USHGA Ground Skimmer June 1976 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

ONE DOLLAR

GROUAD

JUNE, 1976

A docile trainer and "sink machine." A "scooty" competitor meeting CIVL/USHGA/Harker standard class rules. Base priced $690 in both sizes. Two sE>mrms

3.5° billow, nose ~t0° billow, 90° nose

YOU can

a fic>bc:at

by W.A.Allen

Kestrel B has removed, expanding upper range even more and reducing at higher speeds. pitch stability and dive. recoverability retained with aid of center rib. Now officially available to advanced Hang··lll's. Two sizes, $850 and $940 base prices.

Attention &

P.O. Box 441-GF,

Whitman, Mass. 02382; (617) 447-3773 factory Ellington, Conn., (203)

Send for information kit (includes school list), $1.00. Or this packet free with your order from Sky Sports of Hang Gliding. $5.95 (200 pp., 350 illus., 300 info sources).

ANNOUNCING lark II, an improved economy model for beginners. Onebatten, slightly roached wing tip and 11/2-ft. cut keel. Safer and easier training than with old "std. Rogallos." Four sizes base priced $520-$600.

for winning VI-B slows it's time

and has proven it's excellent is breeze because of it's excellent to another thermal, the V/-B 's top

DELTA WING KITES

and

Inc.

13620 Saticoy Van N11ys, California 91408 PHONE: (213) 785-2474

ISSUE NO. 41 JUNE 1976

Gue~, Editor: C.1rol Price Artists: Robert English, K.i ren Torell & Bob Fiedler

EDITOR: Rich Grigsby LAYOUT & DESIGN: Mark Al lison EDITORIA L ASSISTANT: Sharon Gri gsby OFFICE STAFF MANAGER: CJrol Velderr,1,n Susan Bischof, Hedy Klcywcg, J,1nel MeyPr

GROUnD ,HlfflffllR fflAGAZlftE

USliGA OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Vern Round tree VICE PRESIDENT: John Lake SECRETARY: John Harris TREASURER : Ll oyd Li cher USHGA REGIONAL DIRECfORS REGION 1: Vern Round1ree, Gil Dodgen. RE GION 2: Lee Sterios. lohn Gr~ce.REGION 3: Lloyd Llcher. Dan Poyn1er, lohn Lake, Chris WI i is. REGION 4 : Don Bench. REG ION 5: Gary Osab,1. REG ION 6: Darry l Smith. REGION 7: Mike Zi as ka~. REG ION 8 : Tom Peghiny, Dan Chapman. REGION 9: Vic Powell . Ch uck Slusarcz_yk. REG ION 10: H,my Robb, John Harris. REGION I I : Dave Broyles . D IRECTORS -AT -LAR GE: REG ION I : B,11 John son . REGION 8: Al Mulazzi . REG ION 9: De nnis Pagen. REGION 11: John Wh il e. HONORARY D IRECTOR: Hugh Moreon. EX OFFICIO DIRECTOR of USI IGA as we are a d1v,s1011 of NAA: Genera l Brooke Allen.

CONSU M ER ADVI SORY: GROUND

SKIMMER and USHGA, Inc. do not endorse or take any responslbl lity for the products adve rtised or mentioned within these pages. Please consult the HMA or pilots and dealers In your area. GROUND SKIMMFR is pul>ll,lwtl for han~ )ll1din)l

CONTENTS 4.

ULTRA LI GHT CONVERSATION

16. 17. 18. 20. 20. 21. 23. 25.

W HO'S WHO! ROY HAGGARD TARAS KICEN IUK, JR. LARRY NEWMAN GEORGE FOLLMAN MIKE MILLER CHRIS W ILLS TOM PEGH INY CHARLI E BAUG HMAN

28.

THE CROWDED SKY by Kend all Ho pkins

37.

DESERT FLYING IN ARI ZONA by W . A. Roecker (Pork)

42.

GREECE, Part II by Chri s A. Will s

46.

HANG GLIDING POLO by Glen Adamo Reprinted from Aerie H ang Glid ing M agazine

47.

CARTOON by Karen Torell

52.

CALENDAR

57.

CLASSIFI ED ADVERTISIN G

,port en1lu1, ,~1,1, to crt•;Jlt• fmt I 11.:r 11Ht•rh,t i ,, tlw , port , Uc ,, mcJ1h of e..qJC1, <-<>nun 11n11 .111 on .md to ,,dv.111< c

h.1ng Hlid1nJ,;. methods dnd ,,1fely ComnhL1tu1n, .HP wdcome Anyone• " 1nvl 1ecl H> con1r1bute dtl1ch1.. , phow~ . .u,d 11lu,1,.-u,01h, c1ncC'mtng l1 ,lnggl1<hnK ,tc hv111c·,. H 1h r lll<clteri.11 1,; to h" n•tu1f'lc-•d, .1 \l,Jtrl1}(•d, ~clf·,H.td1 e,!ioC'd u:turn ('nv1\lop<· niusl he e otlo~t'(I. C RO UND ~KIMMER wservcs 1111· righ1 10 cd11 rnn, 1,, hu tiorh w~Wr•• ,wn,..._,._. ry , I hr A.,\ocl..11100 ,1ncl puhllc,11 ion do not ,J!l~ume rti:,11u1h1h1 l11y fot the m,11t.•rt,il or up1l'H011' ol u,n 111hutfir.., G ROUND SKIMMER i, published mon1hly hy tfw Umted St(1le'> 11,wg C licftng J\,;;o;c,n,lllon, Inc who-.e mtul111g Mfcl rc,, 1,; l'.0. Bux b6J0(>. l o, An~C'lt·\, <....1l1f (JO<H,(, ., nrl who~e 0H1cc:, J I'(' loc,11nl ,\I

......

I IJl l", Venic~ lllvd., Lo:, Angeles, C ol11 . 900(,6; 1eJE•pho,·w (1 1 O 190- W6S. "t•co11d~ll,1,,; po,tttgt.• i~ tMicJ JI Los Angel<·~. Ca l,f. CROUND SKIMM[R "

1,<intt>d by ~mclair l'rintrn~ & l 11ho, I\HMrnhra, (.:tltr. \uh~c11pl 1o n I, .1v.11 l.1hlc only,,.. p,HI of membe,~h,r

,n 1hc USHGA, J memher-t.un1tolll'il c·t luc:,i111on,il ,,nd ,ntoliri, or.~.tn11,111nn dedtcJIL•d 10 ••xptorin~ .,II f,.H:eh o l lu~llc,i;, ,pll-l.1 unc:hc1.J ullr..l1~ht (l,ghc.

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Me-mben.h1p 1) open W ,1rlyOfl C lnt("((',;l('rl in I ha-. rt:.•,llm ot fliAhL l)ue~ .ire 'S I O per yectr (1, 11 for 1<J1t~1Kn

.,rldre.,~e:,) 0 1 whi ch 1' ..t .ur dc-.;1Kn,1ted ror ~uh,(11pt1on 10 GROlJN O ~KIMMER. Ch,,n~t·~ o i ,1ddrc~-.. ,;hc)uld he ">t•nt ',I)( Wl..•eks in advMIC<~. includii1~ n,1me, USI tGI\ 1'n cinlx•f,h1p numhcr, prcvmus ,,nd new .1cl· cln,.-.,_.,, .i fld a m,ultn.tt l.1bel from ,l re<eul .-.::im•

-·

. ~ ~~~-

' •..,,: .

Th is prone fl yer launched from Sadd leback shortly before the cloud~ blocked the passage from 1he Peak to Escape Country. H ere he makes hi~ final approach before touching down on 1he target. Photo by Roger Schoener.

IL-L-LA~TR.ATION5

DEvo·r·Er::i

l:::,NTtf<::EL-Y

P1L.•.

llvFORMAT(Oi'J

SAFETY

111 FOi< 1'.HE BEG!i'Ji'JE:R PIL-OT - :SITE: SE:Ll::,CT"I Ors.>

- METEDROL-OGY -T+1EORY PRACTICE. PL.ANS 5T'Ef> l!!>Y STEP PROCEDLARES

'TLARtsJ

DE'SCRIPTIOl'-J!::,

f<:IDGE

SOA!c:lNG

1+-\ERMAL SOAR:t IVG CROSS Wl"-JD TAKE OFFS

111f-lAI-JG RATlt-JGS ILL-UIST. e FLIGHT 111

LOG 5HEET5

SAFETY CHECK'.

COPIES OF STUDENTS

MANUAL -~Al-Jo FLl0HT WRITE FOl'C \NTI'l:OPVCT"

Dear Editor, A couple weeks ago a bunch of us were soaring Escapr~ Country when we witnessed a beginner get blown back over a ridge and craslL "I wonder if she's all right?" I kept an eye out for some sort of movement that would indicate that she wasn't hurt, but the kite never even fl utterecL "Oh Cod. She must be in pretty bad sh;ipe. 11 It w;is a pretty risky to land but as there was no motion at all down there, I figured help couldn't get there too soon. I I anded and rushed through the thick brush to find that the pilot had already walked to the l,rnding areil to recruit someone to help her retrieve her glider. If she hild only signaled to us that she was ok ... There's no reilson for guys to tear themselves apart landing in trees or brush or whatever lo get to a crashed glider if the pilot's not hurt, sol riropose that we set up some safety signals. l) If you' re ok, go to an open area where you can be seen from either the takeoff or landing area, and wave both arms back and forth just like a football referee. In the event that you can't find iln open area, jump up and down on the control bar and make a lot of motion. 2) If you' re ok but need assistance (broken leg, etc.) wave one arm only. This way we won't send for an a1nbulilnce or helicopter, but someone will land and help you. 3) If you're hurt, just lie still. Don't shake the kite. Someone will land and help you, while someone else will fly to the landing area and call the rescue squad or first aid. 4) If your glider's stuck high up in the trees or is broken and you need help retrieving it, but otherwise you're not hurt, signal first that you' re ok (wave both arms). Then abandon the kite and hike down to the landing area. Get someone with water and rope to help you. You have a 10-minute grace period after you crash to find an open area. When you start wilving, continue to do so for at least a minute to give people a chance to spot you. The Vegetation does a pretty good job of camouflage, so it would help to wave a scarf or Hhirt or anything thilt will attract

attention. It's not fair to ask people to risk r·rc,ch,,1e, their gliders to help you if you're nol hurt, so let's use these safely signals. Reggie Jones San Diego, California

Dear Editor, In order to credit where credit is due, I hilve decided to start a I isl of the top ·10 distancc"s flown at any given time. I am doing this independent of any organization in order to keep politics out of it. Rich Grigsby and Carol Price have volunteered to print the list in GROUND SKIMMER, and I imagine that other publications will Wilnt to do so also. The flights will be numbered and in order of distance flown. Since Bob Wills, Rich Grigsby and myself would have two flights each on this list, I will list enough flights till there are 10 individual pilots. As flights are added to the list, there will be a short article or paragraph about the new flights. My latest flight would look like this: 3. Chris Price/28.7 miles/May 13 1976/Pine Flats Bryman, CA/Thermals/Wills Wing SST 110-P. To get on the list, pilots must buy two topographical survey maps of either the 7.5 or 15 minute type and put an 11 X11 where their feet left the ground and another 11 X11 where they touched down (which possibly will be on the second map). They would give the approximate date, location of takeoff and landing, sources of lift in order of their importance, glider make & model number, and signatures of at least two witnesses, along with eight dollilrs. liere's what they get for their $8: I will use the Great Circle Navigation to determine accurately how far the flight was, then make some phone calls to check up on witnesses. I wi II retype the I ist every two weeks at the quickest or whenever there is a change, and send it out along 1

,JUNE, 1976

entered the 1976 World at Country among a field of over three hundred ified among the one hundred gliders. When the field was cut to fifty, 8 SST's were still in to ten, there were I 4 SST's in contention, and when it was all over a WILLS WI NG was rneet, as Dave Saffold finished second overall in a rroduction SST I OOC. The other three in the and Bob all in production SST I OOB's. his These across the Find out for

I OOB in the U.S. Nationals qualifying meet at

Mountain. Al took first

ishments follow on the heels of Chris Price's incredible 33.6 mile world record cross-country flight in a production SST 11 OP. why the SST is

these feats. Don't just talk to a salesman. Test fly an SST and discover,

1208 H East Walnut Street

Santa

California 927ffl (71

5471344

with whatever they say about the flight. I wi 11 make up enough copies to send oul to every publication and club on the USHGA ma i I ing I ist. The $8 is just to cover costs of the mailing and printing, and I am sure the manufacturers will gladly help out the pilots who are flying their gliders. As far as barographs go, you may include a trace if you wish, but until every pilot in the top ten has carried a sealed barograph, it will not be required. If there is a discrepancy in someone' information, I will call him up and tell him so. If he still wanls the flight on the list, I will put it in, along with the discrepancy I have found. I am restricting lhis list to foot-launch only no towing or motors. Also, if two pilots go the same distance, then the one who could have gone farther will be listed first, as in Rich's and rny case of 28.7 miles. I do not suggest that you try to determine your distance yourself because the Great Circle Navigation equation is extremely complex, and if you don't carry it out to 10 places your answer won't be accurate. I have a corn puter program that does it eas-· ily and accurately. I arn not creating this list in order to see my name at the top of the I ist. I arn doing it to give credit to those pi lots who a re making long flights. Hopefully by the time the list comes out I will have flown fifty miles and someone else will have gone sixty. Chris Price Tustin, California

Dear Editor, Every time I go hang gliding there are idiots who throw their trash all over the no matter the 15 "nO··litteri site signs. And when I go to spend a peaceful afternoon of soaring along a spectacular ocean cliff, there are guys who can't abide by the rules and clutter the sky until it's so crowded it's no more fun. And I'm not exactly impressed by the show-offs who do 90-degree wingovers ten feet above the ground scaring everyone to death . Or when the takeoff area is small and you have to wait your turn to launch, there's always some jerk who cuts in line. And is it absolutely necessary to get into a fight at the landing site because you accidentally flew into someone else's thermal? Is this what this cool, groovy, far-out sport is all about? Get with it, gang! Larry Trernblo Salem, Oregon

Dear Editor, I witnessed the fatal accident of a Hang-4 pilot flying a new machine of his own design. Cuess what? It was divergent. It's the same old story: the glider dove straight in although there was plenty of altitude for recovery. No one can convince rne this pilot didn't know how to pull out of a dive or that he didn't try. So, I'm convinced (strictly rny own opinion) that his glider was unsafe. This is a free country and people c;:111 try to design gliders even when they don't have the proper background (i.e., they don't know what they' re doing) and die flying them. But they don't (or shouldn't) have the right to sell them to the public. We really don't have a governing body that has the authority to give out airworthiness certifications. Perhaps the FAA should step in and take over if only for that purpose. But until then (hopefully, instead of that), it is our responsibility (the flyers and/or who a bad design) to tell these nerds that they' re flying a death trap and chase them from our hills. John Hill San Berna rd i no, Ca I if.

TWO GREAT BOOKS ON ULTRALIGHT FLIGHT

o high.performance one flys highest or to claims. If really wont to confused just compare in Ground Skimmer Magazine.

There's a better way ... to one ploce ond fly just obout hir1h-r,Art,r.m1C1r,rA glider that interests you. r;lr;lh.P,c,rfr)rmrmr'A Glider Clinic leis

the difference in feel betweem botten tip and truncated tip gliders. Compare roll response. pitch response. yaw sensitivity, inertiol lag. control pressures. and stall and londlng chorocterlstics all importon1 points to consider. We don't wont to sell wont to sell you the one

just any glider. we best for you.

For more informotlon coll or write to:

Southern California School of

Box Van Nuys, CA 91404

789-6200

200 on foot launching. 6th revislor, over sold. $5.95 postpaid. (Coli fomians add.36¢ sales tax)

100 on tow lciunching. 2nd revisior, over sold. $3.95 postpaid. (Colifornlons odd .24¢ soles tox) Writc-i for Fr<EE hong gliding lnforrnotion kit. Dan Poynter, Box 4232-96 Santa Barbara, CA 93103

pilot. "' Weekly hlgh-performonce glider clinics. 11 Sales ond service of all major tJrands of new and used gliders.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING BOX VANNUYS,

4. SNOwr· U\K!

!1 SlJNSf:l

fi JG MAN N:(JliT Sl AH

I Sl<Y fllfW

fl SKYSAIIOflS

9 FINAl APP110/\CH

!O. iNl O H!E SUN

11 S0/U1INE Ill & WI

17 Sf.OIJENIIAI 11W

An ideal 11ift! These 18" x 22" high quality color litho!)rnphs are ideal for framin!J. (Dealer inqniries invited.) Please send yonr order with payment in full plus 55 rnnts for handling to:

ONI Y 1'13.00 EAl:11 /\NY 4, ONLY

D.\lh

ANY ti, DNLY $14.9b ANY B, ONLY $1(!.Ull

I nstrU··

ANY 10, ONLY $74.%

Inc., the Colver

variometer is dual range audio and visual vario· all the features that the best must for op,tirnum Audio and visual for total flexibility. sensitivity for even the most marginal or extreme comJi. tions. sensitive audio for the quickest possible response to lifL Damped visual for and a effect although it is still best vario· meter. Proven circuit in production for over 20 years. Entirely self contained with no exterior bottles or flasks. Visual rnay be separated mounted sep<1rately to adapt to any design. Audio may be turned off for visual use only. Shock resist<\nt. Streamlined for minimum drag. Extremely lightweight only weighs 33 ozs. Built in mounts can be attached to any control bar. power usage insures long battery life. adapted for use with two visual guages. Distributed exclusively by Wills Wing, Inc.

your local dealer for

demonstration or write to:

5 COLOR SILK SCREEN [J small D medium SHIRT COLOR [] orange [] white polo

+ 1208-H East Walnut Street Santa Ana, 92701 (71 547-1344

GFlOLJND SKIMMrn

For nearly four years now, Seagull Aircraf1 has heen innovatinfJ, and bu i lei in9 the finest han9 gliders in world. Look at the high performance gliders on the market today, and you will see cor1cents nrininAtr•rl by Sea9ull years Sea9ull conceived, produced the distinctive lniinr;itr•rl conical shape, machine bent spars, cambered keels, cambered sails, applied leading edge pockets, the first aspect wing, coated cables, bars, adjustable trim, and the goes on. All -Seagull gliders exhibit positive dive recovery without external or "add-on" devices. There are no "instant" gliders from Seanull. Every glider produced for sale had been under development for over a full yem, and the time spent is evident in the finished product. Each glider type continues to be refined durin9 production, and these refinements may be incorporated into older You will never Seagull Aircraft. own an obsolete glider If you are serious about your flying, you should be flying Seagull.

gliders for all flying, from co1111p,etitio,n, Whatever your flying needs,

3021

Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, Califorr>ia 9040fi (213) 394-1151

JUNE, ·197(3

SWIFT A l@ MPH 250 260' I Min 13MPH 40+ MPH

13MPH 40 MPH

Excellent Excellent Excellent

Excetlent Exc,illent Excellent

Area A/R Keel Wing Root Cord Batten Cord Dry Weight

170 Ft' 5.28 12'0" 19'0" 11'1'' 30'4" 37" 401bs.

190 Ft' 5.38 12'0" 20'0" 11T' 32'0" 27" 41 lbs.

figures are approximations and derived from pilot extrapolation and comparison to other claimed figures. characteristics and target hitting potential without loss of L/D or sink rate the Sun Swift was chosen unanimously Team.

[]

· SAN ClEMENTE·CAllFORNIA·USA·l7l4) 492-0670 The HA Series is the most versatile Rogallo made. With cm of 6: 1, the HA Series is suitable for the beginner or expert because of our variable airframe. Our extruded wing slider and riser system allows variable sail billow and our custom reinforced stainless keel channels allow control bar adjustment, reflex and seoted or prone flying in seconds with no tools. All ball-lok pins are wired on with pins to insure foil-safe and usage, All hardware is tested for hong gliders Pacific Gull and meet or exceed all HMA rciquirements. All units are test flown, balanced and come with an extensive instruction book. A detailed seven page brochure with sail cloth color and location of our nearest and hondl

IFI The Alpine is the product of a 10 month high performance cross-country soaring glider. Alpine derives spin streight-ohead stall, and virtually no yaw from its unique . The pre-formed combered bc,ttens soil inversions and m,iintoin the the modified Wortman/Murray sailplane throughout the gliders entire range. truncated tips, cm oirfoiled keel, double deflexers, and the patented wing make the soil draw up tight set-up to provide "stationary" fixed wing, yet fold up quickly ond in minutes to a Rogollo size bug. success of the Alpine lies in its ity to hove on extreomely low minimum sink rate ond ,, L/D ratio. This allows the flier to light thermals in tighthonked radius f·o gain titude, and then ochieve a long flol· glide to the next lift zone. The l/D deteriorates little over a wide speed of 10 50 MPH, ollowin9 the pilot to through air without significant of alf'itude. In ridge scoring conditions, will soor in virtually wisps of wind, and the L/D will allow you to crass ridge gaps longer flight,. A crass-country mochine desigm,d to be used '" a soilplane. If you flier, you further investigate the Alpine. Pricing and further informotirm available request. Please include $1.00 to cover postage ond handling.

:',

822 W l<ATl:L.LA AV[ 011ANCiE, CA D2GG/ TPll'f)ilOllt' (71419D7 0701

ATTENTION BUYEl'/S

Mem/Jor of 11,mgliiler

11s a 11w1111/11Ct11rcr of q11a!i1r glider

Mdn11fact11rers /\ssoc,ation

!111rdware anti m/i ware \\'C \\'ill he

Manufacturers of DUALITY kites and components DEALER 1Nl1UIRIES INVITED

/i11p/>.I' /0 1/110/C (Jli//!1/i/ I' /JriCI'\ ()/ \f)ffi/icalions. l\'c ,·arn· O\' //11:\'/) a large i111·c11101T of sra11il-

{J/1,1'

lt'rirc or

I is

across the earth

Hike out! Feel the balance of this tuned dirtboat you become one with a machine of 60

built of

of hang gliding in recent yeors, Kirty Hawh Kites has set the example of benefited from the c.n(le>,rshir, of pilots who are refinements and ('C.<'H,<~<n'1 This the now in nine different '"r",;,,M only finest techniques and service. can put you in your glider now --rhere' s location provides an Our experienced thoroughly troined ro wait our no to conducr First closs.

NOl~TH (MOLINA

Vlf\GINIA

Kitty Hawli

Hawl1 Kites-1\ichmand Potts Ashlond, Vo. (804) Lirw1lle, N.

(704)

MAI\YLAND

(704) 963-4969 Willord Mochine l\ichord Harris N

Econ-O·Flighr Systems, Inc Bob Morrin f\ondollsrown, Md. (301) 655-6818

(9'19)

PENNSYLVANIA SOUTH CAf\OLINA fhe Great

Mille McMoins

WASHINGTON, D.C

N. Md. (301) 1140·9W4

GFlOUND Sl<IMMEfi

Send $2 for

27959

Dealer inquiries invited.

For tt1t1 past year, we at Pliable Moose have searching various high aspect ratio configurations to contribute our efforts to this important segment \Jliding. Now, while "state of the art" experimentation is run· ning every variation of the truncated tip to questionable extremos, wo are proud to introduce the purest torm of flexible wing aircraft to data; a diffusor-tipped rogallo A diffusion tip is tho result of a downward told in the wing along axes that intersect the center chordline ahead of the wing. ThB cti1iusor tip functions by ~>rtwiding smooth aerodynamic transition between the main part of the wing with its lifting pressures and an undisturbed flow very close to the t11eorotica! l'naximum next to tho Note what Richard Miller, a man who was foot-launching rogal\os back in 1961, wrote in the July I Sept., '7 4, issue of Ground Skimmer; "The diffusor tip otters what appears to be at once the sirnplest, most practical and effecient solution to precisely that problem of drag .. reduction of most concern in low velocity flight; flow losses at the wing tip. Seldom, in fact, has a solution better fitted a problem.~ with the flying wing, the difiusor tip results in a comlgurat\on ~;.o \deal in all sign\iicant respects as 1o leave little doubt that it has an important, perhaps paramount rote to play in the unfolding history of ullrn· light flight

' 1111

Other manufacturers, in boosting the figures of designs currently available, concentrated heavily on improving the ficient of lift through increased aspect This has been accomplished, in most cases, by larger loadin(J edge/keel differentials, reduction of swoep"back, and special trailing odge cuts. However, for all practical purposes. oHmination of drug from such models has been ignored' There are limits lo \ho amount of Ill\ available fron, a sate design, so now, tho name of the development game is reduction of drag

,--·--,~~~~,--,-----~--~~~--~~----~

1 • Loading Edge· 19 •Kool: 7.5 It • Primary Nose Angle· 123° • Secondary Noso Angle: I 07" • Difussor Angles: IO: 1 • Sau Arna·. ·135 ft. 1 • PIiot Weigh!: 100 lbs 155 lbs • Assembled Weight 35 lbs

•$895 Features: Sail is sewn doubly reflexed and is ful!y The undersurface, which is cut in of the main sur· face and providos a d:0u1,1esurface airfoiil ir 111<,s,o areas

243 Mathewson Wichita, Kansas 67214

6) 262-2664

Write or call for free pictures, specifications and performance data.

Road 98005

wec,ks prior lo the rnnlest, but it didn't do any good.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CONTEST? I

WHAT IS YOURAHITUDETOWAIWS COMPETITION? Competitions are good

fun, but more like national hang gliding conventions than contests. Tht)y're very important to the sport. People come to contests to see a 11 the new gliders. It's good advertising for all the companies, big and little. The sport really needs to showcase its wares. Who wins really doesn't have that much to do with it.

Roy began his irnpressive hang gliding career five years ago at tlw age of 15. Hav, ing never even seen a hang glider, took down Matt Colver' directions over the phone, built his first kite, and taught himself to fly. But that first bamboo and plaslic glider was only the beginning of d career. Roy designed the ubiquitous Dragonfly, 1Pst.flying it for the first time on October 27, 1974. He surprised everyone (rnaybe "shocked" is a better word for it), when he appeared out of llw obscurity of Visalia, Calif., as a relative unknown to rnme in a strong 71h at the 1974 U.S. Na· tionals.. and with such a weird.looking design .. cut,offwing tips! Well, lo mc1ke a long story shorl, Roy is now the chief designer and top flyer for Ultralite Pro· ducts, and more than 200 Dragonflies have been launched into the skies. Roy loved flying even before hang glid· ing came along. lie began flying both glider and powered radio control models at n. Already he' logged 140 hours in power planes, 20 hours in sailplanes, and more than 100 in hang gliders. When you ask him which he likes best, he ;idrnits it's hang gliding because of the pure enjoy· ment of flight. "You don't have to pay any attention to the device holding you up. It's just you and the air."

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEET? I usually fly the hill few limes, inspecting the course from the air. I don't necessarily fly the course, but just take a look at it. That'(, ,ill. I don't gpt too serious about it that's the whole thing. If you get loo seri ous, it'll hurt you. WHAT DETERMINES THE WINNER OF A CONTEST? It' usually a combination of fourthings: I) the ability to fly. You've got to be a good flyer; 2) having a good glider; 3) the ability to out whal the j and the contest are demanding. 4) luck. There is alway!, al least a little luck in· volved In one recent national contest, one of the most important tasks for the flyer was to pull a good takeoff number out of the ca rel board box. I practiced this for two

think they should pick a site that has good soaring conditions, like the Widowmaker in Utah. As for the lei's see who can get the farthest from takeoff a distance contest. Also, max· imum altitude gains would be a good task. And races to a predetermined destination al le,1s1 IO miles away. The biggest problem with contests in their present form is the predetermined takeoff ti me.Condit ions don't remain con· sistent through 50 or ·100 fl Perhaps it would be better lo run heats with five or so flyers in each heat. This would at least allow for cha ng conditions. Also, if there are more flights in future contests, less luck will be> involved.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABH HIGHT? I've had two fl I'd like to rnention One happened in Crnada Nakusp, lfrilish Columbia. It was at a little town fair, and they had a helicopter lake ·1 5 people up a rr1ou nlai n with a 6,000 foot vertical descent. There was absolutely no wind. I took off and gained a whole lot of altitude (9600 fC'f't above the landing area). It was bumpy lift, hut when I finally tired and flew out of it, the air was as smooth as gL:iss the entire ride to the bot· torn. fhen l,1st January I flew 2 5 miles in H;iwaii. Paul Cortney and I took off to· gel her at the regul ,H Mak;ipuu takeoff spot, flying right lo the I ighthouse which we used as a turnpoint. Then we turned left and boogied downwind along the ridge. The winds were about 10.1 mph that day with no clouds. Basically, thC' lowest we got was 500 feet MSL goofing around by the lighthouse. The highest point was about 4,000 feet over Pali Peak ten miles

Dragonfly hack into the bu/fs..pye ilfter overshooting at Crandfatlwr Mtn. l'hoto hy W.A!\.

JUNE, 1976

(rom t.1keo(L rni/es down lhe I reaclwd what is called the Am,11'.0ll behind ,drnost

. and

and

need

lwlicoptn to yom glider out. Anyw;iy, once I m;1de it past tlw Am;uon, followNI the 10 the llwn I urned down· wind, rdr could until !urning into tfw wi11d at the ldsf second to lall(l l)aul l,rnded I il mil(", rrom takeoff ,11 W,iikMH'. h,1ve made ii this lime al the School, e,Hning his

HauuLi. Then! w,is of the

private

sanw

ward found

sink. dow11 to when• I would he

Ill('

nvnnrt,,d sink, I got tons

o( li(L /\nd the turbulence was the worst i'V(: 11. There was constant lor mosl of the two hours, with a few !11dt rnllc•d me 90° or more. I liav<! llut that wc1s 1law;iii a grc;1t

'.,a i Iplane which had lic,1uti rul In been built years before by l\dY this n;ift lie cornplet<id the altiludl' and duration for the soari11g silver But the lure of even more bird-like was not to be denied. With classmates Steve Elliot! and fom Dicb'nson he chip pPd in to a set of "Bamboo 1,,,ttodh/' from lim lore1na11. 111odiricd l\ichanJ and colll('CC'SS;J ry tape, and 1·;ir<1s look A few

By Tar,is l<iccniuk, Sr.

rc1g but more and bP gelt111g into lool-L1unched In more should go to lhe hand! charactt:ristics of mancc gliders. Flying thermals will put i11 all kinds of unusual a!1itu<ks.

tlw best Sdrety wcl 1-forrne< I club flnlninothc be

IP.,m,mo ,1lrnosnt1e,r1' for

Jr. d(:rno11str;11cd an in avi,ition. I rl'rnernher more than twt'nty model which he had made and ldt scaltercd about our wfwn fw was three years old. The was consist-· i ng it did of two st i cksand one nai I. h>r ;i while ii w,1s hard to tell if his re.ii was lo avidtion or to the church. In junior school he built his own closed-thro,1t open-circuit wind tunnt,1, with cornponcrit force balance and slant 111be manomeler. Wilh this he conducted simple, hut valid dnd instructive on wing :;trut sections. When he was thirteen we Jived in where lw took dual instruction in gliders. /\fin to the United St,ites he con-

his first foot.launched flight .. ,ind he was hooked! Both the limit,ilions and han1rds of this new sport were obvious to the young as was pointed out in Tom's letter to in June 1971. Also mentioned was the coveted

learning in smoother Ira 11 S· itio11 from to expert. note lo int('l'ITH::diatt' pilots: most cidcnl<·, to the Thr' h,uardous position to be in while (lying is 10 the gro1md and slow. should be best . This r,1 neet,ssary to prPven[ s!;i\/ in an undesirah/e nnc:i!onn to the )(ll)UIIII.

. !lie the ones you

GROUND SKIMMF.:J{

Uf)On ,1nurcr,I/

Aluminum "C' Badge (with il single BAT inscribPrl thereon) Jwarrled by me in recognition of their p·1oneering achievements in foot-·launched flight. 13y the time the now famous Otto Lilienthal Meet-Number-One was held in May 1971, Taras and his fric•rHJs were already skill<!d flyers. Resorting to manlowecl launch they macle the modest performance of the "Batso" appear much more impressive than it really was. The flattering covc'r,1gc given their exploits in the February I 972 issue of National providecl inspiration and incentive to many of the Nation's youth Taras himself was morr· impressed by the flights off el low contestants Richard Mi Ii Pr ,ind J.ick Lambie. While others followed Taras to build and irnprove tlH) Rogcillobased design, he favored the rigid wing and came up with the now famous Icarus. August JC)71 found Taras performing gentle slaloms down the length of the hill reputedly used by Montgomery in his flights eighty-eight yea rs before'. The pubIic dC'hut of Icarus was shared by the nightly TV news aud ienet' in the San area. Two months later TV viewers in lhe Los Angeles area were treated to ,1 more spectacular treat as they watched Taras soar learns for five rninules over the cliffs at Torrence Beach, California. The fortyfive pound craft coursed h,1ck and forth in the gentle sea executing controlled I BO" turns ,rnd skimming over tlw heads of a cheering, if disbelieving crowd. Icarus was followed by an improvPd, strengthened version, when test pi lot Joe Faust discovered hitlwrto unknown structural shortcornings of lhe original design. Responding to the clamor for pl,rns 1 Taras published drawings and instructions for building the "two", winning recognition as a leader and innovator in the growing sport. Taras ,md Icarus II racked up another firs1 with his thermal soaring flight late in 1972. At !he same sit(J near Palmdale, California where he flew his primi1ive bamboo and pl,1stic "f3atso" rrnH(! th,111 two years earlier (now re-named Delta Hill), lw spiraled upwards in rising columns of air to gain 1000 feet above jumpoff point. Arrned with i education ,111rl experience, Taras set out to design and build the "ultimate" hang glider. The re,. suit, dubbed Icarus V, proved th;it it was at the forefront of hanglider technology through its many spectacular soaring flights. OnP seven mile cross-cotrntry flight in thermals startecl from a hill only

700 fC'et high

the way sailplanes

from nearby Elsinore were heard radioing their home field that there was a guy thermal ling above them, hanging from his gl icier! This successful design has served as an inspiration and a starling point for any would-be' high performance hangglider designs Taras' recent efforls in aircraft design and fabrication have been concentrated mostly in the man-powcm,d field. Along with fellow Icarus V builder-flyer Bill Watson, he is preparing for an assault on the international Kremer Skimmer and Air March 1976). By way of recognition for his contributions, Taras h<1s heen asked lo spPak or prepare papers at professional soc and symposia, and to fly for and network tc)levision. Most highly priJ:ed hy him and by those of us who know him well is the trust and confidence he in the C'Y<'S of fellow icier pi who know he c;rn lw counted on to share with them !he straight "skinny" on rnc1tlPrs perlaining to flight and the flying machine.

Presently I arn president of [lectra Flyer Corportation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before flying hang gliders, I flew airplanes for 12 years. I was gPlting bored with flying; even flying jets gets boring after short time. lrnrnediately after my first awakening as to the reality of flight, I cal led up the chit>f pilot of my company ard told him I quit. That was the last time I flew a jet for a living. HOW OFTEN DO YOU HY? When first started flying hang gliders two years ago, I would fly every but now that I am involved in lhP manufacturing of hang

JUNE, 1976

WHAT

YOUR MOST MEMORABH

Nearly all of the 500 fl I h,1VP done off the have been Ull·· 1orge11a1J1e, and with the new gliders we are building, every flight is helter. Just the other with good flying condi·

so;ir 1 '>00 feel 1500 feet above thermaled up 2',00 feet above takeoff, and then flew I /l miles out 011 most I can fly to my which is 10 milc)s from takeofL w,is able to

WHAT DETERMINES THE WINNER A Somehow lhe winner of a contPst is considered to he the hes! but most of the hcst pilots I have <~ver see 11, rarely win contests. in too rndny cases, the winner of a contest is eitlwr a local or the who gets the hest conditions. Or due to thP lack of a competitive number of fl 1he winner was just lucky. The only I know who is consistent time after lime is Bob Wills.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MIND Fl YING IN FRONT Of I ""'"n,,rn,nn just only the freedom and thrill of being up i 11 tlw air

I would like to make some comments on competition flying. Some oft he meets I have participated in in the !;1st year have been: the 1975 World Mee1 where I I 'jth; the Canadian lnvi1ation in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where I 6th; 1he Telluride Invitational and the World Tow Kiting ipswlwre I placed 2nd. I think competition has its plan• in many sports but not in gliding. Aside from in the target, flying the fartlwsl or lhe other factor to judge how w,!II one f1'1ei; i!, subjectively. This type of runs into personalities, names, or the type of glider one is Too rn;my use contests to sell glidth<1t it's the pilot who won the contest ,md not necessarily the

glider.

Generally I don't do much to prqi,in'. Once I get to11w site I usually fly it a of in advance. If I do well, it's not bec<1use my flying was s11perior, but usu ally because everyone else flew so had.

H Ul OUUAWED?

TANDARD

TIPS FOR BEGINNERS Never take lessons from your fril'nds unless you know it to be a fact that they are pilots am! qualifi(!d instructors. There is an excellent chance that they do not know rnuch more than you do. don't b11y a hPc;rnse it has the lic>st glidP ratio or the besl sink ratP. You should a because if flies well in ,ill co11ditions. You don't h,ive to b,) tlw highest or go the farthest to hav(' the most fun.

In this scC'ne from "freaky Friday" /Jarl>ara 1 /ani, (c/011/Jled her(' hy I arry Ncwm,m) flying c1 hang g/ic/er and hN claughtN (/oc/y /o,ft'r) driving a car hoth cr,1sh into San {)iego'<. Mi1sion Ila)'.

Co11rte1y of W,i/t {)irn<>y {'mc/uclions

tinw has been reduced to

HYING up the face and a 5,00(J.foot this place is hard 10 beat. The is since it can be soared and also generates incredible thermals.

THERMAL

one

GROlJND SKIMMER

should he think utioned about the pour handling chMacteristics of stdndard There are still rna11ufact1HPrs who think that clipping one foot off the keel rn,1kes radical or Now that d portio11 of the i deal more about length m('dns almost nothing.

Hey, man! Look out he low! I lcre comes "The Team!" They're gonna barnstorm this here cntircd U-nilcd States in heir Cherokee Chief 4-wheel drive jeep. You'll know they've arrived by the whoops of joy and laughter from the folks they teach tcJ fly. Just keep your eyes peeled for their mini shop on wheels. Its mission is to take hang gliding to every corner of the country ... flying, rig in meets, and selling Hen nett gliders. Now that you know what they're up to, let rne tell you who they are. "The Team" is comµrised of 31/2 members: Fol better known as "Madman or the guy who did a loop off Saddleback Peak. Mike the exresident flight instructor at Coun· try. He's been pulled out of the shower more than once to hang ratings help somebody fix a kite. (That's what you get for living right on the site, you turkey!) Susan Mike's girlfriend who doesn't feel that being a driver is a nobody. "She loves snapping and taking good care of us. We couldn't do without her." their dog. He doesn't fly, but hP loves hang gliding and mooching snacks off all the spectators. Madman loves tell about his loop. "I took off from Saddleback ;rnd got so high that it's easy to lose of the ground. I was 1,500 feet /\GI I got so tuned into flying doing 360's, flipping my body from one side of the control barto the other, just flying like a bird. A lot of flyers know what I mc>an. You getto a point where you don't feel like you're coming clown. Well, I was cruising around and suddenly realized I was looking down into the blue SomeonP happened to be filming, so I've got it on film it's definitely a loop. It was positive "C's" all the

way; the sa i I was f ul I thP whole time. But a loop is not an advisable maneuver for hang glid of course. It's taking hang gliding to its farthest limits. When you're upside down, it's not the time to question your ability or mental state. I know it can be done· I've done it f:lut I can foresPe being stuck in a situation (if something went wrong, and it easily could) whc>re I could be killed. You're at the mercy of the wind when you're upside down. It rPrninds me of that "There are old pi lots and there are bold pi but there aren't any old, bold pilots." You shouldn't do anything with a glider that the rnanufac1urer doesn't it's to do." "My life has completely since I got into hang glid " says Mike. "Even my appearance isn't the sarne. I used to work in an wear a suit every and have a lot of bills. Now I'm out of that lifestyle and into one I'm a lot happier in. I started living n instead of existing. I did away with all those unnecessary bills and gol back to the way it' supposed to be, I guess. Since three months after I started flying, I've made my livelihood entirely from hang gliding. I love to fly. I was fortunate enough to be able to get into the position l'rn in now where I can fly evc>ry single day. I used to live at the site at Es-· cape and rc>pair kites and in struct. 11 was really great. Susic>'s the one who really started tl1P ball roll had all seen kiting, bul she took the initiative [)y ing them up

for lessons at Country. Unfor1u· nately it was downwind that so they didn't get to But that didn't stop them. They came hack the next day, rented glider, and taught tliemsPlves to fly. ThreP months laler, started Solo Flight They imrnedi,itely took off cross·country to promote their new company. Yes, fol you have before you the nal "Ozark Mountain Daredevils" the first to fly in Arkans;1s. eventually sold the business and are no longer connc>cted with it. Mike has over 1100 people and has an accident (non-acciclPnt is more like it) rPcord to hP proud of. "I get off on teaching. I havn. I feel good when someone' learned to fly. and I taught a lot of people for free when we first got into flying. It was so great a feeling, and we wanted to share it. We put on a 3-hour ground school,with 6 hours on the hi II. We even furnished free coffoe and donuts. But when peoµI,! get something for noth they become more and rnore demanding. So we finally gave up on that. "I used to teach at Country. I really dig teaching most people the ones who want to learn lo fly. But sorm) corne for lc>ssons not because they want to fly but for other reasons. The peoplP with gift certificates usually do terrible. done no mind prepilring, and don'! listen when you explain things. They say, 'I'll do this until I get skinned up,' and sure they get skinned up. But the people who have great desire to fly usu-

1) Ceorge concentra/C's 011 t/1e l.1rgc0 1, ;!) /a11d1 withi111/w bull\ eye ring, !) very pleased lo /rnrn he's jmt ca/J/ured I 11 plac<' int/JC' "/Jry k1111 for the I /,!Ilg fen Meet" di L1c;ipe Country.

197(1

tlwm gain their feeling. "llu! 11w who lic1ve a great cle,;'1 re lo fly do well, ,md I liJ«, them gain llu·irwings. ll'sa feel

So, lookoutl Your local soaring site may soon lw inv,1dPd "The Team!" And wlwre fly, ilwre's sure to he plenty of ;1cl ion!

Cood--na!ured Chris Wills is well liked all his fellow pilots. No one can resist his great sc·nse of humor, w<1rmth and compassion Inwards his fellow human be-ings, and his enthusiasm. He is currently Vice--President of Willis Inc., USH(;A I Director, and Vice-President of HMA. As of this corning he will become full-time medical student at New York in,·,in,nc• a small I came from humble I 4- room in Tustin Heights. I was bom in Santa Monica, Calif. and raised in Santa Ana. There were r; and I girl in our family and we were probably particul<1rly hard to raise. Our house was the head-qu<1rlers of some unusual activity so we had friends over to Pnjoy the confusion. One I was walking down the street with my brothers Bob and Frie, when a friend introduced us to of his friends: Bob, ;ind Eric. Since we all loved contusion, and Eric, [ric had to he a lasting friendship. Chris !)rice happened to be the second so we became best friends in lhe 41 Ii

Top: Mike Miller so,1ring hi1 new Pho[•nix (,fl. Photos liy Jarry lish Bottom: Ceorge Follman /1igh above the Cdrousp/ .it the 1/ang frn Open

GROUND SKIMMF.R

gether. My brother Bob was another primary instigator and part-time troublemaker so he helped lead and follow us into hang gliding. When we formed a company in 1973, the three of us were all flyers so we decided lo stick

HOW DID YOU GET INTO HANG GUDING? I learned to fly hang gliders in 1967 by bui Iding a brooms lick and brown wrapping paper bi plane using al I the I atesi technology employed in model airplane kits. Chris Price was my part-time teclrnical advisor and part-time nail pounder; Bob Wills was my doubting Thomas. Both helped me strength test it by lifting the wings while I sat in it. Since it did not break to pieces wil h that stringent test, and since my aeronautical engineer neighbor insisted that a picnic table would fly if given enough horsepower, we proceeded to find a deserted asphalt road with power I ines on only one side, and towed it with my 39B V·8 pick-up truck at 40 mph. After considerable initial overcontrol, I was able to manage holding 20 feet above the pavement without any major disasters. Bob

then consented to try it and he climbed to a tremendous three feet. Chris Price was my driver, so he had to wail until last to try his luck. He was content with just scraping along the pavement at 40 mph. After about 6 rnonths of ii, I tried to sell it since I needed money for gas. I was offered frorn an amused observer and I vowed to burn it before I' cl sel I it for that. The next afternoon, Chris Price and I took our flame thrower out and burned it to the ground. We started flying bamboo & plastic gliders in 1972 after 6 months of trying lo build a Volkswagen.powered airplane. It seemed to makl~ more sense to bu i Id one nfternoon and fly the next, rather than build for a year and rnaybE:' not fly al all. Next we went to aluminum & Dacron with nicos lha1 were attached by hammering them on asphalt. They looked sort of funny but seemed to work. We designed it lo be totally assembled without any tools, and were delighted that you could fly it for almost H) minutes before becoming to·· tally exhausted Since we were flying off Saddleback and since the flight las1ed about ·12 minutes, it took us only 2 flights to be con vi need that we needed to learn something about trim.

SHOULD TANDARDS BE OUTLAWED? Nothing should be out· lawed. Without Standard Rogallos, where would we be today? What if the FAA had outlawed Standards 10 years ago? Fverybody should be free to build a picnic table and try to fly it. I don't think they will be in the mainstream of the industry in 3 years, but they defini1ely have their place in flight.

WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS COMPETITION? Competition is the single agent that will take the hang gliding deof today and turn them into the de·· of tomorrow. Without competition, we would all still be sinking al 450 fps and gliding al 4:1.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEEH

Chris and the clouds. Saddle/Jack l'eak is in the background. Photo by Roger Schoener.

By keeping in reasonably good physical shape and by totally memorizing every word of the rules. If I cannot quote the rules from memory, I do not have a good chance to win. I also fly a kite that I am totally familiar with so that the kite is second-nature and the event is the only consideration. I also use my calculator to determine all the obvious and subtle flight variations that may affect the score. In general, meets are not up to the standards that are available. The U.S. Nationals are, on the average, 2 years ahead of most other meets in terms of sophistication and direction. Other meets should use more thought and initiative, and quit copying old out .. dated formats. The perfect

example of how meets go wrong is the run that wc1s first designed for the 1974 Nationals. The object of the task was to place two pylons far enough apart that it required maximum glide angle to reach the finish gate and efficient use of I ift to get there quickly. This has now been turned around so that it is a test of who can fal I out of the sky the fastest. H makes no use of skill N judgment.

WHAT DETERMINES THE WINNER IN A CONTESH He's usually the person who best knows tlw rules and is able to use lhern to maximum advantage. In many of the rinky-dink one .. flight contests, lhe winner is the lucky pilot who is smart enough to use his luck to his advantage. I have seen many one.flight contests where the luckiest pilot is too stupid to use the good conditions to win. I have seen many very good contests where the pilot who does the best flying loses because he does not use the rules to his best advantage. Flying is an intellectual sport, and contests reflect this.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE FUGHH I have had rnany most memora·· ble flights. Al I of my first flights were most memorable flights because I lived through them. Pulling 4 "G's" in an aerobatic airplane was memorable since it so greatly exceeded anything I have ever encountered in a hang glider. Probably the most memorable was the 1st time I was able to gain altitude in a thermal. Just before the 1973 Nationals, I got my electric vario1m, .. ter from and was flying it at Sylmar. I was way out over the landing area and felt a bump that registered zero in my mind. I looked al my variometer and noticed that it said 500 fpm up. Doubting my sanity since I could feel nothing, I started to circle, looking only at rny variometer. II continued to read 500 fpm up so I made about rn turns still feeling no .. thing. I then looked down at the ground and was amazed to find myself at least 1,000 feet above takeoff and about 2,000 feet above where I started. We had always talked about using thermals, but deep down inside, I never really believed you could n any real altitude over flat ground in a hang glider. Two days after I had gotten my variometer, I had done it. I discovered I had been flying through lift for months without even knowing it was there. WHAT ABOUT INSTRUCTION? The quality of instruction is getting better almost daily. This is not to say that it has arrived at an end since it could not have gotten worse. Instruction in the fu1ure will consist of the use of high performance gliders along with high performance in ..

JUNE, i976

would be able to takP off as often as you w,mt and whenever you want. Someone with a imagination could go 011 ,rnd on,

WMAT DO U TMINK ABOUT ACROBATICS? They're a great diversion if

var,ily

in college g high

was once d ln1mpcteer, all(/ tfii,; fall will /J(' d Mee/ Student ,1/ NYU

struction. I think that t;mdPm instniction will become a vital part of lea ming as will the use of radios for the 1st few solo fl I disagree totally with the notion that pco, must learn on a starnLird kite a 11d then progrPss to ,1 arp too many ;ivailahle 1hat offer all the advantages with none of the drawbilcks of Stan-· dards.

WHAT THAT

IT ABOUT HANG GUDING

Fl about the sensation of being a bird. lhc sense of adventure. The ability to the frontiers of IP hnology flight, flying and have fascinated me. It seemed inconceivable that invisi and seerni nonexistent ir could actually support birds and aircraft. ng h1~ld certain aura of that, if could fulfill an ancienl dream. I could see, and know things that others could only drearn oL Frorn this fascination, I have pm· sued fl to where I am

WMAT

WOULD YOU UKE NATIONAlSf I can

think of about ·10 tasks that would mal«; for a ite meet a) A timed out-andreturn cross,country flight where the turn! han takeoff. The pi lots whenever and as often A and distance cross-country fl where your score re· fleets how fast you went how far. twice far while limes as long would not win, If you were slow on the first part, you would want to go farlher hoping the lift would allow you to up. c) A where course involving horizontal you would have to dive down under one and then use lift to climb up ovpr the next. d) A climb a11d descend contest whpre you are timed on how it takes you to 1,000 feet and then land. n, you

GflOUND SKIMMEl=l

the glider is designed for them. I am cur on the new set of specs for HMA that will requirP all gliders to carry ,1 placard stating what they arc good for. If tlw glider is rdcd for great. I know of no product ion hang glider at this time that would be placarded for <1erobatics, who is currently exrnent i ng with aerobatics is asking for a hard fall.

DO YOU PRHER RIDGE ORTMERMAt Thermal soaring is far and SOARIN away better than soaring, In most thermal conditions, there is not the great wind associated with ridge soaring, so your frpedom of travel is much less restricted. Thermal soaring is an intellectual process that offers greater satisfaclion because' it is more demanding of precisC' fly. and thinking,

INTO DESIGNING A WHAT GUDER? A better question might be what doesn't go into ing a glider. It is easy to a one,,purpose glider and i blc to design a all-around glider. for almost everything you get, you musl give up something, You musl hal,mce sink rate with glide angle, glide with stability, penetration with (,ink ratP, wilh mJneuverabil, and countless other factors that rnusl , ccrnsidered in a , Our goal at Wills Wing is lo make an all-around d ign Iha! i not deficient in any Jrea.

No, I love iL I love the reaclion I see in people who have never seen hang glid before. You can watch it in their faces as t discover a new world they never knew existed.

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED FORMATION HYING? Yes, it's probably one of the most fun things you can do in a hang gider. It you a much greater feel for the fact that you are in a 3-dimensicrnal world. TIPS FOR BEGINNERS Go to an established school. Huy a reputable hang glider ,ind lhe fact that hang gliding If you think hang glidis ii can be pPrfectly safe. If you think ii is perfectly it can be Treat it with respect and learn slowly, and it will bP the best in your life.

committee; a swi gliding executive, a loner flying in solitude; super hot contes1 pilo1, someone who'd rather fly for fun. One week he' domina1ing Las1ern meets, the next he' mastering California tlwrrnals, and the next tirne you hear from him, he's off to Africa to deliver shipment of Kestrels. Cm this guy be for real The answer is an emphatic "Yes!" because flyer lhese arc all facets of and top Tom Peghiny, But when you down a little , you find a very sensitive person who sees himself as bird. And just like the hawk he puts on his gl Tom is totally dedicated to flight Torn i one of the very few East Coasl pilots who have soared to national prorni,, nence. He calls home Newton, Mass,, although he hasn't been !here a full week in l months. This guy has not only talent but

Tom l'eghiny, wearing a Sundance l1arnmocl< harness, flying Sk)f Spmt1 Merlin earl)! during 19 76 I Jang Ten World Mei··t ill Ls cape Count,y. Saddlebaci< Mountain is behind low clouds in hacl<grouncl. Photo h)f W. A ;\//en

Would you believe SIX years of flying hang gliders double that of most top pilots today. Tom was an avid RC bug who at the age of 1 3 was inspired to build a bamboo and plastic hang glider by his junior high school metal shop teacher. Wow! He just couldn't beI ieve it! He had at last found his dream. He had always fantasied building a big model airplane and running off a hill in it. Tom flew off that hill in his first bamboo kite, and flew into one of the most prominent positions in the gliding rnovement today. WHAT ABOUT INSTRUCTION? I'd like to see people sta 1t out on the pitch positive gliders. The outdated standards arc simply less safe than the available gliders today. I learned on standards, flew them for 4 years, and I lived through it. But it takes maturity on the part of the pi lot to keep out of steep dives. In aviation, anything that can go wrong, will. So, when we have something better, why not use it? It's time for the standard to be rolled up and put away. Most training programs are disgusting. They insult me. Their main purpose is to

make rnoney for the trainer rather than to sincerely wantto help people really fly. I'd Iike to see the USH GA establish an instructor certification program with stringent rules for becoming an instructor. Only the super pros should be teaching.

WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS COMPETITION? I'm sorry to see a lot of money get into it. I love competition PU RE corn petition, not fighting for money. There's too much emphasis on competition and not enough on fun flying.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEET? I do most of my preparation in my mind: going over the rules to see what's happening in the meet. I always try to show up early and spend 2-3 hours looking at the hill trying to understand it. I never have had to practice tdrgets; they just come to me. I do some physical preparation, too. Every contest season I go down to the minimum weight I'm healthy at. I put myself through a total exercise program twice a day, and I run.

WHAT TASKS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT THE NEXT NA TIONA.L.S? Most of the contest rules are fair, although I'd like to see a lot more flights. A fair chance is al I

Tom gets congratulated hy couple of admirers after a near perfect rtight. Photo b)f W. A !\//en.

,JUNE, 1976

! ask. Bui with croSS·COU nt ry; course and like lo

WHAT

MEMO RA HU: It was so beautiful, so peaceful ,ind u11dislurbed. I drove to the beach alone, up my kite without seeing person, and soared for four hours. I l,rnded on top, folded my kite up and didn'I person the entirP time. I'll remember that PREFER RIDGE OR THERMAi.

There are ten up there who have chance of winning. And of !hem, there five who will win. of them will win who on luck.

TIPS i=OR BEGINNERS 1. Don'! let the dominos stack up be·

c;rnse they usually fall.

U THINK ABOUT my.

Charlie lowest guys in liked JII who know him. But don't l()l his unassuming, mellow nature fool you. This Too many times have top n,ime h.id to look up through the windows of their sails at Charlie who is obi ivious to but the across the beautiful Col. He's designed his own is on a landern and is in the midst of creal · glider called Sound pretty am;izing? Well, we're started. We haven't PVPn he can whip off onP holds ;i bcichelor de··

GHOUND Sf<IMMER

self. I can cul loose and not worry about people trying lo do what I'm I do n)ally radical stuff nol but I wouldn't want to see other I've bee11 doing semi.barrel rolls and pasf.tJO wingovers for two years. WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAi. 'J'-''"''··" To win the REAL World l<oessen, Austria in my new l<e,.;trel

If you ever have to sPccrnd guess the wind, don't do it.

,md crn ride a skateboard on his h,rnds. can1e Pasy lo Charlie, diver who has flown <1u1uu.:, (Parawings and holh small Paraplanes) to spot in some 700 jumps. "I used to be a real madman when I first sta rled gl I spent my first flying off a JO.foot hill, the second cby off a 600-fool hill, and the third off an I I OD-foot mountain. I used to do some fairly things like steep dives, porpoising . . you name it. Don Beuch asked me if l realized th,1t steep dives like that were I 'Oh.' I starled out on a modified stan· dard Chandelle which had battens and

extra billow. I could hover it in the center of lift and usually get above all the higher-performance kites. My firsl soaring flights hooked me for life. Although so,ir· nowadc1ys is much more sophisticated, our antiquated soaring techniques were still a good rush. We would take off of Green Mountain into a 15 to 30 mph west wind. A west wind in Golden, Colorado is very turbulent hecause we are on /he leeward side of the entire Rocky Mountain Range. Needless to say, we don't fly west winds anymore.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE FUGHT? It was a 10.7 mile cross-country flight in Colorado. I took off at 2SOO feet AGL, gaining 2600 feet (13,000 MSL). As I

thermal better than his Cirrus sailplane. That flight took in Septcm1ber, '7'>. Two latc>r I had my highest altitudP gain (3600 flying a distance of 7 miles from ii thousand-foot hill. Then on May 6, 1976, in Colorado, I flew a one-way straight distance of 1 B miles. I 2,000 feet above takeoff. I landed near another flying site, took off from it a lial( hour later, and went another miles, over 2,000 feet Both takeoffs were 1100 feet above the landing areas. What a day! Boy, did I feel good! I was my Cumulus Sb.

WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS COMPETITION? I don't really like' competition. Wi 11 ni ng has too much lo do with the conditions. Now, if contests had ten rounds, I'm sure a lot of the I uck would be taken care of, hut so many of the mPets are one or two shots. And I don't like targets. I suppose meet directors like• targets be .. cause they're easy to judge, but I'd rather concentrate on the flying, not the landing.

WHAT DETERMINES THE WINNER OF A CONTEST? A pilot who got lucky with the conditions. Even when the condi·· tions are righC it takes a good pilot to make the best use of them. I've seen guys blow it in great conditions. I've seen guys blow it because they a rule and missed a pylon. You must be able to take advantage of the rules. DESIGN NEXT NATIONALS. It would have lo be sort of an elimination thing: soaring competition, distance, and altitude gain at diffen,nt places and over a period of time. The important thing is that you should be able to take off whenever you want. That's part of flying, knowing when to take off. In foci, there's a lot more to it than most people rec1lize. It's helpful lo havP a wind dummy and to watch the birds, but therP's also a feel you develop for it. I know quite a bit about my local area in certain conditions because I watch the weather map. I know when it's going lo be good because I've been w;:itc:hing it for a long time.

Charlie doesn't let the cold weather keep him inside. To him, the snowy landscape is another intriguing aspect of 11at11m to he experienced to its fullest. Photo hy R. Jenson. was flying the ridge, a friendly sailplane flew by me and circl in a therrnal. 1 followed him, circling below. When I had just about caught up with him, he rlarted out looking for more lift. When he found another thermal, he started circling again. I fol lowed him that way th rough 3 of 5 major areas of Ii ft. When I finally landed, I 0. 7 miles and 800 feet below my takeoff point, I went to the sail port and waited an hour for him to land. He was really ssed thal a hang glider could accomplish a thermal-soaring flight of that distance, and was embarrassed that a hang glider (I was flying an Eipper Cumulus 5) could core a

WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING TO HANG GLIDING? The future will probably bring more regulation, higher flights and more cross-country flights. I'd like to see less competition as far as soaring goes. I hate that attitude: "I got higher or stayed up longer than you." I'm for people helping each other out not competing, but helping. That's the way the birds are. They all spread out and look for lift, and when one finds it, the whole flock gets high. Then when one out of the lift, he searches for other lift. You could call it flock flying or friend flying.

JUNE, 1976

WHAT YOUR PERSONAi. GOALS? I w,rnt a better glider with sl abi I ity, I'd I ikf, to make higher and longer dist,rncc· and a morP comfortable harness, ABOUT YOUR TANDEM HYI have· al mu! hours of ta ml Pm soaring t irne with lightweight Carol Jensen, We fly pro11c side and that doesn't you much room inside the control bar, is fun but tricky; lhe pilot T,rndem pv,,,/.H'in<H'f',,l and proficient pilol of Hang 4+ quality, lhe copilots should be ones who will run for it on takeoff and pul no pressure on lhc control bar unless told to IJy the piloL The copilot can help fly, on the push ffor,c If turbulence lifts his wing, lhe should pull in, II is nice to have a I 0-1 mph smooth wind for takeoff .:md landing because the stall and landings are faster, Some are not capable of pertn,,m,nn well with a load, ,rnd some not st strong B<;cause of the l,ick of conlrol and extra ng tandem in turbulence is

if the lucks and over, and wr;1pping around the pilot, he would have trouble the from The chutes could also be alt;iched to tlw encl of the keel or the lop of the l<1r1g1io~;l, There cou Id sl i 11 be entanglement problems besides cou11tc1dJ,'ila1m on what the test pilot is testing and how radical the tests are, tcst flying even with parachutes could be very dangerous. The problem is ng parachute free of the glider If the pilot chut(, is di above an object and not getting a bl<1st of ;iir, it will not go up, ,ind will bly with the glider, If the pilot chose to use a p;irachute on his he might want to release from

U THINK ABOUT towed for the firs! ti me at 1 lendersonville and came in 11th place, You really h<ive to be careful when towing bPcause there are more foc:l(HS to look oul for, So much more can go wrong, Old tow rope<; brec1 k easy, ,111d you can be hi I wi I h a gust and overstress the glider. You pay for the driver's mistakes besides your own, WHAT WOULD YOU DESCRIBE AS U MO ITIN FLYING I would say soaring with Sometimes fly near me because they are curious or gu,irding territory, Sometimes they see that it is soarable and are just the same I ifl area. Al <1lways disappP,H WHAI

YOU HH ABOUT CROSSfUGIHS'~ I hope the crosscountry distance record title doesn't become like lhe old duration marathon re cord title. for a long period of time is if the pilot becomes tired and the cross-country lift situations that WMAT MEASURES COULD BE TAKEN

BE HR

UDE

I have considered starting a safe testing program for about a year, Being an ,.wrw,,,,,,.,,,,,J clhuliu,c,, I I would carry one or two chutes on test flights, Parachutes could be used easily enough if orciblerr was a stabilized but

GROUND SKIMMEH

Charlir·'s Cumulus is not the only one in the sky, Notice the row of Cumulus c/ouc/1 in the background, P/1010 l>y R Jenson,

the glider ;ind frPe fall away frorn it before opening his chute, fo ,1 margin, I would want lo he balloorHJropped at 10,000 feet AC I , TIPS BEGINNERS W;itch gliding as much you can, Talk to the and watch them carefully. That way you can get an ide;i of who knows what he's so you can decide who you want to teach you, Be sure to get some education, rather 1han out on your own. Why go through something others have already gone through and learned from?

a n(~w Consider You've h high-performance hang glider a couple of months. LID Maximum is better than 7, and you're now high a the point coring a thermal. Your eyes are on the variometer which is indicating a up as you pass 2500 feet above the ground. The conditions are excellent and it looks as though you are well on your way to ng a long downrange cross-country flight ly your

mind ears are jarred by the noise of an aircraft, and you look up to find yourself II to II with a Cessna 150. What do you An i similar to this

Cessna pilot a right climbing turn and a mid-·air collision was narrowly but the glider was buffeted arou consi rably by the light plane's wake turbulence. when why he a left turn r than hang

pilot's reply was, "I make better leH turns." Th is indicates the naive state of the average hang glider pilot There are basic right-of-way rules which we shall cons shortly, first a little background on an problem. Up until this point in time, the domain the hang glider pilot has been shared with only the birds, a few sailplanes, an light plane "hot " or a hot air balloon. During this coming year we will see pilots within our setting new altitude and distance and long crOSS·°COUntry fli JUNE, 1976

collision. The hand glider pi ever, in most cases is tot a 11 y ,,,, ..,.,.. , "' of these rule!; of urvival in thP crowd('d The ins('t map of the Los area illustrates the in lhe whole area of interlacing n\/Prl:n11np sorne of the favo· rite flying sitPs of th Southern California the

h O 11\A/'..l\/ C rnany of the blank areas on thP map are aclually acrobatic diving sail and military limb corridors Few are even aware 1hat beneath such close lo the hill, we the considera· we have observed the climbing out a of thousand feet abovp us, the light planes tricks lo the the jumpe1·s off to the over and often arnong us. though, once you raise above a thousand feet over the terrain, your chances of meeting Cessna 50 or F4 Phantorn comps a d isti net Unlike the of the

sail nrn.. ,r>rnd

air.,

craft have received train· in rules and Federal

new hi now on the ns of wel I over will be the standard rather <>v.,·,>nhnn. The sport h and entered the realm of

rr'"""'r1 your odds of having a mid.air collision. The are now inst you. At the altitude, the glider pi lot becomes a trespas,;er into an airspace that is al satu· rated with aircraft of every conceivable category: hot air bal sail· pl I hel

are all hell.bent on each other. tually these other aircraft are usually adhering to established rules and regu· lations that minimize the chances of GFlOUND Sf<IMMEFi

lions governing the nnnr,h,,n machines close rules and upon the student firs! indoctrination ceive school on all of the Air Traffic Control procPss. I am no means ng that we glider should be the era I Aviation Administration. I am saying that we should be Aware. We should know the basic rules. We should know what is

is the SPflse of freedom and we But let there be one mid-air collision between "'""1-mider and another type of and I can assure you the FAA

will step in, we will have restricting regulation imposed upon us, like it or not. With this in mind, let us investigate the basic right-of-way rules:

1. The premise of all right-of-way rules is that the least maneuverable machine will have the right of way. Therefore, aircraft in distress have the right-of-way over all others, then bal loons, gliders, airships, ai and rotorcraft in that order. 2. lftwoai ofthesame are converging, the aircraft on the right will have the right-of-way, and it is up to the other aircraft to take evasive action.

3. When two aircraft head on, each will alter course to its right.

4. If you are overtaking another air"" you will alter course to your right

"5. When landing, the lower ai the right-of-way. (This is a rule we have been conscious of for some time flying hang gl

These two (/epict the congestion and saturation o( the Los Angeles ance in flight, should be able to void a Also, most soaring areas have set up

their own right-of-way rules which we adhere to, such as, the pilot closest to the cliff has the right-of-way; the lower pilot has the right-of-way; the pilot launching the right of way, etc.

Now let's discuss airways, restricted ~1irspace, and air traffic as well as into rules for ng within airport areas and control zones. The vast our flyers, with just a minor knowledge of the basic right-of-way ru and exercising some awareness vigil-

rnajor incident, near-m confrontation, or even possible FAA involvement But what about the serious cross-country or thermal flyer? Can he safely leap off any launch site, make a long cross country flight, and land safely into confined landing sites without problems? He has .complete control over his sail. He knows his equipment. He can core and track the thermals and big bubbles, and has all the qualifications and know! to go r the long crosscountry flight anywhere. Right? .. Maybe. Within ranks hang glider JUNE, "1976

many h qual who are peri need hours of fe 1 also have

iIpilots within this last group have an of the ru and E!xcellent regulations that govern and conlrol !he airspace 11 which may thal ir traffic

result 1 lacking the ry to deal with the ities of even a hor1

emerge that of the basic rules make 1 fl

ps off on crosscountry fl into crowded airspace or with the intent to soar high in that same airspace 1 he or she should dean awareness of what i occuror could occur in any irspace their intended route of fl pilot

time a pilot is fl he or she knows their own limita-tions and those of their gliders and equ I believe a

Planning ,Jocumf'nts for .1afo cm.11--country flights.

n Serv Pan Arneri n Navi Inc. out small booklet, Federal for Pilots. It Aviation ities of the delves explains con right airspace res. It would trol reference on the club level, ng some in1ormative discusabout where conflict could occur gliders and other aircraft on the loc.il level. map is always a defiSince a one of the best crutches a nite hel pilot n obtain i a Sec ional Aeronautical Chart of his local area. This can be a planning device in that it not only shows control areas, irways 1.ai and I power lirH"s 1 obstructions to flight, rn r areas/ and I promin nt terrain features. These charts availabl frorn the Covernrnent Printing Office or alrnost any I les office. We will dissome of the major of the Sectional Charts but simply knowing where the ai and control re 1 we can avoid our actual fl and go a distance toward avoiding FAA intervention . . . Which brings us to the r: AA and th The recent article in

SKIMMER (

Trip Mellinger 1 besides being indicates that we I ity of entering We have the

ing

ing might by cross--country flight.

on lift gliders which have the ma that will allow us to cruise many mil on tended ross c:oun fl While we do have the machines 1 while we are presently ngthetechn toaccornplish the goal 1 again I ask: "LJo we have

in bly we some of the the conlrolled airspace areas shown on the Sectional Charts and vered by FAA regulations to determine if we arc even now in the process of jeopardizing our right to remain self.. regulating. The irspace that i to some of control in the manner shown in this niled airspace by tion means 1 11 Airspace within which some or all aircraft may be to air traffic l.efs briefly look at one or two of these zones or areas and see if a conflict could or does occur between the hang glider and other aircraft. .fl

SECf!ONAI Af:Rot--lAUTICAI. CHAR'!

The Sectional lwron,llltical Cliart identify

airSf)dCC'.

NTROt ZONES Control led airspace which extends u from the surface of the earth and terminates at the base of the Continental Control Area. (For our purposes the Continen, tal Control Area starts at 14 1 500 feet MSL.) A control zone may include one orrnorea andisnorrnallya ircular area with a radius of miles and any extensions necessary to include instrument approach and re paths . AIRPORT TRAFFIC AREAS That airspace within a horizontal radius of statute miles from tlw geographical center of any airport at which a control tower is extend from the surface up but not including 1 an altitude of 1 1 000 feet above the elevation of the airport. Fu the regulations go on to say that unless pilot is anding or tak off from thal ai he rnust avoid the Ai Traf .. fie area. Al we have glider pilots in one location who are violating this but who are not being ited because the airport in GFlOUNO SKIMMER

question chooses to the situation. Ignore, that until a confrontation occurs.

altitude, let's just briefly state that they will be at an altitude appropriate to their direction of flight. Aircraft on Visual Flight below 18,000 feet should oi:>,1nr:11ly be at odd or even altitudes plus 500 feel (2SOO, 3500, etc.) depending upon their heading. Instrument Flight Rule traffic will be at odd or even altitudes (2000, 3000, This insures at least SOOfeetof vertical hopefully. But this has no real bearing on our flights except as a possible airway crossing awareness factor. Vflt m1h.lng nltll1.1do or flighl lir;v<1!

Airport rra ffic Area

The airport referred to is Reno International. Well within the 5 mile radius of the airport is a hill that is frequently flown by local hang glider pilots in certain wind conditions.

Popular Airport Airport.

AIRWAYS: Airways are the roads of the sky along which aircraft navigate between two nts. By definition, each airway is based on a centerline that extends from one navigational aid or intersection to another navigational a id. Each airway includes the within parallel boundary lines 4 miles on each side of the centerline. The airway includes that ing upward from 1200 feet above the surface of the earth to 18,000 feel. These a re by the straight blue lines on the Sectional Chart. As hang glider pilots, we need to use extrcrnc caution when ng within or through these airways ... as traffic along an airway can be extremely heavy. Notice the various airways spoking into the Denver area, one of which goes over a primary Colorado hang glider Lookout Mountain.

site is well within the of /?.eno Internal iond I

Technically the use of the ite is regulations, but until an incident occurs, it will probably continue to be used. You can see the potential of conflict: the site is soarable in a good should an aircraft pilot north wind. make a missed approach to the right on Runway 34 (the north runway) and a hang glider pilot his flight path just slightly to the west, they may suddenly find each other much too close for rnmtnrt

Note t/1e potPntial conflict betweN1 and two h,rng glider (lying

should he ,1Wdre of the many ailways converging in Denver.

Colorado rivers

FLIGHT ALTITUDES: So that we might develop an awareness of where other a could be in regards to

FAR PARTS 91 109,91,121

Be awilre of VF/~ and /FR f/igl1t altitudes on cross-country (lights.

I think we could very easily too deeply involved in rules and regulations which don't really apply to our flight so rather than delve further into definitions of other control areas, let rne set up a brief scenario which might depict an approach to a cross-·country flight (as most of us would consider it now) and then analyse the same flight from the viewpoint of possible conflicts or violations of a1rsp;;1ce It is a warm morning in Palm Springs as you drive through town to the aerial tramway that goes to the top of Mt. San Somehow you bribe your way into getting your sails sent up on the tram. At the top you notice the air to be much a possible indication that a good rate may exist. The wind is blowing I ightly but steadily on the east face of the mountain, and over the desert you notice the first "cotton balls" form They should soon be wel I-developed cumulus cloud formations. Near the west shore of the Salton ,JUNE, 1976

is sharp demarcation between haze nd clear desert air 1 indicating a bl<> shear line. II looks things are really corning

that

which is not quite rting to hurt. you should 1 the flight short. You ve gained almost l,000 feet above take--off and you could go even h Wei 11 another

easl You

you 1 the first run airborne off the

the of rising

ir track this new lift generator northwest out over the Banning itself. You have noticed several ircraft flying well above you you work away from the ircraft II been ings. your atto your varhow 00 th engine bearing down on you frornthewest. You make widediving rel ng well below and behind the small ircraft which appears to di f Im what now 1 your h GROUND SKIMMEF1

out' Vario still reading

up!"

your glider toward Palm ing as you fly away rnountain. Passing south townyoustillhave lotof and are ining to catch some tur-bulence the hot desert floor.

area about a half a rnile unob and flat. With 3,000 feet of altitude to rid you do series of tight ]60° turns and ral down toward your landing area. You start to rol I out of a turn and find yourself right in the path of Lear ing at you with his gear down. The Lear last minute and makes same tirne you do his numbers are c

an uneventful I and hitch ride flight! If only my up 1 who have been

Dust many soa above 100°. You starl a large turn back to the north and become aware of the that almost d over s ai Suddenly you notice twi ned air Ii ner bori irron you from the south. The pilot obviously you as the away from you toward the pass 1 climbing in the now turbulent ir. Yo1/re tired from bulence n look

traffic

mar-· i while describing her encounter with 11 nut 11 on a white, and blue umbrella on airway 1 at her ! This brings

to airway

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on, near ly alert. Don't

etc. above all,

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The airliner you saw climbing away from you was a commercial jet under the control of Palm Springs rture Reader, climbing to airway altitude within the control zone which goes up to 14,500 feet. So Rule ): out of control

air Your biggest blunder as you set up for your landing. You flew right into the path of a Lear jet landing at the Palm Springs airport. With his gear flaps down, he was in a configuration that didn't lend it self to violent ma

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Trace the two flights on this Aeronautical Secliona/ Map of /'aim Springs.

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Let's now briefly follow the flight of the second flyer. He watches the progress of the first flyer for a while, decides something is really happening out there, and a decision to down the San nto for an attempt at a distance record. He hits immediate lift and south along the line. Now, from the pilot's viewpoint. Two bubbles of rising air allow a gain of to 2,000 ing you to see the town of Hemet to the west You are starting to shots of turbulence some sink, so you just pull it in and fly at your best u nti I you

another good up indication on the variorneter. In order to jump across the San Jacinto to the Santa Rosa Mountains, you're going to have to fly across a large pass, so you work a thermal for everything it has, and then go for it. You really steam across the pass but use up a lot of altitude in the process. As you cross the center of the pass you notice an aircraft flying low above a beneath you heading west. "He's really hedge hopping." You the Santa Rosa Mountains, ng close to the microwave tower on the crest. Now you're picking up ridge lift as the hot desert air rushes with increasing intensity up the east of the Soon you' re once again well above the ridge line flying slightly downwind with a good groundspeed. One problem though, you're getting darnn tired as you have been in the air almost an hour and a half, and Palm ngs is well out of sight behind you. It's turbulent and you have your hands full keeping the kite on a good fast track downrange. Cumulus clouds tower above you, building rapidly in the noon heat The north end of the Salton Sea is just abeam you, and what appears to be the shear line you saw from San Jacinto is clearly demarcated along the west shore of the water. "Really tired now and getting a lot of sharp jolts from corning up the ridge." It's now corn up on three hours of flight and you've come approximately 35 or 40 miles down the two ranges from your launch point. "If I could just reach that shear line I could stretch it another ten rn i or so. I have that much left in me." At the south of the Santa Rosa Range, a boot-I projection extends east toward the Saltc)ll Sea. With good forward and altitude you turn down the crest of this projection and then you're right over what appeared to be a sh<~ar line. But all you is a steady sink. The air is relatively smooth so you ma a wide swing out over the Salton Sea. Above you a large aircraft is circl Now you are really hurting and tired as you set up a landing approach next to a trailer park on the rts of a smal I town on the ofthesea.You'resotiredyou JUNE, 1976

blow your land but what flight! Almost !30 mi you learn from one of the crowd who has been watch the last of the fl from the trailer up your kite and are a ride back to Palm ngs cumulonimbus clouds boil view of conflict

turn path inlo restricted area where aircraft was circling to test chutes into the sea. Restric· live n be hazardous with such

with rules and upon us that will freedom. llUl':S!IOl'IS we should ask ourselves before we off on a day are: Are soarable there airways above me? Is the area in off.airways but used as a oracrobaticarea?lsit ofa climb corridor? Is it a j favorite for the And once in the air if I meet any machine, which way do I alter my course to avoid a mid.air col· lision? The to the whole problem is one of awareness. You are not the only pilot in the air. You do not have other aircraft. You cannot exthem to see you first. Be vigilant and know the basic right-·of.way rules well as !he controlled a rules.

CIC.

take a seri·· restrictive reas are shown on an ion I I

let's list sorne of the that will make a safer and

Finally, since one worth thous,rnd words Mark Colorado hang gliding , took this of very near miss involving Wells Baum and twin a• n1-~.,, smht-·se,e1r12 in the Boulder, Colorado Both pi lots made the correct a.. voidance it second after the was taken, and nother was averted. of th to this is a Not only will a mid.air collision ruin your whole it will also result involvement. This we don't de-· 0

Traffic Never under ,my circurnstances into Restricted Area. believe that this summer will cross-country of over with altitude ns of over I feel that these fl

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All leather with ankle padding for support and comfort. • shock absorbant sole to cushion hard landings. tread for maximum tr,1ction. Special lace anchors that cannot hook in flying wires. One leather tongue boot waterto the very top. • Sole designed to easily hook and hold harness Completely lined with soft leather for a perfect fit. selection of sizes for proper fit. in the U.S. by WILLS WI Send American shoe size ( to:

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DESERT FlYIDli ID ARIZODA by W. A. Roecker (Pork) Next win ter, when you look out your window t o see those gray ski es t hat wil I keep you gro und ed for month s, thi nk abou t loading your glid er and driving south to the blu e, warm weat her of Ar izo na. Soa rin g is possible at all tim es of the yea r, and even i n January, m id-day may find you stripped to the belt or seekin g shade. In Arizona, you can thermal in Decem ber. The cities near wh ich most Ariz ona fl ying fo cust~s are Tucson, Phoen ix and Flagstaff. Eac h has its own sites and condi tions . Flagstaff ha s Merriam GROUND SKIMMER

Crater, a huge ash co ne suitable for neophytes and ex perts ali ke; Phoe ni x possesses Shaw Butte, j agged and famo us fo r altitude reco rds; Tu cson offers flying s ites th at range from a 350 ' late-beg in ner hill to a 4000' "now yo u're really comm itted" mou ntain. Except for M erriam Crater and the sand dunes of Yu m a, h oweve r, Ari zo na is not a good p lace to lea rn to fly. Th e desert land scape can be forbidding to a pi lot w ho ha sn't mastered the sk ill s of laun ch ing and land in g. Rocks, uneven gro und and pl ants w ith picturesque names like ocot illo, mesq uite , sag ua ro, p rickl y pea r and Spani sh dagger are some of the main reason s for p ilo t co mp etency, and

common sense wi l! tell yo u that inland or mounta in fly ing anywhere ca n be bumpy and difficu lt. If you ca n spo t-l and acc u rate ly, th o ugh, and recognize potenti all y dangerous condit ions l ike approaching w indsto rm s or du st devi ls, you' ll fi nd Arizona fl y ing enj oyab le and uni q ue. Fliers here are fr iendly as anywhere, and on the in crease (where aren't they? ), but as yet most sites are re lative ly un spoiled and un crowded. Tucson is perhaps most typical of th e co pper state's fl ying loca li ties. Fli ers here are t he s.a me reg ul ar guys you'd meet anywhere. Their occ upati o n s r a ng e from denti st to gas pumper, from carpe nter to phys ics

professor. Two of Tucsons' better pilots are Cary Lichte and Richard Jones, who are, believe it or not, elevator technicians. Local gl vary from antique standards to do-ityerselfers like Billy Hamilton's Hel gramite (a swallowtailed dragon-fly creation), to the hottest new gliders on the market, Ii ke the Cirrus and SST. Some of these fliers are veterans of three or more years, and some have just graduated from the training hill, which in this area rneans a gravel pit or similar embankrnent, or a small mesa some forty-five miles southeast of Tucson, near Sonoita. Rut a weekend morning will likely find all of them atop the nearest site, "A" Mountain (or Sentinel Peak), which is well within city limits, and a paved road to 100' below the 500' peak. Unlikely as it may seem, the city of Tucson recently constructed a pair of paved launch ramps on the southeast and easiest-to-fly side of this smal I volcano. Almost any Saturday rnorning will find a or more local fliers and m someone visiting from Wisconsin or New setting up in another area the city cleared near the parking lot. Mild southeast winds that out and shift in the late morning or afternoon are the usual rule, and after the wind the pilots move up to the peak i or more likely, they'll travel forty miles south to I ielvetia, to soar in westerly winds from a 1200' cliff launch.

***

It was here at Helvetia that Tucson

ality. Ed an for a copper mine and a flying buddy of this writer, d in the afternoon of April 30, 1 while flying Helvetia. Ed pilot with about His glider was but atthis point it seems the seated harness he was ble for the fatal acusing was cident. The harness had been cut fol1owing an earlier accident, and spliced with two of webbing about two inches long, sewed with I ight Dacron thread. Ed had performed the repair himself, and were many horizontal stitches in it, but only a few vertical ones. The harness broke on the right side, presumably before he crashed. It may have caused hirn to fall toward the lef1 side, locking the rudder. Another possibility may be that the wing spar which earlier had contact with the high tension wires may have broken near the crossbar. Ed was observed by a who was unfamiliar with hang from hundred away. doing what the ranger but what may have been a steeply banked spiral dive. He was observed as being 11 upside . down" twice. II

Some of Tucson's pilots called Ed a "loner," but I knew him as both generous and i He was flying by h as was his habit (he worked near this site), helmetless and in soaring conditions. It was a point of honor with Ed not to wear a helmet. Likely in this case a helmet would not have made much difference, since his was of several hundred feet

and his glider suffered total to every tube: both wing spars, the keel and r. He h been in two other serious accidents, one of which I witnessed, when he flew down the length of some high-voltage wires, becarne caught in a rotor behind the hill he was flying and touched his lower side wire to a 4"140 volt line, severing the wire immediately. He fell about twenty-five feet to the ground, unhurt. His harness had been cut after another accident, when he tried to land atop the ridge he was flying and hit a parked car. As he was unconscious his rescuers cut his harness to remove him from the glider. This neccessitated the faulty repair. Ed should have bought a new harness. I ie should have worn a helmet, and he should not have been flying alone, especially in soaring condi . . lions. Bui doesn't make much di now. At his 30th birthday party, shortly after the powerline accident, he confided in me that he sometimes thought he had a "deathwish.11 In the context of our conversa . . tion, I didn't that to mean that he thought he was trying to kill himself, only that he was concerned about his accidents. Lately he had become more conservative in his flying, recently re . fusing twenty-five rnph winds while others were flying. Al I that's left to dis . . cuss now is "should" and 11 if 11 and the im of for those of us who are still flying.

** One hundred miles north of Tucson is Arizona's rnajor city of Phoenix. Shaw Butte is the only site in this area that is commonly flown, and depend ing on which side you fly, has a verti . cal drop of up to 1000 1 • This is easily the most popular site in because of its location on Phoenix's north side, and a normal weekend will find several dozen fliers there. The hill is

The wind fills F/.ick Sivilli's sail as he Mountain in Tucson, i\rinma. Photo by

easily soarable, but be

cautious, because it's very rugged and there's no place to land on it. A tough vehicle is to make the top, but there are usually several available that can do it. It was here that Mark Clarkson gai 5700' with his icksilver. less to say, Phoenix offers plenty of other things to do, what with its JUNE, 1976

million. There

expert rnoving up the hill and flying in winds. The wind mus1 be watched carefully here is 7000' above and lhe wind really "honk." The soft is fine for hard land howl two

themsel vos off

you therma Is popp1, nio; off the

cr<Jssi-coum,rv distances are possible from Merriam Crater. If want to go to lesser-known sites in the Sonoita Association has published a with and maps called C/ider!s Cuide To Arizona. It lists ventoon different some of which can be driven to and some that mus I be hikPd. The book is at . 11 was written Wilson (Jim) Baker and can be ordered from:

vehicle and/or crew, nr,,n,,pr some of then,. at lower desert elesense lo wear When your flying friends are home next winter, grous about snow and rain and you could be cn:,rino high above the Sonora warm wind in your wi1h the scent of creosote and blossom tus, watching for a hawk to show you the next thermal. for ii!

8.5637 Like rnany of the western stales, Arizon has literally hundreds of that could have. If you

R:ir more information and reservations, write or call Tho Delta School, PO 4B3, Van California 9140£5. Phone or 787-6600.

instructior1s on tho stuclcmt gets into the !tic~ instructor

f'f\lrnr\loin

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Since script called for actors fly .. ing in hang gl and since there were not any actors trained to fly gliders, we needed to find some way to shots the actors' while they were "flying." This was ished with the use of a crane. From the very begin n we had inth at the only way to of the actors in hang gliders was to teach them to fly hang gliders and fi Im flying. For a while it looked I we would our way since all the actors were willing able and the ucers were mildly to our cries for realism. In the end the almighty insurance company won the battle they never entered and it was decided that the only way the actors would fly was firmly to a crane. Thus the actors would perfectly or so they thought. The set designer went out and rented a crane big enough to lift a man tank and it 200 yards away, and we set about testing the crane. We a Swallowtail so that it was attached to the crane by a ket under the ki bracket con·· to a lead which over the three thousand pound hook of the crane. We then a day ng the crane to an area with a suitable backdrop where we could test it. The ish crane operator did not and we did not 20 minutes arguing over what to do first. For al I we know 1 we could been ngwith him 42

whole time. Finally someone yelled shut up and we to get him to go to the cab kite up. I sat in the swing seat as lifted me 20 feet in the air to turn in a huge circle to try to fill the sail. The first part the turn was downwind and did not do the job. As I came around into the wind, the sail started to fill. Suddenly the sail was not only filling but the kite was also flying. just as I cli the 20 to into the 3,000 pound hook, we were cross wind n so I was no longer flying. I then dropped I had gai at the end

cable. About thi tirne, the crane to realize that my wildly flapping arm res did not mean to on Fie could not r my screams of terror over the noise of the crane. As he lowered me to the ground, I knew I would never again be stra to a hang glider on a crane. wanted to try Since the set des one more test with a I ittle more since MY career as a crane pilot was over, we went over to a gopher who also not heard my screams of terror over the crane noise. Smiling broadly, the set decorator and I motioned how much fun it would be for the to try our fun ride. He

/Jmcs Cohurn the crane" with the Mcteora in the hackgmund. Jim Freeman films from the

,JUNf=, 1976

motions readily hirnself to the swing . After two revolutions similar back b king "fun," lo the ground and th what he nl, I decided that work just tlw ided it perThe

riven the five from Athens to the crane loca tion near pinnacles of l<al and was until one one, on the only ible to film them 011 the ~rnal I volution when into the

Dawn f/ig/Jt of the Alo11elte Ill. Photo by Chris /'rice.

group that we

for former position

job dS crane• !Psi pi/ol lamp movN. Note m()(f<'rn

about how he might be killed ual ly bout thi time, the actor would insert an nion that was in with ours and would be lowered down until the wind sub··

GROUND Sf<IMMl~1

very well, the crane scenes look very icvabif! on film.

P'S HOP inthefilmingwehad to take several of the braver members of crew up tandem in our kites. Bob was the first to actua I ly do it, and the p,issengers la word th the crew that it was the mos! fun th and seemed safe this point on, we were literally with to ta after work we would go up to the

to narrow plunge to the

thousand-foot n11·m,K le the hotel and fly rnembers of the crew and casttandem until it was too dark to see. Almost every we had ten more to go than we had time to take up. Since we flew them from the had launched when he crashed THE ACCIDENT #I), we cal the takeoff point Hoop's As we would fly over it, we would point out the ledge where now known as rlop. After about a wE~ek, we had taken up all the actors Culp and York, and over 30 of the crew. Coburn was excited to try it and was scheduled to fly with us two from then. The next day MacG i 11 ivray and 1:reernan talked hirn in.to actually hanging on the skid of one of the hel and flying around at 2,000 feet while they filmed him. When this film came the almighty insurance company won another battle they never entered and it was decided that he could not fly in the kite. We saying that we were it anyway, and that noing off to body was su10P<)St1id to know. arthat off still counted so we could not do it They won. As time went on, we to take up almost anybody who wanted to try

it. Chris Price it a little too far as he usually does. He decided to take up the Greek who served us lunch and dinner everyday at the hotel. Bob had taken up our Creek the before and briefed the hf~adwaiter on what to do. The headwailer, who knew no English milk, peas, soup, and other food items found only at a supper seemed to go. Price had no way of checking whether th is was the case, so he buckled the waiter in and started to run off the cliff. The waiter took three sat down, skidded his feet along the like brakes, and the bar all the way out. They were rnovi ng off the so Price had no recourse other than to try 1ofly.Theyclearedthe just as the kite totally stal and ended up ten feet from the pointing straight at the At this point the waiter

r-:oy's rPscue was as dramatic as his accidenr. Rescuers hraved the sheer pinnac/p to carry Roy by stretcher to SJ fety.

pulled the bar in all the way and held on for dear life as they accelerated to about 60 down. Chris Price tried push out with little response before he noticed the death the He shouted, slugged the and shoved out all way, and the kite led out just missing a jutting rock below. The rest of the flight with no incident, but you tel I by the green

tint of the waiter's that he did not care to do it Chris Price seemed more excited about how long we were able to see the top of his sail than he was worried a bout how close he ca me to the jutting rock. The rest of us were more nm-and soon thereafter the tanstopped.

About B weeks into the filming, we had our second accident with hang gliders. Dix was flying through the gap with two others and was assigned to land on the road. As he was landing, one of the typical in the box canyon came through. He was about 20 feet up trying to mush the kite down on the that dropped away right at his glide angle when it hit him. It instantly turned him 90 to the right and slammed h irn into the bank on the uphill side of the road. Since he was painted black tennis shoes (an integral part of any commando's high high prc>tcc:trcm outfit), he cracked h.is heel in the ,rnnci,"t He was in considerable pain so we loaded him into the hel and took him to the same lovely "hos pita I" that Roy had been taken to. The hospital could do no more for him than it did for Roy, so Dix was also flown to the hospital in Athens (see THE Dix's wife, also went along with him to Athens by hel leaving their 6-year-old to stay with us. She was lonesome for her parents, so the production decided to send her to Athens in a film car. A film car drove to Kalambaka every day to up the latest filrn, took it to Athens (5 hours away) to be procesand brought it back the next day. The film car drivers drove like rnan-as did everyone else in and this was the occasion they to have a car wreck. Tessa was unhurt, but one the of the car had a heart attack so she was taken to the hospital that could do nothing for or Dix. Tessa was transferred to another car that eventually got her to Athens Ironically, the production person JUNE, 1976

to check with the the per· was run into

tal. to the mess. t10sri11ta1 in Athens did no more for the local . Finally, later he flew horne.

rnuch bound to be

not to h;ive whole situation. I le went when the assistant di· not around and su~rnc,,stcicl that !her,' be wl1ere one of the

Price

n,.,,·to,·i

person for the

"'vv,,,,~ been

ham so

lent and wondered aloud shots did not work out that well This really made the assistant di. but there was noth he won in the end the shot was ediled of the final version of the movie.

was

/\/most r'Vr'IY Creek restaurant serves its meals

the r was askin drachrnas we called or Dracs). Barbara determinedly bar-

all of

tered him under 1200. So

wanted When

and bara

I it

GROUND SKIMMFJi

the rlea Mar/wt at the /JasP of the /\crof)olis.

on t/1e sidr'wdl!<. Here we're Plljoying dil!ner at

but he wouldn't go started the car

" Bar-

800. this time we were all in the car honking the horn and I at Bar· bara to hurry. As Barbara ran for the car, the 800." We real nally fooled decent What's is that we later found out that the same '·'"'""'"' only cost 600 Draculas if Greek!

A ball [very sport nccrls a ball. Imagine football pl<1yers running amok, burnping lwarls and tearing limbs, without the old pigskin. l'ic:ture the basketball player dribbling downc:ourt, his arm pumping at air, his only reward empty bye··bye at the hoop. What about the golfer, rc\duced to lobbing divots at a green that soon be· comes a mountain of dirt clods. What's missing/ THAT BALL! small, flat, pointed, black and white, brown, tan, fuzzy, smooth, cloth, rubber, animal skin, who cares? As long as you've got some· thing to hit with a stick, liounce off your head, throw at a tPammalP, or drop in a holP you l1aV(! a sport. And that's where hang gliding has fallen short. Sure it's fun to glide and soar, but what's the point? Or rather, where's the ball? I lang Gliding Polo brings it all to· get her; the freedom of flight and the fierce exciternent of a stick knocking a little round object ~icross the field! Hi•,tnrv, In 1963 the North American llang Cliding Association realizt'd the need for ,1 single broad basc'd gliding competition that would not only promote a safe and responsible pub I ic image but would also allow pilots to objectively express their varying skills. After a series of twenty-seven annual, bian nua I and cidi ly selection and rules committee confer· ences, the NAHCA formalized H,rng Clid· ing Polo as a sport. of the Game: Hang Gliding Polo is played by three teams of four players (four teams of three players in Europe and Australia). Each team attempts to score goals by having one of its players strike a ball with a stick between the opposing team's goalposts while flying a

,rn

I I glider.

field: The pL:iying field consists of a triangle having equal length sides of 500' surrounded by three mountains 427' in height with 42 degree slopes such as the model field north of Cincinnati, where the '1976 Wintc•r Olympics wert' not held. Officials: The game is controlled by three umpires sec1ted on lawn chairs atop the mountains, a referee in a dirigible over the playing field, two goal j lying prone on air mattresses at each goal, and a committee of indeterminate size and plir. pose in the sauna at the nearest motel. learn: Each team consists of four players (threP in Furope and Australia). Substitutes are allowed only 1o players who no longer understand the rules. Duration: A match is divided into scvE'n twenty.four hour pPriods called There are six sixty minute resl led "hours."

by Clenn Adamo

1:/.eprinLecl from AFRIE

Clicling

A is no! a 11 owed lo WP,H ,1 l1owcvPr, he is to Wl'dr a liclnwt Roller skiltes are optio11dL The slick shall he 27 l' i11 with ;1 bamboo handle ,rnd d lw,1d \" in di,rnwter ,rnd fl" in rhe J he ball shall he I, V," i11 diame!('r ,rnd rML1blc. It is usually made fro111 fresh pi//.d ;md shall 110 less than lwelvc l<itcs shall be pretty and safe. colors will b(' l<itcs with given a ~,alivc1 tcst by the commill<' of indetenninatc ;md purpo,;c in the •;;ltma .ii the 1ie<1rest motel The te.im with tlw tallest and heaviest shall choose the 111oun t;iin from which wish to fly dtHI shall fly firs!. The remaining two teams sh,111 amongst tlwmsc>\ves to delerrnirw their cl1oice of ordt)r and mount.ii 11. The first t<>arn to fly rnay select their own first ;rnd he sh,111 t,il<,' off .it bis own discrC'tion be rnay not t,1kcoff for more than three !he shall hit

one (or is then lo twol of the opposing land ou1sidc of tlw tr1;·1111•IP If a l,rnds the reforee will y(•\I ""''"''"'"' ,iboul the ability ;i If ,1 ball is knocked out of the must re· position will 1.mdue .ittenlio11. hit•; the ball with the kite he must ap,ilogi,'e or any p.irt of his

('dCh

to 1lw

7. If ;1

lion. H. Aftc,r the first !earn has flown and from the sN:ond te,1 rn

dure continuP, for ilw third team and IJp .. gins c1g,iin with the second player of the first learn and so forth.

9. le,irns and/or

flying 0111 of

tum will have p,1int filled balloons drop-

their kitr•s the referee in thP hie. I 0. Thl' six "hour" rest periods may bl' c.illcd at any tinw tht• by the committee of indctermi11;1lc siz(' and purpose in the ne,irest motel. 1 ·1 is over at the end of sPven 011

" Tlw le,1m is the one to score the most number of If no are scored (as is the cc1se), the winning team shall be the team which has h;id to travel the farthest to compete. 1 rhese rules rnay he added to, d or ridiculed only during a match. See you at llw N al ion a I I lang CI Polo C:11,irnpiomhip to be lield this yl;;11 i11 Salina, l<ans;is,

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Alaska JULY 2-6, Hatch~ir daylight the Sun" Fly-In. 24 Alaska Airline package, Seattle, An,~hor~ Honolulu $30$,00. Plan on it c>1t,i.t,,,, N;:i,t.1nn::i,1sat Mountain.

Stowe Sky School is happy to announce thei.r Spring Hang Cliding Meet at Mt Mansfield, Stowe, Vermont.

JWNE 1 Annual Reno Fly-In at Nevada. Lots of fun flying for alL Formore information, call (702) 76. Annual f:rankfortSmirirrn and l"iang Gliding

Clinic. at Guadalupe Dunes. Marfa, go west ('.)n Hwy. 166 to H1f>·hf>;iri1, Dune buggy transportation ava i 1able. No faciliti€ls, bring food and water. For information call A.I Waddill (805) 925-1548.

cornpetition June atthe Bluffs. Limited entry of pilots. Send $5.00 for pre-entry foe to receive pilot number and information. Post entry $10.00 after June 10. Send to P.O. Box 70, Betsie Bay Bluff Frankfort, Mi higan 4963S. (6'16) 352·9312.

r:1 ing Fun Fly-In at NelWisconsin for Memorial weekend. We are aware that the USHGA Nationals up to that same weekend, but Washington is a longway from th<:1 midWf)st and our event is for local and ,c:"',u""' flyers who are not planning on Dog Mountain. for more information write: Northern Sky Gliders Assn Inc., .,./,, ·'""' 364, Mpls. MN SS440.

JUNE 2·1, SHGA membership meeting, 7:30 P.M, of Water and Power AuLos An11r,10s. ditorium, 111 N. Hope

MAY 29-JUNE S, 4th Annual USHGA Na-

JULY 2-4, Fireworks! Hang Gliding Meet

JUNE The Grnat Wellsville Air Show and Pokc"r Railey Air Race at Wellsville Municipal Airport Whatever your aviation interest, come and join in the fun. For information call (716) 593-4270.

JULY , 2t1d Ann.u,:il Molsons InvitaGlider Corr1petition at n 00' tional Mt. McKay Thunder Bay, Ontario, ca11ac1a, $4,000 purse. For more information c.ohta<:t: Northern Sun Hang Gliders, 240 N. McCarrons Blvd., St. Paul, MN ss 11 3. (61 2) 489-8300. AUGUST 14·15, Hang Gliding Meet at Crystal Caverns Flight Park, Chattanooga, Tennessee. For further information call (615) 82'1,0097. AUGUST 1 Telluride Invitational Meet. The meet will be Hang GI ider Manufacturer's Assoc. sanctionc!d meet. The pilots will be chosen from and by this group. The Telluride area is closed to all flying except forthe i nvitati ona I flyers d uring the meet welcome. SEPTEMBER 1-12, First World Hang Gliding Championships. Kossen, Austria. frni: USHG/\ SEPTEMBER 24-26, l,ang Gliding Meet at Crystal Caverns Flight Park, Tennessee. For further information call (61S) 821-0097.

Let Cround Skimmer hPlp you to publicize your upcoming hang gliding events. Send in your cal~rndar items at least B weeks in advance . Calendar of Events

hanii gliders before flying for ,n"'""""'"'1 carefully for fatigue bent or ruined bushings, bolts (especially the, heart bolt), Nyloc nuts, thimbles, frayed or rusted and 011 11v•ua11,u;:,, <,,ic:<,Amn1An

ALASKA ALASKA Helicopter Hang Gliding tours. Vertical Flights up to 6,000' Write or call for Info . .,A,,A,>>AA

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CALIFORNIA HANG FLYING SCHOOL. Northern California's most compk1tci glider facility. USHGA certified lessons with purchase of instructors, wing. Stop by our NEW SHOP 1011 Lincoln in Rafael. Total service, and to Dillon Beach and check out the ing and the Windlorct After the sale, the or (415) vice that counts. Phone (415) 669··1162.

Buil1 from Free-Flight kit Beautiful skeleton, net Including carpeted

CANADA

SAILS, featuring Sun and Sea~Jull gliders. Our well equipped shop specializes in expert repair and custom work. Huge of parts and accessories, including r:h,m,r1<>11i:, replacement parts. service mail order. ular, advanced, and high,performance Mountain flights up to 2600' vertical. ailable. Located just west of Denver at the of Green Montain. Call or write for free price list further information: 278-9566. chard Golden, 80401

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IOWA IOWA Glider Co., Central Iowa dealer for Pliable Moose, New and used gliders, lessons, parts, repairs. 2564 Boyd, Des Moines, Iowa 50317. 262-50!30. KANSAS Pliable MOOSH, Weekly instruction. outfitting and sales for canoe and kayak trips. by and shoot the breeze! Voyageur's Pack and Portage Shop, 5935 Merriam Drive, Merriam, Kansas 66203 (913) 262-6611.

The Midwc~st School of Hang Gliding has the Cumulus VB, the SST, and the new Flexi-Flier II as well as all other rnodels of Wills Wings: and the Kestrel available for flights. We have a complete line of accessories and instruction in all levels of including lessons on the Quicksilver B Our training is done at the Warren Dunes since we are located % of a entrance. Call (616) mile north of the 426-3100 or write: Midwest School of Hang Gliding, 11522 Fled Arrow Highway, Bridgman, Mich. 49106.

Manta. Let us you in the kite of your choice this season. the Syracuse and Central SKY, 2473 Conners New York area: Rd., Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13207. 638-1243. WINDBORNE HANG GLIDERS Electra Flyer, California Gliders, Eipper, Manta, U.P., Zephyr, Parts, accessories, flight instruction. Skateboards too. 159··1 ·1 Harding Flushinri, N. Y. 1·1365. (212) 461-1314.

~,O mile~ north of NYC. Aerial Techniques GS!

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A soarinrJ feeling of pure flight that takes you beyond the edge of mankind's final fantasy. With 9: 1 performance capabilities Calypso is a milestone breakthrourih in an iufont sport. Imagine soarin(l along ridues for hours instead of minutes, flyin(l supine beneath a 40 pound wing of aluminum and dacron. It's as close to pure, birdlike flight as man has ever come. OavP dcsi!Jncr of the all new Calypso, put it this way: "I needed a with the good speed rani1c, superior !Jlidc and minimum sink necessary for cross country flights. On distance runs you've !.Jot to cut throu!Jh areas of sink and between thermals while movin!J from rid!Je to ridge. With fully cambered leading edge, keel and sail I was to create a sli!Jhtly cylindrical high.aspect truncated glider that gives a balance of optimum glide and control at minimum sink."

"The plan is, essentially, to heccime wanderers-so that we seek out new knowledge wherever is to he found for as long as Calypso will carry us." JACQUES-YVES COUSTEAU

"To ride on the crest of the wHd storm . • • and loving aml it be. Aye, c ..,1.,,,.,..~, .. JOHN DENVER

And each Calypso is built like an aircraft. Inspections performed at the plant (to FAA AC <13.13·1 standards) insure lop quality construction before serial nameplate is riveted to the airframe. Each clevis the approved Boeing design is machined to 0.001 for 3 times the strength obtained with channel brackets. Eagleman's pa1ented (pal. pend.) control bracket replaces the heart bolt with two AN5 bolts and internal compression bushings while providing full CG adjustment. These, and numerous other design improvements place Calypso in a class by itself.

If your proficiency rating is 4 or above, why not go for it! The Calypso !Jets you up there higher faster with response that is more like a win!J and less like a parachute. If you're new to the sport manufactures a complete line of Formula One World Sl,mdards with 90 degree nose an!Jles that pioneered the sport nearly two years ago. Write today for your free color brochure-and experience Calypso.

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lbOUI We're serious about our business and we're serious about Our record proves that The president of our firm is the first individual living outside the state of California who is classed to com· as an expert at Country, ( :,,,l,tr,rr)lr, mecca of hang gliding activity. We figure that the purpose of competition is winning, and our kites give flyers the leading over others with amazingly low sink and pinpoint control and handling Our gliders are individually constructed by a skilled group of craftsmen and You can be assured that f~ach win~J is assembled with and at· tention that would be impossible to achiBve in a mass production system. Our sails have consistently attainBd a high of performance to that of any othm enabling Moose flyers to establish the winning records that they hold' Our kites fly well because we build them well. After all, we'vB been experimenting, flying and building since March of 1965.

Call us. We'll direct you to one of more than 125 dealers that can

with no in mediate area, we'd like to aea1e1rs1rup arrancJerner,t with yoti,. Act the world's

We feel that it shouldn't cost you an arm and a to into the nation's fastest growing sport Neither should it cost you quality or Consider these features: ,. We're the only firm using 4.2 ounce dacron on all production models. Although ii costs us nearly lwice as much as !he popular 3.0 ounce sailcloth, ii pays tor ii sell in per· lormance and durability. .. Moose sails are carefully cul to produce a "T1ravelir10 airfoil" •• giving you more lilt per square ,. A patented process used in gives stresses lo seam or pocket, on the various loads each area during flight. This results in smooth sails whisper through .. The frames in the industry ... con· strucled 1·518"ic058" 6061 T6 double and triple reinforced at all points receiving stress. .. A finish ol. The new and anodized in a rich, black plementing stainless steel hardware throughout. Vinyl·coated !lying wires enable easier ground handling, while turnbuckles on the top rigging allow you lo lune your sail lo your kind of flying.

Tho J\rrambido brothors sharing t/10 over Point Formin, Pedro, Photo by Dave Cronk.

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Eipper-·Formance also manufact· ures ttie Flexi a sleek and stable perforrner for beginning and intermediate flyers. Send for free spec sheets, or enclose $1.00 for complete catalog.

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The SUNDANCE has been the leader in high performance win9'fdr specialized field has yielded today 's highest performance that can only be OltJktlilililJ stop there . We believe one shouldn't have to hassle with an overly ourow~ *'l!Alilll mance. This is what makes the SUNDANCE so unique. It is as light and simple as a Rogallo, is easy to fly and handle, can be flown nine minutes without tools, and breaks down into a slim Rogallo type bag for easy t In performance, stability, control, and quality of design and engineering, the SUNDANCE·-·-· standard in ultra light development. All this means that SUNDANCE offers you the versatility of a Rogallo, with pe,~ y-gijtikllltl other. Why fly anything else? SUNDANCE A Span Area Aspect ratio

LID Sink rate Pilot weight Bag length when disassembled

27 ft. 134 sq. ft.

5.8 8: 1 seated, 9: 1 prone 3.2 fps. under 160 lbs. 16 ft.

SUNDANCE B

32 ft. 156. 76 sq, ft. 6.5 9.6:1 seated, 10.6:1 prone 2.6 fps over 160 lbl. 18 ft.