyi Sante Fe Springs CA Bill Armstrong

P-2 4 Dan Bruce Steamboat Springs CO Dale Covington

P-2 4 Gingher Leyendecker Mesa AZ Chandler Papas

P-2 4 James Mackenzie Phoenix AZ Chandler Papas

P-2 4 Ben Holzmann Glenwood Springs CO Etienne Pienaar

P-2 4 Jeff Wise Mapleton UT Mike Steen

P-2 4 Colin Bagley Salt Lake City UT Stephen Mayer

P-2 4 Garrett Gardner Vail CO Stephen Mayer

Rating Region Name City State Rating Offi cial

P-2 4 Larry Taylor Roy UT Patrick Johnson

P-2 4 Michael Brice Boulder CO Granger Banks

P-2 4 Wade Elston Taos NM David Prentice

P-2 4 Egan Elston Taos NM David Prentice

P-2 4 William Houze Montrose CO Jonathan Jefferies

P-2 4 Leslie Lysy Cedar Hills UT Bill Heaner

P-2 4 Andy Mcardle Highlands Ranch CO Granger Banks

P-2 4 Jeff Williams Westminster CO Granger Banks

P-2 4 Kyle Swenson Telluride CO Ryan Taylor

P-2 4 Christopher Mumaw Leadville CO Thomas Keough

P-2 4 David Yonkey Boulder CO Granger Banks

P-2 5 Caitlin Caldwell Jackson Hole WY Scott Harris

P-2 5 James Crowley Jackson WY Christopher Brindisi

P-2 5 Christy Marsteller Jackson WY Christopher Brindisi

P-2 6 Cole Johnson Fort Smith AR Ron Kohn

P-2 7 Doug Ritzinger Vadnais Heights MN Bruce Kirk

P-2 8 Eli Schned Norwich VT Patrick Johnson

P-2 9 Stephen Eigles Columbia MD Chinlong Yeh

P-2 10 Darren Peterson Marietta GA Ken Hudonjorgensen

P-2 13 Mehmet Kuskiran Mugla Murat Tuzer

P-2 13 Ricardo Gomez-palacio Del Ri Mexico Miguel Gutierrez


P-2 13 Heng Wang Qingdao Shandong Alex Chi Vi Tang

P-2 13 Muhamed Al Hajri Dubai Murat Tuzer

P-2 13 Mohamed Saif K Alhameli Abu Dhabi Murat Tuzer

P-3 1 D Brook Goss Anchorage AK Jake Schlapfer

P-3 2 Mark Cotter Auburn CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 2 Shaun Webster San Francisco CA Wallace Anderson

P-3 3 Ivan Martinetti Lake Forest CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 3 John Grieshaber Carlsbad CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 3 Brian Downing San Diego CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 3 Michael Price Del Mar CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 3 Gabriel Regalbuto Carlsbad CA Bill Armstrong

P-3 4 Tom Karpeichik Boulder CO Kay Tauscher

P-3 4 Luke Murphy Basalt CO Stephen Mayer

P-3 8 Bill Lockwood Oxford CT David Prentice

P-3 10 Harry Huffman Winter Park FL Dwayne Mc Court

P-3 11 Chris Hopkins Houston TX Paul Greenwood

P-3 13 Ricardo Gomez-palacio Del Ri Mexico Miguel Gutierrez


P-4 1 Paul Murdoch Jacksonville OR Rick Ray

P-4 1 Timothy Reynolds Bend OR Steve Roti

P-4 1 Iain Frew Duvall WA Lan Chirico

P-4 2 Mark Rickert Felton CA Phil Neri

P-4 2 Doumenc Antoine San Francisco CA Jeffrey Greenbaum

P-4 3 Henry Baker Holtville CA Jebb, Gabriel

P-4 4 Jeffrey Martin Albuquerque NM William Smith

P-4 4 Alicia Harmon Draper UT Dale Covington

P-4 4 Canice Harte Park City UT Brad Hill

P-4 7 Norman Lesnow Hazel Park MI Daniel Walker

P-4 13 Ricardo Gomez-palacio Df Miguel Gutierrez



Paragliding Division


THERMAL NUCLEARDETECTION

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www.northwing.com509.886.4605

Use yourGlider,or ourSTRATUSGlider!

North WingA.T.F.

Soaring Trike

ULTRALIGHT TRIKESHANG GLIDERS

Useful URLs and phone numbers:

For magazine submissions: http://ushpa.aero/magazine.asp

For accident reports: http://ushpa.aero/emailacca.asp

For membership info, change of address, and other USHPA business:

[email protected] (719) 632-8300

Members only section:https://ushpa.aero/member_

login.asp

Rating Region Name City State Rating Offi cialH-1 2 Brian Spyksma Hayward CA Patrick DenevanH-1 2 Marcelo Luz San Francisco CA Patrick DenevanH-1 2 Victoria Pacheco Roseville CA George HamiltonH-1 2 William Mallard Berkeley CA Barry LevineH-1 3 Laith Mosely Los Angeles CA Andrew BeemH-1 3 Jaye Kim La Crescenta CA Lynden VazquezH-1 3 Heather Janda San Diego CA Lynden VazquezH-1 3 James Cruickshanks San Diego CA Gordon CayceH-1 4 Shane Smith Tucson AZ Eric SmithH-1 6 Timothy Carls Mena AR Gordon CayceH-1 6 Kent Harman Pacifi c MO Gordon CayceH-1 8 Derek Janiak Merrimack NH Dean SlocumH-1 8 John Chernick Merrimack NH Jack SlocumH-1 8 David Russell Waterville ME Steven PrepostH-1 8 John Minkle Malden MA Steven PrepostH-1 9 Stanley Stevenson Monticello KY Gordon CayceH-1 9 Dan Tuckwiller Herndon VA John MiddletonH-1 9 Andrej Rotter Columbus OH John AldenH-1 10 Raymond Jordan Manteo NC Andy TorringtonH-1 10 Brian Eberle Newnan GA Gordon CayceH-1 12 Nikolai Francis Yonkers NY Greg BlackH-2 2 Keven Morlang Sacramento CA George HamiltonH-2 2 David Kiesling Richmond CA Patrick DenevanH-2 2 John French Jr Auburn CA George HamiltonH-2 3 James Cruickshanks San Diego CA Gordon CayceH-2 6 Michael Vernon-cole Lawton OK Thomas GrahamH-2 6 Timothy Carls Mena AR Gordon CayceH-2 6 Kent Harman Pacifi c MO Gordon CayceH-2 6 Todd Foreman Tulsa OK Thomas GrahamH-2 8 Matthew Melvin Scituate MA Steven Prepost

Rating Region Name City State Rating Offi cialH-2 8 Timothy Toussaint Hinsdale NH Steven PrepostH-2 8 Gregory Cyr Lebanon NH Steven PrepostH-2 8 Ben Daly Beverly MA Steven PrepostH-2 9 Stanley Stevenson Monticello KY Gordon CayceH-2 10 Brian Eberle Newnan GA Gordon CayceH-2 11 Robin Rogers Austin TX Jeffrey HuntH-2 11 Gary Morris Dripping Springs TX Jeffrey HuntH-2 11 Robert Wreyford Austin TX Jeffrey HuntH-2 11 Daniel Jones Austin TX Jeffrey HuntH-2 11 Jared Wellman Austin TX Jeffrey HuntH-2 13 Nikolaus Wellstein Kemptville Ont Michael RobertsonH-3 2 James Newman Santa Rosa CA Patrick DenevanH-3 2 Will Harvey Palo Alto CA Patrick DenevanH-3 2 Shawn Morris Livermore CA Patrick DenevanH-3 2 Allen Justh Santa Clara CA Patrick DenevanH-3 3 Michael Van Dorn Honolulu HI Theodore MackH-3 3 Hiroyuki Matsunaga Aliso Viejo CA Andrew BeemH-3 5 Craig Johnson Missoula MT Jeff ShapiroH-3 5 Richard Gauthier Missoula MT Jeff ShapiroH-3 8 Philip Anderson W Bridgewater MA Steven PrepostH-3 10 Bryan Barnes Knoxville TN Doug MossbrookH-3 10 Scott Adams Chattanooga TN Daniel ZinkH-3 10 Jeffrey Nibler Atlanta GA Zink, DanielH-3 11 Ricker Goldsborough Mandeville LA Matthew TaberH-3 13 Robert Bonner Acton Ontario Daniel ZinkH-4 2 Igor Botvinnik Novato CA Jon JamesH-4 2 Robert Newman Napa CA Jon JamesH-4 2 Eduardo Oliveira San Francisco CA Patrick DenevanH-4 4 Thomas Stratford Conifer CO Mark WindsheimerH-4 8 Jeremy Swerdlow Manchster NH John Heiney

Hang Gliding Division


CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES – The rate for clas-sifi ed advertising is $10.00 for 25 words and $1.00 per word after 25. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $10.00. AD DEAD-LINES: All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions & cancellations must be received in writing 2 months pre-ceding the cover date, i.e. January 15th is the deadline for the March 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 classifi ed 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 classifi ed to [email protected]. For security reasons, please call your Visa/MC or Amex info to the offi ce. No refunds will be given on ads cancelled that are sched-uled to run multiple months. (719) 632-8300, fax (719) 632-6417.

HANG GLIDING ADVISORY: Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before fl ying for the fi rst time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented down-tubes, 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 fl ex 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 fl ying for the fi rst time. Annual inspections on paragliders should include sailcloth strength tests. Simply performing a porosity check isn’t suffi cient. Some gliders pass porosity yet have very weak sailcloth.

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.

FLEX WINGS

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

FALCON 140 - 10 hours on this hot pink and purple beginner glider. Parachute, training wheels, helmet, ca-coon harness, and vario come with it. $2500 OBO. (316) 772-9147.

FALCONS CLEARANCE SALE – School use, one sea-son. Falcon 1s and 2s. All sizes $1250-$2500. (262) 473-8800, [email protected], www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

MOYES SUPER SONIC 190 VG – Flies hands-off, like a dream. Barely out of the bag with only 1 hour 40 min-utes air. Absolutely no whacks!! Beautiful dark-blue under surface, spare set of downtubes and Moyes up-graded 1/8” side wires. Must-see pictures and video available. Reason for sale – unrelated accident. A peach at $3000 fi rm. (702) 595-7190 or [email protected].

UV-PROTECTIVE TOPLESS GLIDER COVERS – Protect your sail while glider is assembled. Custom cocoon har-nesses also. Chris Smith – Cloudbase Harnesses. Since 1972. Email [email protected], (423) 653-0922.

EMERGENCY PARACHUTES

INSPECTED RESERVES – For HG or PG $199+up. Used Quantum, all sizes $475+up. Some trades accepted. [email protected], 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).

HARNESSES

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, [email protected], www.hanggliding

.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

COCOON HARNESSES CUSTOM FIT – also UV-protec-tive topless glider covers. Protect your sail while glider is assembled. Chris Smith – Cloudbase Harnesses. Since 1972. Email: [email protected], (423) 653-0922.

SCHOOLS & DEALERS

ALABAMAATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volley-ball, more. Wide range of accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

ARIZONAFLY HIGH PARAGLIDING.COM – over 10 years of experience, offers P-2 certifi cation, tandem fl ights, tow-ing, new and used equipment, the best weather to fl y in USA. (480) 266-6969.

CALIFORNIAAIRJUNKIES PARAGLIDING – Year-round excellent instruction, Southern California & Baja. Powered paragliding, clinics, tours, tandem, towing. Ken Baier, (760) 753-2664, [email protected], airjunkies.com.

DREAM WEAVER HANG GLIDING – Competitive prices, state-of-the-art equipment. Complete lesson programs. Northern California Mosquito harness dealer. Ideal train-ing hill. Tandem instruction. USHPA advanced instruc-tor Doug Prather (209) 556-0469, Modesto, California. [email protected].

EAGLE PARAGLIDING – SANTA BARBARA offers the best year round fl ying in the nation. Award-winning 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 certifi cation. Thermaling to competition training. Visit www.fl yaboveall.com, (805) 965-3733.

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

MIKE BUTLER HANG GLIDING SCHOOL – Training hill just 30 minutes west of Yosemite National Park. Wills Wing and Flytec dealer. [email protected], (209) 742-8540.

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 train-ing harnesses. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035. (408) 262-1055, Fax (408) 262-1388, [email protected], www.hang-gliding.com, Mission Soaring Center, leading the way since 1973.

TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT – Come soar in San Diego! This family-owned and operated fl ying site offers USHPA certifi ed instruction, advanced training, equip-ment sales, tandem fl ight instruction, motorized pg/hg instruction and site tours. We also have an extensive pg/hg outfi tting shop offering parachute repacks and full-service repairs. Bring your family for our amazing sunsets and dining at the Cliffhanger Cafe. Importers for Para-tech and Independence gliders. We also carry Aus-triAlpin, Center of Gravity, Crispi and Sup’Air. Check us out online for sales and questions at: www.fl ytorrey.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 fl yable days each year. Learn foot-launch fl ying 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.

COLORADOAIRTIME ABOVE HANG GLIDING – Full-time lessons, sales and service – Colorado’s most experienced! Of-fering foot launch, tow and scooter-tow instruction. Wills Wing, Moyes, North Wing, AIR, Altair, Aeros, High Ener-gy, Finsterwalder, Flytec, MotoComm, and more sold and serviced. Call for more info (303)-674-2451, Evergreen Colorado, [email protected].


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.

PEAK TO PEAK PARAGLIDING LLC – THE Front Range paragliding school, located in Boulder. Offering excel-lent state-of-the-art instruction. Equipment & tandems. (303) 817-0803, [email protected], www.peaktopeakparagliding.com.

FLORIDAATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

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

GRAYBIRD AIRSPORTS – Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfl y aerotow training, XC, thermaling, instruction, equipment. Dunnellon Airport, (352) 245-8263, email fl [email protected], www.graybirdairsports.com.

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Nearest moun-tain 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, Co-conut Grove, Florida 33133, www.miamihanggliding.com.

QUEST AIR – #1 SITE FOR US COMPETITION & THE BIGGEST FLIGHTS ON THE EAST COAST. NO-WAIT, 1-ON–1 LESSONS FROM FIRST TANDEM TO AD-VANCED XC TRAINING. TOWING 8AM-SUNSET EV-ERYDAY. ALL AMENITIES INCLUDING ON-SITE AC-COMMODATIONS, TIME-HONORED CLUBHOUSE, POOL, HOT TUB AND PRIVATE LAKE. DEMOS, RENT-ALS, SALES, STORAGE & REPAIRS. MINUTES FROM ORLANDO IN GROVELAND, FL. PHONE (352)429-0213, FAX (352) 429-4846, WWW.QUESTAIRFORCE.COM, [email protected]. 1-877-FLY-QUEST

WALLABY AEROTOW FLIGHT PARK – Satisfaction Guar-anteed. Just 8 miles from Disney World. Year-round soaring, open 7 days a week, six tugs, no waiting, every direction. 50+ nice demos to fl y, topless to trainer gliders: Laminar, Moyes, Wills, Airborne, Airwave, Exxtacy, La Mouette, Sen-sor; also harnesses, varios, etc. Ages 13 to 73 have learned to fl y 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 with-in 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 Coun-try and others. Featured on numerous TV shows, includ-ing 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, fl y@wallaby

.com, 1-800-WALLABY. Conservative, reliable, state-of-the-art. F.H.G. INC., fl ying Florida since 1974.

GEORGIAATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

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

HAWAIIFLY HAWAII – Hawaii’s hang gliding, paragliding/paramotoring school. Mauna Kea guide service. Most ex-perience, best safety record. Big Island of Hawaii, Achim Hagemann, (808) 895-9772, www.aircotec.net/fl yhawaii

.htm, fl [email protected].

ALOHA! ISLAND POWERED PARAGLIDERS/THER-MALUP PARAGLIDING – The Big Island’s only choice for USHPA certifi ed instruction. Both free fl ight and powered tandems year round. DVD of your fl ight included. One-on-one lessons from our private oceanside launches and training facilities. Contact Yeti, (808) 987-0773, www

.ThermalUp.com or www.IslandPPG.com. Aloha!

PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING – Call Dexter for friendly in-formation about fl ying on Maui. Full-service school offer-ing beginner to advanced instruction every day, year round. (808) 874-5433, paraglidehawaii.com.IDAHO

IDAHOKING MOUNTAIN GLIDERS – Alluring site plus shop supplying all your HG/PG needs. Instruction, equipment sales, complete accessories. Visit our Web site www

.kingmountaingliders.com or (208) 390-0205.

INDIANACLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – See Cloud 9 in Michigan.

MAINEDOWNEAST AIRSPORTS – Paragliding & hang glid-ing instruction using tandems & scooter towing for easy safe learning. Quality equipment sales. www

.downeastairsports.com, [email protected], Marc (207) 244-9107.MARY

MARYLANDHIGHLAND AEROSPORTS – Baltimore and DC’s full-time fl ight 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 Dragonfl y tugs. Open fi elds as far as you can see. Only 1 to 1.5 hours from Rehoboth Beach, Baltimore, Washington DC, Phila-delphia. Come Fly with US! (410) 634-2700, Fax (410) 634-2775, 24038 Race Track Rd, Ridgely, MD 21660, www.aerosports.net, [email protected].

MARYLAND SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING – Sales, ser-vice, instruction since 1976. Specializing in foot launch. www.mshg.com, (410) 527-0975. Proudly representing Wills Wing & Moyes.

MICHIGANCLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – Aerotow specialists. We carry all major brand hang gliders and accessories. Cloud 9 Field, 11088 Coon Lake Road West, Webber-ville MI 48892. [email protected], http://members.aol

.com/cloud9sa. Call for summer tandem lessons and fl y-ing appointments with the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club at Cloud 9 Field. (517) 223-8683, [email protected], http://members.aol.com/dfscinc.

TRAVERSE CITY HANG GLIDERS/PARAGLIDERS – Put your knees in our breeze and soar our 450’ sand dunes. Full-time shop. Certifi ed instruction, beginner to ad-vanced. 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, [email protected]. Your USA & Canada Mos-quito distributor. www.mosquitoamerica.com.

NEW YORKAAA E-VILLE OUTFITTERS, MOUNTAIN WINGS INC. – Aeros, North Wing (845) 647-3377, mtnwings@verizon

.net, www.evilleoutfi tters.com, Ellenville, N.Y.

FLY HIGH, INC. – Serving New York, Jersey, and Con-necticut areas. Area’s exclusive Wills Wing dealer. Also all other brands, accessories. Area’s most INEXPENSIVE prices! Certifi ed instruction/service since 1979. Excellent secondary instruction! Taken some lessons? Advance to mountain fl ying! www.fl yhighhg.com, (845) 744-3317.

SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK COOPERSTOWN NY – 40-acre fl ight park. 160’ training hill with rides up. 600’ ridge – large LZ. Specializing in fi rst mountain fl ights. Dan Guido, mailing address 293 Shoemaker Rd., Mohawk NY 13407. Home (315) 866-6153, cell (315) 867-8011, [email protected].

NORTH CAROLINAATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

KITTY HAWK KITES – FREE Hang 1 training with pur-chase of equipment! The largest hang gliding school in the world. Teaching since 1974. Learn to fl y over the East Coast’s largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. Dealer for all major manu-facturers. 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 RICOFLY 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, [email protected].


SOUTH CAROLINAATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

TENNESSEEATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather condi-tions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

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.

TENNESSEE TREE TOPPERS – #1 club in Ameri-ca. Home of the world famous Radial Ramp; great XC, easy launch, huge LZ. Just north of Chattanooga. www

.treetoppers.org.

TEXASAUSTIN AIR SPORTS – Hang gliding and ultralight sales, service and instruction. Steve Burns, (512) 236-0031, [email protected]. Fred Burns, (281) 471-1488, [email protected], WWW.AUSTINAIRSPORTS.COM.

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

UTAHAIR REVOLUTION FLIGHT SCHOOL – with Bill Hean-er and the Revolution instructor team. Learn true wing mastery from some of the greatest instructors in the world. We offer P-1 through P-4, T-1 through T-3, tandem fl ights, USHPA instructor certifi cation and paramotor training. Camping and hotels within walking distance from our shop. Contact Bill Heaner, (801) 541-8341, [email protected], www.rpmppg.com/school/facility/.

CLOUD 9 PARAGLIDING – Come visit us and check out our huge selection of paragliding gear, traction kites, ex-treme toys, and any other fun things you can think of. If you aren’t near the Point of the Mountain, then head to http://www.paragliders.com for a full list of products and services. We are Utah’s only full-time shop and repair fa-cility. Give us a ring at (801) 576-6460 if you have any questions.

VIRGINIABLUE 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, (804) 241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com.

WASHINGTONAERIAL 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.

WISCONSINFREEFLIGHT AVIATIONS – The Midwest’s largest hang gliding school. Using both aerotow tandem and on-site training hill, 7 days a week, April through November. For the traveling hang glider pilot, rental equipment is avail-able. (920) 728-2231, tommy@freefl ighthanggliding.com, Freefl ightAviations.com.

WYOMINGJACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING – Come to paraglid-ing paradise and enjoy alpine fl ying at its absolute best. Ten sites in a ten-mile radius including the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Lessons and guide service daily. Maneuvers training at the Palisades Reservoir on Tow Tuesdays. www.jhparagliding.com, [email protected], (307) 690-8726 (TRAM).

INTERNATIONAL

COSTA RICA – Grampa Ninja’s Paragliders’ B&C (bed and coffee). We offer rooms and/or transportation and guide service. Lessons available from USHPA certifi ed instructors. Open January through April. United States: (908) 454-3242. In Costa Rica: (506) 877-5604 (Janu-ary through April). www.paraglidecostarica.com.

BAJA MEXICO – La Salina: PG, HG, PPG. www.FLYLASALINA.com. by www.BAJABRENT.com. He’ll hook you up! Site intros, tours, & rooms. [email protected], (760) 203-2658.

MEXICO – VALLE DE BRAVO and beyond for hang gliding and paragliding. Year-round availability and special tours, Gear, guiding, instruction, transportation, lodging – all varieties for your needs. www.fl ymexico.com, 1-800-861-7198 USA.P

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

ALL HG GLIDERBAGS, harness packs, harness zippers and zipper stocks. Instrument mounts and replacement bands. Mitts, straps, fabric parts, windsocks, radios. Gun-nison Gliders, 1-866-238-2305.

BIG EARS PTT – $99.95. Includes speaker and micro-phone, radio connection, sealed fi nger switch. Choose the full-face or the open-face model. www.bigearsptt.com, (805) 965-3733.

CRITTERMOUNTAINWEAR.COM – your one-stop Web site for paraglider equipment and accessories. You can fi nd a full line of backpacks, stuff tarps, fl ight suits, cloth-ing, GPS and vario holders, fl ight decks, ballast contain-ers, radio holders, tow bridles, windsocks, boots, helmets, hook knives, varios, wind speed meters and much, much more. Everything you need to have the ultimate day fl ying your paraglider. Critter Mountain Wear also imports and distributes lightweight wings and harnesses from Nervures. 1-800-686-9327.

FLIGHT SUITS, FLIGHT SUITS, FLIGHT SUITS, Warm Flight suits, Effi cient Flight suits, Light-weight Flight suits, Flight suits in twelve sizes. Stylish Flight suits. www

.mphsports.com, (503) 657-8911.

FOR ALL YOUR FLYING NEEDS – Check out the Avia-tion 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. Offi ce (325) 379-1567.

GLIDERBAGS – XC $75! Heavy waterproof $125. Acces-sories, low prices, fast delivery! Gunnison Gliders, 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, orders 1-866-238-2305.

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. Com-plete kit with cylinder, harness, regulator, cannula and remote on/off fl owmeter, only $450. 1-800-468-8185.

RISING AIR GLIDER REPAIR SERVICES – A full-service shop, specializing in all types of paragliding repairs, annual inspections, reserve repacks, harness re-pairs. Hang gliding reserve repacks and repair. For infor-mation or repair estimate, call (208) 554-2243, pricing and service request form available at www.risingair.biz, [email protected].

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

UV-PROTECTIVE TOPLESS GLIDER COVERS – Protect your sail while glider is assembled. Custom cocoon har-nesses also. Chris Smith – Cloudbase Harnesses. Since 1972. Email [email protected], (423) 653-0922.

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

WINDSOKS FROM HAWK AIRSPORTS INC – 1673 Corb-in Lake Rd, Rutledge, TN 37861, 1-800-826-2719. World-famous Windsoks, as seen at the Oshkosh & Sun-N-Fun EAA Fly-Ins. [email protected], www.windsok.com.

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 fl ight in every sense of the term. Edited by Stéphane Malbos and Noel Whittall, And the World Could Fly con-tains contributions from many parts of the world as well as much new writing. Together, the editors have more than fi fty years of undiminished enthusiasm for foot-launched


fl ight. And the World Could Fly is produced by the Interna-tional Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL) to celebrate the centenary of FAI. It is a book which will ap-peal to anyone with an interest in free fl ight, 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

.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

BIRDFLIGHT – Otto Lilienthal’s genius in scientifi c obser-vations 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 defi nitive book has been out of print for almost a centu-ry, 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.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* CLOUDSUCK: The Life and Death Struggle for the Hang Gliding World Record. Davis Straub tells the story of the dramatic 10-year race to fl y “farther than anyone has ever gone in a hang glider.” From the historic 1990 fl ight that fi rst broke the 300-mile barrier, through 10 years of adventure and challenge, this is a fi rst-hand account of the driven individuals who struggled against each other and against nature to set the next hang gliding world dis-tance record. $17.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* CONDOR TRAIL, PARAGLIDING THE CENTRAL ANDES – the guidebook to paragliding and trav-eling in the Central Andes. It’s packed with 256 pages of maps, site descriptions, local lore, free-fl ight 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 fl ying communities throughout Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina, and Northern Chile. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www


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 tech-nical details, you will learn about hang glider wings and the skills needed to fl y them. 84 pages with photos and illustrations. $12.95 (+$5 s&h). Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

SOARING – Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring fl ight. Full membership $64. SSA, PO Box 2100, Hobbs NM 88241. (505) 392-1177, ssa.org.

REAL ESTATE

OWN 10 OR 20 ACRES NEXT TO PARAGLIDING/HANG GLIDING SITE in beautiful Flagstaff, AZ. Pris-tine property with wide-open views. To view go to www

.northernarizonamls.com. Enter listing #s 123164, 123165, or 125465. Call Debra White, Dallas Real Estate, (928) 853-0761.

GORGEOUS 2.5 ACRES in Flagstaff. Surrounded by beautiful homes with access to national forest. Close to town yet only minutes to paragliding and hang gliding. Call Debra White at Dallas Real Estate, (928) 853-0761.

CUTE 3 BEDROOM 2 bath with 2-car garage on 1 acre horse property in Flagstaff. Has been rented for $1450/month. Only $279,900. Call Debra White at Dallas Real Estate, (928) 853-0761.

VIDEOS & DVDS

VIDEOS FROM USHPA – WWW.USHPA.AERO

AWARD-WINNING VIDEO – “1976 Dog Mountain U.S. National Championships” 150 vintage hang gliders. All types of weather, some “white-knuckle” takeoffs and landings. A must-have for your video collection and love of fl ying. Send $34 (includes S & H) check or money order to ORCA BC, PO Box 8, Onalaska WA 98570, or email www

[email protected] for more info.

*NEW* BROKEN TOE ACRO – Broken Toe Acro is a full instructional-encyclopedia for paragliding SIV and acro maneuvers. Each chapter is six to 14 minutes and con-tains descriptions of the maneuver, explanation on how to (and how not to!) perform it, as well as in-fl ight examples from many simultaneous camera angles. All instruction and narration is by Enleau and Ann O’Connor, leading ex-perts in Safety-in-Flight training. Two hours and 40 min-utes running time! Call USHPA, 1-800-616-6888, or or-der off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero, or via snail mail, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* DARE DEVIL FLYERS – The 94-minute digital video docupicture covers all thirty years of hang gliding and all seventeen years of paragliding. It begins with the Bob and Chris Wills story – they founded Wills Wing, the only surviving American manufacturer/dis-tributor of hang gliders and paragliders. Two legendary pilots guide the audience through these extreme sports with their narrative. The docupic features competition in the extreme sports of aerobatic hang gliding, speed hang gliding and high-altitude cross-country paragliding. Wing-mounted POV cameras provide the docupic with an in-the-air thrill ride from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacifi c coast. Narrator Bobby Carradine threads us through the three decades. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or or-der off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* FLYING OVER EVEREST – Follow the antics and adventures of the late Angelo D’Arrigo and his efforts to fl y a hang glider over the summit of Mt. Everest. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* FLYING WITH EAGLES – In 2005, twice world champion Louise Crandal had enjoyed her fi ll of compe-titions and now wanted to move on to new challenges. After visiting Scott Mason in Nepal, she became enthralled with the possibility of training and fl ying with an eagle at home in Europe. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* FRESH AIR RIDERS – The Fresh Air crew have won awards at the Banff Mountain Film Festival for their ability to convey the spirit of the adventure sports they document. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* INSTABILITY 2 DVD – Bruce Goldsmith’s new fi lm is set to become the new benchmark in SIV instruc-tion. In 1992, the Airwave designer co-presented “Insta-bility,” a fi lm which helped thousands of paraglider pilots gain insight into tips and tricks learned by the profession-al test pilots. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* NEVER ENDING THERMAL – This DVD is an “Endless Summer” for the free-fl ying generation. The action-packed documentary features the adventures of Venezuelan pilots Herminio Cordido and Jorge Atramiz as they embark on an around-the-world paragliding od-yssey. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* PARAGLIDING: GROUND HANDLING TECH-NIQUES – From the team that brought “Paragliding: Learning to Fly,” arguably the best instructional fl ying DVD for new pilots currently available, comes an in-depth and up-to-date study of the black art of ground handling. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www


*NEW* PARAGLIDING: LEARN TO FLY DVD – This DVD brings to life many of the hard-to-visualize concepts which are so important for us to understand, like airfl ow around hills and mountains, turbulence and convergence, dynamic and thermic lift, plus aerodynamics like lift and drag, speed to fl y and so on. The production team have spent months on the 3D animation and video sequenc-ing. $44.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* PARAHAWKING – Nestled in the heart of Nepal’s foothills, and set against the backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, the city of Pokhara has played host to a remarkable story. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* PERFORMANCE FLYING DVD – When it comes to making paragliding fi lms, Jocky Sanderson doesn’t pull any punches. The suave Englishman’s slick production skills were fi rst evidenced in his debut fi lms, “Security in Flight” and “Speed to Fly.” Jocky’s latest fi lm, produced with Ozone’s test team, hones in on the fi ner piloting skills of fl ying XC, acro and SIV. $42.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*NEW* RED BULL X-ALPS DVD – Red Bull X-Alps 2005 fi nishes in Monaco! This stunning DVD features over 70 minutes of footage, including pilot interviews and wild POV camera angles. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.


Bruce Engen at Harriet Hollister Spencer State Park, near Rochester, N.Y.; Honeoye Lake, one of western New York’s Finger Lakes, is in the background. Photo: Mike Busch

RISK & REWARD – By Jeff Goin. This 70-min. DVD ex-poses the risks and rewards of powered paragliding in a fun, action-packed adventure. You owe yourself this in-side 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.ushpa.aero/store.

*NEW* SPEED/SECURITY DVD – “Speed to Fly” and “Security in Flight” are two great fi lms designed to help you progress in paragliding, packed with stunning air-to-air footage. $48.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

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 fi nd the evolution of foot-launched fl ight from the fi rst days of bamboo dune-skimmers to the modern va-riety of hang gliders, paragliders and rigid wings. Each PDF fi le is one complete magazine, just as originally pub-lished. 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 non-members. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

MISCELLANEOUS

“AEROBATICS” POSTER – Full color 23”x 31” poster featuring John Heiney doing what he does best-LOOPING! See www.ushpa.aero under store/misc for example. Available through USHPA 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.)

*NEW* APPAREL – NOW AVAILABLE: T-shirts, fl eece vests, fl eece jackets, denim shirts, polos, base-ball caps, fl eece hats & fl eece blankets. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

DVDS-VIDEOS-BOOKS-POSTERS – Check out our Web store at www.ushpa.aero.

WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW – WWW.WORLDTALKRADIO.COM. Listen live or to the archives! Live Tuesday 9-11:00 a.m. (PST). Call toll-free, 1-888-514-2100 or internationally at (001) 858-268-3068. Paraglider pilots and radio hosts David and Gabriel Jebb want to hear about your stories, promo-tions/events or insight; they also take questions!

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS

GPS GARMIN 76 CSX – The last day of the Rat Race, after the tracklog information was downloaded, someone picked up my GPS from the table. It has white tape in the upper left corner with my pilot number 326 written on it. If you discover this GPS in your possession, please con-tact me at USHPA. Martin, 800-616-6888. I borrowed the GPS from a friend, so it would be an enormous relief to have it returned.

GRADIENT ASPEN – My paraglider equipment was sto-len from my vehicle on November 7th in San Diego, Cal-ifornia. The wing was a red, gradient Aspen 26m, SOL Large CX harness, SOL 33 CELL reserve, Ozone red and gray backpack. REWARD, no questions asked, $250 or please contact me with any information regarding the equipment. David Thulin, [email protected] or (307) 690-5792.

STOLEN FROM THE ANDY JACKSON AIRPARK CALIFORNIA, May 14, 2007. Falcon 195 #25038. Sil-ver leading edge, red bottom surface, white trailing edge. Contact Rob or Dianne through www.fl ytandem.com or (909) 883-8488.

WW XC 155 – White upper surface, white l.e., assy-metric blue and green lower surface with XC logo. Chris Smith Cloudbase pod harness, purple. Lee full-face hel-met, red. Flytec 4030 Race with airspeed. Taken from TTT Henson Gap LZ late afternoon Wednesday, June 5, 2007. Dan Shell at [email protected], (423) 949-6912, or (423) 667-9457.

STOLEN FROM 15263 STEEP MT. DRIVE, DRAPER, UTAH – October 2007: Longboard (Sector Nine Luna); OZONE Peak PG, blue/white/blue, size S, serial #KS-E-40-013; Sup’Air Altiplume harness size S; Reserve parachute, GIN T2, in deployment bag with oh shit on handle; Petzl rock-climbing helmet, light blue with marmot stickers; NOVA Ibex 17m kite, red, serial #36013; GIN Speedfl yer harness; OZONE Frenzy 11m kite, red/black/white; BMX bike, Kona Ku Ku, black; GIN 4.5m yel-low/white/red. If any of this is found, please contact Lori Fitzgerald, [email protected].

STOLEN IN MEXICO, LATE NOVEMBER – Niviuk Hook paraglider, XXS (45-65Kg) wing, orange and white, serial number C20664; Ava Sport XS harness, blue and black; Firebird R5 S reserve parachute. If you have any informa-tion about this equipment please contact Vinda Levy, [email protected], +52(312)3097665 (owner, in Mexico) or Arturo Espinosa Aldama, [email protected].

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) 632-6417, OR EMAILED TO [email protected] FOR INCLUSION IN HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE. PLEASE CALL TO CANCEL THE LISTING WHEN GLIDERS ARE RECOVERED. PERIODICALLY, THIS LISTING WILL BE PURGED.


INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

MARKETPLACEADVENTURE PRODUCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71FLY HIGH PARAGLIDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71, 72FLYTEC USA GPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71FLYTEC USA THERMAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71KITTY HAWK KITES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71MOYES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72MPH SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72NORTH WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71PARASUPPLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72USHPA BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71USHPA STICKERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71USHPA XC AWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

CLOUD 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6DEIMOS PARAGLIDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23FLYTEC USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80FOUNDATION FOR

FREE FLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12HALL BROTHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11NORTH WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33O’CONNOR FLIGHT SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29OZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2SKY WINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS . . . . . . . . 24SSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44THERMAL TRACKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47TORREY PINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53TRAVERSE CITY HG & PG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48USHPA APPAREL & MERCHANDISE . . . . . . . 45USHPA BANK OF AMERICA CARD . . . . . . . . 79USHPA CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37USHPA CALL FOR CALENDAR PHOTOS . . . . 35USHPA CONTRIBUTING MEMBER . . . . . . . . 30USHPA DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59USHPA RENEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27USPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39WILLS WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Th e past several months have been very diffi cult for me. My father and mother drove from Florida to Washington State recently just to visit with me and my family, and more probably, to see their grandkids again. When they drove home, Dad was sick and suff ered from an unex-plained shortness of breath that seemed to be caused by nothing. Th e diagnosis, after being given a clean bill of health just three months earlier, was inoper-able stage-4 lung cancer in both lungs. As I write this, he is holding on. So are both tumors.

A while ago, in an all-too-recent memory, I was involved in an accident. Although it turned out that I was dam-aged relatively little, there were several minutes of debilitating pain like I have never felt. I found myself on the ground, immobile for longer than I care to know, wondering through the sweat, pain, and fear if I was going to die, or worse.

A couple of weeks ago, the husband of a very dear friend was diagnosed with stage-4 lymphoma. He is not responding well.

Th is past year as well, I retired from teaching – a bittersweet death of sorts. Th ose last few days were fi lled with par-ents telling me how upset they are that I will not be around to teach their younger kids; fi lled with parents crediting me with getting their older kids into nice colleges; fi lled with parents who told me stories about how their kids love me, and how they believe those coming up will never know what they are missing. Talk about having second thoughts!

Actually, I have been having second thoughts about a lot of things: life and living, death and dying, fl ying or not fl ying. But then, today, on the one day that I needed it most, one of my won-derful daughters-in-law (I have two) did something I hate. She forwarded one of those Internet thingies meant to in-spire or cause a smile. I did read this one, though, an act totally out of character. In fact, I was inspired, so I thought I would pass it on. Maybe you need it, too.

Th ose words reminded me of my exact thoughts back in the late ‘70s when I fi rst learned to hang glide. Th ere was a period of time when I would not allow

my wife to take pictures of me. I didn’t want her to record my last minutes on Earth. I was afraid of dying. Th en, I kept seeing news clippings of the strangest events: a Florida man who died when he was hit in the head by a falling coconut, a woman who died after being hit in the head by an errant nail tossed by a lawn mower. Th ose events caused me to be-lieve that Death will fi nd me any time it wants, under any circumstance, whether I happen to be looking for it or not. Th ose events helped me in the ‘70s to decide to fl y, to decide to live. Now, with my dad, my friend, and even myself in a similar situation as the man with the coconut, my daughter-in-law helped me reach the same conclusion – again. Never be afraid of dying. Be afraid of not living.

And so it was that I wrote this article at 5:00 a.m. on my deck while listening to the sounds of joyous life around me. Later that day, I picked up my wing and headed to the beach to practice, to get into mental condition after many weeks of not fl ying. I will once again meld sky with nylon over my favorite sites. Of that, I am absolutely certain. I have decided that I fl y, that I will continue to fl y, for one simple reason: because that is how I live.

For those who continue to live, in whatever manner you choose to do so, be sure to fl y high, and fl y safe.

The Most Beautiful Rainbow (author unknown)

As we grow up we learn that even the one person who wasn’t supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken, probably more than once, and it’s harder every time. You’ll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You’ll fi ght with your best friend. You’ll blame a new love for things an old one did. You’ll cry be-cause time is passing too fast, and you’ll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures. Laugh too much. And, love like you’ve never been hurt because every minute you spend upset is a minute of happiness you’ll never get back. Never be afraid that your life will end. Instead, be afraid that it will never begin.

Some Thoughts on LivingBy Steve Messman, staff writerhttp://www.stevemessman.com

Jeff Shapiro at Point of the Mountain, UtahPhoto: Chris Gibisch


hang gliding & paragliding vol38/iss02 feb 2008

Documents

sports of hang gliding

paragliding association

related hang gliding

paragliding activities

paragliding methods

publication of hang

pilot membership

rogallo membership