USHPA Ground Skimmer May 1973 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

The

G~OUflD IOCif\f\C~ May,1973

Photo by Larry Kwnferman Ground skimming, in a literal sense , is Eddie Paul of Whitney Enterprises, fl ying an early Whitney Flying Wing down the sand slope at the beach near Playa del Rey, California.

U.S. Pat . No. D22428

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GROUND SKilVl}ER JOURNAL 01'' THE: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HANG GLIDER ASSOCIATION, INC.

EDITOR:

LLOYD LIC!!SR

No " l O, May, 19 73

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Submit material for GROUND SKI111L'V):~R to the Editor at 12536 Woodbine St., Los Angeles, Cali.fa 90C66o Items in GROUND SKIHr12:R may be reprouuced (unless it is noted as copyrighted or all rights reserved), provided credit is given to GROUND SKIMi'VlE11 and the author or photographer, if noted. COlJTr,;NTS --President rs Report, by Lloyd Licher, SCHGA Presiclent " " " • o " " • • • • • 2 Announcement: 3rd Annual Otto Lilfonthc11 Univenal Hang Glider Championships " 3 The Homebuilder Discover~, Wires, by ,John White , o • • • • • • I+ Ultralight Round Table, from harch, 19'1'3, ism1e of SOARING n:agazine " " • • • • • 5 Buyer Beware X, by Rich Kilbourne o • • • o o " • " " o • • • • • • o • • • • " • " " 12 Photo Page: Waterman & SeaguJl "Flyer"; Co Hollinger 1 s Flying Wing; D. Carmichael's Home Grown I • " M. Practical Experiments in Soaring, by Otto Lilienthal " • • " " •• " • • • 15 Bibliography; Staff Credit " • " o " " • • • " " • " o " • " o • 22 What 9 s Ups, column by w. A. AlJen 25 Photo Page, by W. Ao Allen: Quicksilver; Pete and Hall Brock flying Rogallos 29 Calendar of Events; Classified Advertising •• " o • • • • o • • • • • • • • 32 O

•

SCHGA OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS President:

Lloyd Licher, 12536 Woodbine St., Lo~; Angeles, Califo 90C66, ( 213) 397-/+8Li-8

Vice-Pres.: Frank Colver, 3076 Roanoke Lac1e, Costa Mesa, Califo 92626, (711+) 51+6-961+7 Secretary:

Carol Velderrains Sr., /i.237 ltJ. 16Uth St", Lawnda1e, Calif. 90260, 51+2-4153

Treasurer:

Charles Kocsis, Jr., 12328 Otsego St", North Hol1ywood, Ca. 91607, 762-1+771+

Flight Director:

Kasmer 11 Kaz 11 De Usse, 1JJ8 N. Gordon ;:;t", Los Angeles, Calif" 90038, ( 213) 1+67-762()

SCHGA is a nonprofit, member-controlled educational and scientific organization dedicated to explori.ng all facets of fuel-less, self-launched u1 tralight aircraft. Dues are ~p5. 00 U~6° 00 for foreign addresses) and include a subscription to GROUND SKIMMER (12 issues). Dues should be payable to SCHGA and sent to 12536 Woodbine St., Los Angeles, CaliL 90066. ADVERT IS BG RA TES, SIZES AND CONDITIONS

!-pg.,

Dic,pla,y ads: full-pg • .i ;:p/+O (7-k" x 9-k"); *p22 (3! x 9-k, or 7t; x I+!); -k-pg., :Jpl2 (3fi x Le! )o Photos, $2; reductions, ~p2; if not photo-ready, ~~3-~p5 for make-upo Classified ad[3; ~PL 00/line (no charge to members selling personal items )o Note:

The ~P5,00 dues are for new and renewal applicat1ons recejved aftpr June JO, 1973.

GS, 5-73

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PRESIDENT'S li~PORT By Lloyd Licher, SCHGA President This is the first issue of GROUND SKIMMER that over half of our members/subscribers will receive because the total nwnber has more than doubled between May 25th and July 3rd, from 1400 to OV8r 2800. T~e primary cause for the increase was the article by Jim Spurgeon in the June issue of Argosy magazine. This will have :its beneficial effects, of course, but has a] ~m caused problems for our volunteer~ spare-time staff. We hope that all of the new members/ subscribers will understand the delay in the processing of their applications. W0. have been mn.Ding them in groups as .fast as we can. Because of this doubJ ing of numbers, actions have been taken to cope with the new s:i:tuation. There's to\l much work now for volunteers to handle in a timely manner so paj_d help must be hired soono Our 1~3 dues wouldn l't support such help so the dues have been raised to $5 (~$6 for fore:tgn add:res3es) for 12. GROUND SKIMMERS, effective July 1st• Advertising :;:·atet, for Q§_ i1ad to bt; j_ncr(1ased, a1so, because the old rates wouldn't even pay to have the a:is pnrn::,ed in i-,he q:1a.nt;ty n'.)W necessary, and the larger exposure is worth more o In January the Associc1.tion considered changing its scope and name from regional to national, but numero'us membert, n.t the January meeting opposed the idea so no action was taken. The matter was reconsidered by the Directors in J·une, at the request of several groups elsewhere in the country; ho,,iever; it was thought that such a move at this stage of development of the movement would be presumptuous. A national organization should logically be formeci out of a federation of the many clubs now in existence. There is a definite need now for a regular magazine to serve as the communications media for the country as a whole so the SCHGA Directors voted to have GROUND SKIMMER. try to fi11 this need. Toward this end, the magazine wHl be upgraded to all offset printing with the June issue, and news and articles from everywhere will be included. This May issue was put to'gether mainly by using up mimeograph stencils that had already been typed, and so a number of regular features had to be postponed, including our Flight Directorrs Notes (sorry Kaz) and the listing of more new members. The covers were silk-screened as an experiment but will be printed for future issueso We have many good articles on hand so should have some excellent issues for you soon. Space is limited, hence I'·ll condense the remaining commentso Lilienthal Meet." J\.t long last we have been able to cormnit a site and schedule this event, as per the announcement on tl1e next pageo Hope you can attend. July Membership Meeting. A reminder that the date is ]'uesda.y, ,July 17th. For details on location and program s,oe the calendar of ,3vents on page 320 There will be no other meeting notice. Attendance at the monthly meetings has been averaging 2500 New Secretary. For personal reasons, Rita Ballard resigned as SCHGA Secretary in June. Carol Velderrain, Sr., was elected to fill the vacancy, at our June meeting. Ha~wards. SCHGA has developed a set of achievc1ment awa:::-ds for hang gliding that will be inaugm·ated at Gt.e LDienthal Meet. The June GS will contain the full rules and procedures, plus an apDJication form. i3ac:Jically, the Hang l will be for a free flight of any sort; Hang 2 will require 3 consecutive 50-ft. flights with controlled landings; and Bang 3 will Te quire 2 consecutive S-turn flight:3 (45-degree turns) with controlled landings, Emblems for the ilwards have yet to be designed and produced and a volunteer is needed to process the applications. Contact me for the job. Hansen Dam Sit~. The Los Angeles Depto of Recreation and Parks has offered a site for hang gliding here but a proposal by SCHGA for use of the site has to be approved first. Rules will be required, 2.nd SCHGA has obtained the necessary insurance. Torrance Beach Sit~.· SCHGA repr0sentatives met with officials of the Los Angeles County Dept. of Beaches and negotiated conditions for use of this site o Because of heavy beach use during the summer, hang glider activity can be permitted only before 9: 00 A.M. and after 6: 00 P.M.,, until Sept 15thJ south of the Peggy Doll home. A. goldand-purple flag on the lifeguard tower means no flying in the normally permitted hours o - 2 -

(Concluded on page 22)

GS, 5-73

PLEASE POSTl

PLE.ASE POST! ANNOU J\JC ING

T!Ifi;

3RD ANNUAL JTTO LIJ.P:NTHAI UNIVERSAL HMfC GLID~R CHA,v[PIUNSP IPS ?2;. 19 73, 9: GC A . d.

5: OU P. M.

Celebrating the ];25th bi2thday of Otto Lil ientha] (i'fay 23, J 973; sorry to be so late) AT "ESCAPE COUNTRY, 11 AN OU'~DCOR FAlfllY nECREtTIOI,i AR-ri;A IN ORANGE COUNTY, 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LOS ;d1JG~u,;s;, CM,IFORiHl\., Exit San DiElgo Freeway at El Toro fload C3 miles south of L:ion ::::ountry Safari). Go east 13 miles, taking aJl right forks (2 miles past 0 9 l'Jeill Park) to entrance :road for Escape Country" Turn left just past entrance booth, road goes to fence line, then turns right to parallel fence. Follow Hang-Glider-Meet signs to parkj_ng a:r:eas, upper level for cars with hang gliders and officials, lower level for spectators. Slope is approximately 2CO feet high and 400 feet wide, with large landing areao Daily entrance fee for pilots and spectators, $la 00 for adults, 50¢ for children, 6-12. Sponso,r:

Southern Ca1i.fornia Hang Glider Association, Inc"

Meet Director:

Jack Lambie, one of the founders of the modern hang glider movement"

First qualif:ications for Hang Badges, new achievement awards being :i.naugurated by SCHGA. Fun flying for two days - learn - practice -- fly - try to soar (no formal competition. Minimize the chance of injury -- wear gloves, boots and helmets. Certificates for all pilots who fly" Awards for design, construction, innovations, performance, advancements in control, etc. Expected to be the largest 3athe:ring of hang gliders in the history of aviation, over 100 like]y to attend. Camping on the premises ( uni.mproved; chernjcal toilets, running water), Food and drinks:

Some conces.sfon-type service ma.;y be available but those attending had best bring their own. Family recreation facilitiet. elsewhe.ce in ei;scape Count:ry include picnicing, fishing and motorcycle :.rails Ut2 fee per bike; some for rent).

Lots of parking ·for, spectators.

Tell your friends of this unique event.

Don Vt miss this largest of all hang glider meets l Pro registration ( desired but not requ,ired) c/o SCHGA, 12536 Woodbine St., Los Angeles, CaliL 90C66, phonA (213) 397-l,E;J+[s evenings and weekendso

THE HOMEBUILDER DISCOVERS WIRES "

By John White, SCHGA#600 Recently I built a 17--foot Eipper Kite, my first endeavor into the field of Self-Launche.d Flight. Durtnc1: the initial construction period, I never expected to run into problemi::'. w:i.. th tiH-l 1·:tgging. So, hopefully, through this article, I can answer some of those "first····time'' guest tons. I'd also liko to add that there may be better. ways to rig. As I saJ.d, th:ls J.s tased on "first-time" experience. First, I'll ansucr borne of my own first ~uestions. Why do I need wires? Here's my double ~:i.nswe:;:. The ":clying" (luwer) wires are used to ke0p the aircraft from foldinrz~ ":mtt0.rfl? 1 ' -sty:;_e 2,i'ter launching, and the "landing" (upper) wires, through the u::12 01' ti,:cnbuckles ~ keep all the wires tight r~o as to give you optimum control. n.,,~cenny, I 1:::t;;,.Li.0d at what I was told was 20 feet up but it looked to ma :from ll1Y ,rn.n ;;ag·•, po~ nt t :J be about 60 feet. I have no doubt that had my kite not been tight.Ly :clg(,;(d wi i:h landinr; wires, I I d now be the owner of a broken kite. Now to get to th0 ni tty-~ri-:ty of rigginf~. We' 11 look at the what and why of the individual pieces to be used" First, the wire itself. Most of us use l/8 11 7x7 Stainless Stee.l cable. The '/x7 means that there are '7 strands of seven wires each. It has a. breaking strength of about 2000 pounds. The .next piece.we see is the thimble. Don't look for a cup-type finger cover. It's not that type of thimble. The thimbles we use are tec1.rdrop-shaped grooved loops of thin.metal around.)Vhich the cable is run to make an attachment loop at the end of the cable. Thimbles ser~,e to retnforce the cable and prevent severe bending and chafing of the individual wir2s. Also, before installing the thimble, clip of·f the pointed eJl,ds with . a pair of di8.gonal cutting pliers. This will allow the Nicopress sleeves to seat tightly agaiuat the th.lmble which rasul ts in an efficient splice. Now look into your hag of goodies and find the little item that resembles. a small, double barrel, This is your Nicopress sleeve. This little gadget is what saves you the problem of les.rning intricate cable-weave-type splices. Hopefully, you've got a Nice tool.... If not, there's a sot of plans for making one in the July, 1962, issue of SOARING,.magazine, on page 16. Better yet, buy one from EipperFormance Inc,, or.othe:c suppl:l.ers. It's worth the few bucks to have one handy. Make sure you .. slide the sleeve:: onto the cable before rigging. You should have two sleeves per cable-end. Loop the end of the cable back through the sleeves.. Insert a thimble in the loo:_) fo.rmed and push the nearest sleeve up tight against the thimble. Using the Nico tool, Squeeze the sleeve shut 1 starting in the middle of the sleeve for 1/8" CB.ble, then ab'ain at Emch .-)nd of the sleeve (smaller cable sleeves get squeez,od O'.,ly once) Wliy •vork 0 .ltwnrd you ask? Simple. The sleeve grows lengthwise when compressed so it wlll pull the wire tightly around the thimble. Then squeeze tha secoll~ sle~ve R few inches from the first. The free end of the cable should prc,joct beyond ·:.::be outer sleeve aft0r pressing I otherwise, full strength of the splice :nay never b•, qchieved. Any excess run-out cable can be cut off at this paint. And, for the sa.ko of retaining your £.Janity, check and make sure thn.t what you' re whacking off i::; the 3XceiJs and not the good portion of the cable. 1

The next item up tor d:lscussion causes somu people to grind their teeth. That :l tern is the tu::tt1buckles. Plaas::i, when you rig your ai:~craft, rig with the turnbucltles OPEN I ! If you spl:lce with them shut, then you' re just going to have· to tear dow1;-and start all over. The turnbuckle is your means of pulling your kite into a tightJ.y ri{;'ged eondition which is what you want.

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(Concluded on page 22)

GS,

5-73

ULTRALIGHT ROLJIW TABLE (Reprinted from the March, 1973, issue of SOARL~G magazine, lJoug Lamont, Editor) "There are unusual times in history when all the proper elements appear simultaneously and a scientific breakthrough occurs. The urge of the German students to fly despite WWI treaty restrictions coincided with the lrandtl theory of lift and induced drag, with the Joukowski theory of airfoil design, and finally wi ti1 the invention of the torsion and ·bend-resistant .cJ-tube leading edge by 1,adalung, The result was the emergence of the high-performance sailplane in the early 1920's, "Today we have the intense interest in low-speed, self-launched gliders coinciding with the appearance of high-strength, loH-weight materials, and with the development of new super-lift, low drag coeffisient alrfoils, Out of this will come a revolution in gliding and soaring as exciting as the early days on the wasserkuppe! "I don't know by what quirk of fate these seemlngly unrelated events manage to occur simultaneously, but they do, and we are privileged to be in tbe midst of it, Let us proceed ahead to the age .. old dream of the truly flying man," Bruce Carmichael, Chairman ~3i:iA Aerodynamics Cornmi ttEie Once each year a small group of master wind mechanics, of whom Bruce Carmichael is one, gather informally to consider some facet of their craft. They r,1eet at one another's homes, where, after a little preliminary socializing and exchange of pleasantries, they gather round a table for discussion of a previously agreed topic-the supercritical airfoil, boundary layer control, the flying wing, or whatever specific element of their technology they find to be of current interest, Without the usual workaday constraints and pressures, their speculations are freewheeling and far ranging, though tempered by the schooled reserve of scientific discipline, Lll tr alight soaring-their choice for this year's round table-was prompted by the recent phenomenal growth of interest in ultralight motorless aircraft, first in the southern California area where they reside, and now increasingly on a national and international scale, E;quipped with ta1)es and camera, SUARLTG' s editor and photographer George Uveges eavesdropped on the meeting at the home of 1-ienry Jex, a research aerodynamicist for Systews Technology, Inc. In addition to Jex and Carmichael, other participants included Paul MacCready, first U, S. World Soaring Champion, inventor of the speed-to-fly ring, and President or Aero Vironment, Inc,; Irven Culver, Chief TechnicaJ_ Consultant for Lockheed until the recent establishment of his own service; Peter .Lissaman, Director of Aero Sciences at Aero Vir:cnment; and the 'I'aras Eiceniuks, junior and senior, (Taras, Senior who is Superintendent of the Hale Observatory on 11t. Palomar, was an instructor at the California Institude of Technology for many years, Taras, Junior, is now a freshman at the Institute, and his soaring flights in the Icarus, a remarkable ultralight glider of his own design, have attracted wide notice,) The following report is derived from a 17,000-word transcript of the evening's session, Mindful that its discussions were to be published, the group was quick to emphasize at the outset that i t didn't want to appear as having arrogated unto itself the role of a policy or rule-making body: 11 Make it clear we're not setting ourselves up as a council of 'elders'," Taras senior warned, .Q§, 5-73

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To avoid the pitfalls of meandering bull-session type discussion, an agenda to give direction and focus is customarily agreed upon before the meeting. The first item listed was "Definition of 'Ultralight'." It appeared to be a simple itemp one that could quickly be disposed of before getting into the anticipated technical pleasures of the evening, It turned out to be otherwise, and considerable time was spent in trying to arrive at a "definition": I'd like to keep the term ultralight as broad as possible. about has to do w.i th weight and maybe portabil ty ,

JEX:

vJhat we're talking

KICENIUK I JR, : Consider it as an 1Unpowered flying machine wi -~h wings of some kind, something you can strap on your back 1. foot·-la.unch yourseJf off a :JJ. iff I i'J.y up to the clouds for an hour or so. It must be easy to build and inexpensiv0 , , , , CARuICHAEL: Self-launching is a major consideration. One man 1 unassisted, should be able to take his machine· in the air and do a good job of contr:olled flight under the proper conditions • . • . iiAC CREAuY: The concept of having something that is very light_, slow, and fun to fly is the important one , , •. LISSAhAN: ua.ybe surfing and skiing are analagous, Only huma11 power can be used in those sports. The skier or surfer can't do his thing unless nature provides the right conditions~and the right conditions aren't always provided, Then, too, it takes effort to get to where the conditions are right, Futhermorev it depends on skill to catch th"' wave or ski the slope and arrive safely on the beach or hill bottom. CULVER: I think that from the time man was able to watch the birds fly he was always fascinated by the effor.tless flight of soaring birds like the seagull and hawk, Coming close to that is what we're really talking about. , •. It's q_uestionable whether we can find a term tonight that indicates this kind of thing •.

JEX: SLUG.

Yes. For instance, an acronym for self-launched ultralight gliding comes ou.t as Very distasteful ,

It was noteworthy that in groping for a meaning, the participants repeatedly recalled specific physical sensations: MAC CREAi)Y: The flights that seem to come back to my mind as most alluring were those in a Kirby Kite in the early days of my soar:ing, It was a very slow--speed thing, open cockpit, and you could glide it under thii,:ty miles an hour, You felt you were one with the. birds, And then I remember a tow e1,Crqss Scotland iri an open .. cockpit Slingsby T-21 where there was nothing between me and the ground, I could see eve. ·y Ji ttle detail in the fields 500 feet below, These flights were af; exciting as later.ones going up in thunderstorms in high-performance sailpianes, CULVER: My early days of soaring were in very primitive machines many years ago, We felt gocd about being able to stay al0ft for thirty minutes or an hour. ., e had the crudest kind of cockpits with the wind in our faces; The nearer we came to staying out in the open the nearer we were to the real feeling of flying, It was different from be-· ing caged in a tight little cockpit and streaking through the'air at 90 mph. That's fun, too, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it isn't th6l: s'lllle thing we were looking for • ·

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GS, 5-?3

And so it went. on several occasions participants co1'.lplained of inadeq_uacy in express-j_ng the underlying phEosophy of the new approach to ultralight motor less flight. Almost apologeU.cally U,ey 01,ined that poetry, of writers like Richard hiller, Hi chard Bach, and Joe Faust were needed to arbculate what the roundtable was seekj_ng to define. "A machine which would permit, in the greatest degree, the direct sensory experiencing of personal flight" seemed to r)e the goal they sought, .Lt is possible that, had a "technology" ·been offered which would permit outstretched human arms to bear their owner aloft, the group woula gladly nav,c foregone the need of a machine. There was a clear d.etermination to see that this time the vehicle should remain a rneans and not an end, Several mentioned 11 0 elf :.,oar," a phrase coined by Joe 11 aust, as expressing this feeling best. KIC}~NIUK, SR.: Tonight it's importar.t that we 110t try to see what the future configuratlon of ul tral:i.ghts srould be. Instead, we shoulcf i;6ek to decide what it is we want to do. For instance, we :should:1' t set goals and gj_ve J)rizes for the best Rogallo, or best bj_plane, or best monoplane, That would stop or slow development as surely as anything. de need to give prizes fo::' the least expensive, the most portable, the lightest, or whatever . , i·1AC CREADY:

,/hen you r;et around to something that can be launched cheaply and flown I that's what you are really after.

·rocaT.Ly instead of hav:i.ng to go. a hundred mHes away

·1y the end of the first half of the evening, the roundtable participants had hammered out the salient elements they believed would characterize the ultralight glider:

Portability: A :3urfboard, a pair of skis, or a bicycle don't require a "crew" to en··.Jo;yana operate. The best ultralight is one that ·could be transported and assembled by its pilot without help, l"oot launching: The majority felt that a true personal machine would req_uire nothing rrore than the as;,3istance of its pilot's legs to become airborne, It was argued that if thjs feature were adhered to, other developments would necessarily stay in line and the historical pitfall o:f escalation toward h:i.gher-heavier-faster-and-farther could be avoided. Otherc:, saw no harm in simple skids or wheels or even a helping hand from a e;irlfriend or passerby. All were i.n opposition to launches requiring special fields, long trip,, to c,JJecial ,.:;i te,3, special facili t:i.es, special personnel , Economy: There wa2, unanimity on the q_u.estion of cost-an ultralight should be inexpensive, really inexpenr;ivc . But tr.ere should be room for those who wished to pursue the road of Hichard iiiller 'r~ '' supen~oarabiltty" wj_th liigh-performance ultralights like the Thistledown, Slow Speed: Jonathan not1,ithstanding, 250-,mph dives and aerobatics ~;hould be left to supergull. The bio-physica1 parameters of a buman l)ody exposed to the free airstream will greatly influence· the Gngj_necrinc; flight parameters of ul tra:Ught aircraft. Hi th a definition somewhat :c:;harper, the group brok2 for coffee anci then returned to consider problems of design, Thev immediately rar:. into categorization when they turned their attention to wing::;: JEX: Obviously there is no smootn. spectrum from the simplest Hogallo up to the A:3-11 12 wing. If we put a lot of time in cliscussing airfoils, we 're not going to include memb:tane wings like the Hogallo. }Jut they all have aspects that do not exist in current sailplane design procedures, For example, in the high-lift airfoil, there is a totally new emphasis on high lift.rather than high L/D, This brings with it a whole new.set of pr?blems connected with stall properties of high-Li.ft wings that have unusual planforms and tip shapes. j,1ernbrane wings focus attention on this, Their shape depends on the air loads, and the airloads depend on the shapef and the whole has to be treated as an entity. This is a difficult job, as ,J ortmann is now finding out, ( One of the best things for the

_Q§, 5-73

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ultralight movement is that w0r.tmann has become interested in sailboating and is turning his very careful computer attention to the aerodynamics of sails-a matter quite relevant for liogallo-t;ne wings, .1 CULVER: It's impossible to separate aerodynamics from the structure. If you're talking about membrane sheets or just tension fields I you have two directions you can pull in, and the resulting srs.pe is the 1nterd.ction of airloads and structure. Even if' you 're going in the d'irscti.on of a rigid wing with a D--tube t.o take bending in all dire·ctions plus tors:i.on in one hox--the cantilever approach-,you still have the same problem, Aerodynamlcs c1.nd s true ::ure have to be mated togethe:r. A plywood skin is not capable of taking pressure .I.cads without putting stringe:rs in; you also have to vent the wing at the p:roper spots to prevent it from collapsing from external pressure . • J:,;ven though there was general acceptance of the Rogallo as an inexpensive, simple introduction tomotorless flight, i t was recognized that a push for high :performance (in the ultralight context) would inevHably come. This inferred increaslng the span and decreasing the chord--a procedure usually attended by controllability problems, There was some disagreement:

~R;

If you increase the span and reduce the speed, the roll control problem increases, You 're flying at a higher anglei of attack and you '11 have to have more aileron or spoiler or whatever you're going to use for roll control. The unfortunate thing is that as you slow down you cannot always recognize the difference between a spin and spiral instability because spiral instability is so strong it just winds you right into the ground,

l:\JCENIUK, SR,: I'm not so sure of that, Irv, what you say is true of a rigid, fixedwing-configuration, But there are other totally unexplored directions. For example, look at the way. birds do it using area change, CULVER: :.·Jell, you can't talk about spiral stability mcdes in the Rogallo wing because the spiral stability modes are coupled with the Dutch roll and that in turn is coupled with some elastic modes which are coupled wi.t.h pitch, JEX:

And there are other modes that ;:,,ren't in the textbooks,

KICENIUK, SR,: I can visualize a 40,-foot condor who would have no trouble pivoting at a point ,~bout one-third span i·'.1to his wlng. Jntu:i.tively, l 'm not suspicious of it, JEX: It's still not. easy today to cal,·ulete cierivatives for an elastic glass sailplane under high-g pull11p, But H can be don0, And. it will be done for ultralights whenever people c:J.re :i.nte:rested enough to take the time to do it, Parasails obviously have a great advant:1ge where low wing loadings are concerned, but suprisingly, there may be some latitude :for the designe:r:· in this respect: i\iAC CREADY: Another catAgory which we haven't paid much attention to is the completely flexible parachute wing---the kite sai1wing, J1xperimental ones with higher aspect ratios are getting glide ratios of four to seven. CULVER:

Peo!.)le keep talking about L/JJ 's l::.ke there's nothing lower than three or four.

HAC CREADY: Three is fine, You can get huge area and low wing loading cheap out of o-ix.irachute if it's just fabric and tension, People a.re not experienced in launching themselves from the ground, but conceptually you can launch yourself from a cliff.

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GS, 5-73

CAHuICHAEL: I'm curious about where we're going in wing-loading, At first we thought we had to stay down around a pound per square foot so that we could fly in very light breezes, But then we found that 10-mph winds made pretty good fun flying, 1~ow we 're talking about 1,5 lbs,/sq, ft~maybe 2 lbs,/sq, ft. with the new high-lift wings. KICENIUK, SR,: ,d. th these airplanes we have something new. A flight system where the weight of the pilot is three times the whole airplane, This Ghanger:, the entire picture with regard to longitudinal stability, JEX: This brings out an interesting point. The:ce's a concr-::pt called "controlledconfigured vehicles" being discussed these days, The idea is to have neutral or unstabl~ vehicles, but have modern auto--systems for achleving control and appa..rent stability. This is, of course, what the birds do They don't have very much of a tail. The ultralight has a better chance of coming close to this because the sensor and ef-fector are so much closer together, A neutrally stab~~e aircraft that can be controlled by body motions on the instinctive level-with perhaps some aided sensory cues-is conceivable, It would be like a bicycle,

CULVER: Yes, but if you ever get into a steep dive where you have to get the nose up before you get any effect on cg and you have a negative pitching moment, you're going to reach a point where you can't recover,

JEX: I'm not talking about doing away with control surfaces, but about using "body English" to actuate the controls, like the vJright Brothers' hip control on their glid--· ers, I'm all for good effectors, After all, the birds have pretty good ones, too, But I think the idea that a sailplane has to be stable in order to be let into a contest is an undue constraint, I find it convenient to be able to do something like tucking in my socks or taking out my harmonica while not having to pay attention to flying the Ica:rm,, I'm not sure I could do that in a neutrally stable airplane , . . .

KICEl'.IU.K, JR.:

Lift is the name of the game, It was obvious that the participants were excited by the resurgence of interest in low-speed, highlift airfoils: LISSAiiAi'J: The airfoils being used in some ultralight gliders are achieving a performance which is not attainable according to all the literature of published tests. They are getting lift coefficients that are higher than any you can find in books. ,JEX: Hmm, c 's of 2, 8 for aspect ratios of six have been achievable since Handley Page in 1919, 1

LISSAi1At.: With slots and flaps, sure, :But I'm talking about modern mono-element airfoils, We've done what we think are pretty good theoretical studies and predict you can't get more than 2.2 to 2,4 wHh thei.:,e very fancy Liebeck-type airfoils, What this points out is that we don't anderstand the phenomenon of separation at these Reynolds numbers, CULVER: The only advantage of high C is to cut down the amount of weight of airplane you have to haul around, Profile dra~ is a very, very small part of the total drag coefficient· of'the airplane, so who's going to worry if. the drag coefficient of the wing is, say~ .009 or ,01? . , , . If the profile drag is relatively unimportant in ultralights, the parasitic drag of the pilot's exposed body is not, The panelists made some ballpark estiwates on the

GS, 5-73

- 9 -

flat-plate equivalents of a pilot dragging along through the wind as being around ten square feet, With Taras Kiceniuk resting his feet against the front spar of the Icarus, it was thought the figure dropped near four square feet, while a prone pilot would reduce the figure still further to perhaps 1. 5 square feet, It was noted that active t1ogallo pilots have already been using a harness arrangement permitting rotation to prone position after takeoff and before landing, Such options as an inflatable garment to fill out the streamline behind the pilot were considered. Attention was called to a "s:riit ter plate" on the downstream side of a cylinder; preventing the Karman vortices from "shedding" and achieving almost the same drag reduction as conventional streamlining. Bruce Carmichael described the work of an experimenter who is exploring the possibilities of an inflatable wing: A clus-1:.er of long slender cones are arranged spanwise, covered with a plastic sheet, and the whole pressurized to form a rigid tapered wing, JEX: All right, now there's a perfect ex.:imple where ultralights can have both profile and planform variable geometry unllke regular sailplanes. using a surface that's airinfl.a,ted with predictable bending properties, aerodynamic shapes could be .changed and con:trol effected through internal di::'ferer.tial pressurization. iiAC CREADY:

What would that do to the standards of airfoil profile accuracy? We're just now reaching the plaqe where conventional high-performance competition sailplanes can boast of sections accul'.'ate to thousandths of an inch,

COLVER: You can't really build a perfect anything • . • it's pretty awful, i\.n inflated wing would have a sort of polygon airfoil, of course, but thick low-speed boundary layers are just very forgiving. If you have a little lump somewhere, the boundary layer speeds up a little bit ani;l obliterates the lump as far as the main mass flow is concerned, JEX: uf course you'd have to face new problems, F'or instance, if you were descending from high altitudes you'd have to carry a pump or have it .all collapse, (laughter) In the past, airfoil design was a Quasi-empiric process in which the aerodynamicist lofted a shape and ascertained its polars through wind-tunnel testing, "You don't pick an airfoil out of an NACA handbook any more," observes lrv Culver, "You define the problem you want to solve and then design the airfoil accordingly," The following exchange provides a little insight into the rough fi:r.st steps: ii.AC CREADY: Peter 1 what are the chances of getting a high-lift wing coefficient with something near zero pi tcM.ng moment? LISSALAN1

I think it can be done,

JEX: (holding up a drawing and polar of a Liebeck airfoil) ,le 're looking at an airfoil for a one million Reynolds number. It's almost a flat plate with a curved leading edge, It has a small pitching moment coefficient but how could you build it? LISSAf.1AN:

You can use external ribs or bracing,

JEX: Yes, if you have a very high-lift airfoil with stagnation conditions under it~. very reduced velocities of, say, like forty percent of free stream. You could get away with some outside strutting. - 10 -

GS, 5-73

CULVER: (doodling on a scratch pad) If you took the Liebeck airfoil and redesigned the bottom pressure distribution, the airfoi] wouJd then get a :oot-beJ.ly for the rear spar to go in and then dip back up. We could redraw the lower pressure distribution and then draw it again to show what that would do to it, and •. , bang! . , , you've got a rear spar you can strut brace, CAR11ICHAEL: CULVER: JEX:

This has a c

of one over almost the entire lower surface,

No, it tapers off,

1JOuld you still have a reentry trailing edge'?

CULVER: Well I'rn going to push that up just a little bit, i,ow, instead of an upper surface looking like this. , , and. a bottom surface looking like that~ I get something like this , , , : i'!ow I can get a sweepback rear spar here, and a front spar here, a:nd allow a strut brace to the front of the piJot's tra:9eze instead of at the back-that's where you want to have it open for your body to (:;Gt out, if necessary. JEX:

(looking at the emerging profile)

Shades of the vMJ fi.ghter!

CULVER: Now this is an almost flat curve up here, You migh+, not be able to get the reverse curve you'd like, but you can do a fabric job, You still need something for the leading edge curve, but now you can use three-foot rib spacing, and strut bracing is entirely feasible . . . . Inevitably, the discussion got around to safety. It was pointed out that a specific safety-factor number didn't have the same meaning for ultralight as it did for fullscale aircraft, Gust loads were cause for concern: JiAC CREADY: Variations in atmospheric turbulence are very large and extremes are very extreme, The trouble is that ninety-nine and.nine-tenths of the time you get ordinary turbulence, but that last one~tenth of one percent--powl CULVER: A gust that a big airplane with a factor of three would hardly notice could destroy an ultralight with a factor of four. tiAC CREADY: Yes, You can have gusts that would oe of no concern to a large aircraft, but which alter your speed 20 mph in a fraction o:f a secor.d. L!SSAhAN: It's interesting to realize that in ultra,light:::; the pilot contributes more than half the weight as well as half the drag, CULVER: (who weighs around 200 lbs,) Pben I fly the Swingwing the uJ.timate load factor is around. 3, 2, but with Volmer flying it goes up to four . ( SOARrn q, 1~ ov. '71)

JEX:

:eaul, could you give us some estimates of the gust loads ultralight designers-" should expect to contend with?

LAC CREADY: Only estimates, The available quantitaUve data that exist are for nice idealized slope flows, not for conditions behind trees 1 spurs, and surface irregularities, It's an area that nobody's had to worry abo 1t, i.t deserves more study, But I think that if you fly with an ultimate load factor of three over hilly country, you'll exeeed it sometime , , , , 1

Thc3 rl"lundtab1e ended at the hour prc:::vj.ously agreed upon by the parti cj pants .. But the ter1i.:i nation was

rem:injscent of hjt records jn wh:ich a sound technjcjan fades out the musjc, Th8 performers haven 1 t reached the f:i nal cadence; therE" j s 111orr:) to say. So j t was w:i th the uJ.trab ght round table. New territory was bej ng explored and each turn of the d:i scussj on l'lpened up new paths to follow. It was a heady busi.ness, as exploratjon always :is.

GS, 5-73

·- 11 -

BUYER BEWARE! By Rich Kilbourne

We are growing and growing at a staggering rate. 2~· years ago here in the San J:i'rancisco Bay Area we estimated our growth to be six--fold per year. That I s almost doubling every three months. Now, with the media fully awA.re of us, our already explosive growth rate is accelerating. A lot of neople are pushine: 1 Gause tht:y know it I s getting big and they want a piece of the action. I I ve got letters from four different people all wanting us to givo them bunches of information so they can write books to make them money and furt.hjr ac0elerate our growth. We are growing fast enough! And we surely don't need four more non-flying experts! Actually, I can live with more, non--flying experts. flying designers who scare me to death.

It's the non-flying or limited-

Design change should be made slowly, a step at a time, with understanding. (Anyone want to order a set of "preliminary plans" as advertised in the last Ground Skimmer?) I feel anyone should be able to put together and try to fly anything. But, morally, no one should sell plans, kits, or complete kites of any design that hasn't been flown and tested thoroughly by the designer. Anything could fly and/or crash with safety at Playa del hey, but Playa del Hey is over and most areas have nothing anywhere near as perfect-gentle and forgiving. Designs in question are sometimes complimented by grossly· unsafo hardware. Does his life depend on the hardware he calls out for you? Would you buy a surfboard designed and tested in Montana? Is your designer re~i.l.ly a designer? • • • a flier? I recently got a report on a new kite advertised in GS. The report I got said it had never been 100 feet above the ground. When asked about its handling characteristics, the designer-who doesn't fly much-wasn't able to say anything that made any sense. Buyer'bewaret To quote Dave Kilbourne: "There appears to be two distinct types of Rogalio pilots • • • Those who feel they must be natural born fliers and those who marvel .at the inherent stability of the standard Hogallo." Make sure that t.he designer of your craft is one of the latter. And make sure he flys it himself. I really don I t know. how the newcomer Lo ,mppQsed to know any o.f this. He. shouldn I t have to. We don't want to be regulated to death, but i t will happen in the design and manufacturing fiflld if those that have joined us don't become more responsible.

Enough said • • • OK'?

- 12 -

Rich Kilbourne Kilbourne Sport Special ties Box fl326 Stanford, California 94305

GS,

5-73

doug morgan

fly the exciting SEAGULL 111 The SEAGULL 111 is a totally new concept in Rogol lo Wing soaring . Designed from th e outset to offer ma xi mum soorobility in a weight-s hift c ontrol glider. This machine is not on adaptation of post NASA research, but is a development of our own fourteen month s tudy into canopy shape. Our comber-control* leading edge provides high lift / drag improvements without the pitch instability evident in NASA type cylindrical wings. It hos the some construction and portability as most Rogol lo glider s; the major visible difference is the machine-bent leading edge spars. Watch the slow, stable flight of this glider and you will realize what hong gliding con really be like.

We believe our aircraft and components to be the finest in the realm of ultralight flight. Our staff includes two graduate aerospace engineers and a yacht racing soilmaker . We ore continuously researching material and aerodynamic improvements . Please write or visit. We will discuss any flight or design problem you may hove, • pat ent applied for

---- SEAGULL AIRCRAFT

1554 5th Street, Santo Monica, California, 90406, 213-394-4579

Photo by George Uveges The Waterman & Seagull "Flyer" production prototype taking shape in the Seagull Aircraft shop in Santa Monica, Calif. This is a 1910 design developed by Waldo Waterman, modified for portability and safety considerations. First public showing will be at the July 21-22nd Otto Lilienthal Meet at Escape Country, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. Span is 26', wing area 216 sq. ft., and weight is 70 lb. The design features elevator control and interplane spoilers (not shown) hinged on the diagonal to give both roll and yaw simultaneously. Plans for the design ~re available from Seagull Aircraft for $5 and kits are scheduled for later.

Another new flying- wing design, this one by Chuck Hollinger of Costa Mesa, California, shown here with the wing assembled prior to covering. Uncovered weight is 58 lb., span 28', wing area 170 sq. ft., aspect ratio 4.6, and airfoil is a modified NACA 15% section. Wing panels disassemble from a center section about three feet wide. Wing has three aluminum-tube spat\S", ~" foamcore ribs and 1/8" foam-core leading edge covering. Control handle operates elevens and rudders.

Doug Carmichael with his "Home Grown I" (HG-1), a design/construction project he completed while at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Wing span is 32', chord 4', area 128 sq. ft., aspect ratio 8, weight 63 lb., and assembly time is 15 minutes. He had made one glide of 50' in late May but had to make a trailer before flying it again.

GS, 5-73

PHAC'I'ICJ L EXPrRnu::;tTTS T

SDA.HTlTG.

Ot Io L:LU :nth: 1

L; ,' r: 1_ c 1, i:-1 ,_ r' orn :.:n Dl d (E tor 1 ,3 i-f ot, : n :\;;;1:n•:, cJ:L:c:: 0,·r ·! bJ Brue, CL~r·1icL:.ol, whi.ch c:t: t r1 tl r'.t it i,; t.rrJJ[;lr'. t d ;J),1trnct of • ywp,_r i.'rur, Prom. tL us, /:Jo. ;~2c, Hl9J, Vol. V.) 1

nts in f'lyin~ were bccun with grc:~ c~ution. ·1

w.rc nrd:: fr,rn;1 "gr~~,,:~: plot in

g f'ct' cl.on upon wh lch, r.t .'

·i, t

of 1 n, t, r

own

fror:1 the ground, J

hrd erect d n .'spr1ngbor,.rd, Cr,or·1 whlch the l 0

1:1.y

:,p

,, : il ing

1th

the

C,Lr.

.lly lncr ~.s, rJ the h,:igh t 1

of ;')1 rl

bor'.rd to

\Ji.tho u.t (~ o.n;: ·;r er I) 3 ~)

I th n H,nt to

The, r •·· ~1.cL:rs of PP.OJlL'.CLED::~ 8 :· J. <JC t J. 0 n

p:1 c:

rrr1c.ind,t

of the su1,ll'.1,r

01·

d of the

;;round Hldch .. nr.bL.d n

incc ny

rmc3 20S of th:is Journc.1) h:·.,;

GS, 5-73

lt'.13t

pu.blicr·tion

F o.

20L1-

u.ff:i.c·d to br,inc; th sr

- 15 -

tnrmination nnd to d:i.spose of ~~omc important quoDtiorw as to trrn possible results. Indulging in subt:U.c inquir ic:c and theol'.' izing docs not promote ou.r knowlodgn of flying, r:or

c::11

t 11e E:1'im,,1e obser·vation of naturo.l

flight, as UfJefuJ. ,\S :Lt r:H,f be, tranciform men lnto flying be5.ngs, although it mny r~:1.ve us hints '.Jufr1ting t01,.,r:a.l'.'ds the accomplishment of our purpose.

1,.fe :Jee buzzards .l'.'3.S8 sk:fitJ[crd without any ::iotion

of their wings~ we obs eJ'Vf

h0v1

the s corks :1.ntormingle In tho

flock with outspro2d wings and in beautiful spirals; we see, high up in the 8.ir>, the pir-atical falcon '.Ln quest of booty renwin

stationary in the wi.nd for r,1inutes at c, time.

Wn l'.'ecognize

every spot on his brownish plum,,go, but vrn d.o not porceivo the lecst exertion

01~

his wings to maintain h:1.s statlonnr-y po,:;ltion,

and thiEJ small bi.rd of prey i::i not in tho least c0ncorned r::.t ou.r pr• ns one e .

Ho reciproc;_;~tcd the protection secu.rcd for h:i.m cdnco

Brehm and other ncturalists hnve pointcr3. out his u:Jc::ifulnoss by

and, seizing a e;.ras.':hopper•, we s.gcin E,<,~n hirn meters Gbov0 our heads without heving detected ~h'; le~~~:t flapp'Lng of his wings during the entire perfor~ence. We no tic o th2t cons ts.nt chonges

l~ e

c;o ing on in the fopc e of

the wind, but the f&lcon duos not alter- his position by a single inch, although h['ving already begun devouring his prey, he can give but divided attention to his flight.

Now ho bends his head

nownward m d bo.ckwo..rd, so thr,t thE; world below mU[,t appear to him inverted, nnd evidently enjoys eating the insect as his talons

- 16 -

GS, 5-73

lcj_sQr0ly ylluck it to p1ccc3,

In the position in ~id-~ir

(which is

,aaintr:inccl ov,:n c1urine; this c-:);:,nluyr:1c:nt) ho c. pl1ei:i.rs 1:'Lkc c. n r:utorooted in tho ·rind.

!~E,ton

Just the, j_":,int8.:t bnl1tncir1[ r1otion,

etpp8.rently :Jerv5_ng to cor:1pens:_,tr, fnr tho :Lrroguleritlc;s of the wind,

is perccpt:i.111,, :1n the e;~trc11c pointci of hi~~ wings, uhich

nrc ,Jlightly inclin cl 11:ck,1:T'r°s,

f['h:L:o poi'.:ie of the falcon Ln mid-r:lr, 11htch r·:")pc,rs to 1m

o. dofinnce to th the r.1ost rnt:1Jtrkr·b

L,i,r of gr,v5ty, nuy bo considered not only J

but : lso the

10,Jt J.nstruct

cxc2.11pl c of

fl j_ght.

In observing tho mnjostic, circulcr souring of other nerinl trc1vel]ers, onE; cirn pccrHly !lolicwc, thr't Lhosc ::k:Lllful wing [trtistri undor;3tnnd hou to p_rofit by· tr,e porlocHc cur1·onts of tho r.ir, r:mcl in dc~icrihing spirr,ls im0 tinc!ivc;ly trcnsfOI'l:1 the forcc3 of tho oppo.sing cur,,·,ent::-; of :::d1° t,:to lifttng o.r suspen,dve po,,-rnr; but when tho bird 5 :.r ithout the 1 on:-3 t nov or1, nt u:f hi::~ w inp)J 9 r um1.:dns

stc.t:,onnry in one point oi" the '-iky,

hie

tFrnce of c, peculirtr fo_rt1 of surfr,c

:rhicl1

l 1r,:.:

d to :'Lnf,,r the:

<oXltl-

bo hold suspended

by tho 2,pplic at ion of a unifort:1J.y ,1oving wind. While the existence of this possibility may be demonstrated by element8I'.y oxper:Lrrnnts, this doos not discovnr the secret of SOD.ring, end though nnturc conclusivnly d0r:-;,.onstri.tes thi:t it can not be tho wu1t of po,,-rnr th[~t prevents our flylnr:~~' clone docs not provide us with wings.

thnt knowledge

Fu.rtho.rnor e, wh:lle

nr.turC? points out how it :Ls done;, thnt docs not necess,orily

GS ,

5- 73

- 17 -

imply thc'-t there nny not be found other ways or menns of doing However wr

it.

m~'Y theorize on the subject, without ~, prD,.ctic?.l

nppllcrt, 'Jn of th;J tr1;ory, th5ngs will r·emrdn unclu.rnn;od :nd our fl ie:ht w :LJ.l only b r

in 1-.mr{, in; ti on o , in dr c, Llms.

My experinents, thon, should form step from theory to prr.ctice.

tr:rnsition, the first

Like others, I too have, in the

beginning, c,ttempted using i:tn.cl.,lno:::i with movc.ble wings, but tl is does not rpparontly ::dd ln the development of r.n r,rt of flight. The 10.rk is too high and not i T1edintc:1.y ntt:.inr,ble, end onc 1 s ,r:mb l t ion should b o fulJ.y s ct Ls f ied by wi th,s tan ding the: winc1 with wings of the size adapted to flying men. rislng from th0 ground 1:'cnd

Each flight demnnds s

landing_; the fort:1cn• is c.s difficult

constructed appc..rr:ctus, the r,rt of both wilk h[,Vo to be D.cquirod just as the child leerns to stu1d and to W[clk.

Anyone desirous

of exposing himself unnocensarlly to d2nger and of ruining in 2

few seconds the C['..rofully construct d r·.ppur•c.tus noc-::d only

ox.pose his r:iachino to the 'v'lin l without h2.ving familiarizud himself with its ru,.rwgcment, nnd ho will soon know whc'.t it means to control c,n appe.rutus

)f from 10 to

15 squo.re meters in

aren, whore other people cnn but with difficulty r:w.no.ge nn open umbrella. rro Etll those who, by their own cxpe_riencc or otherwise, cr.n form n correct lden of tho difficulties thnt present thomsolv0s, the ins tnntanoo us photographs by J\1r. Alexr\ndor Kt: nj ews ky, accompanying this paper, may be of interest. - 18 -

(Photos not reproducible for GS.) GS, 5-73

In cantinuution of ny formerly published • t l onu,'1 Cl fc?VOr "\·.JJ.·; .1 ovary now trinl to gnin more complete control ovor

h~·vn clrc:·dy :c:,uccor.dnd 'Ln t:t ler·.:ot t

or·r.rily- pctrining r·. uni-

fer r1 lcvo1 end cvcm 'in rcc.1:dning stc.t:I.orn:ry in the wind foC'

fuw seconds. the c~nter of grnvity, hss compo1lod me

controlled by shifti

to avoid stPODG brGuZ s, which howcvup m5ght prcsuCT2bly hnvo r.idod in socu.rinri; n str~tlor i.:._r::r position. 1

During my continued

inc.rcr~so J.n the force: of the 1,ind vJhi_ch either cc.rricd me upwnrd nlmost perpondiculerly or supported. me in [: stc.tionnry nosition for u few seco~ds to tho great delight of tho spcctntors. fr e ndotil fr om c.c c idcntc; in thcs "' o.ppnr cntly ckr lng r1tt cnpts

b~ considered proof th~t the appcratus nlreadJ described

ofi'ors cimplc socurity· in crrr 'I'o U-rnse hrho, fror1: incroas ed oxt ,mt end over the nppr,rn.tu:3,

ng out

plnn of invustig~tion.

i:J.oclcc,t beginning cmd Fitb grf durJ.l/ 0

l cv rt :LCJ :1 of f:Li.ght Lrv c g n:Lncd full control

it is not in th

lcnst dt'.nge.rou:1

to cr·os~,

dnop o.nrl bror:.c'i rr;vinor::.

It is

difficult tnsk to convey to one who h&s never onjoyod

n)rial flight ,:,_ clct r p: rc,~ption of the ::zhilar[ t/Lng plcr,.surc 1

of this elastic motion.

Thr~ , lc-vr'.t:'Lur nbovc: the ground

c.-iure dependcnc(, mny be plr:::.cc"1 upon the buoy-ency of the r~ir. Gr: dur,J_ incrcnsc of thEl nxt~:n t of those lofty lcrp[, f'ccustoms

GS,

5-73

.. 19 -

the eye to look unconcernf;,-1 1.v upon the; lan(scai)e ·below.

l.'O

th 8

'l'lountain c lirn,)er the unco···f orta;)le sensation ex per-ieJ1ced in

trustin" his 10ot into t'1e 13lip,_)e:c1,1 n2tc'.1 cut L1 the ice or to

the 1rost terrifv:i_i1'· nature 1 -,:,1,y oJ'ten ten--'! to leE:f..::en the 2n;joy-

?:co r

-1-- c; -- V ·~'

wL1'"·s of a well-testeci flvi;1c ,·.-achi1e, •· 1 hic_;1,

t.'w 0 2 pt'.1 be low,

1ioldi11:: to t:1e

air anc~ ::::u;)porteri onl~r 1)~' the ·rinc~, a feelin - _ of absolute safety 1

soo:1 overco· ·es that cif ,1an·. e :r·, 0

ne 1·1ho has al r.early ;1ractice<1 strair ht fl.i )1tE: i:or so1;e tiue will naturally endeavor to next ~uide his ap)aratus 1n a lateral rlirection, an.rl i_nr1 eec' there is not:1in,, easier than the

·uiclin -,-

..__,

of "Tavity. the5r functi:Jn 1)e5n-·· to lree;) t:1.c: t;achir12 facin ·- the wine!.

-,~·urin'; a "::tron" breeze a sinuous line of fli.·.ht result'.-':i frorr. the te •90rarv sup0ort ·iven ~Y the win~ at ti~cs (rise and dip).

however

eY per iencer1

in soar in'· hi )1. up in the air, rockin2: above

sunnv slopes without jar or noise, acconpanied only by the .. 2 0 -

wlr:_s oi" the 2pp,U'.'ntus, :L:1 woll worth the

nu:::ic issuing fro;: lr:bor given to the

tr:.sk of bccOl'.1-ing ·-:.n ,:~pc.rt.

It dor;Et not. soc:·1 r:t 211 fr 1 pocL':.Jblr· th'.::ci~ the continun.nco of such flights r:wy lcr,d to fl·uo, continuous srdling in r,g:i.t.:'.tcd r:.i.r. furnish an

in die r,t ion of

cndont horizont~l flir~t. Th,·: solution of thi~.1 prob]_, m, hm1 Ve'· Houlcl

of tho present ::.rticl, J

r nd

I content

n: ~iil~r bu

conditionf:l of n i::totor ct'.n

d i:hc nu.rpo'rn

:Yee

Lf' by ~,tr.ting th:1-t the

1:1c·t, ,:uppo.s:1.ng tlirt the

propelling r:1cchn.nic3m hc,,J b c en properly cho,J en, r,nd thr,t ,xtror-

'11 hc

lntcrc::_1ts 0f the profcr1;1iorH\l flight-osr;nycr cLnr,nd

fw:thcr cxporir.1cn-c,:: :Ln p.rc'.ctic:J. flight r).fi':'Lc L·nc y.

But even to thos:

r·, 1;1.c,ms ,)f spo.rt,

the

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1:.s

r,lrcr,dy obtcin,;d, oppcr tunitic·s nrc

offer cd to p.ro 1·10tc the intc,~. r,;t of tho p.roblcn of flight ,n d Urn 1,J

for.". uorc., rcc.dy !)ro~,ccution c):f ';hi. r,utjcct. The time hr.s pr·scic.d 1

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Ii'

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hopn thct oW'.' n.cronautic public·.tionf, 1:.rc "V' ntui ll.y to be tc,kcn 1

sc.r:ious1y by thi:) rH:.jority of thos:: r1kilJcd in r.lli cJ ~3Ubjccts, :it

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intc.rc st of thcx1 c

whose nc:tW:al concern thir1 gr··c,t p.roblcn rhoulc:J be, but who now

;:1hrug thr.:,ir shoulders.

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some ppncticc.1 results, C'.nc1 tmH'.rds these

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.st cp. GS,

5-73

- 21 -

"THE HOMEBUILDER DISCOVERS WIRES" (Concluded from page 4) Also, never place the turnbuckles on the lower wires, always on the uppers, because there have been recent instances of turnbuckle failing. When the turnbuckle is tightened down, there should be no exposed threads outside the center portion of the device. Full holding power is achieved when all threads are seated into the center barrel. I hope that this has answered some of the more common questions which the first-time homebuilder has regarding the rigging of his kite. If you have questions, don't be afraid t.o call someone and ask. Remember, tightly-rigged wires may someday save your life when you suddenly hit the dreaded Kite-crunching GUST.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Argosy, June, 1973, pp. 46-49, 84, plus cover photo of Quicksilver. "You Can Soar Like a Bird," by Jim Spurgeon. Res,llt: SCHGA more than doubled its membershipi Engineering and Science, May, 1973, ppo 9-13., plus cover photo. "High-Flying Freshman," all about Taras Kiceni.uk, Jr., now at Caltech, flying his Icarus II. Evening Outlook (Santa Monica, Calif.) TV Week supplement, p. 10, one column of photos advertising Taras Kiceniuk vs appearance on June 15th ABC News special. Foote Prints, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1973, ppo 11-17. "Man-Powered Flight," by Ralph S. Barnaby. Published by Foote Mineral Co., Rte. 100, Exton, Pao 19341. Ford Times, Jan., 1973, pp. 2-7. "Return of the Hang Glider," by Don Dwiggins. Inner Circle, May/June, 1973, pp. 3-5, plus cover photo. "Hang Gliding," by Wayne Thoms. Published by United Delco Div. of GMC, 17390 w. 8-Mile Rd., Southfield, Mich. Pasadena Union, May 21+, 1973. Full page article with photos of Taras Kiceniuk/Icarus II. Pilot, April, 1973, pp. 16-23, plus cover photo. "On Gossamer Wings," by David Esler. Excellent illustrated article on hang gliders in a British magazine. Surfer, June/July, 1973, pp. 84-85. "Sky Surfing Air Waves," by Roy Hooper. Hang Ten, Vol. 1, No. 2. Article on hang gliders, plus cover photo. 50¢/copy, from Hang Ten Int'l., Box 1028, Dana Point, Calif. 92629. STAFF CREDIT Persons who have helped the Editor produce GROUND SKIMMER: Collate Dec. issue, Russ and Carol, Jr., Velderrain. Collate Jan.-April issue, Bill Allen, Nick Daffern, Clara Fernandez, Bruce, Max and Rose Marie Licher, Bob McCord, Varley Norton, Mark Schwinge, Carol Velderrain, Jr. & Sr. May issue typists, Bill Allen, Judy Felts, Mike Remenih and John White; fold covers, Rose Marie Licher, Bertha Ryan and the two Carol VeJ.derrains; mimeographing, Max Licher. PRESIDENTVS REPORT (Concluded from page 2) Kremer Prize Increased. From f,10, 000 to f,50, 000, or over $125, 0001 For first flight by a man-powered aircraft around a figure-8 course, pylons !-mile apart• GROUND SKIMMER Index for 1972 issues is available for 2C¢ from SCHGA, 12536 Woodbine St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90066. Compiler/typist was Mike Remenih. Correction. Issue nwnber in the Jan.-April GS should have read 9 instead of 8. Midwest Hand Glider Assn. is being promoted by Al Signiorino, 11959 Glenvalley Dr., Maryland Hts., Mo. 63043. Send a stamped, addressed envelope to him for latest news and to get on a mailing list. Several ships flying now, others in the works. Tactile Flight Meet a Suceess. First report on July 1st Meet near Kittyhawk, N.C., came from AP reporter Jurate Kazickas who said 30 ships showed, mostly Rogallos. Wind was poor, about 10 mph from the west, parallel to the dunes. Longest flight was in a new Icarus II tested by Tbm Peghiny, about 1 minute. AP story on Meet was released July Jrd. CBS filmed i t for Saturday Night Sports. Calif. was represented. - 22 -

GS, 5-73

DID

you

••• that hang gliding is a natural sister sport for skiers, surfers, and motorcycle buffs? That it probably takes less balance and coordination than either skiing or surfing, and is no more dangerous?

••• that hang gliding, which may come to be c alled "skysurfing", could easily become the fastest growing sport in the country in the next couple of years?

••• that hang gliding can be enjoyed in all fifty states, whereas skiing and surfing are limited to a handful of states?

••• that the necessary equipment for hang gliding costs less than modest gear for dirt biking or the best gear for skiing?

••• that the future of hang gliding will inevitably depend on our accident rate and the manner in which we deal with property owners, police, and government agencies regulating aircraft? That most police are friendly to the sport and the Federal Aviation Agency probably won't exercise jurisdiction unless we force them to?

••• that if the F.A.A. does take jurisdiction over the new sport, most "home-made'' or "kit" hang gliders will probably not meet the inevitable Federal standards, and the cost of commerciallymanufactured kites will probably go up?

••• that a majority of the kite flyers in the U.S. who have so a red for an hour or more belong to the SPORT KITES flying team and now fly WILLS WINGS?

••• that the SPORT KITES flying team goes out on training and "fun" flying sessions at least twice a week?

••• that despite a threatened price increase for top quality rolled, anodized aluminum tubing and top grade dacron, SPORT KITES can still deliver a perfectly balanced Rogallo with customized sail design within ten days? SPORT KITES, INC. 1202-C East Walnut Santa Ana, Calif. 92701 Phones,

Bob Wills teaching with his tandem kite

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THE BIBLE REAL BIRDMEN HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR Here's the whole story on the principles and practice of building a nd flying Hang Gliders. The emphasis is on the popular Rogallo Wing, using Kilbo plans and Author Herman Rice takes the beginner through the whole proce dure in acquiring materials, proper construction, safety and flying of this exciting Delta wing glider. l[l] The book, com81ete with plans, is yours for a $5,0 check mailed to: True Flight, Dept.GS,1719 Hillsdale Avenue, San Jose, California 95124 Ppd.

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GS, 5-73

WHI\T 1 S UP~

Column by W.A .Allen

(Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of this publication.) lvlUJAVE DE'.5ti;RT l!!ith the problems of finding L'lyim: sites in the Los /1.n,_;eles area, it appears that one of the solutions for enthusiasts in that nrea may be to go the way of sailplane activities. That is, to move out to the Great Mojave Desert. Most people in southern California know about the 1'Palmdale site, 11 also known as 11 Delta Hill. 11 This is not in the desert but rather in the border'ing San Gabriel Mountains six miles south of Palmdale. But outside of this location in Soledad Pass, only limi kid exploring has been done in the nearby hills and out in the desert itself. Lloyd Short is a dune buggy enthusiast who has used his desert experience to find flying sites for his Rogallo, His favorite spot seems to be Dumont Dunes north of Baker, California, and he wants to share the ~,i te. From most of the Los Angeles area, the quickest way out .is to take Inte::'.'statA 10 east to I-15, which you take north through Barstow to Baker. When you reach Baker on l·-1 S, take the off ramp into town and go to the first signal. Here you turn left ( north) on California 127 toward Shoshone, Now watch the handy mile markers until you reach JJ!ile 33, after which you have to slow down and watch for a side road on the right. If you reach Mile JL1-, you have gone too far. Back up about 20 feet and look .for a sign saying_, 11 This is your desert, help keep it clean. n This is next to a rough road which was once paved but now is broken up. Take it for approximately .five miles. As your odometer cranks up 'to 5 miles, watch on the right for another road across a stream bed (usually with some water in it in winter) in a gulley. Cross the gulley and go about one mile toward some large sand dunes. There is a tr camp 11 here which is popular with ci1me buggy people. And there are high sand dunes (three to four hundred feet) and low ones, facing in many directions and all made of soft sand. The land apparently is government owned and has been used without restriction by the public for years, according to Lloyd. Some notes: It takes over three hours to get to just Baker from L.A., so you might as well come prepared to camp. Include a good first aid kit with your equipment. There are no facilities at the tr camp, 11 except for an occassional bush, and l\JO water. Lloyd has been flying here for about six months now, but expects desert heat by July to practically prevent flying during mid day. Dune buggy people~ according to Lloyd, are eager to watch and to help hang glider people,. You will need help, too, to get to the top of the high dunes. Lloyd feels that the dunes are the result of a mixing bowl effect with the wind, bringing sand from all directions and trapping it here. This is a clue to wary hang glider pilots: the wind can and does come from all directions. Also, the wind flow over and between the dunes can cause tricky currents. And in hot weather, desert air becomes very unstable by 11 AM, causing strong bubbles of hot air (thermals) to break away from the ground. Lloyd and his wife, Laurie !3hort, live in Pasadena ( ( 213) J51-82L4), and, along with their flying partners, Bob and Judy Harold (JJ0-3779), will be happy to help other pilots to share their flying sites. Th&have used another spot (Devil 1 s Playground) near Kelso, southeast of Baker, and have another in mind down towards the Sal ton Sea. During the summer, though, they expect to spend more of their time at Pismo Beach on th0, cool Pacific coast, between San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria.

GS, 5-73

(continued)

- 25 -

WHAT'S UP (continued) EU:rnKA, A FLYING SITE!

From near Eureka~ California, comes word of some activity on a 150-foot sand dune near Petrolia. Flights are across a county road ( 'f) down to the beach. People interested in that area might contact my brother, nThe Woodsman, 11 Norman Allen, P.O. Box 67f3, Arcata, California 95521. J,.ij~DL IL '.L :HTI ONS

The 21 March 1973 Pacific coast ndition of ThE, 111/all ~3treet ,Journal carried on its front page a small i tern entitled 11 Too Good to be Trt1e: Flying 3. kite is taxing after all, an engineer learns." It reports that the unnamed designer ( undoubtE:,dly Dr. Francis Rogallo) was awarded :iU5, 000 by NASA for developing the parav;ing. Thi['l he supposedly took in place of royalties. Although such achievement awards from the government are normally tax free, the government ( IHS) won .a claim to tax the cmard after two court battles. Alaska magazine in its May, 1973, issue shows a picture of a Ray Morris, 42, complete with skis and ski goggles, flying his 16-foot lfogalio from Mount Alyeska. 1\.t that time he was reportedly flying from the top of a chairlift down to a lodge two miles away and 1,800 feet below. Newsweek in its 23 April 1973 issue shows a picture of a 20-foot Hogallo being flown with smoke cannisters on the wing tips. The pilot, only identified as "Kiteman," is wearing a pair of water skis, and is pictured launching from a ramp on the third deck of the Philadelphia Phillie's baseball stadium. The object of the flight is·to reach home plate, but reportedly on one attempt winds forced him down in left field. THERMAL SNIFFING 1973 may be ''the year of the thermal. 11 Bob Wills, Chris Price, Dave Cronk, and Dave and Rich Kilbourne have been experiencing thermal updrafts this spring while f.lying their Rogallos and have been trying to work out techniques to find and use this type of lift. Dave Kilbourne notes that in condit:i.ons where thermals are marked by puffy cumulus clouds, a pi.lot in the prone position under a Rogallo wing will have a difficult time looking up at these clouds. But he found it easy to look down at and aim.. for the cloud shadows. Sailplanes have used thermals to fly long distances across country, and it is only a matter of time until hang gliders start doing the same. Dave has already had the experience of meeting a sailplane using the same thermals as he was. Let's review some rules of the road: which Dave knew and had to use in this situation. First, a glider has the right of way over everything excP,pt a free baTuon, There is no ru.le on it, but I believe that a sailplane should have the right of way over a hang glider, especially in landing situations :c;uch a.s the conflict already found at Torrey Pines near San Die go. A sailplane is not as maneuverable as a hang glider . and its landing method is a lot more critical. Anyway, so much for opinion :1nd back to the rules (interpreted from federal Aviation Regulation n.67) • • • When approaching another aircraft head-on at nearly the same altitude, both pilots alter course to the right. If not head-on but still approaching each other, yield to the aircraft on the right. If overtaking another aircr8.ft, it has the right of way and the overtaking aircraft has to pass "well clear" to the right. 'I'he only exceptions to these rules are found in ridge soaring. One glider overtaking another on a ridge does so on the inside, between the ridge and the overtaken glider. This is because reversing (180°) turns are always done away from the ridgci. Ridge rules are not found in the FAR I s, but rather come from common sailplane practice. Also, gliders in the same thermal always· turn in the same direction, that set by the first one in i1e,.

- 26 -

(continued)

GS, 5-73

'i/HAT 'S UP! ( continued) YA CAN'T :1URF A HOGALLO There's a rumor that somebody 1Jlanded 11 j_n the ocean the other day and almost drowned while reviGwing the long cb,ck bst in my last c;nlumn. Dix Erickson was baptized into the skysurfer ':-:, surfing cl11b at Tor ranee County Bf:ach rece::ntly, and he points out that just keeping the nose out of the ·water is not cmough. If you let the tail down, waves get a second chance at you on the way out. Dix's i·:oeallo ., in fac L, v,as demolished by a wave on the rebound. He also came away critical about carabiners ( D--rinf;s) as a connection in the prone harness system. He reported a lot of difficulty in releasing from his kite in all of the c9nfusion of a water landing. Nl~h Q,:GAN D:A TIONS

CANADA-Willi Muller (Box 4063 Postal otation 11 c 11 , Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 5M9) is working on the idea of getting a Canadian hang glider associ:;tion started. He i:o one of Canada's most active Hogallo pilots. CJRti:GUN-Mike Moore ( 1729 La.bona Dr., Eugene, Oregon 97401) has helped form the Oregon Hang Gliding Association and is its first Vice President. OHGA put on a flying demonstration for the public and press at Cape Kiwanda near Lincoln City in early April. MORE: ON HIGH v:ums neferring to comments from Rich Kilbourne in my last column, Bob 1Nills has responded that it is possible to soar while flying in a full dive. He says he has done this while maintaining perhaps 2 MPH ground speed. He uses a technique of rocking his Eogallo to spill lift in order to penetrate through maximum wind into 8 calmer but c3oarable area of air flowing over a hill. He estimates that with his perfectly balanced kite flying with a swing seat that he has been able to fly successfully :i.n w:i_nds of up to about Lr0-!+5 MPH. This is with bat tens, which may or may not be of benefit in normal flying but which are an asset to advanced fliers in high winds. Bob Wills is one of the most advanced fliers in the air today and the previous :i.nformation is prec3ented academically more than as an example to follow. Two broken backs this c3pring show that flying in such high winds is taking on a high risk.

On oaturday, 19 lViay 1973, Bob iHills and Chris Price launched from Glacier Point and landed in a meadow on the floor of Yosemite VaLLey, ':'rying to escape attention, they drove in late the night before, v.rhen thr_:; entrance" booths are unmannea, and launched at 6 :30 AM, even before the sun had hit the valley floor. '.:iome early bird campers cooking breakfast had a real treat, and a large nmnber of rangers got to play hide and seek for tho rest of the day. Tho two pilots landc-')d and irnmedi:1tely folded up their Rogalloc3 and disappeared into the forest. Bob left the p,trk unnoticed that ni§_ht, but Chris t,ric-')d to drive out during the next day. The proud ranger who succeed in anrehending a real hang glider pilot wac3 more concerned, hov:ever, about any commercial filming than about the flying itE,elf. Besides, there is no rule (yet) against this type of activity, and Chris was let go. Chris Price was caught a while back in Death Valley, too, and was told that he would have to seek permission for any further flying. Trying to play the game straight, he formally requested a Special Use Permit. This is what he received in response:

GS, 5-73

( continued)

- 27 -

lhHA'r 'S

UP! ( continued)

Dear Mr. Price: Thank you for your recent letter expressing your group's desire to obtain a Special Us0) Fermi t for flying your kites off Dantes View. I am sorry, but we do not consider such use appropriate for a natural area within the National Park System, and your request must be denied. Other areas exist near Death Valley that are suitable for your use and you may wish to give them careful consideration. We hold no prejudice against your chosen form of outdoor recreation, but find it distracting from the natural, historical, and scenic features for which Death Valley National Monument was established in 1933. Sincerely, Harold E. Thompson Chief. Park Ranger Death Valley National Monument Death·Valley, California 92328 Meanwhile, Willi Muller reports that he and others 1'have been allowed to fly freely in the ( Canadian) National Parks. 11 In California flying was being done in at least one state park until a herd of spectators one busy weekend got out of hand in January of this year. Rangers then dug out a regulation forbidding aircraft from landing and taking off in California state parks. Rich Kilbourne recently participated in a discussion with park officials in Sacramento and felt that he received an open and interested hearing, although no favorable decision has resulted as yet. ACCIDi:iJrJ: SURVEY For my purposes' of definition, an 11accidentl 1 is an incident involving structural failure of a hang glider in air, . or resulting in injury requiring professional medical attention, or resulting in fatal injury. I started out trying to establish some statistics on hang glider accidents, both to identify problem areas and to have good information with which to respond to the critics of our sport. I hate to say it, but I haven't been able to keep up with numerous reports and rumors about bone breaks. Most of these have been in Rogallo flying, but·then most flying is in Rogallos. Overconfidence and poor selection of flying sites appear to be the main problems. Now that high spring winds have left, there seems to be a corresponding decrease in accidents. There have been two reported boat tow fatalities this spring, one in Florida and the other in Europe. No other details. And therr:l have been two foot-launch fatalities this year. One reportedly happened with a bamboo Hogallo flying from a JOO-foot launching point in Canada in late May. Details here are not certain. The other fatality happened in Utah on 2 May 1973. Some of the details are confused, but reportedly the pilot was Verl Gleed, 26, flying from a 2,000-foot ridge. Although low in experience, he had been flying from sites up to 300 feet high and this fli,ght was his second from the 2,000foot site, He was flying a kite he had bought used. It was built from Kilbo plans in Low & Slow and had a Sail Forms Dacron sail. It had had many, many successful flights since late 1972. Reportedly the pilot either dove all the way into the ground or started a normal flight and entered into a dive during the last several hundred feet (reports conflict). The kite survived intact, the pilot was killed instantly. There was an indication of heart attack, but I have heard no results from an autopsy, if one was held. There is a possibili t;,y that the victim was caught by 'tliving syndrome • 11 This - 28 -

(continued)

GS, 5-73

Photos on this page were taken by W. A. Allen at the beach, Torrance, Calif.

Jim Diffenderfer makes his first flight with the Quicksilver, assisted by Dave Cronk.

Pete Brock making the best of a foggy birthday for Otto Lilienthal.

GS, 5-73

Pete Brock's son, Hall, age 9, flying a 12-ft. Rogallo built just special for his size. 29

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VJHAT ' S UP~ ( continued)

is where a pilot used to high ground sp e eds b e comes alarmt,d at the seemingly slow moving ground far below him and dives to g,'3 t it moving . This urge to dive is common to pilots making their first high flights . It should b," anticipated and fought. If a new pilot is emotionally upset e nough to be near pani c (h e isn 't r e ady for high flyi ng, obviously), it is possible for him to freeze and dive right into the ground . People giving instruction should watch out for signs ol' s uch up s,~ t in their students. Any real high flying should be done only with a kit e so f amili ar to the JiiloG that he can ily it without ground reference insofar as spe ed is conc ernud. An experienced pilot holds his Hogallo a t its best speed by listening to th e V!ing, by knowing exactly wher e to hold hi s body, and by referenc e to the horizon. (In soaring flight, ref'err-rnce to the horizon is not as usable due to gain in al tj_t,ude, and in soaring flight ground reference is impossible , to use.) Diving syndrome can also be attributed to a frightened beginners desire to get down to the ground as quickly as possible Although leveling out to land seems natural, it does not ah:ays occur to students and we see dive-ins often on training slopes . Recently an experienced Hogallo pilot soared for over one hour and then crashed while trying to land. Thi s resulted in a hairline fracture of a bone i n an arm . The probable analysis was fatigue. Flights of this type takes both physical and mental energy, and pilots making them have to anticipate some imp airment to their judgement by making careful landing dec i sions before trying to come in, if possible. Al so a long flight reduces blood flow and the pilot I s l egs may be 'asleep .11 SCHGA Flight Director, Kaz De Lisse, h as made the excellent observation that almost all serious accidents happen, not with the rickety, hardware-store variety of hang glide r, but with the best in equipment. And , further, few people h ave been injured due to a foot-launched glider of any type failing in air. The first alarming conclusion may be th a t the better the equipment, the more dangerous it is. Yet , on s e cond thought, it does seem to b e true in a way. Few peopl e, fortunahl.y, would fly an untrustworthy "rag-ollo" o.ff of anything highe r than they would wish to fall-not on th e ir first or 100th flight . But someone who has a good piece of flying equipment may be to o quick to trust it and too slow to realize his ovm limitations. 'i.'he new F' lexi Flie r owner who made his first flight of f of the JOO-foot cliff at Torrey Pines last month is an ext r eme example of s uch confidence (ove rconfidence) . And t h ere h ave been at least two cases now where a friend's arguments to try a kite fron a high site have overridden the better judgement of the pilot/owner . The novice fri end in one case got both a flight he will never forget and a helicopter ride to the hospital. Watch for overconfidence in yourself, and do not let it ge t th e b e tter of your camp anions, either . Fi: WBACK

Contributions of infom,ation to this column would bo appreciated, either to the Editor, Lloyd Lich er (1 2)36 Woodbine St ., .Los !1.nge ~e s, Calif . 9cn66): or directly to myself, Bill /\ llen (3908 Sepulveda Blvd . ,136, Culve r '. .: ity, CaLif. 90 230) . ENDii\lG \.! ITH A FL11. l-i.,:, Se en at Torrance County Beach: A large Hogallo built by Hobert Powers had some h eavy dut-y nose plates made of surplus metal. VJ alkin g by, my e ye was caught by some ~rinting on it which read, "BRA. CKJ~T , BOlvJl BAY Ri~CEPTACL/ S, Boeing Airplane Company, J-4-53." Seems that it was used in making bomb bay doors for B-52 1 s . One h e ars about hang gliders that are 11 bomb e rs," but really now • • . J_

'/}i-r

(the, phew, e nd) GS , 5-73

' / .:)3

- 31 -

CALENDAR OF EVENTS July 10, Tues., 7:30 P.M., SCHGA Directors? Meeting at home of Secretary Carol Velderrain, 4237 W. 160th St., Lawndale, phone 542-4153• Exit S. D. Fwy. @ Hawthorne. July 15, Sun., Meeting, FJ.ight Practice and Picnic by Mich. Assn. of Ultralight Flight, UFO - Detroit Chapter, 2 : 00 P.M., Pontiac Lake State Park, \illinter Sports Area, off Maceday Rd., north and west of Pontiac, Mich ., Airport. July 17, Tues., 7: JO P.M. , SCHGA Membership Meeting, DepL of Water & Power Auditorium, 111 N. Hope St. in downtown los Angeles , opposite Music Center. Park free at Gate 6. Colver Flying Wing to be on stage; panel of advanced fliers to answer questions. July 21-22, 3rd Annual Otto LilienthaJ UniversaJ Hang Gl i..der Championships, at Escape Country, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 50 mi. Sf~ o f Los Angeles. Exit San Diego Fwy, at El Toro Rd., go east 13 mi., 2 mi. past QVNeill Park. $1 for adults , 5C¢ age 6-12. July 21-22, Kite-Flying Tournament, sponsored by Vancouver , B.C., City Co uncil. Off water skiis using winch launches. Prizes : Trip to Europe: ~~500: ;rp200. Aug. 2, Thur., 7: 30 P.M., Meeting of the Ultralite Flyers Organization, Aerospace Musewn, 1649 El Prado , Balboa Park, San Diego, Calif . Aug. 1 4, Tue s. , 7: JO P.M., SCHGA Directors' Meeting, location to be announced later. Aug. 21, Tues., 7:30 P.M., SCHGA Membership Meeting, Dept. of Water & Power Auditorium, 111. N. Hope St., in downtown Los Angeles, opposite Music Center. Park fr~e@ Gate 6. Aug . 25-26, 3rd Annual John J. Montgomery Memorial Hang Glider Championships, site in San Diego area to be selected and announced. Large trophy pledged. Prize for best flight by a reasonable reproduction of Montgomery ' s 1883 hang glider. First trials for $1,500 prize for 1st authentic replica of Montgomery ' s glider to duplicate 1883 flt. Late Summer, Hang Glide r Fly-In in Washington State, dates and location to be announced . Contact Bill Joplin, Box 144, Monroe , Wash . 98272. phone (2C6) 794-7779. Late Summer, All-Day Seminar on Hang Gliders, to be cosponsored by Northrop Institute of Technology and SCHGA. Date and location in IDs Angeles area to be anno unced. Sept. 15-16, Hang Glider Flying Session and Get-Together near St. Louis, Mo., location to be announced. Contact Al Signiorino, 11959 Glenvalley Dr., Maryland Hts., Mo . 63043 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Cost for ads: $1. 00 per line (no charge to members selling personal items). HANG GLIDERS Cronkite 5 for sale. Poly sail . No splices. Successfully soared. Make offer. Mark Schwinge , 1331 Berea Plo, Pacific Pal isade s, Calif. 90272, phone (213) 454-8205. .. FOR SALE: 16-foot Eipper-F©Jrmance Rogallo kite. Good condition. Black and gold Dacron sail. Have to sell because it is embarrassing to fly a competitor's kite. ~tr partners said, 11 Sell it .n Asking ~p[.00. Kaz, c/ o Velderrain & Co., Box 1946, Hollywood, Calif. 90028, or c all (213) 467-7620. ICARUS II for sale , good condition; covered with two-tone blue Dacron. $2000 00. Chris Talbot-Jones, 1963 Rose Villa St. , Pasadena, Calif. 91107, ( 21 3) 7~2-5594, 681-6229. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES For Sale : New prone harness, nylon webbing, Velcro closures. Make offer . Mark Schwinge, 1331 Berea Pl., Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272, phone (213) 454-8205. Aluminum for sale: 6C61 T6 .049 x l!" in 18' and 20' lengthso Also frames ready built, 8 0 .00/frame , .80/ ft. for aluminuni.. Concepts, 1635 Superior Aveo , Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627. Phone ( 714) 548-4098. · MISCELLANEOUS Found ~ Prone harness in Norco areao Owner identify. Ford Walters, 17809 LaSalle , Gardena, Calif. 90248, phone (213) 327-8737• For Sale : 3-man Caravelle K 63 infl atable boat with oars, 2 life cushions , 1 child's life belt and foot pump. $JO. All in very good condition. Call Kaz , ( 213) 467-7620. - 32 -

GS, 5-73

P .0. Box 90762 Los Angeles, Calif. 90009

'* PRICb LIST~

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• COMINC, SOON·' 1.,J~:d A \..I\E>\.\ ASPECT, C.'ILINO~\CAL, eAgLE LEAD1r-tC::, EDGE, FUU: CONTROLS, (No WEIC»MT SlilF'T) . MONO WIN~ . ANO \T W\LL gR£~K.. vow~ iO P.... 5' PACtA~E:: WIT~ NO TOOLS . THE Pe1(E WILL 8EANNOUNC£D ON '<EG>UEST .'

PLANS ... FOR. FL~lN&WINb-32 PAC'::>t (MoC:JT coMPL~ SET 'foo g~"-' Ga)$ 7 §5?... FOR. voITTA-w,NG- PREL'""'~"u.~ PL...~S O~L" $ 2sf<>ft. FLE'i-WINb - Pt~U"" INARY PU\NS O"lL'I ~ 2 5 .9,..2. PARTS ... C.ONTR.OL &t\~ ~ K\Nb PC>c;T 1 30 ~ ASS[M BL~D ! TUBINb FOR. ... fLYINb· Wlt•JC, oe. PORiA·Wl~t. 1.\)1™ ou'f CCN'f~OL g~yt Of. k'..ltvb POST $ 75 e.9- PRE-COT.

GS, 5 - 73

MONTGOMERY

Blueprints now available for the Volmer Swingwing

GLIDER

PLANS

Champion at the Montgomery Meet, winner over 40 pilots - 25 gliders. * Has been soared for 42 minutes over a 34 '-high hill, 23°-slope, 17-mph * Takes off and lands in wind. 2 steps in a 15-mph wind. * Fully controllable in 3 axis. * World's first high-performance hang glider. Send $2. 00 for Literature - 3-view - color photo

VOLMER AIRCRAFT Box 5222 - Dept. GS Gl endale, Calif. 91201

190 5 '' Santa Clara" (Above) or 1883 Monoplane Complete 'How-To-Build-It• Drawings Either set, $5. Postpaid JIM SPURGEON 5590 MORRO WAY LA MESA, CALIF., 92041

SPECIAL~ Ray Ban Aviator Sunglasses. Gold-filled frame. Belt carrying case. G-15 Gray lenses. Reg. 21.00, now 18.00 ppd. 1be Great Classic "Stick &Rudder" Wolfgang Langewiesche. An analysis of the art of flying. 8.50 Hardcover Send check or money order. Cumberland Boot Company P.O. Box 415 Clarksville, Tenn. 37040

~ ~ 22" x 28" Poster above includes flapping flight information and membership in American Society Of Ornithopterists. Send $2.00 p.p. U.S.A. to: PTERYX MACHINE, Unit 7 7350 Atoll Avenue No. Hollywood Ca 91605

GS, 5-73

HANG GLIDING The basic handbook of skysurfing By Dan Poynter

Hang Gliding is th e first book devoted to the world's most exciting and fastest growing sport. Packed with information and illustrated with over 350 drawings and photographs, Hang Gliding is a book for everyone. Th is well written single information source will guide the novice in all phases of skysurfing, is a permanent reference for the builder, records everything which has been done in the sport to date and is simply just a lot of fun to read. Clear, consise, without wasting words, Poynter puts it all on paper once and for all. Here are just some of the topics covered : Foot, cliff, kite and ski launching. Flying both parallel bars and trapeze bars. Ridge, wave, thermal and dynamic soaring. Competition, accidents, public relations. The legal end; the FAA, park rangers and land owners. Complete description of all materials and a list of their sources. Constru ction details; working with fabrics, metals, wood, etc. Design criteria for the ultralight. Model lists: all the major hang gliders avail able today with their dimensions, performance data, construction details and, of course, the sou rce. And even the latest information on power; both man and machine.

If you have read Poynter's The Parachute Manual, you know his work. Hang Gliding is treated th e sa me way with the addition of the Launching and flying chapter. Not a set of plans Hang Gliding is, rather, th e cump let e How-to, where-to handbook of skysurfing featuring outstanding photography by George Uveges, Jack e uckley and many more. Hang Gliding will promote the safe development of the sport, its reading is a mu st tor th e novi ce, expert, designer and manufacturer. Just $4.95 Satisfaction Guaranteed

To :

Shipping Charges

HANG GLIDING 48G Walker Street North Quincy, MA 02171 USA

us Book Rate (3 weeks) :

.40

First Class ( 1 week) :

$1.30 Foreign

Surface :

$1 .50

Air : $5.50 Please make cheques payable in U.S. Funds. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ zip : _ _ __ _

Massachusetts residents please add .15 cents sales tax.

GS, 5-73

SKY SURFER MAGAZINE

S KYS UR F E R • • • Is a magazine written and published by skysurfers with an intense desire to keep you, our readers, informed about the world's fastest growing sport. Covers au.ah varied topics as: historical items, how to hints, technical tid bits, flying t&chniques, safety suggestions, and news articles. Keeps you posted on th& latest develapmenta in

the ultra-light aircraft f1eld, from simple kites to sophisticated manpowered airplanes. Is profusely illustrate.d with pictures and illustrations-.

Gives you all this, and more for only ~6.00/yr. $?.00/yr. foreign. Can be obtained from: SKYSURFER PUBLICATIONS P.O. Box 375 MarlboDo, Mass. 01752

SKYSURFER Subscription Form

Name(print) Subscriber Number Street ___ City_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Zip______ Phone ( ) Application Date _____ Age _____ Ocoupation_ _ _ __ 36

GS, 5-73

CEIPPER:J-cpORMAJ\{fE Post Offtce Box 246-GS, Lomita, California 90717, ( 21 3) 549-4420 or 775-308 7

The Quicksilver The Quicksilver has been called the "Genesis Machine" as it is the first of a new generation of hang gliders having better-than -Rogallo performance while staying reasonably close to Rogallo simplicity, portability, and easy handling. Designer Bob Lovejoy's first criterion was a mono· plane design which would fold up easily into a package fitting into a small van or onto a car top. Although it has less wing area than a Rogallo, the Quicksilver develops more lift and has a better glide aogle by virtue of its monoplane design and semi-rigid airfoil. With this performance and easy handling in the air, beginners must take care to learn on very gentle, low slopes. For instance, a hill suitable for Rogallo activity is usually much too steep and too high for Quicksilver training flights, and a new pilot could find himself easily higher than he would care to fall. We would like to suggest that new Quicksilver owners without previous flying experience might benefit to make their first flights with the Flexi Flier or Flexi Floater "standard Rogallos", which are widely used as trainers. ppd. $5.00

Quicksilver, Description of Construction, by Designer, Bob Lovejoy Quicksilver, Complete, Ready to Fly, including Acrilan storage cover & swing seat Colors available: red, yellow, gold, light blue, dark blue, green, lime green, purple, charcoal & white (custom pattern & swatches available on request)

white wing custom color wing

$850.00 880.00

Quicksilver, Kit, all materials needed to build, including the Description of Construction, 3/32" Nico swaging tool, Dacron wing, swing seat, and bent tail section tubes (does NOT include Acrilan storage cover) white wing custom color wing See complete catalogue (50¢) for part sets and parts prices. To make an order, please include your name, address, Zip Code, phone number, and nearest major airport. A 50% deposit is required on all orders (balance COD). Except where otherwise noted, shipment is FOB the factory in Carson, CA 90745. California residents, add 5% sales tax. All prices and specifications are subject to change without notice.

$495.00 525.00

\I I I

-,-

I I Il

The Ground Skimmer, No.10

BULK l<ATE U.S. POSTAGE

C/o SCHGA, Inc. 12536 WOODBINE S TREET LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 90066

PAID Perm i t No .

Inglewood ,

Cal if .

Return Postage Guaranteed

Address Correction Requested

ULTRALIGHT FLYING MACHINES BOX 59, CUPERTINO, CALIF. 95014

(408) 732·5463

...

• certified aircraft materials

• no part fabrication required

• detailed step by step instructions

• eliminates search for materials

• all parts included

• under 100 hour construction

• normal hand tool construdion

• simplified construction

ICARUS II KIT -$395.00 F.0.B. CUPERTINO

LESS FABRIC

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