THE FLYING OF TOMORROW IS AVAILABLE TODAY. With the exciting debut of the PHOENIX 8 comes whole new concept in Style and performance. Able to rise on a breath of air or penetrate a the 8 is a..soaring potentials are phenomenal since the glide ratio remains high this upper speed range. Never before has design well·balanced package. goes one step features allow for an corwenience and safety.
all the latest advancements in hang gliding +"'•hn,n1,,n" in such on succes.q of the PHOENIX VIB, this new beauty Delta A combination of droop cambered sail, raised keel and other in performance and maneuverability while still portability,
NOSE ANGLE·· LEADING EDGE KEEL LENGTH·· SAIL ASPECT RATIOSPANWEIGHT RANGE-· GUDE RATIO··· SINK RATE··
BE READY FOR THE FL YING
110° '110" 22' 20' 9' 9' 185ft. 2 170 ft. 2 6.8 6.315 36.04' 32.76' 155 210 lbs. 125 175 lbs. $1095.00 $1075.00 Dramatically better than previous designs.
110° 11'
225 ft. 2 5.77 36.04' 185 lbs:+· $1125.00
Amazingly low. We don't make claims we can't support.
TOMORROW WITH
EXPERIENCE THE FLYING DREAM.
13620 Satiooy St., P.0. Box 41'13 Van Nuys, California 91400 (213) 7137,-6600 (213) 7135-2474
Telex 66 1426
ASG-21 A tradition quality & performance. * flat billow cambered sail & raised cambered keel pocket * triple wing strut system * one of the strongest frames in the air * 5 sizes - pilot wt. range 100 - 225 Ibs. * price - $1090, including cover bag
ASG -21 High performance for the advanced pilot.
ALBATROSS SAILS Specialists in innovative sail glider design
P.O. Box 192 Solana Beach, CA
(714) 755-7000
fOl fOR· Rith Grigsby CONTR IBUTING EDITORS: Carol Prrce. Hedy Kleyweg EDITORIAL ASSISTAN rs: Sharon Grigsby, Ph It Warrender ILLUSTRATIONS & LAYOUT: Mark Al lison STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS: W. A. A llen, Leroy Grannis, Benina r.rnv <;tephcm Mccarroll OFFICE STArr
ISSUE NO. 51 APRIL 1977
HANG GllDING CONTENTS
MANAGER: Carol Velderrain Cathy Coleman, Hedv Klevweg, Janet Meyer, Miriam Durkee U!>HGA OFFICERS PRES ID ENT: Vic Powell VICE PRESIDENT: Vern Roundtree SECRETARY· Kay Brake TREASURER: Lloyd LichPr USHGA REGIONAL DIRECTORS REGION 1. Vern Roundtree, Jeri Johnson RE GION 2: Wa lly Anderson. Jan Case. R[GION 3. Lloyd Licher, Dan Poynter, )Qhn Lake, A lex Duncan. REGION 4: Steve Thorne, Lucky Campbe ll. REG ION 5: D. n Levalley. REGION 9: James Cruce. REGION 7; Mike Zia$kas. REGION 8; Tom Pcghiny. REG ION 9: Vic Powe ll, Dennis Pagen. REG ION 10: Skip Smith. REG ION 11: David Broyles. REG ION 1 2: Jim Aronson D IREC TORS-AT-LARGE· REGION 6: Kay Brake. REGION 8: Bill A llen. Don McCabe. REG ION 10: John Hams, Harrv Robb. HONORARY D IRECTOR: Hugh Morion. fX OFFICIO DIRECTOR ol USHGA as we are a dvisJOn or NAA: General Brooke Allen.
rhe United Sta tes Hang Gilding Association, Inc., is a division of rhe National Aeronautic Association (NAN which is the official U.S. representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FAI meetings, has delegated to !he USHGA supervision of FAl-relat~d hang gliding acti vities such as reco rd attempi~ .,nd compNilion sanc110n5. ALL RIG HTS RESERVED, Items appearinR in HANG GLIDING are published with all right, reserved to HG Jnd the rl>spective con1ributors. 11,\t-.G GLIDING ma~azrne 1, pUhll;hed for h,,nq Hh<lln}t ~r.m n en1ht"m"b 10 create lurthor tnwr~,t in the "iporl. be ,1 mean~ oi open communicJtion ,md to advance han~ jilidlng melhods and ,,.fetv Contribu l ion, dre welcqme. Anyone ,.,, mv11ed 10 c-om11bure ,1rtlc.Je~. µhotoi, and ilkt\lriulon!I> c.onterning han~ gl1ri1ng ,1c.uv11,~ 11 che m.11eri;il 1, to be;• rPturnt:'d d stamped, §elf-addrcswd fl'lurn ~n,elope must be ench,,cd I tANG GLIDING ntJ~~tlne resc,-es.rhe ro~ht to e.;.ht c;on1r1butmns whc.rc ncrcu,1ry, The A~s.oc,a-
tlr;n ,,nd publkallon cfo nol ,,.sumo re$pon.,b,lity for the ,,·Mterlal or opinion\ f')I rqnlribururs HANG C.1.IDINC n,,,g,,:tln<' ,, puhl,.hed m11n1hlv by 1he United Stati:,s H,,np. Glldin~ A<socfat,on. hK who<e maol1ng addres• ,s PO Bn~ 66)0&. Lo, An11ele,, Calrl. 900(,6 and whose ofhce, arc lor,,ted ,II 11112 .,., Wmc-c Blvrl. lo, An1,1ele,. Calif. 900bt>; telephan~ 121 ll J90- ~065. Sccond-clas; POM•gc I< patd ar Los An11elcs, C,1llf. HANG GLIDING m,1gazonc " pronrrd by Sindaor Printing & Lllho_ A lhamhr,1, Cahl Subscripllcm Is a.a,l.1blr only ,ls p,irt ill mcmber<h1p in rhe U~ HC,\ a mt>mberconuolled ,•d,,catlonal and ,c1Pnhloc or,;aniz~tlon dedicat~,d to exploring all facet< of l11elfes,, ..,11 . launched uh,allght rlfght Member,h,p ,s open lt:1 anyone ,ntere}led 1n Ihis re.aim ot 1logh1. Due, fu, rull memher,hq, Jre S 15.00 per vear (i Ir, for ioce,gn add1e,,e, 1. ,1,.e, for As,ocJate memhmship are S 10 per ye..ar. ot which S4 -'Ire de~H(na.ced for ~ulY;n1pt1on to HANG GltO ING magawu, Changes ol add•<!<'< <"hould be '>en1 s1>. Wl'l!k., ,n t1dvance, ,ncludlfl& n.1mt•. USHGA rnembersh,p 11umlk>r, prcl·luu, ,ind nPw addo<>i.s, .ind J maiHn~ l.tbel irom J r~cenl r,~ue.
Total paid c ircu lation for the March 1977 issue was 9300
FEATURES
18
HEAVENER, OKLAHOMA
by Kay Brake
A look at the site of this yea(s Nationals
22
VARIOMETERS
by Chris Price
How to use and choose one
25 26
WINDSOCK LET'S GET INSTRUCTION WIRED
by Mork Allison by W. A. Allen
Using radios for Intermediate training
32
INVERTED
by John Moody
What do l do now?
34
PERFORMANCE CLAIMS
by Gary Valle
Valid or Visionary?
36 HANGING LOOSE WITH JACK LAMBIE by Carol Price An Interview
38 WAVE SOARING
by Dennis Pagen
Exceipt from Hang Gliding and Flying Conditions
40 SOARING SEMINAR
by Nodine Malcolm
West Coast's 1st cross-country clinic
43
KNOTS FOR TYING SUSPENSION LOOPS Taklng core of loose ends
by Phil Warrender
DEPARTMENTS
4 ULTRALIGHT CONVERSATION 10 USHGA NEWS 11 CALENDAR 12 ULTRALIGHT NEWS 14 AERO-INNOVATIONS 20 COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT 52 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 57 STOLEN WINGS 60 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS CONSUMER A DVISORY: Hang G liding and USHGA, Inc., do nol endorse or take any responsibility for the products advertised or mentioned editorially within these pages. Unless specifically explained, performance figures quored in advertising are only estimates. Persons considering th e purchase o( a glider are urged to study HGMA standards_ COVER: The Japanese UP Team along with factory UP flyers recently toured Southern California flying sites together. In this graphic photo by Bettina Gray, several UP Mark 118 Dragonflys are lined upon the 1500' hill al Escape Country prior to demonstration flights. This month's cover was donated by Ultrahte Products.
Dear Editor, \NP would like to clarify any confusion I hat rn.iy ex isl helween ilw two organizations claiming r<!p1·c,senl,llio11 of pilots in !he southern New York ,H('d. /\!though the Soulhcm New Ymk I Clider J>iJots i\ssocialion (l'ilot's and the New York St;ite I Lrng Cliding sociation co1Tc'spo11cl geogr<1phically, are milPs .ipart philosophically. The New York State llang Clidi11g i\s socialion is ,1 priv,1lt· IJusi1wss 0 w n c r s h i p a 11 d c o 11 t r o I o f t I 1 N.Y.S.ll.C.i\. is rclaint>d by !lie elected president. l'i lot rcprPscntation ;rny de111ocr<1tic process does nol exisL ing ,11 N.Y.S.H.C.i\. ow1wd sites rcqu nwrnbership obL1i1wd by payrnent of suli. slanli,11 inili,ition fees ;rnd 111011thly dur·s $ I 0.00/rnonth. Sine(' we fC'II that we were control of our sport to !he N.Y.S.11.C.i\. the pi formed ;1 m,w associal ion, l.ile las! nwr. Tlw Soulhern New York I lang IJiJois Association was formed as d profit org;rni1ation based on ,l similartothcU.S.JJ.C.A. Wilhovcr I nwmbcrs, it represents the v;1st majority experienced ,111d 1·pgular pilols in the arc<1. 13ased primarily ;iround the FllenvillP
N.Y. soaring our flying siles are frC'c of ch,irgc and open to ,111 qualific,d pilols. W C' , I h rn P 111 h C! r oI I hP S.N.Y.ILCY.i\., rPs,mt tlw irnprc'ssion of true pilot reprc!S<'nLilion th,il the title of New York Slate I lang Cliding As· soci;1tion 111c1y give. If ihPrt' is slill ,rny co11fusion between I he two associa1 ions, nr>11·1i;·ins an a11;1Jogy lo !he differences l>et· ween lhc U. S.11. C ./\. ,111d Ihe now defunct C.S.I. will help. Th,rnk You I' r C S C ll t il 11 d fl a t O ff i C C r '., 0 f t IH' N.Y.11.C.l'A S11dwisclwr Jc1111c", lothrup 13arh,ir;1 Rupp Ron M,11kisc11is Bing Bi Dc1n ('hilpman Don I I al I Jarn es i\ ro 11 son
song was also usc•cl on "The Sportsman" program on hang gliding March I 97'). The ollwr song is [ars," a truck drivin' song about down Rahbit Lars 1>ass i11 ,1 c1011t11e-c1c•c1< school hus during a night tinw i\nihony had many great friends in gliding, and I was thinking !hey wan\ to know th,it "Mr. Smooth" is on album. Jf anyone is intHested they write and I'll Sl'IXI them one C.O.D. rhank you very rnuch, Davr' Shoffner Box IB St(!,Hnlm,it Village, Colo.
Dear Editor, Since hoth l'hil Warrender and Pagcn arc friends of mine, I arn typewriter in hand to make a c1bout Phil's comment ,ibou\ Dennis's cle on h,rng 11ps (J,111u,iry i,;suc of I
Jim /\romon is thf' US/ IC:/\ l)ireclor /or Pen ion 12. rd.
Clidin1;).
!)par Editor, My nanw is l);ivr• Shoffner. Many oldti rne nuy rern<'mber nw ;is the b.iss pldyer and partner with !he l,itc, great, Anthony Matilwws. Anthony wrote many songs and W(' en1Pr· lained at a numlwr of 111eels. (Cround Si<immer J,111.M;ir. 7 4.) Anyway, I h,ive just releasc,d a record ,1lbum entitled "The Stc!,1mboal i\lbu111," which contains music I hcJV(' recordt'd over pcist years in Stea111boat Color,Hio. Included in !his ,1Jbum ,HP two songs hy Anthony. Thl' first is "Mr. Smooth," the hang gliding song ;1bout D,wid Cronk. Thi,
I think that l'hil was unnecess;nily in his criticism of th(' article and that l)hi I ovl'rsL1tcs his position tionally. i\s I arn sure l'hil knows, writi an arlicl1:• such as De1rnis's is time ,-nn,,11,,. ing ,rnd difficult, and 1rnp,iid ;ind warding ,1s well. I know that Dennis b,1clly that f'hil h,is dllJl,Hcntly shot his article and damaged his ove1· points which rqHesent valid c·nccs of opinion. Understanding that I h,ivr· only highest respect for both Phi I and c111d that I have discussed these points Dennis ;ind not with [Jhil, I will try to concile their two poinls of view. While rock climbers quile ju ,tifi;i wouldn't US(' l>r,iidc,d rope for rock cl lwcHIS(' of its lack of resist;rnc c' 1
(< ontinued on page 7)
f"..?\ LO··r.5
• RVIL.ES OF T4-ff" F2'-0AD •5AFETY CHE.CK LIST • F'll<2'.5T AID 5LAMMAR.Y • FLEX\ BLE, DLA!:2,A...BL,E COVER. • POCK.ET 51ZE:
4
APl<IL 1977
G
I
'
' •
1-v,11,c,on,N, what othm only claim. We invite you to tnst fly the Seagull glider designed for you. Light to heavy pilot weight, 1 to Hang 4 cross country, rr""""'""' ridge soaring to high wind thermalling, tlrnrc is a Sear1ull glider Hrnt will take you up nnrl away to undreamed of controllability and performance.
All Seauull are desiuned to meet HGMA Materials are certified by the for aircraft use. construction and deflector system produces the security you need for turbulent cross country flights.
Move your along tho flowino lines of the 10m. in the family tradition, it represents a smooth aerodynamic curve, accented by the finish only one of the oldest and experienced manufacturers could pro· duc,1; a bird of a joy forever. TH
10m SOABING SHIP Seagull evolution has produced this latrist cross country glidar for Hang 4 pilots. A for our '77 lino ol soaring ships.
THE SEAHAWI< At last, a hioh performance glider for Hang 1 to Hano 4 pilots. Docile and smooth in response for beginners, yet affords a glide and sink respected Liy expert pilots.
All SEAGULL GLIDERS ARE BALLOON DROP TESTED
We would like lo nnnm.mce a now distributor for ,l\ircraft. WINDHAVEN Hang School nm by Trip IVJellinger ancl C.H. Beane hc1s joined our ranks. They will be represcmtinq us in Southern California and will be helping to make this the greatest year Seagull has lNer hud.
WILL SEND COMPLETE DETAILS WRITE TO:
3021 AIRPORT AVENUE SANTA MON CA 90405 3) 394- 151
alJr;i•;ive u•;.1gC', rn,rny do regfly with hr.1id('rl rope d su,pensysll'm. rl1i•-, is comrnon practice· i11 I.1st whl'rc [)('1111i•; flys, c1nd so is the
problr·m lh,1t we• should w.itch for. M,111y in the L1,I do use locking c,ir.ibinr·rs lor thc1t tC'dson, l'<'rson,illy, I m;1ke rn,rny w,itcr 1,mding,, ,111d I .im nol excill'd c1lmut
ice he· r(·co1,1rne1Hk While· I don'I thH· trst' that splicf' in br,1ided rope, iii, ,1 ,n ognin•il splice, ,111d pro· it is ,ippliPd ,1, Di·nnis re1 omme·rHI'<, sl10uld IJl' s.ifc·. I ,igrc·c' with lk1111is lhal ii /JC' i rl'glll,Hly and Sdletyl'd
c<1r,1hi11i·r, ,1s ,1 qt rick rl'll'ase rll'vicc. I just do11'I k110w ol ,rnything lwttc·r Im ;rny
use. I do, howC'Vl'r, r<·com11H·1icl u,i11g ,1 ice th,1t I nom1.1lly us<' i11 braided rop!' 1owi11g, in which c·,1e h Pnd go<", into rope n·nl!'r dS in the l)e1111i, hut !'Xits from thc· rnpe, h,h h,ilf hitch <1rot111d !he ot1tl·r rope then i11 ,1g,1in. I h,lV(' US('d this splin· trn rope«, for lour yP<1r,, ,rnd though it i•-, ,1 recog11i/(·cl splice, I li,ivc 11cvr·r h,id ,1 L1ilurc' ,it d splice. l)C'rrni,, ,it llw timP he wrotP his ar1iclr·, know of the• recomrnc·nde·d k11ot 101 11w high climbing ropc·, hut is in f1dl agrc·c•1ne11t 1hc11 if that kno1 i•; Pc·rlon typ<' ropC' is grp,11, suggt"il· ,1 ilrnrn rninimu111 for tlw 111c1in suspe11 line. DC'1rnis',, ,n1itlC' m<'ntio1wd wclihing,
tl'dso11,1hlr· price>. I in,illy, I would like to say th,it ,ilthrn1gli Lc1sl is l,isl, ,rnd We·c,t i,, We•st, we're ,111 in th(· s,irrw sport ,rnd .ill hc1vc• thC' s,111H' go;1ls, ,,o ll'l's ronlinuc· to work tog<'lher until we h,1vc• ,ill :>I l,l:>J,000 people in tlw lJS 111; h,rng glidt'rs. l),ive 1-lroyles
IitlPri 11g. Accidcn1s are sornetitni'S p,1i11ful ,ind ,ilw.iys e1nlic11-r.1s'.,ing. If one h.ippc·n•; ,rnd you must have• ,111 outlet for your (•moliom .ind IH'l'd sorneotH' elsl' 1o hl.1i11t', thprc· is .i solution. rlwrt' is so11wom· who is .ihso
r·ggs ,1v.iil,1bl(' in the form ol good h,1ng gliding sites. M,111y gl'11erous l.rnd own('rs lf't u•; ti',<' ilwir Lu1d ,rnd their priv.ii(' ro.icls, .ind tht1', wc· .ir,, en.ihl<'d lo enjoy our sport
lulc·ly lo hl,11rn· for c·vc1·y gliding d( cidC'nL His nc1mc• is lc,;i,1c Newlon ,111d hc discovl'rcd !he l.iw of gravity ovl'r thr!'C' hundred ye,irs ,igo. It ii wc•re11't for gr,ivity
wilh rninirn111n intcrl(·rc·11n· ancl cost. On ,1sion,1lly, whilc· in flight, 011c of us ',Otni' l,1w of nature, ;rnd Wl' con·
a glider could not possibly 111,1kc h.ird eon1,Ht wilh lh<' c·,irth. In LHt you wouldn'l hc ,ible' to I.ind ,1t .ill. Th<' first 11er•,or1 who
l.ict t lw <'Mlh in ,in ernharrassing ;111d sonwtinH·s p,iinful L1shio11. 1:ven d hospital bill, or in very r.,re Cd'>C'S, perrn,rnent injury c,rn he IIH' rc",LIIL 13.id judg11wn1, followed
pver .iltemptc·d ,1 flight would h.1v<' tlH' c·11 dLn-;i11n· rl'cord bl'c,1t1se lw would still
by pilol Prror, MC' ;1lmost ,ilways the cause. Yc·t, .is in any sport, ,1ccidents occ;1sirn1· ;illy \1,1ppr·11. Wiler<' lies thl' Lwlt? By lhor011gh soul Sl',uchi11g W<' rnu,I .ill come' lo thl' crn1cl11sion that lhC' owrwr of the I.ind is not ,it fault I l,1s hl· C'rtl'd lwc,ll/S(' his l,tnrl is 1101 perf('ctly smooth or th<· surbc(' i;, not foam rubber soft? Should W(' sue him/ I shuddPr whl·ll I think it would cv(·11 c·nler d person's mind. Yet, ii
SEAI\HESS
cr1Liln1:tJ1''
X 18', 19', 20'
DRAWN
LENGTHS
.049
)(
18.5",
19.5',
20'
he upther('I So 0.1(., we· nc·cd g1.1vi1y. But do we· really ll<'!'cl tl1c1I much, ls.i.ic/ You could have cliscovc·rcd ,1 weaker or di lc•,1s\ one lo hl' lum<'d 011 or off .ii will. So the:re we hav<' our rr·.il culprit old lsc1,1C. If you fl't'I conqwlled to sur· scrnl(" OIH', hl' is Sur<'ly thl' pl'rSOll solely r('Sl)Ollsiblc•. Now, I h,1ven't chcckc·d ld1<'1y, liut ii is vPry 1)()ssilill' that hl' h.iv<' on. Don't dC'sp,1ir, therC' ·1s slill ,1 ch,llK(' you crn get CVl'll. In tlw phone' book tlwrl' must be srnrn: Nc:wtons. 1\nd some of 1he111 must he d('scc11dcd from old lsc1c1c. Sul' them! But don't ki\11\w goo',C' who is laying the golden eggs. J,Kk Ju11gcrma11 CiliL
.90F'T
.99FT
5/8 X .050 )( 12· :HS LENGTHS X
rnw hug<' los•,
tl\iit tlwrl' M<' rwopl<' gcn<'rnus c·nough to permit 11s to C't1joy our sporl 011 their l,rnd. Wl' c.in show our .ipp1H i,1tirn1 hy IH·ing mdc:rly, not IJC'ing destrnc1ive ,rnd liy 110!
the finest ... fly
l 3
ing himsl'lf. Hut llwrP i•,
hn<'. A Ii.id 11,111H· for our ,por1 c111d pem1,1nc•nl loss of .i good flyi11g site. IC'! us 110! kill this goos<' who i•, givi11g m
Rernernb(·t lhC' old rc1iry I ,11(· ,ihout ,1 goose thc1t l;iid goldc11 eggc;I And the loolish 111,111 who w,rnt(·d to kill thl' goose so he' could hdV(' ;ill the eggs .it rn1n·? I l,111g gliding pilot,; have these golck·n
l)c·nrw, rnaintai11s, .ind I concur, th,11 ng two c,1rabi1wrs with the g,1tcs opposwould tlw f\yc·r in ,1 w,1tc1 or lrc·C' l,111di11g silu,1tion. Dl·Jmis '«lY you :;houldn'I LIS(' d Ii(' ci()(•S, ir<'Cjll('ll( ly, LIS(' OIH'. s,1ying, "1.ook, this could liappc·n." I think lhat lw should l1,1w \Jrought i1 williout .i 1·(·<011irrn·r1rL1tio11, he was just pointing out ,1 pole·nlidl
Sr11d ((,! I rn1
rlw only possil>lc• wi111H·1· is thl· l;iwyer who ioll<·<l, d i('C. If the• pr,Kliu· < 011li11uc·s, more ,llld rnorP own('rs wi II decide· lo deny ,1cn•ss rather th,111 t,1ke the risk of hc1ving to dd('nd tl1crnsclws in crn1rL Th(' l,rndowner loses time ,Hid rnorwy ddr·nd-
I )(•,11 id it or,
""''c1u<11t' s,11s11e1,1s1011 syst!'111 which c,inw
.049
tlH·<;<· l,.1wsui1<; <1nd I hop(' fh('y tWV('r will.
thcsP gold<'n <'ggs. l11st(',1d let's bc•
Irving, Tl'Xd',
didn't go into descriplion hcc,iuse lw ieC'l lh.il n1osl !)('Opie Olli in th(' fil'ld h.ive the rr·smnce, to ro11slruct .i suspn1sion syslt'llL rhl' ,irlicle aimed ,11 lfw flypr who didn't liaVC' ,lll
1/2
h,1, hi1p11cncd scv(·ral limcsl I doubt ,rny-
om· h,is evc11 co11w close to wi1111i ng one of
LENGTH
.99F'T l)p,11 rditor,
.14fT
STAIN STAIN NYLON
WHIH OR
.15 fT
COATED
S1llllil('d lro111 l1,1vi11g Willl(''.'.C'd tl1e ,lCCi·
.071:A
.09EA .15EA
.083, 1 112 BUSH ING
HANG GLIDING
,049, 1 7/8
.058
I ,irn writing in 1·esponsC' lo thC' co111 rnc·11ls of R.V Wills i11 the l)ecc·mhcr issu<' of I /c1ng c;/idinn rn,1g,11im· cotH (·m111g tlH' dec1th ol lec· Stc·rios. I W,l', s1il I ll'l'ling
LEADING EDGE AIR FOILS 331
lHH
COL
PQS,
ST. CO
80904 303 632-4959
dl'nl wlH·11 I tl',HI d descriptio11 of it ,dong with ,111 .illu,io11 lo pioliahle c,wsc' in c;/ich·r f.iic/C'r which 111,Hlc· 1rw f<'el C'V(·11 vvms<'. My mood didn't i11qimvc· over the
7
{'nsuing wPek•; ,is I he.ird rumors of cornmenh b1· voiced by !hi' S0111 lwrn C1lifomi<1 p<1rty to thi•, "r,1ging ckli.itC'"; <1nd now Mr_ Will, h;is clw',l'l1 lo l'l11<'r tlw "rleb,1t<'" by spernli1ti11g 011 the pro\JalJle c.wse of the crash itsclL There;,, d dc·l1,1t1: ng Oil d, to why the ASC- I ll/Str;it11, Ill nc1shed, hut it wc1s only Plcvatcd to the level of such c1ftn .i whole lot of nanw c ,1lling ;ind ,1Cn1•;,1tions went hack ,rnd forth, ,ind ;i whole lot of attit 11dc><, W<'rt' copr)('d by people who hc1vc h,1d 110 direct contact with either the Alb,11ross pcopl1,, ilw kite itself, or llw work 01' Jim lynn, If it had 1101 bPen for the inter<",\ of the two parli(", directly involved ,rnd thr' I ICM!\, most 111embcr•; of tlH' flying cDlllrrnmity would <'nd up <1n op111io11 h,i,l'd 011 tlw know-nothing n•m,irks of Mr Wills and tlw wrile•rs of C/idr•r [\irler, both of whom got their i11form.ilio11 ,ccond h,ind ;it best, Please, this rn,ittcr is serious, it i.s mcm' th,111 ,1 quPstion of who scr<iwed up, tht' s,iil or llw frame' builderl As one who h,11, bPen involved with tlH' rn ;,i11cc· the it w,is my kile ,rnd I h,id put ovc,r lhrce hmll"; into flying it hdon' tlw crash I will w<1it for tlw fi11di11g, oi the testing prograrn to form an opinion ,ibout wlwrc Lwlt lies. \/Vhdt worries me i,, that other pc~ople ,ire not w.1iting; rurnms, cspec i,illy those put into Jlri11t, mov(· Vl·ry fc1,,L During the first week I w,1, testing it al Ft lunsto11, ,1 pilot from tlw midw('St .isl«•d me about it cJnd corn11wnted t h,11 tlw ll'.ison hl· lw,ml th,1t ii Ii.id tuckl'd on lirn Ly1rn the previous !\pr-ii w,1s he•c,iusc, it h,1d too rnucli washout, ,incl Alb,1lro,s d('rn.inded it lie reduced, f'u11ny, huh/ And so tfw people .it Alhatrns, crn do no wrong, and the frames h11ilt by Jim di(' llw q11ality of "kits which oftcr1 l,1ck to q11ot(· prop<'r 't1mi11g' and testing" Mr, Wills, Such bullshit! Any of tlw piloh who have hcl'n flying lirn's rnachine'i .iround tlw 13ay Are;1 for the last four yccHs would view tl1,1t ,1s .in i11sulL The co11fu,;ion which comes from ('Xlrilcting informatio11 second hand gets lw,wier though; Mr. Wills drops ,1 co111111cnt ahout the wall thicknes•; of thl' cross spar of mykit(• (which broke under load) ,111d s;1ys no more. Asif the t uhe j us! up ,1nd lmlke .i\ I liy itselL Nowhere· dews Jw tnPntion the' ex(('S',iVP the' kite built up ,iftl'r going into ,1 tcrmindl dive, or if the dive it,;c,lf Wds rnaybP not th<' root of the proiJIC'rn, Sure, if tlw uoss spar h.id held, Lee would !Jc· alive_ Flu! whc1t ,ilJout the high spcPd stall which results when .i kite with ,1 9 fool kel'I i, suddenly pitched out of ,1 vcrt ic.il dive at srwed so as to keep it from augeri11g i11to the ground? We now know that iher<' can 'lw ;iirfrdl1H' f.1ilurc, flut
8
comes fi rsl, hcdi ng up the· ,1 i rir,irnc•, IJllilding ,1 1n.ichi11e which won't go 'j() mph when poi ntc·d down! Wh,11 llOtlwrs nw i,; that !(·P's de,1111 l1,1s so much useless opinion to I cm bl' c,1H however, 1hc1l lw p,ll'lies dircttly i11volve,d ,rnd tlw !(;MA rccognin' th,1t then; MC' sPrious '"·,,1,1nn-,, ,rnd are ;111(:mpling to solvr· them cnm,,wllf'l'f' e•l'i(' than ,11 tlw l,rnding elf(',] i)PI\Aif'Pn flights, There c1n· prolllcms with the! co\Lihoraion or two hui Ide rs who arP so {,11 apart .is m,ikc daily consult,1tio11 imhle_ Thl' tt·lcphonc simply does not solutio11s to prohlr•rns which devisual consultation, Add lo this the u11,rnsv.1c•rucl questions of tnrncs ,111d ,md how rn11ch wc1shoul can you lose lwfore ii becomes critical 011 diffrrc11t of s,ii/s. A11d wh,11 ,iliout c,imlwred Is, wh.it prnhlt,ms do they have•/ And ,ibout the qu,ditatively diffl'rcnt t,x pilots h;iv(' while tf'•,ting a I put the I B into some• src,ep for short pe·riods while testing it, ,rnd c,,itisfir;d th,1t it h.id h.ir prpssurc, Ohit didn't when tlw ;111glc ol attack ri'd LI( e·d Pvc·n mem', [loth p,irlit:s involved h,ivp decided ID for the of the testing of both kite ,11HI the otlwr unflow11 Stratus Ill we'ni h,1c:k e.i,L Wlwn the' work i, I think it would IJ('fldil us ,ill if (lll(";t1c>11< .iskl;d <11HI tl1e ,rnswPrs pro-were sun1rn,irized in I l,lll{! ( ;Ji/Jing 1w, !'his, ,rnd ,in illl,liysi, of thl' nr11hlr•n1,, inherent in d('te,rmining c,111se in ,1 eds<', lwlp tlHJ',e pilots who r·quipnH·nl, witness a cr;ish, or h,ivc ;ihout prohlcrn,, to bctl('I their rne;lhods of resc;irch ,111d inry, get incoherent •;pirilu,d wlwn tc1lki11g about what into tlw of a board, hut then have' th,it luxury, sinn, VC'ry few of peoplP get killed testing new equip-
,ire provickd to the pulJlic (through 1/ang Clidin1~ 111,1g,uirw) regardless of their 11<1ure, tlw sport wil I grow and 1nospr·r t lw i ncrPasl'd use of safo a i rcrafL I dee idcd very (',1 rl y in rny flying exrwri lo fly only proven aircrafl, cine! the I ICMA prog1am will be a v.ilu.1hle ,1ssist to 11w in determining which aircr.1f1 have proven and Th;111k IICMA! Thcr(' is an arc;a oft he Prog, ram which needs strl'ngthening howevPr, I arn sure, that many othc1, rc,Hiers llw deficiency, TIH' divl' rc•covcry doesn't consider stabilized luff divc;s, Consider the unique ul-· n.iture of gliding. glidl'rs can he thrown inlo full luff dives hy l11rh1Jience, Now prob\('111 is thal thl' ,1hility to rr!covl'r from ,1 7S 0 dive is of no consequence wlwn happens! In fact, the pi lot would be fol\i a falling aircr;1ft over which he, has control, ,rnd "it" citf~cr recoVC'rs ,;hy sC'lf" sufficiently to allow control, or "it" doesn't, LPt 1m' therefore propose' th,1t "full" dive' recovery for glicll'rs 11ot IJr, ignorpd ,rnd must he addressed toi A full luff dive should never he' a menci(,d 111,rncuvPr, but posilivt' rN-rn.1;,1-,1 must he provided for, rhe ohj('ctive is how do you test ror full luff dive recovery? Lt·l 1nP suggPst th<1t if out c1 better way, rhc man,1 dummy packpropc r weight) frnm I , drop the glider nose' first from ,1 and recover it in the w.iter witli a rll's1P•nr,,rJ glicfor, in my opinion, ol th(' dive and glide to a landing hy virtue of builtthe way, Mr, Manufacturer, pictures of the event would ,1 very convincing c1dvPrtisl!111ent for of your producL W, Budd Mou11t.1i11 Vic·w, CiliL
Miley l'.wl llollm;rn S,111 Fr,111eisco, Calif, Have
on your mind? / lang l.dtPrs to the Fditor, letters to I lang f3ox 66 l06, Los
Editor have just finished ;1bo11t the Specification and C:ornpliancc in the January issue! of I fang Please allow mP to express rny appreciaion, ;is ;1 pilot, to !he I ICMA for undcrt,1kthis program, Tlwrc is no doubt in rny that if the HCMA kc;(•ps the flying i( fully awMe! of the results of this mcHH'dr11. and if all results of the progr.ims APf~IL 1977
I
In 197(3 the CIRRUS was the best st1lling high glider on the market In 1977 the CIRRUS will very likely continue that trend, the CIHRUS line becomes the top value with new lower· tags. While our has be(~n forced to escalate lace of continued inflation, ELECTRA FLYER has been hard to the lid on our once reasonable sport We DECREASE our discover the easy, fun flying in the
to help still more fliers of Clr1FlUS.
SPECIAL NOTE: At the 1977 Nationals, the Cl Fm US will standard (some minor modifications will be necessary). And on the support of our dealers, we have now determined that the CIRRUS is for II flierst So why consider a quickly standard, when virtually the same cost you can flying CIFmUS?
7701 by IDEA-Gl1APHIC,)
N by Hedy Kleyweg THE f<J77 REGIQNAl. ,,-,.,rn,11
MEETS FOR THE 1q77 U.S. NATIONALS In tlw beginning of February the USHCA CornpPtition and Rules Co111111itlce sent out letters to all US/ /CA Directors, Fxarnim'rs ;ind Chapters in an effort to solicit bids for the; 1977 Regional ()ualifyi11g Meets. Otlwr hang gliding orgc1rli/'.c1t ions, publications and rnanuLicturc;rs were also notifie)cL Although the df'adline for receipt of ir1iti,1I cornpetitiVP bids was March I, 1977, few bids havl', as of this writing, been received. If no bid from a particular has bcPn rc;ccive'd by ilw M,m h Isl deadlirw, the fir·st bid received ;iftcr thc11 dale will be ,iwarded the meet ii it i;, ,H· ceptablc. Bids for the Regionals will be evaluated by the Site Selection SulJCorn-rniltcP of the USI ICA Competition and Ru\('s Cor111nittec Tom Chair0
,
man, Mike li,1sk,1s and Mike Moore, and i liey wi 11 select I lie organi z. ers from amor1gst those who submit dC· ceptahle bids, ir1to considerc1tion ,rny 1womnw11d<1tions irom local LJSI /CA Directors. Therr• will be only one Regional Qualifying Meet in each of the 12 LJSHCA regions. A sanction fee of$ I r,0.00 for each ional (ju,1lifyir1g MeC't is due and JHy,ible to USIICA upon nolification to an orthat ih bid is ace t'pted. S,rnction requirements arc listed separately in USIJCA News. Regionzi I quci I ifyi ng Meets must use lJSHCA Foot--1,iunch Hang (;/ider Official Rul<'S, Seconcl l:d it ion ( I 'J 77), copies oi which wi II be; provided hy LJSI ICA lo each organin;r for its officials. Prosp<'<livc; pilot entrants and others who w.i11t copies rnay order them for $2.00 each from US/!CA, Box (J(d06, I os C:A CJOOb6. l'ilots arc expected to buy their rult>s this year because s,rnction fpcs w<'rc 1101 set to inc Jude this cost. Each Rcgion,il Meet must haVl: al lc;is! two 1000-poi11t scoring of flying lo qualify pilots ior thc National ChainpionSclwdulc!d elates for the Regionals may include w<·ekcnds IJ1Ji 111ust he held within the period of (,4 to I d,1ys
primtothc May14 lune 26th. The N,1tion,1ls ,,rp scheduled for July 1/l ll, 1')77, at I IC'avc'ner, Oklahoma. To nw<'l entry requirements for the Rc>gionals, pilots must lw USI ICA vol· ing member:, ,rnd hold wh,1tevcr I lang Ratings .ind special skill endors!'r11ents arc specified by thP nn>:H,uPrc, The Nationals wi II Mimi\ Hll pi lot qu,il ifil'rs from tlw I R('gion;ils, plus the 9 U.S. team pilots for the 197(, World Charnpionships, who ar<' exempt from qu,1/ifying ii they fly in the class tlH·y flew in ,11 Koessen. quotci of qualifiers for each region, based on USHCA popul,ition, is as follows: region I, 'J qualifiers; region 2, 10; l, IB; 4, 10; 4; C,, \ 7, 11; il, r,; 9, 12; 10, 7; I 1, 4; and 1 B. A pilot rnc1y enter only om' the one for the region in which he rc,sides (<>xcept as allowPd hy the Rules 1-vhen' rPcent ,·r,,n,"'" of ,iddrPss c1rc irwo/vC'd); however, if there ar<' f<'Wl'r th,111 five c'r1\r,rnts i11 his class, he may enter ,1nother Regionals where, there' <1re five or rnorc entrants for his class. Tlw numbr•r of q11,ilificrs for ('dch cl.iss wi II be determined lly the propmtion of entrants in e,ich Regio11;1/s. Tl1t 1c must lw five 01 rnorc e·ntrants i 11 ,1 cla~,·; to qua I ify one pi lot for the Nation,ils. The nu111liPr of qu,1liiiPrs from ,1 class will be cornputl'd lly dividing 0
THE UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING ASSOCIATION, INC.: "' Offers liability insurnnrn .. a medium for discussion via i1s monthly publica1io11, HANG GL!DINC, magazine "' Rates pilots and cerlifies instructors @ Sanctions meets for national and international championships "' Reco(lnizes outstandin(l with Otto Lilienthal Awards @ you nationally internationally throu(lh the National Aeronautic Assn, (NAA). a division of the Aeronautique lnterna1ionale (FA!) @ Acts as liason between pilot and the public representin,J hang glidinf,1 al (lOVernment levels, l 11pply for membership in the United St11lcs Hang Gliding Association, Inc.
NAME
PHONE(
ADDRESS
AC,E STATE
CITY
ZIP
I include rny check or money order for annual clues as indicated:
$15 FULL MEMBER
16 forei(ln)--As a full member you receive 12 issues of HANG GLIDING magazine, pilot liability insurance, and all
USHG/\ membership
$10 ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($11 forei(ln) -As an associate member you receive ] 2 issues of HANG GUDINC, ma(lazine, and most USHCA membership benefits, Subscription to l !ANG GUD!NG ma,pzine, formerly (;ROUND SKIMMER, is available ONLY as part of membership in the /\ssociatior1.
Send check or money order to USHGA, Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066.
10
APf<IL 1977
The purposo of the meeting is to brief the mmnbers present on the affairs of the Association and answer any questions that might be asked.
llw tot;d quol.i for tlw by tlw lo\c1I nurnlwr of c11lr,111h in th(• R(•gionals, ,rnd multiplving llw n"·;ull IJy iii<' number ol c•nlran1,, i11 lhc cl,is,;, ro1111cli11g .'50 en highN up to llw 1iext who!(• 11t11r1iJ(•r, ,rnd A'J or lower, dow11. Org,rni/C·r', of c·,Kh quc1lifyi11g Mt•et must p1ilJ!i,,h ,1 Comrwlition !\1111ouncPrne11I within lhrcc wc•eks ,i(ter 110lificd lh,ii lh<'ir IJid was .icn•ptecL rlw ,111nou11n·rn<•11\ rnth\ contain pcrti11<•111 I.His ,111d :,hould IH' m.iilcd to c1II lJS/ I(;;\ metnlJl'r'; in tlw n·gion ,iff<•ctcd. (M,1iling 1.ilH·I,, for rnl'mi>ers rn<1y lie pmchascd (ro111 US/ IC!\ for 2¢ c,;1ch.) ;\ 11 urn IH' r of N <1 t i o 11 ;ii s pi Io t pr C' · dctcrrni11cd hy the quotc1 ol quc1lificrs, will tll' se11t to the mgani,,crs of t·c1ch Regio11;1i,; lo IH·
h,rndec/ to lhc qu,1lilyi11g pilots ,is soon dS tlH·y ,He known. qu,ilific•rs will h,wc L111til July :ilh lo gel their !\pplicc1i""'-'"'-' forms, with $ Vi.00 entry to the Nc1tionc1l, org,tni/C'I, IIH· llc•;1vPrwr l\1111c·sto11e I L111g Clidi11g !\ssociation, lfox Hi I, I I e ,1 v c' 1w r, 0 I< 4 9 \ , p ho rw ( CJ I ii) (1:i\,.:UI l'idC(", fortllOS(' 110t l'('lC'iVed liy tlwn will lJC' offerPd to IIH' lll'XI run1wr up, who will h,1vc• 1111til )1rly 111h to respond. Any pl,icps rc•1r1c1i11i11g opP11 ,iftcr J11ly I Ith will lw offered to thP 1wxt rimrn·r•,-up ,rnd ii do nol show 11p ,1t the National:, •,ite ll:00 l'.M., July 17th, tlw pl<1cc's will be unfillc·d.
OVERSEAS MEMBERS OF USHGA Many 111embPrs oi LJSI JC;\ rrnrst wondn iftlwy're l)l'i11g ;,lighted when they receive th(•ir issues of I /!\NC Cl //)INC two or three montl1s dfler the cover datf' of lhe rn,lg,1/irw. I he rl',1S0fl rm thl' that WP ,c•ml tlw by ~'nd pc•r111il cirTulalion. If we sc•nt it c1r1y other w,iy, mc•rnlwrship d11C's wo11ld i11Uf'dS(' tremendously to cover the cost of post,ige. It's lwconw c'vidc11t that this lyp<' of •,11rL1ce n1,1il holds littlP, if ,my, priol'rty with the· postil system b11t tlwrcis ,111,ilter, native, ,1 lhcit c111 om·. forPign rnemhl'rs rn,1y ;,cl up ,rn ;iir rn;iil posl,1gC' dccou11t lo dSSlm· themselves of rccl'iving wl'Pks after it c ornc·:, off tll(' pr<"iS. IH's lo l:urope ,rnd most uf South Anwric,1 ,1ver,1ge SI .Ml pPr issue while lo tfw l',Hific lsl,rnds, J.ipan, Africa <111d Austr,ili,1 amount lo $ 1 rwr month. Ai1 mail post.1gl' to Vc'nc>zuelil is least di $I.OB per issue. 1 lw air mail account must IJ(' spt up i11 ,1dv,1ncc>, prder,1hly for one year or more .it a time. l'rinted llldttcr is ,inotlwr option hut t,,kc,, ,limos\ ,1s long ,h sur1'1cc· 111,iil ,ind costs '50¢ 1wr isouc'. If you are ,rnxious to rc;ceivl' your ii,suc•s of I /!\NCC ;///)/NC ,111d can dfford the extra cusl, you consider h;1vi11g iu'rure is sups flown lo you1 honH'.
HANG GLIDING
,.IULY N.Y.S.H.GA's Annual German Alps Fes· tival Meet advanced pilots at Hunter Mountain, Hunter, N.Y., contact N.Y.S.H.GA, 393 Flye Beach Avenue, Hye, N.Y. 10580. (212) 294-7949. JULY 30, 31, Fernie, British Columbia 2nd Annual money. Entry fee Gliding Meet $1100 in 2500' vertical. Chopper available to 6000' vortical. Centact Al Edgar, Box 1581, Fernie, B.C. VOB tMO.
Cross Country Soaring Seminar. Ch,andelle San Francisco and Follow Feath· to be held indoors at Fort Funston, San ers. Francisco, Calif. Tuition fee $25 includes Saturday night barb,Jcue, accommedations for Saturday night, and morning brunch. For more informa· lion call (213) or (415) 756·0650. AP Fl IL 18, Assoc., discussion. Angeles.
of the Southland Hang Glid·
plus films 11 N. Hope St., L.os
APFllL 30-MAY 1, First Annual Star Thistle Fly-In and co111p1?.tition. The meet will be l,eld at Mt Baldy, 2000' vertrc,31. 1ust outs KIO Medford, Oregon. No standards will be allowed because of 5 to 1 glide ratio needed to reach area. For more information contact: SupHrfly 853 N.E. 8th, Grants Pass, Oregon MAY 20, Canadian National Championships, Ver· non, B.C. Tho meet will bo run by the Vernon Hang rules used am thoso outlined by tho FAI. Dec:err,ber For moro information conF\d., Vernon, B.C. Otto Lilienthal Fly-In at Guadalupe
MAY Dunes,
MAY 21-29, 1977. '.lrd Annual World Open Hang Gliding Ch13m1pio111sh,ips, Escape Country, Trabuco Canyon, CA lee. For rnore information call (714)
AUGUST 3rd Annual Mt Swansee Meet, Inver· Contact Dean Kupchanko, Box mere, British 7m, lnvermere, B.C. (604) 342·9378 (nights). AUGUST 13·21, 197'7 Telluride Hang Glider Invitational. AUGUST 20·21, Second Annual East Coast FlAn,nnnr·'c Safety Meet and Clinic for Class I and II pilots Prize: Brand New Glider.) At Ward pound vation in Cross !'liver, New York, contact 393 Beach Avenue, Rye, N.Y 10580 (212) SFPTEMBEFI Masters Championsl,ip, Grandfather Mountain, Linville, N.C. 28646. SEPTEMBEFl 3, 4, Annual Gonoral Mooting AHGA, Lacombe, Alberta. Moeting, flying and party. Contact Lyle Brown, Box 118, Lacombe. Alberta (403) 782·64:37 (nights). OC:TO>BE:H, <:::hE1tta1100,qa's Great R,iee), P 0. Box 6009, Dates to be announced. Wc,rldCharnpionsrrips in Soutl1 Africa. 2909Gulf to NOVEMBER, Thanksgiving t=iy·ln at Chattanooga.
Let Hang Gliding magazine help you to publicize your upcoming hang gliding events. Send in your calendar items at least 8 weeks in advance. Calendar of Events Hang Gliciing magazine Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066
The 2nd Annual Great Mt Sontinol Fly·ln to Hang,3 rating with USHGA insurance requirod. Small ontry fee. Contact Holly Raser, % the Hangar, Rt. Mullan Hd., Missoula, Montana 59801. JUNE Third Annual Molson's North American Charr1piclnship1s. Sponsored by Molson's Beer and Gliders. Thunder Bay, Ontario, purse. Contact: Boris Popov, Northern Inc., 628 W. Larporteur Ave., St. 55113. (612) 489,8300. ,JUNE 17 &
HANG GLIDING MANUAL & LOG A basic flight manual; authoritative, compact, concise, complete. $1.50 postpaid. (Californians add .06¢ sales tax). HANG GLIDING The first complete book on foot launcl1ed ultralight flight. 7th revision, 205 pages, over 100,000 sold I $5.95 postpaid. (Californians add .36¢ sales tax). KITING
JUNE
Fifth Annual Cocrano Meet, Cochrane, $ I 1D.OO e111tr,, foe includes banquet. $1.00 of this Team Fund. 330' vertical will go to Canadian soarable. This is a fun meet. Contact Willi Muller, 34443 12111 St NE, Alberta (403) 277-2606 (days), (403) 932·?759 JULY 1·4, July 4th Fly·ln at Chattanooga.
Tile only book on tow
JUL.Y First Annual Motorized Hang Glider Fly·in. Marshall, Cross country flying, fun competition events and more. For more info call or write: Aero Float 82 Fremont, Battle Creek, Ml 49017, (616) JUI_ Y Hl·31 USHGA National Championst1ips at Hn:av,anr>r C>kla,horna Write to Heavener Flunestone Association, 2'l0 W. '.'nd, Heavener, OK ""111<::Hr~,h Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066. Annual USHGA meeting to be held in conjunc-
launched hang gliding. 2nd revision, t 02 pages, over 2,000 sold! $3.95 postpaid. (Californians add .24¢ sales tax).
DAN
Box .. ,.,,,r.··u, CA 93103
Hn,~ ,,,;ththA USHGA Nationals at Heavener, Oklahoma.
11
1
''Off the Edge", 1he 90 minute and glid,
Summer'' type ine about two adventurous men, Trenhorme and Jeff Campbell, skiing hang gliding New Zealand's Southern
On Febn.1ary 6, 1()77, Tim Jarn<!S, a 19 year old i student from JohanneslJurg flew 74. I km (46 miles) from 11ornsnek to M,1anha,irr,111d. Tim flewalbOsqJt MKIIB,Hisspcc, ta cul ar fl the Rang(, rear Prc•toria more than doubled !he previous South African distance rt!· cord, and was only km short of a World record, Tim made the fligh1 totally in ridge lift, He did hit strong turbulence while ,rr,ssirn" the two gaps in the the being km wide, at WdS S.SO' ACL in winds gusting from 20,2h knols, lie quickly climbed to 400' above the and headed downwind, The first 20 km of his flight from I lornsnek to I lartelwesl port Dc1m is a popular cross country
12
ridge run for the /oral located at ;1 km gap in the orw had ever at!Nnpted lo cross, gained the necessary ,lltitudP, jurnped gc1p, and conlinuerl downwind over SO of ridge never flown in the hang glider, In flight, he was accornp,iniccl by a of vultures, two several swa and an occasional group of baboons in greens below, When the ridge northwest ;rnd the smooth air Wds placed by turbulence, Tim began for a landing ,11ea, He l,rndcd in a field to a farm house, The toundcd f,irmPr and his wife fed hirn ner and listened to his arn;uing story, total flight wc1s just t.mckr 2 hours, necessitated a hitch hike and a train honw,
I lave you S()en this? No, Flcctra hasn't gone to m,rnufacluring powc!r This is ;1 twin engine lkechcraft Bc1ron purchased by Electra Flyer lo pro, vidc better contc1ct wi1h their dealers, The interior has bec>n modified 10 hold 2 h,rng gliders and 4 passengers with ,rnd cc1n accept 3 broken down to 10' in length, II company lime on busirH,ss and has to be a heck of lot more fun than tile time I get lo Phoenix , ,
Scott, flying a Ml< JIB Dragonfly, 24 miles from Sylmar to ()uartz I /ill, srn;:ill town nec1r Palmdale, Calif After Jpff quickly nC'd 4000' in a zone (dn area where two oppos1r1g air masses rnePt forcing c1ir up, anrl drifted back behind the ridge forms the flying site, Nol yet committed for it" he tried to perwlrate hack, without luck, Having lost most of his and situc1ted leew,ml of Sylmar, WdS forced to turn downwind, of altitude, Jeff encountered a strong and climbed up to a cloud street, 1-n11,"A/"""' the "street" he traversed several ridges that separates Los Angeles the Mojave DeserL /\pproxirn,1tely c1nd 20 minutes aftc•r take,off Jeff in the srnc1II desert town,
in
On March Burke [wing appeared on "To Tell The lruth," 11 was taped at NBC: Studim in Rockefeller Center, NYC, and
will he shown nc1tionwide during and May, Joe host c1nd rmidc.'rator opPm~d the show by out and explained 1hal later in the show1 would identify his rnasler, Burke who is a hang glider pilot who flies his dog, and that Curlis is that flying In the end, three· out of the four members fc1i led to guPss 1he identity the real Burke when the vole taken, with only Soupy Sales voting rectly for No. Bill Cullen did not for Burke because when ;isked which do you fly off of a mountain, Burke s;iid into the wind, and Cullen said didn't sound Sales because he said Burke looked blonde like outdoors, l(itty joinC'd Cull<'n in r,u,, ss1n2 wrong, three contestants received for <'ad1 wrong guess by the paneL 0
APf~IL 1977
hy Crnrgp Whitehill It was q11itc a weekend. hlr when you find instructors and ·1nstruclor c111di· d<1tt,s who will voluntarily gPI to learn and sharp in lhc h,rng g inslruction experience, il's bound to he i',ood. fhc Clinic was put together ]iln Case of Chandcllc ., director of Rcµ,ion It was held at lort Cmnkit<> in tfw San I ranci sco arc',!. It all stc1rtHJ Fd>ruary Wd running around the old Milly barracks, which wen' provided to us IJy the Colden Cate National Recreation Arca. After to and taking in ii little• supper the' whole• group got for an orientation of the and of the clinic. [he o:i•lhr,nrHJ c1l•.;o got into a discussion on site estab1is Ii nwn t so rn(• I oc a I
people scurrying sw(;et smells of breakfast cooked. Alter a great !~ill a beginning instructor and I IV pilot, led an excellent discussion Pnti· tied "I low do you know you're a good instructor/" llill's prcsent;1tion ,md COlll·· ;1 unique cxpPrience mcnts were and ble11dcd in to the instruction alJout,
,JrC:11,L
After Jonathan Fitch talked about the FAR's and how dpplied to ing, Jack Hall, known for his in first ,1id, what seemed to be a nm· 111al rap on his rhe talk was soon inlerrnpled by a hair SCl't'am which the whole group outside'. Two ilpparently had a mid-air ,md 11os<!d··in next to the !mild-· ings. rhosc who first arrived sure thought the mock accident was as ii mc,1/cu,n ar1ist had done real job. J\c1u,1I emergency first ,iid wils administered just like it was the re.ii thing. The c'xperience was really worthwhile, letting everyone know what lo expect and what to do. Hopl'fully instrnctors and pilots should have 10 deal with ;i situation such !his, but if they do, a11 experience such as this one might rn,1ke it easier to deal with. Aflt!r a W(ill deserved lunc:h, the whole g,rng broke up i1110 ,mall groups. lead(!rS led tlw discussion groups on the different steps involved in the process, outlined in Dennis st ruction Certification Manual. After through all the different stations set up for HAN(; GLIDING
e.H.:h step of the process, everyone to pounce on dinner. The meal soon devoured. Needless to say, kitchen crew wds a great job. party that wentonintothenight m,rny of the participants enjoying lwach close·IJy ;ifter sorne movies and at tht> barracks. morning was the day of the ten l(!SL After another great bre<1kfast, vx,rn1s wen' handed out and silence su<>d the once noisy room. The lest ered " lot of h,rng gliding quPstions, oft hem right out oft he Inst ruction """' LW,. The test was a experience and some a facilitating morp
test, tlw rest of the group covered ol topics. Ric 1.ee gave a tzilkon thermal ing and Jan C1se led a discussion on ing special problem students. C Koehler gave a presentation on teaching a col and f3anana gave his cw;sertatic,n on using ;iudio Pquiprnent in a school. lunch the results of the clinic were piled, with the leaders of the clinic notes. Later the results were ned to the group. For those who passed all the ''''""''··· rnents, it nw,int an instructor Cilrd. sti II h,1d 1o negotiate one requirement another. Sornc instructors simply had 10 observed in" teaching situation, in case <1 clinic leader would go out and scrV(' for them. This did not m,1ke a lot Instructors happy, but all agreed that the system to mean somc"thing that would havp to make little sacrifices. pilots had come to the clinic liUle or no te,ichi11g experience. As of 19 13oard of Directors meeting tor candidates with little or no time must serve an apprenticeship lo fill tfw orHhe·hi/1 requirements. WhPn is completed, the cl.1te will receive the card. The clinic involved a lot of hard by Jan Case. Since there been too many clinics (she put last clinic it takes a lot of work make it all hc1ppen. Now that it's all she can get a little air time missed out on putting the wec!k-end . Jan also had help from all Senior instructor candidates who run and put together the clinic. "'""n,•nn,P would like to thank the fabulous crew who fed everyone. Without Paul and Jeannie we wouldn't eaten so well. rhe ideas and theories of lns1ruc1 that were shared gave everyone inner sense of accompl ishrnent. The i ng environment was there and we' re forward to the next one.
There's a lot more to sB\,r,,ctirm once glider them just high· est or listening to claims. If you really want to be contused just compare ods in Ground Skimmer Magazine
There's a better way , . ,
We don't want to sell want to sell you the one
glider. we you.
For more information call or write to:
Southern California
School of Box
Von Nuys, CA 91404 (213) 999-'i460
novice
.. Thermallng Instruction for the advanced pilot. .. Weekly high-performance gilder clinics. " Soles and service of all major brands of new and used gliders.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING BOX 2165-GS1 VANNUYS,CA (213) 4q<.J-'i4MI 13
-I Are old, barl'ly fly,ibl<> "st,rncLirds" clu1·· 1cring up your garage or glider shop? ls ilw price' of a new gcrwralion wing you consider heco111ing a st.1111p collector instead of ,Hl ,1vi,11or? Well, don'I PFJ<rCRIN[ A VIA l ION h,is got ihe answer to all your problc•nis. lly some rel,1tivcly i1wxpensive rnodific;itions, you c.in tr·,ins· form your old "s1c1ndard" glider into ,i modc·rn, pitch stable wonder wing, with tlw same or better performance as any ,;cconcl ge1wr;1tion Rogallo rnadc today. The csc,d,11ion of the cost of ,1 new glid(~r in the pa';\ two ye;irs from $(i()O.OO to $1, I 00.00 lu; prompted Pl:RFCRINF to offer <111 c1lt<'mative, for the IPSS·tli,111. weal thy pi lots oft lie wmld. rhis is 1101 only good for individuals, but ;dso for schools who feel that using br,rnd rww kites tr,1incrs is just too much mo1H.·y. Tr,1i1wr kitl·S go through more abuse th,111 any other kind, so why sp(·nd $1100.(J() (or a bra11d rww just to tear it ap,irt/ Why 1101 gPt orw of l'IRECRIN['s rnodificd "st.111d,mJ,;" that will work jusl as well, if not better, for rnuch, much Iese,. We will lw taking ,lily brand of "s1,Hl· dard" or mrly cut keel type glid1·rs for i inprovernent. A11y 111 owners wi II be happy to know that thc!ir glidc,rs arP ,imong the highest performing corwer· sions. The re·shaping of the pl,rnfmrn re· 111ovPs much of tfw origin,il are,i from tlw
I
lic1ck of the sail, but most of this is gained back by the addition lo the kc•cl <1rc,1. Ovc>rall the glider sli/1 will h<1vc the Sdrrw basic weigh! r,rngc ;,pees as lhe origin,11 ·1 he wi11g posts ,trf' a du,tl sysll'tn with 7/16 OD x 16 JI), (i061 T6 bL1ck anodi7Pcl tubing which slidr!, over a sl;iin· lc·ss steel rod in the shape of ;1 Y. All have %" rd/ex and 1/ / ' dilwdr,il making them tuned towards rnorP of a "p,irachul· able" type . The cross tu/J(' is s\rengthcrwd by using largc•r di,11TH'tl't luiJ. ing and all holes are bushed with thl' new lclebushings and reinforced with sleeves. Conversion involvt>s the improvl'lllcnt of perform,rnce and s1ahil.1ty through lhl·se six stl·ps: I. rl1e nosp angl(' is widened lo I 09° l>y adding of dacrnn to the pl,rnforrn along the kC'el. The trai edge is resh,ipcd and th1u:' b;ittons per sic/(' ,ir·c added to support ro;ich, giving the pL1nforrn a modern washoul curve with in· creased pitch ,ind stall stability. l. A magic (floating carnlwred kcPI pocket) is ,Hlded for irnprovc·d ,rnd perforrn,rnce ch,irac· tt•ristics. 4. Tlw airfrc.1nw is rebuilt to fit the new sail form, 2" billow per side. Positive, and deflexers givP the, leading added support to
I Aircraft proudly an11ounces the production of its new SFAl lAWI< glider. After ,111 extensive flight testing pro gr <1rn the SEAi \AWi< has proven ready for rn,irket· ing. Michael Riggs and Robert l(ecler /i;1ve developed a110tlH'r true Seagull glider. The! SrAI iAWI< is strong and cornpetitive, yel th,1t make retains the simplicity ,md it a bree/(' to le,Hn on. The SEAi IA WI< pi lot will be carried b(,yo11d lhe lr,iining hill ,ind i11to the front of competitions. Marty Alc1rned,1, Cerwral M,m· ager, /raving sodred well ;ihove the most advanced or tlw contpmpor;iry dc!sign'i of other manufacturers, desc:rihPs the SEA· llAWI< as "slow aml stable with a superior sink rate. It parc1chutes v<'ry wPII, and h;is ,1 n•rnJrkdhi(' spePd fm tlwrm<il to thermal (!xcursior1s ." Marty furthn commented th,.11 the SFAHAWI< is sensitive and positive in pitch.
14
tnillch added fH'rforrn,rnn'. (,. Any rnissir1g or worn out tulJing, rig gi11g or fittings ,nc• 1·l'pl.1ced at whol(:s,1IP cost to tlw cuslonwr. This nol only irnprov('s the glider from ,1 perform,rnu· slandpoinl, but also updates till' lo current s;if('IY stancLirds. Only gliders with sails ;rnd fr,i111C's in rPlatively good condi· lion will be acceptl'd for reworking. f/w ret;1il cosl of ,111 of this is $295.00 plus tax and shipping. For rnorp informa· tion, write lo: f'C'regrirw Avialion, P.O. f5ox 7/l15, San CA 92107.
MOTH JIB SPECIFICATIONS (From ll0°/ Jll. I B/4° billow)
Wing Span. Root cord. Wing Arc;i. Aspect Ratio , Nose Angle Sail Billow Empty Weight. Pilot Weight R;1nge .
. .. 27S . I 2.0' .HlO.O'
. , .4.15 .... 109°
... J5.!J', lbs. . 14:i· ms lbs (no change) . .. I . , ...... 2/l.S
('/4 Cd.J
The S[AHAWI< comes i11 three sizes·. I 40,
17(, and 200 square feel. Seagull hdrdwarc is used throughout; the frarne is made of I Y4 x .049 (,061 ·TC, lubing ,rnd st,1inless steel fit· i.:1,:1,,11<J<1111 s,1nc/wich battens stif. fen the 4.0 oz. cLKrun s,ii I. which is avai l,iblc in ,1 r·ainlJow o( t'lewn colors. The SEAIIAWI< is rnmpelilively priced at $BW,.OO re,1(/) 1 in 11)1. l'rucluction begins on March Isl with a two week Intro· duction price through March 10th i $B50.00.
SEAHAWK ~pecmcat1rons 140 170 190
LPading L;dgC' if'nglh
l
l(c,el IPngth
I2 1l 100 100 100 4.ll2 'i.2l !J.1l0 l'iO I .SO I.SO 15 I I 45 4:i 4:, 140 176 200
Nosl' angll' Aspect r,ilin
S.iil billow Estirnah•d ,,1,111 Estirn;itpd top·emJ speed i\ctu,11 sail ,1rca (sq. ft.)
19
20
I()
APRIL 1977
Span Sail Area Leadspar Sail (o Keel Nose Angle Sail Billow Weiqi11 Aspect Ratio Weigl1t Ranges
35 feet 160 square feet 20 feet feet 121° 0.25" 45 Pounds 7.65 1 140-1 ?(i l'ounds
SLalls Uncl1ir 1 18 To
MPH
Sink
Flate ::i Ft. Per Sec.
I CJ! icle Fl atio. Set
Time 5 Min. Fold For (,round Handl Car Top Loading. Safer Tlian A l<ite To Fly And Easier To Take Off And Land. World's Fin est And Safest Hang GI ider. Available In Kit. Stabilalor Control All Three Axis. Performance, And Much More. Send $3.00 For Full lnforrnation And Brochure.
NEWCOMB CA. 93257
ACCURATE-each meter calibrated individually. DEPENDABLE--not affectml by dust or static. RUGGED--clear EASY TO READ-from front or
Photo by Steve McCarro/1
in U.S. Includes add .00.
Order from: Hall, Box 771, M, Morgan, Utah 84050.
HANG GLIDING
17
launches from southwest slope. Photo Hall. door. It seemed these fellows wanted perrni&sion to "jump" off their mountain! Now, Zack Ward he.id heard some strange tales a few in his day, he had even been the but never had he thought anyone would be fool to jump off his mountain. And so it gliding came to afternoon, lier .. bert and Ward saw a new breed ol flying machine. Old memories of biplanes, barnstorming and "seat o{ the pants were rekindled as watched Bruce Mahoney's standard Chandelle rattle to a touchdown in the same pasture that was Herbert's airport decades be/ore. In less than two years Heavener has be .. come the most site in the central southwest. The Wards have spent thousands of dollars to build a road to the top, clear three launches and remove trees and brush piles from the landing areas. l .aunches include a west cliff, southwest on con· slope and southeast cliff. the Heavener Runestone Flight Park can be flown from north throusJh west to southeasl. The best soarinH is either due W(;St, southwest or south, the prevailin\J summer winds beins.l from south to west. The southwest ridge has permitted many pilots to make their first extended flight, while
]
J!J
At first Oklahoma, ap· pears to be a typically quiet, small rural town not unlike thousands of communities to be found across the United States. Its location in southeastern Oklahoma gives it signi!iccinc:e by placing it in the most scenic area of the state, beinfJ located just north of the Ouachita National Forest and between two popular lake recreational areas, Lake Wister ten miles west and Cedar Lake fifteen miles soulhwest. Only nine miles from the state line, Arkansas's Ozarks me visible and Oklahoma's own grnssy valleys, hills and mountains surround the town. Founded in 1884 as Choctaw the population consisting mainly of Choctaw In· dians, it became a division point for the Kan· sas City Southern Railroad in 1910. The rail road is the employer of Heavener' s 2, 700 residents. Lying direclly to the residential area is the 800' end of a 25 mile ridge running to Waldron, Arkansas. Vikings used the pro· tected northeastern cove as a haven in their explorations of the area. The of a Viking runestone brought about the estab· lishment of an Oklahoma State Park on the mountain owned rlerbert Wan!. Thus the town remained, un .. until the summer of 1975 when 18
Herbert Ward, one of the area's most re· spected citizens, and his wife, " were startled by an Heavener' s "First unusual request from three strnngers at their
of Heavener Runestone 1. Heavener Runesione 650' AGL, rated 1umq,-,:1wu:n clliff.lau,nch si/iried off; 3. Southwest 4. South cliff, 900' AGL, rated with cliff signed off; 5. 25 mile ridge to wa.1ar,on, Arkansas. Photo by "The Photo Tulsa, Ok
APRIL 1977
the south poses the Nine hundred feel tall at take-off, it stre1clws east miles into Arkcmsas with the point 2,000' above This broken except for ci at the state line. Wills pilol, Jim Debauche, has been to the gap and returned. The pasture land which surrounds the launches and serves for also feeds Mr. Wmd' prize horses and boomer therrrrnls. How "boomer" is a boomer thcrmill'? If Brian Porlcr can of Heavener from ~Jive
and to l lcavcncr in the summer of l <)76. Through the dedicated work of Richard and a few other local F!cavener Runcstone is now ,1 well-planned and by the Heavener Runcstone Hilng Associalion as a Ill site. When the 1977 National was awarded lo lfaavener quiet town of Heavener at its firsl oppmiunity to become involved had taken to l1emt. with the sporl G,
Licher, Meel Director,
distance" are
Chief Jude1e, and John Richard Kingrey is the coordinating all preparaiion activilies and other meet officials will be drnwn from local and oilier resiions. may be contacted 'Yo Heavener Runestone C,lidinsi P.O. Box 361, Heavener, OK 74937. other tlwn durinn the the Nationals, requires HRHn/\ at $20 00 per year or for seven Natiorml Championship flisihts will be run in each of the compctiof course, on weal her condi and National tasks will be run c1t the close of Championship each
must be Full Members of the United Stoles Hanq I lanq :-; (with Cliff Launch Check Off} or
c1 U.S. I I. GI\
Heqistralion and $10 00 fee due no later th;:m ,June
NOTE: Fee
1977 to
The mountain viewed from downtown Heavener. Photo by Gene Hall.
and during any breaks. Fly-In parlicipants will be allowed to fly lo Ilic order in which regis1rntions arc received the HR! !C3A Limited motel space is available in the area: in He,wencr, the Crane and H.ebx Motels offer 4!:i units while Poteau ( 15 miles north) and Tc1lihina (thirty minutes southwest) can also accom modate with addilional motel rooms. The orcampinsi accommodc1and their families in addition 1o campinsJ facilities at Lake Wister and Cedar Lilke. /\II details on facilities 1waibble will be furnished in regisin11ion
/\ssociation lj Hatinq
U.S. National P.O. Box 361 Heavener, OK 74937
ref1mcbble onl~1 to United Std1es N.;-1tiorv1l Championship Compcdilors
USIH,A
Name
Region#
Street & Number
U.S.HGA membership renewal date
City, Slate
Zip
Estimated dc11e of arriv,11
Hanq K1linq Estirnr1led number of non· pilots in your party
Estimated lenrith of stay
Probr1blc mode of transportation (automobile, commcrcicil fliqht. private aircraft, etc.) Number of othCcr pilots usinq same car /\nlicip,1lcd 21ccomrnoclalions: I ] motel
I ] carnpinri (specify: van
trailer
ten!
other
Do yrn I plan to: Cook Out
Use /\vaibblc Food Service Both (Tl,e host will ammqe for food SC3rvices in accordance with response to this question.)
Ple;1se ilnswcr all questions ,1s dCc11ratcly rossible I hat the host will be able to mrnn,ic facilities at the site ilncl in surrnundin(J communilics. All renistrnnls will be sent ,1 Rc,Jistrntion p;icket with cornplc!C inform21tion concerning the me,1. f,1cilities ;waililblc, prices. etc.. upon receipt of the rcgistn1tion form ;rnd fee; tlw hosl will, therefore, appreciate cilrly rngistrntions.
19
NN
0 rg;i n i zer: Heavr!nPr Ru nestone H;ing Gliding Association (HRI !CA) Box 36 I, 1lcavcner·, 0 I< phone (9 I B) 6'5 assislc!d by the Oklahorrn City Hang Gliding Association, and nwml)r!rs of other org,111izations throughou1 USHCA Regions 'l, 6, and 11. Mcr,t Chair· man· Richard "Sky" Kingrey. Mcc'l Director: Lloyd Licher Sanctioned by USIICA, Inc. l~ox 6()306, Los Angeles, CA 9006/J, phone (213) 39().J06S.
2. Tlw Competi1ion SitP offers 1hre(' launching areas ior wcsl, south· west, or south winds on a mi le.I ong ridge facing soutl1wcs1, with an clcvalior1 /l()().()00 feet ,ibove ;1 large landing area clear struclions.
20
as peel ratio I istc'd in the Rules was ornittecl frorn the /fang Clid· ing magazine report. This limitation will nol apply in U.S. Competition in I hut will apply int he I 97 7 World Cl wnp· ionships in South Africa.) Class 3: surface aerofoil, ;ind pilol·acluated aerodynamic controls will lie pcrrnitled. Gliders are restricted lo the Class for which they qudlify. Each pro· duct ion must have an HCMA Cer1ificate of Airworthi1wss, dnd have orw hour of logged flight lime, including five flights, by the pilot cntr,1nl. Rui<' Ul4 and Rule 7 .02.
of ob· S. Trophies will he prcsen1cd to the
l. USIIGA OITICIAI COMl)E TITION RU Second ldition 1 will govc·m the Champion ships. Copies at $2.00 each <1re available on mcfor from USHCA.
Champion and the runner.up in ec1ch Class. Plaques will be pre .. sented 1o adclition,11 high pL1u,. rnent win1wr·s. In addition, sorn<' donated mcrchanclisr' m;iy be avai 1.. able for additional prizes.
4. National Champions will be de· clarcd in each of three defined in Appendix l of the Rules
6. Mernber·s of the U.S. World lcam for the 1977 World Cl1,irnpior1ships in South Africa will be cor1sidcrcd
and outlined on Page' I of the nccember 1976 issue' of I IANC CIIDINC magazine as follows: Class 1: "Sporting Rog;illo," flex·· i ble surface a<'rofoi I, 4. SO rnaxirnurn aspr!ct ratio, I .00 lh./sq. fl. minimum wing loading. No pre.formed bends i11 fr,11ne sp,Hs, and no pilot-actuated acrody· namic controls. (Rest1·iction on prf!··forrnecl hrnds wi 11 not apply in U.S. Competition in I 977, hul will apply in t!w World Champ· ionships.) Class 2: Flexible surface aerofoil, with no pi lot.actuated aerody· namic controls. (7.00 maximum
by order of plt1cement in each Class in the Ncil imds. Appendix 2 of tlw Rules cov<·rs the selection procedurc•s in dc·1ail.
arc <"xemp1 from qualifying if they
do 1101 cha11gc Cl,,sscs. Appendix 1 of the Rules contains detail(:d in· formatio11 011 quot;is and quali· fying prnccdure:s for Regional Mech, ,111d tlw U.S. Nationals. Entrants must h;1ve a current USIICA Voling Mcmlll!rship, with i nsu r,rnn' cndors('rll('nt, Hang 111 Rating with windy.cliff special skill endorsement, and must fly in the Class for which they qualified in the Regionc1 I Mecl fort he Region of !heir residence. See AppC'nclix l of the Ru lcs.
ii. Entry rorms for the U.S. N,1tio11,1ls will be suppliL~d to ihc Organizers of each Region,11 Meet for use by the pilots who qualify for !he ~a· ti ona Is in ,iccorcLrnce with i I1c quota for each Class in each Region in accordance with Appendix I of the' Rules. Organi1ers will notify a numlwr of altcrna1cs lo repl,Hc ,my pilot from their Region who cannot compete in the Natiorials for ;my rc,,son d fter he, has dCCCpt<'d an entry nomination. lntry Forms with $Yi.DO ('ntry fce must be rC'cci vcd by 11 RHCA on or before July '5, 1977. ($1(}.00 is norHcfu11cL1hle if a pilot does not cnrTmPll'.l Final deadline for entry of alternales is July I I, I CJ77.
7. U.S. National entrants will be: de· termined in f~cgional Qualifying Ml'C'ts, by quota for each of the 12 USI ICA Regions. Regional Meets will be 111,!ld within the period of May 14 June 64 to 21 days prior to the Nation,11 C:h,11npion ships. Provisions have heen made for approxima1cly I 00 contestants from tlw Regions, plus the pilots on the U.S. World Team for the I 976 World Championships who
9. Daily Flight Tasks will he chosen from th<' following Tasks in the Rules: Maximum Click Ratio Pylon Turw, Di,,l,rnce Closed Course Altitude Cain Acrnr,Ky Landing Closed Course Distancl' Cross Country Acrobatics are prohibited in Corn. APRIL 1977
,rnd Unoffici,11 I lying ,11 thC' (on1p('litiori Site. Violc1tirn1 will t('sult i11 cfoquc1li-
ficalio11 from th(' U.S. N,1tio11c1ls, ,md l1or11 liiP f ly-lri. I 0. Contcst;111ts wi II IH' Io i 11 gm ups oi ;1 pproxi 111.11 C'· ly six pi in dcrnnLrnn' with Rull' ().01, for thC' first ror111d of (1
Willll('I'.,
of e;ich group in each (/,1s•, will compt'fC' 11,;J orw <1r1othcr· in tlH' fi11,1/ m1111d lo dctem1i1H' the N<1tior1<1I (h,1111pion in (\JCh C/,1s•;, I ,,Pnpl,,
/ 11,,\ )~( I Lill/ I
I 111s I l\rn111d
\11lr11',,(,1ou1
( 011[(",L111h
l,h', I
:\Oil
l,l',', l
]/)()
) I Ii
,,
l'iloh
I 111,il /~rn 11 :ii \\ 11111{'1 111i,Hl1(
~,ll'I ( 11,111111 C
q 1'1101,
~,11'1 ( ILl'lliJ (
·, 1)1101,
~,L1i'I
c l1,1111p ( Ln 1
I l. Opc·r,1\ion,1\ lfridi11g is sclwclu\C'cl for ll:00 1'.M. on July 17 at thC' Site. i\1tc11rL111u' is 111,rncl<1tmy for all cor1test;rnh. i\lN'llCl' will tC'sult in rfoqualifi. c1tio11 110 l'ilot,, who ,11-rivl' (';i1·/y for pr,ictice rn1ist join I !RI IC;\ or ordc·r to he c1hle to ilion Sile.
lNC m,igazinc' or requcsl I !RI IC/\ or lJSI ICi\. $1 transpmL1tion from to L1t111ch sites. Pilot C'11t1·y ficationc, c1n· the sc1rne as entrants in the' U.S. N,1t
14. I lrnvcnu hds d popul;itio11 I,'j()() and h,is 011'y two tlw Cr,rnc ,rnd llw l,;cl c1boul 40 IOOITlS. 01 her
I L rlw I i1·st i\rrnu;i/ lJ N,ition,J/ Cliding lly-/11 will Ile held in conjunction wit/1 thC' LJ.S. Na tirn1<1I Ch,1111pionships, during d;iy. light l1our•; not rl"i('rVC'd fm the' l~C'gistr;ition I orrri in
tlH' Mc1rcl1 issue of I !;\Ne; cur).
i II l'olc'd u, I in Fl. Srnilh,
di no rescr·valions should be
rectly with the motels.
Foot launchable 1 with 3·8XiS
lo 220 lbs.
Pilot
IO min.
Aircraft 1rn:1terial used for
pilot
and
Price flight f.0.13. Phoenix, Arizona Kits are available.
I j
ai,foil S0ann,1ster rate l ft.Iser. (io 20 mph Gliding ratio 14:1 (ii 29 Stall l:j mph Max. 70 mph 29 ft. 3 1/z in. 121 ft. 2 7.05
P.O. Box 4207 Ariz. 85258 SSA lndustrial MembPr
21
How it is done is not the subject of this article. But before a variomctcr is mentioned, it must be said that a soar· ing pilot docs not need a vario to soar or thermal a hang glider. As recently as yesterday, while soaring at Elsi norc in a thermal j;:imrned with IO sailplanes and 10 hang gliders, a hang glider was on top, nearly 3000' feel abovetakc'·off. I lc was not flying with a variomctcr. The subject of this article is how a vario works, and how to get the most out of one, with ;i brief discussion of the various types on the market. All varios work on the same principle: air pressure changes with al-
22
titudc. Riding up or down a mountain in a car, everyone's cars have popped. Varios measure that pressure that makes your cars pop. A good vario can measure a in altitude as little as inches. Inside a vario there is a capacity thilt is about a quart in vol· urne. This Gtpacity has a small hole in it. As tfw vario rises and the air pres· sure drops the air inside the capacity lc;iks out until the ;iir pres·· surcs inside and out arc equal. As the vario goes down, the air prPssure outside increases and the ;iir leaks back inside the capacity. A vario has sonw sort of a measuring device that tells the pilot how fast the air is either leaking
Different in or out of the types of varios measure the lc;ik and display the inform;ition in different ways. Some electric varios have a w,ty to zero the vario when it is not chang·· ing i11 ,iltitude. All varios work 011 air pressure to !ell the pilot what his vertical speed is both up or down. There an: tricks or procedures one rnust go through in order to get the most out of a vario. The most irnport;int tricks help increase the 1·eliability of the vario. Before ever using a vario in a hang glider, after setting il up and installing the batteries, ii should be dropped a couple of ti me 01110 a carret from about 21/2 feet. If it quits work· ing, send it back to the manufacturer. Say it was damaged in shipment. If it won't take that small a jolt, it won't put up with the c1buse of hang gliding. If the vario is a non.electric type, put a small amount of cotton in the static port to the outside air to act as a filter to keep dust from into tlw unit and causing it to stick. Do not put in loo much cotton as to cause i1 flow restriction. If it is d sailplanc--type elec tric v;irio, use two sets of batteries. That way if the b;itterie:s should ever fail in flight, the other set can he used. Always carry a spare set of batteries. "·'""'"· in tcrr1per;iture can throw a vario's reading off. Before takeoff and zeroing the vario, ;i pilot should make sure the v;irio h;is reached a stable temperature. Riding up the hill in the car will usually warm a vario up.As the glider is being set up and the vario is left in tlw car with all the windows closed, it will even hotter. If at the last minute lh<, vario is taken out of the car and it will re;id wrong the whole flight. If ii is an non.electric type, it will read wrong, usually down, until the vario reaches the same temperature as the outside air. As a v;irio warms up, it wil I read up. As it cools down, it will read down. All varios have so1r1e insul;ition against this. None do it perfectly. To guard ,tg;iinst this, the vario should lie taken out of the car when you first arrive at the top of the hill ;ind should be placed in a shady, windy place. This will help it reach d stable temperature close to the temperature of the air it will be flying in. An electric vario should also be turned on when first taken out of the APRIL 1977
therncar, W<•ak batteries will sPlves up c1 littlP when 1101 i11 usv, This len rninuf(' before flight will ,illow this P1wrgy to drain ofl lust he fmc takeoff the vol um(' should tlH!n be lumt>d up all the w;iy, If ii sounds weak or the ;cro shills tlw volume is times I h,ivc sPen pilots take off wilh their v;irios fine. The vdf'io will quit ,1ftl'r ;ihout ten minutes so tum it off. When land they will I urn it on ,ind it will work fine, While it was off, the bd\· leries up to make the) vario work long enough to totally confuse tht· pilot. After 1,rncling tlw vario will often read up, The pilot will think that llw v;nio has IH!en lying to hirn the whole (I What has happened is the tcmper;iturP on 1fi<, ground is much w;nrner· ,ind Hw vario will rec1d up for a little while until its IPmp<~r<1turc h,1s stabilized,
Let nw d('monstrate tlw use~ of a vario and altimeter in a inake,,helievc flight ofl 1r;oofoot hill. I have al lowed tlw v,nio's tc111pcralure to slabilize by putting ii under ,1 bush rwar the top of tlw hill wlwre tlwrt' i~, the most wind. Just before takeoff, with the v,irio hooked to the glider, I ;pro it. Tlw wind is .i little gusty ,rnd the v.irio rv,ids up and down, I zcrn it to the ,1V<'rage of tlw ups and downs, I !um the volume up c1nd down on the audio to see if it the zero rcarJ.1 flip tll(' switch to check out /)()th h;111ks of h.it!Prics, I S('I my altimeter to the 11e;ircsl even r;()(l,,foot hook into my glidPr and take off. tlw audio tells me I am ov<!r to look at ng down. I the dial, It reads 200 fpm down. Since I am ill litilP or nn lift, I fly at best glide m faster Oil tlw way to what I think will lw a lift source. Just hdore the Ii ft SOLHU', the audio starts reading stronger· sink, I ;it the dial. II is reading BOO fprn down. I pull in the up lo ou1 of the sink. Tlic11 just I think I feel the lift, the audio st,irts rc'c1di11g up. I push out lo slow down in tlw lift. As I star1 a I urn lo in the lift I al rny alti111e· ter ,rnd thal I am 500 ft•ct below takt•off. The lift is bumpy and choppy. HANG GLIDING
ThP audio is reading up and down
lift gels choppy. I notice on the .iltinw
When I h('ar a solid up I try and lewl wings. When it reads down I lry and turn hack into the lifL I gl,irHe cit the di;il. The bes! up I see is 200 fprn. 200 fpm up is not enough if one has to rnake lot of turns to stay in the lift. I try and make as few control inputs as It is l1c1rd to tPII whether I am up m down even though I ;1111 'iOO feel aw,1y from the ridge so I ;it rny ,iltirneter. 11 now reads 50 feet below takeoff. All this work just 10 lose fifty feet! The lift S(!cnis to lw loo choppy to do any good and the downs spcrn to overwhelm tlw ups. I take a look al my altimeter and it shows I have lost I 00 nHm' feet. I then notice the huslws a few hundred yards down the moving ;1 lot more than tlw rest. I think that a thcnn.il may be off. I make one more turn picking up speed and hcc1d down thP a little down wind of just as I the the audio goes to the top of its scale. That kind of lift is worth fightfor so I hank the glider all the way oVl!t to 60 and keep the speed up for maximurn control, I glance, al my altinwter. It says 700 below t;1kcoff. I then glance at my vario. It rr';ids 1500 up.After making,1 few runs lift, I open up my bank angle in and slow down to feel out the thermal. I also reach over and turn the audio off on tlw v.iricL I haw been flying with varios for years hut have just recently start(·d turning the audio off in lwavy tmbuknu· and good thermals. The reason (or this is psychological In a IOOOfprn thennc1loncein a while I will get out into 1000 fpm down. It's called ovc1· tfw falls, It's really unnervi11g. Just as you arc falling wv1;~11u1;;,,,, tlw vario gcws from full up to full down, It is as if the vario is laughing at you, If the audio is going all over the place it seems to rn,1ke thC' turbulence worse. The only time I use the audio i,; in down air to remind rne to fly flies fast enough through when looking for ther 111c1ls, and in ridge lift. Back lo my thermal. On the way up in the tlwrmal, I keep ,rn Pye on my ,iltimeter and vario ,Hid try to rp/;ix, At about '5000 fr·et above takeoff the lifl starts lo decrease and I turn the audio back on. Fina I ly at about 6000 feet I h(!
IPr that I 11,wc los1 :"iO feet. I decide to tum downwind towards the 1wxl
1
lhcrrn.il source. On rny way downwind, I llSC tlH: vario as ;1 const,inl rf'rnin<kr to fly fast through sink. llying along .it \000 fr1.·! .ibovc the ground going 11 and out of ,m,as of increased and n•duccd sink is the most important use of llw vario, I am too f,ir a hove the to get any sor\ of a visual rderPne<, lo a in altitude. Then the air sta1·ts lo hcconw loo lurbulenL Withollt rny v,1rio I would fot,l losl, but a quick tells rne I .tm still in sink. I could swear I .im going up but t\1p audio Jells rnc I am just in reduced sink. ThP ,iudio starts reading up once in c1 while and tlwn ... BANG it pPgs up ,rnd around and around I go. As I climb up I am not only responding to how fast I arn up hut how fast my r·atP of climb is cha As the lift increases I level my wings. As ii decreases I turn steeper. This ;illows nw to stay in the bcsl lift the longest. I use my a 11 i meter to S(!C if the I henna I is st ,irt to hrea k up at the same a I· litude as the !<1st one, At ''iOOO feel thc> vario starts to i11dicate a littlv sink on the <1udio. Since the next lift source· is within easy rc.ich I leave thC> thermal c;irly rather than gain that l.ist 1000 feet in the sl uw choppy I ift. /\s I reach the lop of what might be the last thermal of the day, I n as much altitude ,1s fm a long glide· to the
ground.
Which vario to buy is a problem, lhc pric<! ranges from $49 to over $ JOO, Most of them work just fi nc•, The most important consideration i, r·cli;i . bil ity, If cost is a factor (as buy the most reliable, clwapest vat"io one can find. There are a numbe1· of varios advertised in //;ing Cliding and magazines. To say anything beyond this would bP to inflict my own pcrson,11 opinions on the reader ... which I will now proceed to do. Sailplane varios arc overpriced .ind havl, to be mounted tot he glider with .i custom mount. Llectric varios for sailplanes Sl'Cm to be cLm1ped more than elc~ctr·ic varios for hang gliders.
Mechanical varios for sailplanes ,ire priu~d about the same as electric var· ios for hang gliders. Electric varios arc~ lhe only way to go, so there is no need to buy a non·clectric vario that w;is designed for a sailplane and tl1t:n mount it on a hang glider. The pilots who use the helmet mounted pellet type varios absolutely ,ween by them and feel thatthc pilots who hassle with the batt<:rics and weight of tl1<' other type have been fed a bunch of misinformc1tion by rwoplc like rnysl:lf. The electric varios that have been de· signed for hang glider use seem to he the b()St but could be better Varios with triple ranges and dual cl.imping tend to confuse a pilot more than help. I have flown with these types and have left them on one setting for all flight conditions. For example, I am flying around and get into some heavy turbulence. I reach over to hit the damping swilch and instead turn the vol urne up. I try to turn the volume down but instec1d change lhc range, etc. Use· less! Every l i rne lhe v ario responds to c1 change in lift I hc1ve to account for and rernPrnber which range and damping lhe vario is set on. lrnpossiblel
The three factors in the response of a vario arc clamping and r,rnge. is tlw time it l<1kes lo reacl. Damping is how quick it rcacl', 1 and range, is how far the needle moves for a given a 1T1 o u n t o f I i f t . I f c, e I ,1 I 2()().foot ·u p-anc/.down-range-no, lag vario wilh a little cLimping works hc,s1. for an altirnelcr lo he of ,my use ii should he able to read a change of altitude less 1han lO fc,et. Sensitive hiking altimeters and aircraft ,illimeters do tlw job. The aircraft type ,m: easic!r to read bul arc and I have broken two of them. The I ightweiglit hiking altimeters arc compared to a surplus aircraft type compared to but seem to be be+ ler suited lo the abuse of hdng gliding. rhere arc a lot of used varios on tlH! market that work grc;1l. They can be picked up real cheap. Since instruments don't wear out (they just break), a used instrument is a good investment.They have ;i\ready be<,n tested. Anything that might have gone wrong wilh it would have already happv1wd. Since one can pick it up cheap 1 one can turn c1round and sell it with little loss if not satisfied.
Weight
Patmont
24 oz:. fprn
Morton
1000 fprn
Theo-Tek
to tell a pilot how to thermal would be like trying lo tell som1°onc' how to smell a rose." Hob Drew.,..
Comm(:ints No batteries required. purchased separately.
1 qt. flasks must be
No batteries required. purchased separately.
·1 qt. flasks must be
Most inexpensiv,J audio·visual in sample. Comes with control bar mount but may require addition of extended mount for prone
1000 fprn
Colver
Price
Lt!! nw revic,w tl1c points that I h,ive tried to make. Varios lf!I I a pilot how fast he is up or down. Altimeters tell a pilot how high he is. Varios work on changes in air pressurt'. Temperature affect ,1 vario's reading. Varios lt!II a pilot how fast to fly in sink, how h,ml lo to slay in llw lift, and wlw11 to lum and levcd in a therm<1I. Altin1elers tell a pilot whether he is going up or down ovt!r a long period o( tirne. Alti111ete1·s and varios arc of the greatest a id when a pi lot flies out of ground reference at high al .. titudes. There arc all kinds and prices of v,irios. Used ones are the best buy. Hopefully after one hds read this ar· ticlc, 01w can ask C!nough questions to find the vario that is right for him Flying with a vario and soaring a hang glider is an art. an open mind when first flying with a vario. Eorgive me if you thought I was trying lo ,1in how to llwrmal. I was trying to explain how a vario and altimeter an, used.
1000
Duai sensitivity. Comes with control bar mount but may require addition of extended mount for prone flying.
fpm
Dependable unit but requires housing and external flask. System variometer with many available. 1 year warranty against manufacturer
Mulitple
Audio Ball
Audio to fit /6 models
Ball 500-H (soon to be:) on the market) 24
Multiple
14 oz:.
Designed as ultralight complete unit for hang-gliding. Altitude Derivativ(J Vario (no internal or external flask required). Total energy, netto and other options will be available in the future.
APl<IL 1977
HANG GUDING
The following Jrticle originally appeared in the / 97S issue of Hang Clider rnagazine (now defunct). Its message is still timely two vears later, and so it is reprinted hen' with permission and a few changes from the author. As we shall see, kind this is not one story but three. The firs! two true tales are of advancing beginners whose flying efforts went asunder. They were students of the great Krashenburn Institute of Self-Taught llang CI id i ng. Honored graduates stil I among us will inform you that tradi· tional crash course provides splendid 26
discipline. A fall will surely teach anybody not to the same mistake n. It's simple and automatic. The bigger the mistake, the less likely one is to repeat it. And, besides, a broken bone or two ly does help to weed out the turkeys. It's elementary, my dear Darwin, learning intermediate hang gliding today is a classic case of natural selection in action. Only those born with an ability to learn flying quickly will survive to mate. heavens, we will breed a race of super hang glider pilots. What's that you If you didn't have the help of an instructor after
your first day at the sand dune, why should anybody else need one? Quite right, and the girls really go for handsome scars and a cute limp. Sort of John Waynish, don't you think? Well, of course, a few hang gliding schools have tried to give more than one day's worth of training.
PIT STOP One sunny Sunday on the edge of a sand pit, 80-foet high, there assembled the first intermediate class of the U-Fly-lt Hang Gliding School (the names have changed and all that j lJ-Fly-lt had been successful at selling a lot of introductory lessons, but some students wanted more than APRIL 1977
thaL the school, feel the nn.nnd1,1mir\/ sure and sell more round a fair intermediate site. The instructor briefed each student and stood back lo watch the results.
One result w,1s
bad stall without
proper recovery. midst the the instructor found the stunned student at the relative
hand. wrong with my hand." It was down Such was the and end of intermediate classes. n'alized the difficulty, liability of train above the h than you care to fall limit. Who needs the hassl round school and hn,,inn,rw classes bring in kites. And if J)e1:)pl,e want lo take those kites from 30to300to feet. .. well, I have to take their own chances. other will out with advice at the sites. 11
11
at I 500-foot site and thought himself to soar puny 90-foot Willy was fortunate to have helpful friends sonH, Bui he was following no set curriculum nor flying with the same people. He had to use his own sometimes-, overconfident as to what he was for next. AI but red hoL Take-off right , .. hard 180 aef~IT!eback, .. leveloutfastfor landing , , . and sand out of the belly button n' to Willy, set a record ?11 The red was now in his face. Once more Willy took wing, lie took it tt11·ou1gt1 a slow 90 slo-ow I 80 a slcH>···OW 1BO . , . and almost another slo,, <HJ"ow lf\O ... oops,stall,pull in!.,, no, down.push out!! ... wham!!! about ng 1
have to fuss about ly rol I the sail and walk away HANG GLIDING
with the bundle. Willy Maykit was to be able to walk away, Willy, what happened, man? You sure were slow. "f3ut you told me I was flying too 11
fast.
11
11
Yc>ah 1 but next you went too slow." ! thought l finally had it right. Sure wish you could have corrected me before I stalled it. 11 11
bar and went safely on hi way. Another flight. The next student probably could take care of himself. He had les· sons but dropped flying and now was back for a refresher. Good take-off. A little fast on the gl but is Wait, is he to flarP out? Incredible how lhe rnind can little details. this is gonna smart. Rernernber to flare for the ing. 11 The instructor is cool. "Get your nose up! Maybe a little shouting will help. "Cet that damn nose up out!!// no time now for How often have instructors stood helplessly at the top of a site and yelled and waved while below f\00 feet away in this case the student tries to a trench? This instructor's words were not lost, however. In the student was made to wake up just in 11
WORD IN TIME IS WORTH NINE STITCHES The new intermediate student launched from a 2f5() .. foot hill and, as sometimes will, let his nose get up. A bad stal I for sure. The kind where stretched seconds an instructor time to think about the extra he should have brought. This the day was saved by cairn words from the ins1ructor. The student himself over the
11
The instructor can give assistance and maneuvers onco tile student is airbormJ. by f"licl1 Grigsby
time for a reasonably good landing. This third story has many such happy endings. For, you see, the instructor has a radio and is talking to his students all the way. It is a method I watched in action at Don Marshall's New Mexico Sky School (NMSS) in Albuquerque. NMSS instructors use a hand-held Citizens Band (CB) transceiver with which they communicate one-way to students who have another transceiver duct-taped to the crosstube. Marshall has installed a small speaker inside a helmet with covered ears. A wire ;rnd plug connects the speaker to the onboard radio, with enough slack to loop behind the pilot out of his way. Beginning students are taught with open-ear helmets and the instructor talks through a megaphone. This effec·· tive method, now in use at several schools, is limited to the smallest and can be duplicated only with radio at intermediate sites. The writer tried on a helmet and was left with no doubt thatthe instructor could easily a student's attention and pass instructions to him clearly. Before each flight, intermediate students plug in and go through a radio check with the instructor (radio on, volume adjusted) and then hook their harness in. The instructor goes through a review of important points, at first out loud and then switching to
28
the radio lo finish and to dent used to the helmet loudspeaker. Instructions arc given as needed during the flight. A critique is given immediately, while the flight is still fresh in both person's minds, adding even more value to the use of radios. Don Marshall comments that radios make instructors take more responsibility. They have to work with students al I the way, not just An extreme ex·· ample of that responsibility is Don's story of one student who was caught by a thermal and lifted high enough to glide toward some previously harmless power I ines. The student was talked down by radio. Beside rescues from kite-·eating thermals and other bad situations, the radios also can help to tell the student
when he is doing something Harwell, told about working on his He thought he was too fast and was starting to slow down when instructor Brian Houston told hirn to stay he was. How many flights and risks do inii:•rrriPriiates usually take to learn control by themselves? Brian notes that gaining perception of what the student is doing takes awhile. I le started out from the bottorn, where it is easier to judge land but found he could not sec or help with take-offs. So he moved to the top and learned how to determine the student's altitude, and location. He has succeeded well, guiding newcomers lo full-flare landings while non-NMSS pilots at the same site were making awkward parachute-type landings. Don Marshall states that he would like to see other schools adopt radios and is ready to answer inquiries. He can be reached at the New Mexico Sky School: Box B4'51 -HC, Albuquerque, N.M. B71013. His radios arc Realistics which can be purchased from Radio Shack. They are the following or cquival('lll 1m its with catalog prices recently listed ,1s shown: TRC:.101B 1 5 watt, 23 channC'ls, $149.9f:i 100 milliwatts, l channels, $29.95
All il takes to make intermediate training a safer nro1:Jos1it1on is cme helmet witil a small radio for the student, anc1 a radio for tt10 instructor.
APRIL 1977
ble. Radio Shack also can supply the
small soi,.ia1cers, <!xtra wire, and plugs at very little to the set·· up. The srT1a lier unit goes on the Ii ttle investment, being of low power, receives only from radios. The unit insures contact with the student and tends to override Citizens Band channels often are filled with laneous chatter, so sites overlookir1g cities may be in line for a lot of interference. On the market now is a srnal I, twoway FM which is of a visor .:ittached to standard helmet snaps. It is meant for close to each such and is too usage. But there a very I CB not be made to go on helmets in a similar manner but with·· out the visor. When such units appear for two-way VO ice-activated r1] ic r·r;r·1htH1'•C also will help to further !earn flying. lln1n,-,r1:1nl
for
as iJ
out with helping each other to find lift and noting the location of those who shot down.) fit under helmets for B usage, combined , hi power CB radios can help now with air-to air con1rn u n ica I ion for very advanced training ,ind cross-counlry learn fly· ecll1n,Dlc>gy can help improve in slruction in other ways. Super··H movies may bC' shot and reviewed with studenls the following Wt!Ckend. has hePn used successfully of Prrors and successes. Dual instruction is another tan! area to consider, although it will a new kind of pilot/instructor \..ct}JctllJlt: first of flying dual pro· and then able to work with another person while in the air. Dual doesn't do much for teaching take-offs nd landings, nor would it have been of use the day the writer (alias Willy Maykit) tried to soar Torrance in light conditions. But it has been proven to help instill confidence
and demonstrate lessons uch as thermall and turns. Chuck and Bob Wills have been two nicmec,!rs in this field. Hang gilding's b1gJ~e·st i iate training. promoting the sport is promoting something where newcomers are only taught enough to into trouble, and not one of us can excuse ourselves from responsi bi Iity for that situation nor from the to find remedies. The day has to come soon when retail outlets will not sell flying equiprnent to people without evidence of proper training. This will become realistic because of the spreading number of schools and clubs. However, the industry should move toward PDr·nnn ing only those schools which teach a full course through Hang.IV (or lower only where local terrain prevents it).
.....
Schools act1ve1v municale with students are recnn!Sh!d and number to Hang (P.O. Box 6fl306, Ange11es 1 Calif. 90066) for a list to be in a future issue.
SEAGULL AlflCRAFT IS PROUD TO INrnooucr: THE SEAHAWK. DESIGNED AND BUILT WITH TIH' SAME Tr,ADITION OF EXCELL.ENC[ AS ALL THE SEAGULL rRODUCTS BFFonc IT. THE SF:AHAWI< OFFERS FLIGHT PERFORMANCE SUITABLE FOH FIHST TRAINING FLIGHTS AND ON THROUGH COMPETITION.
ASI< YOUR SEAGULL DEALER ABOUT THE SEAHAWl<'S PERFORMANCE FIGURES TODAY!
3021 Airport Avenue, Sa111a Monica, California 901\05 (213) 394-1151
HANG GU DING
29
The dazzling geometric design on Dave Crook's Cumulus VB was painted by Mendij. Over 200 man hours of work went into the sail. Photo by Bettina Gray.
The first week of August found me at th,, biggest general aviation convention in the world. I attended and flew my powered Icarus II at the annual convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association held at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since a powered ultra Iight combines the best of both powered and unpowered flight, the freedom and solitude of gliding and soaring plus the freedom of choice as to where a pi lot wishes to fly, this aircraft has great appeal to both the hang glider pilot and the homebuilt conventional aircraft pilot. If there is any time and place where a pilot should exercise an e;tra measure of flying conservatism it is at Oshkosh when the eyes of the world. are upon him. For ;i few brief moments, however, I allowed myseli to get carried away with the sheer thrill of flying. As a result, I overdid ;1 maneuver which ended in my flying my Icarus II right over onto its back. Although the glider is strong enough, it is definitely not intended to be flown inverted. The recovery, which included three (by my count) loops around my eardrums (or "tumbles" if you are talking to someone who is not familiar with how tightly this type of aircraft can be looped around its lateral Jxis) probably was the most highly witnessed ,rnd spectacular near-catastrophe of the week. Some rwople asked me if the loops were intentional. Believe me, they were not intentional and I am most repent;int! I suppose that !lie incident was the result of rny steadily gaining flying proficiency and confidence in my airplane over the last ye;ir and a half. Also, during that time, it is easy to forget that anything over a 60
bank, and any abrupt or unnecessary of direction are "no-no's" for anyone holding a student pilot license. Although this is not justification for what happened, in rny defense I wou Id Ii ke to out that there are few pilots, hang ider or conventional, who cannot rememb(!T sometime in their flying career when they did something dumb by the grace of God, lived to tell !hr> tale ,rnd to become a better and much wiser pi lot. The take .. off that Tuesday morning had
Now
been a little bumpy because of snmP ground turbulence,so I had decided that 1his flight would be the only flight of the day. So, while I was up, I thought that I would do somP maneuvers which I have done many times before but which by now, after 1 Yi years of practice, W<c're prob,1bly getting to the point of being ii· lega I for a student pi lot. 0 ne maneuver was to pick up and then pull up while doing a IBO degree banking turn. From the ground it looks very much like a wi ngover or a harnmerhead. Frankly, I had no business doing th is maneuver at Oshkosh even if I had a c:0111n1ercial ticket. Like I said, it was my tum to do something stupid. I went into the pull up with a little more speed than usual, I pulled it up a littlP longer than usual, and I banked it over a whole lot farther than usual, and the result was that I just neatly rolled my ultralight over onto its back. Let me emphasize that 1he airplane did not get me into that attitude. It did just what I, as the pilot, inadvertently told it to do. The problem w<1s that I had told it to do too much of the wrong thing. Before going any further, I believe that I should credit where credit is due. While inverted, I was hanging upsidl' down from the hang tubes by my hands with n1y feet sticking into thin air out the bottom, now the top, of the ultralight. I could control pitch somewhat by moving my legs but since I was hanging by rny hands, I could not use my rudder controls. I thank Cod that when I went inverted that I ended up in just the right position to
.: .
32
APF?IL 1977
John Moody rl'fuf'iing his power glider.
IPvr,I, though fl scconcls while I my options ,rncl cfr,cidc•d as to how lo attempt recovery. It is how List can think under such thank Him for cl,irity of those moments, for rny having titudl' ('i00-600 ft'pt) for rt•covery, and for my n1outh-held ne shul·off sa switch that months ago I had into my f'ower kils ;md th<tl now func·· tinned Last I should nwntion !hat thP Lord above also had some assisbelow from truly remarkable little· aircraft. I quickly dPcided lhc11 <1ircr.1ft OVfl the lop would requi less ,lilitudc loss and would stress the· aircraft /('ss than /lowing ii lo slip off to the ide using the inverted dihcdr.il pffect. I decided not tot urn the rw off until attempting pull out. I want<)d to try one I hi11g at d lime for all th,it I the nc m be needed ror rccovPry. Actually, if I had turned the nc off inil the fol lowing h.iir·rrJising pvents w0t1ld nol have oi::curred. I 1110vcd my forw,mJ lo nose of lhe r1ircraf1 down ,ind the loop. The airplane c;rnw over the top well but, since was ng in a harness inl('n<.Jed only for live flying, I could nol get my posil io11ed fM enou forward soon and to stop the ,iirfhis first loop, or lo al
to go ovPr the top into this second OU! of ,1j ..
And, there are few lhe structural and mic i to giv<' a selr. non-aerobatic pi lot I hree loops and lime 10 learn how to recover from i11v<:'rted flight with only about a 400 foot alli111Cfr. loss. In my opinion, this ulis quite an airplane. tra/ Needless to say, after a landing which would have been quile normal except for llw harlwd wire fence which I successfully I was bited from further flying at the co11ve11lio11 by the EAA. For reasons thi dClion was totally justifo•d and I can only commend them for their swir1 reaction to the incident. Later in the week I requested permission to resume My justification for having 1hP ,1udacity to submit such a l'l'quest after whdt had happed was as follows: I The unscheduled aerob.:itics tha1 occurred were rny fault and not the airplane's fault and tht> likelihood of repeating the incident would be eliminated if I could be trus1ed lo fly 111y ai1-crc1ft in a more pn1dent rnanner. Wi1h wi thrPe children, two dogs, ,1 cat, and with my wanting to be ,1round to go duck hunting this fall, it dops not take much nation to believe that I do not ng which might gel me in my ultrc1light again. :L Although I did a couple uncontrolled loops, the situation was not that the aircraft was uncontrolable, it was that I had not yet learned what to do tcrcontrol it. Once i I should have turned the ne off and the glider, I now would h.ive come over thP top in a and controlable loop. 4. To me, the most irnporlant reason for lwin allowed to resume flying was, aircraft safely. In lhe last four years we estimate that there have been wPII over 400 of the Icarus II hang glide1·s built and flown. The pilots of these aircraft have been predominantely self" taught n'ro time or low time pilots" Yet, to the best of our knowledge, there have been only two fatalities on the aircraft and neither of the fatalities could even be re .. blamed on the aircraft Some other gliders would be envious of that re· cord. Some conventional aircraft have highly competent The kits
this incrC'dibf,, aircraft finitely does not dPservc. unless set individu;ils who th i ,, record will be activt•ly entering into 1he ultralighl field might be deterred rrorn considc!ring this type of aircraft. After much so1il-scarchi11g the de'.·· thP individuals involved in cision, I was permission lo rly 011 Friddy. I flew again on Saturday and Sun day. I would like to th;111k the rnen who reached this decision for the confidence which in me and I would likl· to commend them for their courage. I trust that I did no1 d nt them by flying as I should have flown car .. lier in the week. Perhaps from this article you rn get the impression that I have not los1 confi .. dence in these aircraft, either or un If so, you are correcl. Actually, I now have rnorP confidence' in this ultralight than prior to tlw inciclenL Bewe did not know 1hr1t tlw fore Icarus II could he inverted; now we> know that it cdn" We did not know th,11 it could be flown i nvertecL Now we know I h,1! if ;11/ goes right, the aircraft c.in lw flown in .. verled, at least for about s1)conds. We never knew if this ullral could recovc,r from an inversion and we now know that, at least once, it h.is recovered frorn sus .. tained inverted flight ple;ise, do not rush out .ind sec• what wi Id rnanPuvers you can put your learns II or lasyrise1· through! UI lralights are i11lended for safe. and fun spor1 flying" They are nol intendc•d to be used to put on a Duane Cole aerohatic airshow. Fly conse1·vatively c1nd safelv ;rnd live to fly again. I almost didn't!!!
the
and recovered inlo IPvel flight about abovP the I must confess that I felt rnorc> Ii ke passenger 1ha n pi lot when the recovery w,1s fi ished. There is no au!omobi or or
HANG GIJDJJ\JG
result of 4 years of with lc,uus II' I have been ng and improving my Icarus II for almost ·1 Y2 years. Few other ultra/ haw such a relatively I was concerned that, ir my ultralight w.is not permitted to resume flying, there might come from the convention a smear on the repu1ation of
Author cruising under power in the Icarus II.
uali
ar
LID 9.1:1' 21mph;Minirnurn5ink !Ofprn 16mph; Stall Speed 13 rnph ... Sounds impressive, doesn't ii?! Yes !Jut is this claim realistic? llang glider manufacturers caught in the vicious circle of competition, have been forced JS improve lo make rnorc and more outrageous performance claims. It slarts with manufacturer X; he has a new that "c:learly 11 outperforms the design of manufacturer Y. Y LID of B. 5: 1 and min. sink rate of 250 fpm. X must impress the public that his design is significantly better, so he claims and 200 fpm . . less dramatic values just wouldn't sound good enough. Then manufacturer 7.. comes out with a design that i, 11 obviously 11 bctterthan either X or Y and the circle continues. ln addition to the 11 leap frog 11 claims due lo competition, as LID and sink rates improve, subjective evaluation of flight ma nee becomes less and less valid. It is 10 co11s1<'.1e1 in terms of glide the difference between an LID of Band an LID of 9 is only look at a protractor that's small! Even very small up--currents have a profound elfoc1 on I.ID. currents averaging only Y4 mph would resulf in a glider with an LID of B: 1 appearing to have an LID of 9: 1 t Can you feel that little wind? A small, (luffy feather falls at about three times this It would he nice if we had a dependable method to objectively rneasure a glider's performance; hopefully some day in the nottoo-distant future we will. In lieu of objective rncasurements 1 information concerning what v,ilucs of L/D 1 sink rate, stall etc. are reasonable for a given configuration, would individual considering the purchase of ,1 new glider to ev.c11uate the objectivity of manufactu rcr 1 s performance claims. The charts accompanying this arlicle may be used for this purpose. They are for the 1977 high performance gliders ally, and will over-predict the performance of most signs. A 120° nose angle, low billow, low washout, conventional construclion, unstreamlined configuration with battened radial or truncated tips is assurned. To establish performance limits, the 11 values of the drag area (Sp) and the 11 effective span (be) must be determined. A brief summary of how these critical parameters were evaluated as follows: DRAG AREA, Sp Deliberately consNvative (low) values were used. It was assumed 1he pilot is perfectly prone, cables are uncoated and 1hat large leading edgt! pockets, single-cylindrical 1 wing posts, short (4.5 ) kingpost 1 and moderate ('3'x41//) sized control bar are used. Specifically not accounted for are: ) Increase in drag due to pilot body, arrn and head position 2) of extra deflexer cables and posts 3) Increase in drag due to inuease in air velocity above the wing 4) Parasitic Drag of noseplate 1 wing bolt cut-outs in sa i 11 wing ti ps 1 instruments '5) I nterforence drag at area of wing bolt and wing post; of pi lot hands on control bar; of intersecting tubes and saddles. 11 EFFECTIVE SPAN, b" The term effective span 11 is really a misnomer. It does not mean 11 lhat portion of the span that is effective 11 To paraphrase, it is 11 the span of an idea/ wing that would have the same amount of induced drag as c1 real wing has induced drag and other kinds of that 11 looks like 11 induced drag. 11 Hiemer, in rluid Dynarnic shows that for a Mes11 serschmidt 109 1 of all the drag that looks like 11 induced only 7o<Yr, was actually attributable to the induced drag of wing. To account for this extra drag and induced drag rcsulti from a non-uniform lift distribution, a factor called
34
11 oswald efficiency factor, e 11 is introduced so that eA is the effective ratio. As used here, b,, 1 the effective span, equals Ve times phys'ical span b. this definition resulted in [i,. 2/S equaling el\. 11 Cenerally e is a function of how 11 c:lean the airplane is and how closely its actual induced approached the ideal. It is an emp•irical f,tct that swept wings higher values of induced drag than equivalent unswept wings. The more sweep, the more induced drag. This is to be expected hecaus(! the reduction in pressure drag due to leading edge suction is less than in straight wings. for the assumed 120° nose angle glider with IOO'Yo effec .. live leading edge suction, low billow and twist, ideally tapered wing in other words as near perfect as possible, the actual induced drag would be 'i% greater than ideal. This dione would result in a reduction in 11 cffective span" to 9'j% of the physical span. Taking into account the additional that behaves like induced drag and is related to the of the airplane, a value of h,, of 90% would seem unlikely. For comparison, the Messerschmidt 109 with an unswepl 1 untwisted, properly tapered wing, but relatively 11 dirty 11 for a conventional airplane, had an efft,ctive span of ID%. !\cleaner version of this s,1111e plane had an effective span of 9 2%. An optimistic value of B7 Y2% has been used in calculating the data for the performance charts. Using the charts, let's evaluate thP performance of ;i fictional glider, the LB 101 with these characteristics: LID max 9.3: I @ 21rnph. MIN. SINK: 210 fpm 16 mph. STALL SPEED: 13 mph. SPAN: 33 1 • AREA. 175 sq. ft. CLIDU1 WEICHT: 42.5 lbs. Ol'rJMUM PILOT WEIGHT: ISO lhs.
!:
i
:li II
ii
ii
i!
Ct1art f/1, Stall Speed
)/)
!
I
::1
1/
'"
CHART# I STALL SPEED (13 mph, claimed). Essentially the slal I speed is dependent only on wi loading and the 11 rnaxi mum coefficient of lift C:1 max." In analysis normal values of density and temperature arc assumed. For the LB·" 10 W/S ( 42.5 + 1'50)/175 I 1. It is conceivable thal LB-10 has a stall speed as low as "IB. l mph. A value of I B.B mph is more likely, 17.S less likely.While it is true that at awing loading of .4 I I corresponding to a pi lot weight of 30 lbs. 1 the LB- IO would be to have a stall spec>d of I :I mph, this claim could not be considered reason"· pilot weight with a clairned able. It also shows the need for stall speed. Note: It is possible to a glider that is partially stalled. No doubt some of the suggested by manufacturers to be stalling speeds could be more correctly termed minimum II semi-controllable Also note 1hat this chart applies to fixed as well as flexible wing gliders. CHART #2. UD max (9.3:1 21 mph, claimed). As stated 11 previously, this chart and #1 are for 1977 flcxihle wing high performance gliders with little billow or twist, no streamlining and conventional construction." For a span of 33' and sail area of 175 sq ft, an optimistic: upper limit for UD max is 7.9: I! An LID of 9.3: I isn't even in the ball park. Consider such a claim carefully and with some skepticism. 11
APRIL 1977
Chart 11:ic, Minimum Sink nato UIART #\. Ml,\IIMUM Sl\11( R,1\ll (2Hl fprn If, mph, claimed). Note first lhdt tlw st<1tcrl,pc,ed for minimum sink is less than tlw stall spePd interpsti11g, IJul not necessarily rneani11g· ful. Consulling Cl IART ii lb for a span of .l3' <111d s.iil c1rca of 17'> sq ft, we sec that for a wing loc1ding of I. 1 (I O lh pilot) ,in optimistic value of minimum sink rc1IC' is 16 fprn L1irly clos(• lo tlw claimed value.
Chart#~
Cl IAR r #4 I/[) vs. Sink Ra1c for a flight speed. This chart can give an idea wlwther LID of Miminum Sink Rate clairns are "out of Ii 11e" with Pach other if the spe(•cls for which the v,li U(!S are attained is For instance, tlw Lil· HJ flying al I mph with ,rn LID of 9.J: I would have d si11k rate slightly under 200 fpm which would be lc•;s than the claimed minimum sinking fven without checking Cl IART #2, I would be chart may he used fm fixed as well ;is flexible wi F1Jttirl' designs that reduce as increasP I increases in l)('rformc111n· (,pan will hPtter rC:'.1li1<' tlw sought hy manufacturers. Then, perhaps, a flexibl<· wi glidc1· with an 1/IJ of 10:1 and a minimum sink r;itp under 1/lO will he a rc;1lity . ..., HANG GLIDING
Jack Lim/Jie has /J()t>n, and is .rn many that no introduction cou/ci <lo him justice. I li.1 lc11c,st projcc tis wilh /'au/ and Pe/er Liss,1111011 on c1 Man Powc1Hi !\iruaft. 1lwirs is //w firs/ to fly over five minutes. f3t•fore that, lie and his wife l<aren rode their lane/em /Jicyclc nround the world. I le could write ,1 hook on his pel raven stories ,1/one. I /is hack. 1hc1t pertains to l/1is interview drt' l1is I b yec1rs a.1 i1 4lli, Sth, and (,/h·gr<1de /c\1chcr and /1i1 accomplishments in sail f)lan('\ in the '60\. I le was thC' 20th sc1il1>lanc pilot in Iii<• United States lo earn a Diamond Ha 10,iring's h I award. J,ick l.ami>ic al his best is j,l(k the story teller. Once lw rf•ad his story for the NIT on futuristic at a S0uth1•m Cilifornia I fang Clider !\ssn club /Ir' had t/1is rowdy hunch spellbound. When he finished tl1ere: wen· a few moments of si lencf' and lhen il stand· ovation.
HOW DID YOU CFT INTO HANC CIIDINC/ I decided, for ;i school project, to havP tlw cl,iss build a glider to prove once and for all th.it I just don'\ fly. ThP kids said lhdt w.is the mos\ nwmorahle event of the yc,u (1970). We all built a hang glider in class, a Hang Loose. I'd lwcn screwing around with gliders for years. I built my first one in the '.ri(Ys, and then in '65 and '66 ... there was Richard Miller, Bruce Carmichael, Paul MacCreildy
"OnC' time we were out (lying in thC' dunes and ran ancl jumped off the hill wit/1 his arms out am/ went fc1rther than W<.' wf'rC' in t/1p
36
all the gang . building these bamboo butl(·rflics. Bui we didn't know how to fly !hem; we were doi11g it with arm balancing. My brotlH!r Mark built one right over lww in lrvinP. We'd nm a get the nose up, and just ,ihout the lime it started to fly, the would go up. We didn't have hang bars. Or we'd run along, I would start to lift, and tlwn ohhhhhh we'cl drop. In orw time WP were out flying in the dunes and Mc1cCrcady ran and jurnped off the hill with his arms out and went farther than we were going in the h;rng gliders.
YOU MEAN THI DUNFS AT PLAY/\ rm RIY/ in ,r)21 built kind of a llang Yeah. In I.nose but it was a real srnall one. We h;id to low it with ;i car l2 mph to get it to fly. It was bong, bong, hong rnnning along. It wasn't much fun; it w<1s a lot of work so I gave up on it. Then I bui It "The Hang
"/ c!ecicft•d, ford school proje<t, to have the c/,1ss IJUild c1 hang glider lo prove onu· .ind for all thc11 the)1 just don't fly. The kids s<1icl that was the most mf'm· orahlf' evC'nt of the ycnr (1970). We all built c1 in class, d 1/ang Loose."
APl<IL 1977
I oose" 1 llllill ii wilh c1 2il' sp.1n, n•c1I I so lhe kids in llw could fly it di very •;low lhr~11 lhc next I wc111 out c111cl flr•w ii, ,111d it n•c1lly fl<•wl I w.i•, r(•c1\ly c1•,tou11dr•dl /\mJ this wc1s to prove h,rng glid<'r<, do not work 1 ! So Miller, ( <1rmich;1el Mid thP g;111g would ;ill takP t11111s, ,rnd this thing flew tirnc .iftc•1 linw, flo,1ted down the hill. Don I ns took picl1m•s of ii I g.ive Don story I'd wrillP11 for So,1ri11g and lw rewrole it kind of and more r•xcil· ,nHl put it in Spurls !'lane Magazine, (II gol 011 thr• cover.) And lhen some pc•oplr· s,1 "\Np w;ml " ,o my hrollwr M;irk ,rnd I dn•w up so11w in one f'VPning. "Whc1t'II WC' for thPml"
"$ L" "Yc,1h, 01<
Io d
40 oft hem in Sport\ l'ldm' .1nd it c;111w out in Priv,1/e Pilot (M<1y, I') I), and Doug Lamoni jusl wenl 0111 ol his · "Oh, wc'vr• Just got to put I his in Soc1ring." II WdS the fi1·s1 c1rti clz; on in So,iring, I had litl'r ,illy s!w11pi111: full of niail. Jusl ,i\iout ,ill the old lirner,, in rn a i Ii 11 g Ii s I. I t y p(' d 11,1111 c down. Oh, I gol \('ll<'rs from Dc1vc l<il hour11(· J11st ;iho111 huill ,1 I Ling l"oosp at one tirrw or ,mother 'c,rn,(' you could build ii for $7'i. 1lwy'cl 11('Vf't admit to it now lllll tf1py ,11\ llllill I Lrng Loo•;c;. Yeah, I could go rny \i•,I ,rnd find ,ill the old timer•, on it. I IOW MANY l'IANS DID YOU Sfl U About 4000. I ju•;I couldn't hclievc• ii! All ilH"iC' letters in, ,rnd llw he,111liful /l-p.igP leltf'r•; from ,,irlinc pilots! I s;1ved them c1IL Som(• of them st;irt out, "Yeah, I flew I did lhis ," (,1 wlmlf' kind of "but this is lhe w;iy WP w.tnl to fly." So Wl''d unlock<·d ;i dc·sire in m,111 lo g(•I out fly himself. Airline pi lots, Ai 1· fmn• pi lots, 14 "vc•;ir-01n kids ! lle;iutiiul lctlers. sorrn· of tliC'm. ill\ !,tarl the •;;irnc w;iy, tell thPir life his· tory,, llwir drP;rn1s of flying, , what a wondf'rfol this is, . could WP s<!nd IIH·m the lwn•'s l bucks. So Richard Miller wmte to rnc and "You May Dr1d (or ""''"th1no1 O!lo Lilienthal's I 70th don't we h;ivr, ,1 meet" There' had been Ci of 11s who foolt•d ,nour1d with gliders HANG GLIDING
so we· ,;aid, "OK, W(''II do iL" This was lo IH' ,1 sc,crc·t mcl'L We didn't puhlici;c it, wt' didn't ;inything. MMk and I wr·nt 0111 ,md ,1 hill ,rnd decided just to do ii. If throw us off the Lrnd, throw us oil 14 showc,d up. I here were I I Lrng Looses (I Lrng I eec<'/), one rno110pla11e, ;i11d T;ir;1•; l(icC'11it1k in his 13amlioo l:l111tc·rfly which h;id le;mwd lo fly (with tl11· arm rests) lJ1•autifully. I le look!'d likc! Nureyev doing b.illr·l in th.it thing, W/\S 11115 Tl If MITT l\lAT COT INTO NI\ /ION!\/ (;I /IC? Yeah, ,111d it illso got 011 the frnnt page of tlH' I .A. Tinws, ,rnd Ralph Slory lalkPd ahout it 011 the rww,;, That was really lhe rining. had i>ee11 it like f3Pnrwlt wc1s doi 11g his tow kite's, likl' lhal liul \idd n'.ilizPd it could \Jp dorw se\f.\aunchi11g which dreamed of. We WC'I'<' on gentle liills owr th<' hills l f<'ci thal w;i,; rc;i\ fun. And it was fun 1 floating My hrnther M,irk rn,1dp 1he flighl in ;1 Super· I \;111g LoosP, the in ti11w. Richard Miller rn:idC' the in dist.111c e i11 his conduit Condor. N('xt we· held the· MontgomPry Meet and 1h;1t timt' thc·1·c· wl'rc only or l IL111g l.oo,,c•:,, lhc 11cw Iver, and d 101 of 01\wr LH,h h,id cmnc out with hi,; new Icarus II. We were think we'll copy lfw 11,rng I oosc, m<1kc it out of luliing, and t;1kP llw L1il off." At lhe p1·evious n1e1·t rno•,I of 1 \w I Lrng I ooses loopc•d ,rnd the tai I would brP,ik off ,rnyw;iy, We• were ,istoundr·d lwcausr! we had rn,iny, many fl with tlw original I lang Loose• ,rnd it flew licautifully. We didn't rea\i;c th,11 ,1\1 lhC'S(' guys who were huy, ing tlw ,rnd building tlwm had 110 ilyi 11g cxpcrietKP ,rnd hc1d never flown a They ,ill wenl ou1 ;ind slallc·d ancl ii. Wlwre,is l<!ichard M i 11 Pr, I'.1 u I ;i n d ,1 11 of us could fly it pretty well now. So I was 1·<·,1lly that tlwn' W('f'(' I fang LOOS('S scc1tll'ring tlwrns<•lvr•s all over the fil'ld. And lowed larc1s up and he rnadc sonw hc•,1tJlif1il ng fl We "That's L111fair. rr.• tow inµ, him ;111d all th;1t stuff!' littlP did we re,1\i1c th.ii the lhe flexible wing, w,1s going to i)(' the winner. We just did11'1 know. A11yw;1y, .it lhe Montgomery M(!el there wPre sorm· pilots. They'd tlwir \i,!Ck ,md forth and flew heaut· ifully, l<aren flew one callC'd tht' Fly which
was a 100'7' biplane with tlw back wing r, diffrrenl llia11 Ifie front wing. II flew hP.i ut i ill Ily <)xccpl thl' wing co\ \;1psPd wlwn we WPrc lowing IH'I", M,1rk fell ind \1olc ,rnd on tlw wing and the spM col lfot ,he had ,HI Ill sc,cond flight in ii which w;1s llw flight ,i had rn;idp 11p to th,1t time. I fl seconds! You figure M;irk won the first me(•I with a flight of !l'i S(·conck It was hol stuff in I hosp Volrn<'r j('l1S<'l1 ;rnd c;rn1c oul and tlic·y looked al us and h;1sh· ing and "Aw, it's just like j11n111inn onto ,1 hicyclP with no sl(·cring ;md ing off and going down ;i hill. ll's intcrc·st, ing flllt ii has no futLm'. Tl1P11 Volrrwr we11t out ,111d hllilt that good rnw with tlw COil· t rols.
nn: VJ ) l SWINCWIN(;/ Ye,1h, but ii rPally didn't catch 011. M.ic, got 111tr!rc'stcd. )ense11 got intPrl'sit·d 1·v<·11 though <ind built thc11 never bcc;mw llw tn·nd, but the fact th;1t t h(iy wc,r·p it was kind of ;111 thing. All thf'sc things n·,illy showed peoplP th,1t it could lw dorw. l<ilbourrw cc1rnc' down for our Monl· gonwry Me<,t ,rnd we coll Id n't gel I hal d,irnr1 kite of his to fly. We tow1!d ii ,ind he'd loop it ,111d l1c•'d stall ii,,, he w;isn'I a very pilot thPn. !he hill w;1s too shallow. So then we s1,irled meet i 11gs dt my brotlwr's .ipMl111cnL rhe nH,c•tings kept growing and pre\\y soon we had )00 people up. I was ng calls <•very from /.ool< Magazine and /if<' M,1gazi11c those defunct rn,1g,1zirws "When arc you going to fly/ Crn you get your out to fly for us/" But we were j11st doing this for furi. The whole idea was just lo do it for fun. 1 lo\d M<1rk, "Let's not gPI lhis own little g,rng. If wt' gel it be jusl likP <:verylhing c>i'iP. The FAA's going to takt! over, ii', going to he this, to be th<1L To hell with all of this!" So whPn it got lo be likP 200 people show, ing up for lhe mcPtings wP ju,t So Dick [ipp<·r slMIPd the l'PninsL1L1 Cluh and the •,arne g,111g wenl over therP. Of course WI' went too. And that grew into the Southern Californi,1 Hang Clider Assn, And that grew into the U.S. I bng Assn. WP spe11t sp;irching for suit.1hle hills. Tl1<1I was the in thosP !conrinur•d Oil page 42)
I is ((;) 1976 by 0(mn•s 1_)<1ue11 /\II r1i[Jl1ts llesmved
l'/io10 lw l(/<1u1 Nif'i,011
One can a Lii good idea of how an atn1osplicric wave: works by viewing 1hc ripples fornwd in water, downstrci1rn from a submerged log. If, instead of water under a l;iyer of air, we have air topped by an invcrsion layer (less dense), and we replace the log with a ridgP, the picture becomes more clear. The conditions favoring 1he formation of waves arc just ;1boul opposite lo !hose thc11 pmduce thermals. Thi because a stable ;itmosphere is one that tends to resist rnovernent in the, vertical direction. Thus ii ;iir is displc1ct!d upward over ;1 ridge, ii will fall r;1pidly on the other side. This falling air tends lo overshoot its original height so 1ha1 it movc>s upwards c1gain. This process continues until ;rnothcr ridge, is cncountcrcd or internal frictio11 n!duccs the energy of the oscillations. A ridge has b,}c:n known to produce over 100 such w;wcs, cxtcndi11g for hundreds of miles. Figure I shows ;1 typical wave pattern ,rncl the effects of an "in pl1;,s('" or an "out-of-phase"
ridge. Smooth ridge's (;1~ in the eastern U.S.) will form uniform p;1rc1llc,I waves, while uneven n1ountain chains will create intcrferc'nc<' patterns that will be hard to pinpoint accurately. In addition to stability, tht' amount of wind gr·adic,nt, tlw wind dirc:ction, the shape of the ridge and tlw lc1psc rate affect tlw existence' of WilVl'S. A strong wind gr-,idient above the w;we-producing ridge is found to be of great irnportance. lhc wind should he at lc,;ist 20mph (3 kph) and perpendicular to the hill (riot turning too much with height) fm the more useful waves to dcwlop. The shape of waw-producing varif!S gt"l:atly, btr1 those with concave, wi11dw,1rd slopes and stL:ep Ice sides appc:ar lo fmrn waves with the most ,nnplitude (sec' figure Ridges with ;1 profi I<' I hat is wave-shaped wi 11 produce waves morccasily figure Also, a ridge with ,l width near tl1at of tlw spacing bctween the w,1ves (w;ivclc11gth)
Figure I Wave
r:iouw
38
I.apse rate and ridge pro1ilo lJost for waver;
APRIL 1977
f"io11rc :, Clo11ds lorrnccJ liy wavu'.3
will h ;irnplitud('S, Amplitude is !)p~,t understood ,is a llH'dSLm' of how (;1r 11 pa nd down d pal'li c le of di r travtds it pdsses through ;i WdVP, T lw length of the fm oplimum fom1ation should bl' a minimum of Oil(' Shone1 c11HI hills allow thP ;iir to flow ,irrniri<I and i11tcrfcrP with the wave. W.ivl'S c,1n lw produu'cl lll'hind circul,H hills, but tlwy will be smaller and div out quickly with dist.rncc' downwind from the hill (sec 4), I and fom1s as littll' as '100 l1'cl ( I ",Om) l1<1ve been known to produn· WdVC'S,
Fiq11ru ~ Wavo,, cmc1tod hy :1 hill top view
The rate found to IH' hcsl for w;wps to Pxisl is om· tl1,1t is st,ililc to jusl diiovc the where ,111 inversion occurs (incre<1scd stability) SCV('ral l11mdred fcc,t thick, which way to less stable air above. Thi,; is also indic<1tC'd i11 rlw lapse rdle ,ind wind ;ire llw dctt'nni11a11ls ol the llw ng helw('L'n waves cdn he ;i mil<' to twenty 111iles, Six milcs (9. hetwccn WdV('S is COllllTHHL T lw vet'lical velm i11 WdV(' lift depends Vt'ry much 011 tlw stcc!pness of the wave, Shorter hs knd lo be associated with stePpN WdVCS, The m;iximum vertical is found in ;i lwtw<'cn :i,(HJO and I O,DOO feel (I ,1Crnrdi11g to heighL This velocity e,m he ovPr :m f('el/second (Cim/sl'c) hut is thual ly lwlow feet/second (2, I m/S(!C), Waves h,ive hecn recorded as high r1s I 00,000 fl'(!! (Hlkrn), ,md ,1 s,1ilpl;111e h,1s reached over 4Ci,OOO feet ( I whi!P w.ivc' so,11ing. TIH' g1e;itcr glidl'r would limit the ,illitudc gain to c1 below this line. in w,ivcs n•quircs crahhi11g ,ilong in the lift nnn,nn just as i( Oil(' were It 111,lY he very difficult to tell where tl1is lift is without the aid of ,1 v;irion1pter unless lcnliculc1r clouds ar<.' pt'<'S<'lll. Sirin' the wavPs arc in relationship to the these clouds ll1at fom1 the crc'st of tl1c wave reaclws < ooler altitudes arc c1lso rlw windward will delineate are,is of lift, ,ind ~.ink will occur hN1eath the HANG GLIDING
trailing c'dge. It is possible to fly from rnw ,irc,1 of li(t to the next, hut th<! pilot had het1cr move ;1s much sink is to hP c'x1wc1cd. II is not possible to C'n1cr ;i wc1vc from the ridge originating the t1pw,mJ molion (sec• point 13 in 1.), so a 11011-·powcred hang glider will h,lV(' to used point downwind (point A i11 (igurP ] ,) ,rnc/ hope he's i11 tlw lift portion o( the W,lV(', The principle requirements for w;ivcs to exisl as disrn',Scd previously occur most oftf'n in ,it n in moist a1·c,as a11d higher ;iltiludcs, The existence' of clouds Sf't'ms to affect waves littll\ if at all, ,rnd incl(·ed w;ivcs l1,1Vl' been detc'Ctl'd in m,1ny v,nyi ng ci1·curnsldllCl'S, Often waves will fmrn in tlw f'VPning ,1fu,r d cL,y of s1ro11g convection. App<1renlly the' cooling of 1hr' ground credles 1he 1wn·ssary stahl<' l,q>se ratl' ,1ft<'r the su11 S<'!S, !he dangers of flying i11 waves ;ire ly that ol I tnhulcnce. When the invl!rsion layer and tlw shear (wine/ gradient) is the lu1hulcncewill he mmt intcns('. looking lenliuil;ir clouds c.111 ;ilso indicdte the rm'scnce of turbulence. llw (ir'.,t w,we of .i seric,, will lw tlw most turbulent as wl'II ;is pmvidc tlw bc,s1 lift. l lw c1rnount ofturbulc,ncc' can Vdry frn11111onc' to cxtr·cnw, c1nd a hang glider is not a good "soundi 'device. Tlw s<1fest routv is lo obtain cuncnt i11fonnc1tio11 of the conditions from a IH)Mby airport L,HgP rot ore, rn,1y (orm in l he v a 11 C'Y heh ind l he and be topped with .i rotating cloud (ii the ,1i1 is 111oist) dS in figure ], These~ rotor'., can he the bcarc·rs of high turlllllenu· strong ups ;111d downs, If c,1ught in 01w ol tl1csc (t,ri·is wlH!els, the rJl'Sl ITlOV<' is to fly pcrp<'11dicul,11 to tlw ridgeds (,isl as possible to pass beyond thci1 li111ils, l~otm, arc not confined to thC' ground, ,rnd c,rn occu1 as .1, the lop. The eddy formed i11 the le<' of a or mounl;iin is c!ssenti,illy the s,Hrn' 1hi11g movt•d up th(' slope. Anabatic (upslope) winds help lorrn thcs(' (•ddies ,ind prevent waves from occurring (se<' .) C1tabc1tic (downslope) winds pronrnle the huild-11p of w,lVPS, which is c111otlwr rcason thc1t wavcs are most conrnw11 ;it nighL 11 hc1s hecn estim;ited IJy 011c' resc,nclw1· that w,1vc·s exist two thirds of the time in most areas hut they go undetected ;it night orwfw11 they ,lit' feeble. CerL1inly, we as hang glider pilots would wave soaring on .is little as onc.,le11th of our fl
I
F:iqure
ON
f'lotor rnoverncrnt
Tlw lifl from waves is ;i potenti,11 sourc(', but tlw problems posed fm hang glicler·s ,m' clifficull to su1mount. Th(' main obstacle to enjoying this lldtu1;1I elcv.itor is finding tlw right launch ite di the 1·ight timP, C<·1tainly more knowledge and experience will incrc',h(' tlw odds. 39
Soaring Sr·rnin,1r pmvecl rncn'sl(u/ with its l.irge lumo11I ol e,1ger /i,111g g/ir/n pi/oh.
I think WC' will ;111 b(' happy to n'slrict our flying to VFR conditions. Col. C:olPrnan from Edw;irds Air Fore(' lfase spoke next 011 high allitudt· flyi11g. I le noted thal hypoxici (l;ick of sulfici<'nt oxygen) due to al1ilucl<' could b(· <1ggr;1vatc,d by othc r tyrws of hypoxia du(! to smoking, sulfa ;i11tiliiotics, ;111tihislami1ws, alcohol, nMcotics, carbon rnonoxide (from s111og), or lack of llroper blood circ u .. lalio11 due lo cold or lack of motio11 from bc)ing in d h,1mes,;. lhc symptoms of hypoxia <1rc confusion, diuinl:ss, faintness, lack of coordination, and vision failure. Even at Hl,000 foel, norm,11ly considered the rnaximum ;dtitudc for fl ighl wil hou! supplerrwnli1 I oxygl,n, you l1c1ve lost c1boul 50% of your vision. I IC' also nw11!io1wd anolher hazc1rd of high altitude flying d('compression sickness. This is callS('d by gasses fro111 your blood coming oul of solution and forming bulJ. hies in your joints, lungs, or brZ1i11. I le mc!ntioncd th;it lhe FAA holds seminars in high altitude flying. for i11formation contact Josh Mc111n al thP FAA headquarters in OkLil1orna City. Tlw fin,il was Trip n. 11<, discussed soa techniques. Much of 1hi m;1terial is found in his rirticlc• "llre.1 to Tlwrmcils" in Cround Skimrrwr, February I 976. Trip answC'red r1 lot of quest ions. JJi lots were concerned aliout the various kinds of tlwrmals ,rnd specific lech for cle,iling with them, with how to time ,1 take-off in hec1vy tht>rmal activity, ,incl with the JHoblc·rns of flight i11 tur!Julcme. With lo turh11lence, Trip reminded us that ,i higher wing loading allows better flight in turbulence, and that excessive> speed in lurbulcnu' may over-stress your glider. Wind I laven's Cross Counlry Soaring Sernin,H w;is il v1;ry v,1luahlP Pvent. Tlw prc·sentations were excPllent and much of the i11formc1tio11 prespnted is not rc'<Hl i ly availr1ble from sources familic1r lo most hang glider pilots. It w;is p,irtinil;irly us(,.. ful to lie' c1ble to ask queslions not just of h,rng gliding c·xperts, hut of C!xperts from other fields of dVi,1lio11. ,.. 0
•
OARIN
Nadine Malcolm
Sc'ven1 vc pi lots a1tcndcd Wind 11avcn I lang Cliding School's Cross Country Soaring S<!minar. The .ill cL1y ground school, IH,ld at Bill Flennel1's Delta Wing glider shop on Saturchy, Fehruary 20th, was followed by a fly-in on Sunday at di the seminar includedexpc!rl Southern California pilol as well ;is rPpresent;itives from the FAA and tl1c· U.S. Air f OIT<~. Topics covered in eluded setting flighl goals, sile rese,irch, •,pecial <!quipmenl, air traffic h altitude flying, requirements fm 1H o turbult>ncc, ;rnd lc'chniques. rrip Mellinger, an instructor for Wind I lc1ve11 and expert cross country pilot, by talking about flight 1ircp;irc1tion flight goals. I le reminded us that every flight should l1c1ve a goal; pilots who set specific goals, e.g. pc,rfecting circular l60's or doing minimum sink I BO's, progress much mon· quickly low.irds and cross counfl'y skills tl1.in I l1osr, who fly about In cross country flying, setting the goal is even more importilnl since d great dPal of prpp,iralio11 musl iJ(' done bdort' the flight. rirsl lhe pilots should study topographical rndps of the are,1. NPxt they hould tudy site meteorology; this includes studying wcathc'r maps and pilot weather rcpo1·ts, but it also includes driving ,Hotrnd the proposc>d flight areas, obsC'rvi11g loecil wind conditions and bird flight, and talking to other h;ing glider and sc1ilplarw pilots who have flown tlw area. Our next srx·,iker was ]Prry Clc1nvillc an air traffic control !er from I lollywoodBurhrnk Airport. I le smprised us by PX· plaining that almost the entire Los basin is controlled air space. I le emphasized the importance of finding out what other ,iircrafl use the' airspace we fly 0
40
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lhrough. In particular we should know major air routes, approaches lo airporls, control zo1ws ,Hound airports, and lrain .. ing ar,'as usC'd for privc11P, rnilit;iry, ;rnd police c1iruc1ft instruction. I le noled that hang gliders ,HP h.ird lo SP<' both visucilly and 011 r,1dar. Hf' we could obl,1i n informa1ion on local use of 1hc air fmrn lhe control towC'r al a !(Jedi ;iirport or by l'l!c1ding sectionc1I chMts. (See "I low to Rc,1d a Sectional", by John Lake in J /,rng Novcni!Jt'r 197(,.) Vince 13rophy from the CATO Office ncx1 on low visihilily flying. lfo again stressed Ilic danger from other c1ircr,1ft. Mere collision ,ivoidancc i,; not Would you like lo fly through tlw wake, of a jd Wake turbulence can pcrsisl for '5 n1inutes or more ,iftl!r tht! plan(! eru1s .. ing it h,is He tha1 in looking for airplam's the following techniqu<' is most effectiv(·: Don't just movl' your eyes around llw -· stop ;rnd look, then move to look al another pdl't of the sky. lie emphasi;:ed the danger of spali,11 disoricn l,1tion, vertigo, when flying in low visibilily conditio11s such a, flying lhrough ;1 cloud. Wilhoul rderence you los<> your ;1hility lo distinguish the ,iccel('ration ol ,1 turn from the pull of grc1vity. H(! demonstTated this quite convincingly to inc and scvcr,11 other 1iilots by using ;1 rota! chair. I wc1s bolted into tlw chair and blindfol cfod. He then rot,itcd the chair ,it a constant rale. After I had gotten used to tlw rotation he asked nw lo look clown, then bring my IH',HI lev(;I. ThP results were tfrr1mc1tic; as my lw,id came up I w,1s sun' I was lwing foru'rl into a high IJ,111ked turn. I moved c1n i nriry control har quite vio .. lently to countr!r the "turbul('IHe" and the glider 1Jc1ck to level flight. Several ollwr piloh had similar chair experiences.
Student experiem f'I simulation of spatial rlisoril'nlalion.
or 11011
Art why
Falcon f!xperiem:e. special feeling combines sensitive response with exce,ptio111al eas!l of handling. No more str·11g!1ling kite in a tum or fighting almost does it for you. Fakon is the flying milchine that hils been wherever it has debuted. If you had thci to see one of these in ilir, consider the following and us<i your imagination: mph :,111rn .... u,,,, feet per min. Nose angle .... 105 degrees Stall Speed .... 15-16 mph Max :,p,ee,a ..... '1·11 Sail 0111mw ..... , Ali this is available in with pilot w1~ight ranges from lbs. believe in m1 the
new deflexor fom major problems with all previous I) it dril!l than type; 2) comJpir:te set·up folds neatly and defle:imrs they cost less lo break they're any other on Negative defle:imrn optional.
no reason why you co1uldln't I exp,ect trying to hill. It was too disor· g,111izecl, a thankless t.isk . . peoplt· calall the time df'manding you get 14 of your friends logetht>r and fly for tlwm so tlwy could do an c1rticlt· for lr11c Magazine. In the nwantime I built scvl'rc1I other the Hutterfly ,ind other crazy stuff. By this time people learned to fly Rog,illos better and things dewloped pretty fast. Tlw rigid wings lost out because they take an experienced pilot to fly lhPrn whPreas I he ffoga llos, just a bout anybody could get in them and fly. Hang gliding Sl'enwd to ap1wal to the people who had never flown hdorc, more than lo experienced pilots at least ,it Iha! time. Also the rest of tlw gang kind of drop1wd out of ii tlH!n, too. We were more interested in the technical aspects of it. We had been amazed that even the) I Ling l.oose flew ,rnd Bruce was into designing a flying wing, whcrc>as the new group consisted of very young JlC)oplc who had nPver llown heforp and were simply interested in going out ,111d jumping off cliffs ,ind trying io survive. We were just at ,1 difforpnl levc,I, wP'd tJpc,n at it for ye',HS. Anotlwr thing was tlw growth of llw club movenwnt. Before that it w,1s kind of a club with our group of funky guys ,111d terrible Hang Looses. All of a suddc·n thcrt' arc, all these people who don'! know c1 tail from a wing. f3ut now there' some rca Ily good work being done by the Roga Ilos. But at the tirne it was ttwsc) punks who didn't know anything and we'd been working on them for years, and you go to these meeting:; and it's these same durnh people. It wJs so boring. I gave a t,ilk oncP on air currents ,ind it was such a revelation. I thought, "What a bunch of durnb guys!" It just wasn't our hag. I'd p,1id my dues with the Southern California Soaring Assn. as President, Vice-President, f3o,mJ of DirPC· !ms fm a few years, chid instructor so that was not ,1 fulfi II i ng I hi ng for me anymore to be! in ,1 club type situ,ilion.
so Wll[N DID YOU en OUT or= IIANC CU DI NC? Well, I was the meet director at tlw '7.l Lilienth.il Meet and I flew rny motor glider at the Nationals at later that year. When I saw the performances just :> yeMs after we'd had our first flights, gees, they totally astounded me what they could do ind standard Rogallo with a good sail and good flying characteristics. I got out ol it just as it w,is lieginni lo get You don't see Bruce or Richard
42
a summer."
Mi lll,r out there ,111y111orc, either. We kind of got out ol i! too soon ,111d now the ,HP so f,intastic. We· just wouldn't h,1w prPdicted it. In JCJ75 tlwy cisked me lo be the, luncheon at the first NIT Symposium on h,rng gliding. Hiey wanted rne to write an ,irticle on the 111tu rP of hang gl icli ng and make it ,is far out as I could. So I wrote this thing so ridiculously far out ,ind now it's silly. ii up in .i lot of cases ... better with higher performance· cn.1r111rn· and instruments have
Jack and K,in,n l.dmhic on tandem bicycle, in Cipe Town, South Africa on ,1 trip .irounrJ the wor/d. /hey /r'COldcc/ /Ci,()()() mi/e's on tJi,,jr /Jiq1c/e odometer. l'hoto r uurtesy /)ai/y Nr,w1, n11rhin. rhere'snowayyoucan leapalwad. You try to leap aht>ad IO years ,rnd people SilY that's too far out, that's 10 years ahead. It wasn't. It was about 7.or 3 years. That's the way it started. You sr,e cvPrybody's ber'n flying hang since 1B<)6. (I just don't believe Montgomery's claim of 11Hl2; it seems pretty phoney to nw. Ile may have flown but he didn't fly wry far.) [very airli1w president hack in tlw llJ20's was fly. ing some kind of c1 box-type h,1ng glider. Everybody was flying thc)m. I built one back in '5:>. Thal was tlw one we towed heh ind the CiH at 32 mph. So, hang gliding has been going on for years and years. But you know, l1 eter Lisarn;in's article>, "Le Minim11m" . . I hec1rd him giw it in a tdlk back in I 9.ri:> .it the SCSA and I read it the
other night and they're doing now is in it ... and that was ,ihout IS ye.irs ago. I le said he gave that talk and they ,ill said, "That was nice." (clap, cl,1p, clap) Nobody asked him ;1 question; nobody built anything like it; it was just ignored. You read it now ,rnd it's like' it was writtPn Now why/ "C1use everything h,is to haw its time." "LE MINIMUM" TAll<S Al30lJT A CUY WJJ() COMES HOM[ !ROM WORK, CITS IN TIIIS LllTI.E SAIU'L.ANJ AND SOARS AROUND FOR llAJ r AN IJOUR. 11LJT THAT ISN' l WIIAT MOST JIANC CLIIJER l'IIOTS ARE DOJNC. lllf:Y'IU TRYINC TO CAIN 6,000 rrn. THEY'IU TRYINC TO TURN DOWNWIND AND SEE I !OW FAR IHFY CAN CO. I le rc,alizes that. He says the only thing he could not envision in those days w.is self-launching. You get in ii and fly ii like ;1 ter•ny sailpl,11w. II just never occurred to him to run with it and jump i11\o tlw air. I think the problem now is going to be an ,ilinosl insoluble one: tlw fdct is everybody wants lo do sailplane lypt' of flying, tlwrmal soaring, ,rnd going down wind. You've flown s,1ilplanes and you know that's the rPal challl'nge. As I s,iid in my article a kw yl',HS ago, you get pretty tired of just f1 1,ing dovvn ,1 hill c111d flo;iti11g around. You wc1nt lo do something. Tlw ch;illenges and range of decision-making and the prospect of soaring it'~, so expanded and exciting, it's encllc,ss. It's such ;m advenlure. Yo11 go into a new canyon, .i new ;irea. So that's going lo he the r<',11 ch.i I lenge, cross-country soaring but that means high penetration, high speed, low drag. BUT DOWN WIND YOU DON'T NEED f>ENF:TRATJON, DO YOU? Well, it depends what you're talking ;1bout. I flew ;1 I I 9 glider which ,iboul like a hang glider over a hundred rnilPs in .i storm front.
OH, TllAT STORY IN SOM<INC, "OVFR UllC:AC;()/" Yeah. Ii' theoretically possible to do the whole thing in a h,rng glid('r. I think once) I had it at BO mph hut most of thP tirnP I had it as slow as I could gel it lwcause I was to de,ith; I had no shirt on. You cPrtai11ly could fly a hang glider on a squall line and keep it s;ife. There's no re;ison why you couldn't do a couple hundred milPs in a hang glidPr in a squall linP. I expPct you'll probably do it this !continu,•d on p<1ge 44) SUmJTIC'r. APf<IL 1977
hil
r n
r
kernrnantlc const 111 tu lar nylon are available in
low Througt1
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AIRSl:::,E:EDOME:TER Dual Range (0·25 mph) (0·60 mph) Functions AT and AFTEFl launch $2750 Complolo
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MOFffON ENTEFWRISES 99 904 Lalawai Drive Aioa, Hawaii 96701
HANG GLIDING
AIRSPEEDOME:TER
1883
43
was
playing a l::lerm1an hill until I ran out (conlin11ec/
page 42)
A SIIEER IINE MAYRL? A squall line is a lot <'asier than ,1 shPer line. A squall line is incredible ... smooth. WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SA!LPLANFS? All the new people who love soaring Jnd want to experience pur<' flying used to go into gliding; now they go into hang gliding. I got into gliding because I loved birds. WJ~AT AflOUT HANC CLIDINC PULLINC THE CRASS ROOTS OUT Of SOARINC! Tlwrl' really ,ire no grass roots in soaring anymore. 111 hang gliding you still haw lhal comraclcric. You gel togc)lhl)r in a gang and drive up a rnountain and all jump off. It's all fun. YEAH, 12 l'FOPLE IN A TRUCI<. Yeah, il's got that cornraderie and sim· plicity. l'copll' don't know ,rny better. clon't know how l'xciting soaring cu1 be. So,iri11g takes, for tlw average non·pilot, years to gel good enough to take off and go noss·counlry, to be ;ible to handle, th.it ship in c1 cross·counlry landing where you're landing at 50·60 rnph dow11hill in some field with rocks and trPes. It takl!S a lot of experience to get out of glid what's in it to get out. I tr,Hled gliding lessons for trumpet lessons wi1 h my friend, Warren Rocher. He taught me how to play all the scales ;111d wrile music and this was just scratchi11g the smfac:e in music. But, by that time, he was a pretty good glider pilot. I didn't follow along in music ,rnd you could say, "Jack, you never really did appreciate it, all thal there is in music." Well, sure, I couldn't ,ifford to put the lirnE> into it and become appreciative of what's there. Same thing with so;:iring. I think it's the greatest ultimate activity of mankind corn petition high perforrnam e soaring. But to get tot he point wherP you ct1n com· pele and enjoy it with ;rny kind of sPcurity takes years of flying and a lot of money. So you know in hang gliding they don't even know whal it's like to fly a ]5: I s.iilplane miles across the desert for 7 or hours all the trPrnendous adventures you have on the way, all the little things th.ii happen, the range of maneuvering. You crn go rn miles on either side of your ,;ource and explort'. You st.ir1 flying ;1 hang glider ,incl you wouldn't know th,1t. llut it' fine. ll's friends. It's cheap. You launch yourself, no licensing. So what do you care, 44
mo
a
if it comes down likt' a parc1chu1e. Maybe !hat spoiled rm! with hang gliding because I macle 200 flights in hang gliders and no higl1-perform,rnce flights. But I had the foC'ling; it reminded me of my first flights in a glidPr wlH•n I w;is 14. Wt' lowed this single seater; WP lc,1 mPd hy ou rselvt>s, and it was the sarne kind of thrill. That's kind of whal hang gliding felt like· "CPe, I'm flying!" l3UT YOU MADf A DIFFERENTIATION: YOU CALLED l!ANC CLIDINC IIANC CI.IDINC, AND SAIIYLANINC SOAF~INC. Yeah, well, they're corning togellwr now. Like I said, I should probably get back i11to ii again IJecause il's gone so far ahead: it's probably a whole new expcri· ence. YOU Sl10ULD CIT INTO A COOD Wf/GHT-SHIFT ROG/\1.1.0, CIT INTO SOM[ COOf) /l00· 1000 1PM Tl lr:RMAIS. IT'S JUST A rcnAIIY DIFFERFNl LXl'LRl[NU THAN SAILl'lANIN(,. Till WING Cl:TS l<NOCl<f:D Uf' ANI) YOU TAKE TII[ CLIIJFR AND TOR()UI. IT Al~OUND Ai'JIJ IORCF II WITH YOUR f30DY. YOUR MUSCLES AIU STRAINING /\N [) YOU Bi\N I< Ir OVER AN I) Cl. r INTO THAT THFRMAL. YOlJ CAN CO TO llOOO ITFT ABOVE SADDI EBACI< AND SIT THERE CIRCLINC FOR llOURS ON A COO[) DAY. Yeah, but I've spl!nt m;my hours doing !hat kind of soaring and .iftpr a whil<i it gets old. IT DID? IT'S EXTREME/ Y HORINC TO JUST CIRCLE At\lD CO NOWI ffR[? 13ut seeing th(• hang gliders in Hawaii was astounding. 13oy, if I livl'd in Hawaii, I'd l1;ive to fw a h,11111, glider pi lot. It's j us! so perfect there. Tlw isl,rnds are small; the>re's no sense going cross··country. 13ul a~, you say, sorne of the shortest flights I've made in ,1 glider, JO miles, ar<' full of more adventure than the big ones. I think l went :n miles from lnyokern to the middle of China Lake ground, landed 011 a bomb 1argL!t, and had all kinds of adven· lures. And then then· was th,) time I flew an open cockpit f\aby 13owlus down the ridges of Elsinore. I was playing the part of a Cerrnan pilol, vintage 1922. Herc he is, h·rdinand Schlllzie, and I glided and glicli·d, wPnt about rnil('s clown !he hill till I ran out of the lifl, glided out and lancll'd in a field. I had a whole f,mtasy
about ii. It was all green and the wind was blowing. It was a litlle opl'n cockpit wooden ship. WIIERE IS SAILPLANINC TODAY? You S<'<' now<.1days the gliding record is .i 1000 miles ovPr a IOOO rnill)S. By 10:00 in thP rnorni 11g he'd flown as for as l'V() ever flown in a glidl'r. (I think 3'i'5 rniles i rny longl'st flight in a glider.) He'd done that by 10:30 in the morning ... you see . .. in ;1 $ l0,000 ASW· 17. But who GIii afford that? Uiding h,is changed. It's not like' when everybody /Juill their wood('n BC. ,rncl got togct her and had con· tests. Now you go out in dn ain onclilirnwd cimpPr and you gel a day off frorn your busi rwss or ai rl i m'.· piloting job and with your plastic ship with a $1000 worth of inslrunwnls in it. computers ... so .. What do you h;ive left to he on the frontiers of flying/ You've got rnanpowerecl flight which I'm involved in now. I think that is really tlw l,1st frontier ... ;md what you'r<' doing, improving W()II, l>ccausc ,1 IOO·rnile flight in a glider is going to be an ;1stonishi11g thing. 1 ;
J
I [T'S TALI< ABOUT Tl IE MANl'OWLREI) FLYINC. Yc!ah, that's tlw new frontier. Hang ing is C'.St,ihlislwd. We old guys look <1round and er1n't lwlic•ve it that !her<' were just d fow of us 5 yu;iri; ago. We figurccltlwre'd he 6 of us ,it that first rnePt because we knew(> who would come. So when there were 14, W<' were aslounded. l 4! Oh, now you pick up a rnagazi1w at ;i newsstand ;111d there's /lang Cliding. llc111g gliding cartoons, hang gliding shirts. You wouldn't have believed it! And none of it really in the direction we had though! hang gliding was to go. ABOUT THE MAN POWERE'D AIRCl<AIT, ARf YOU COINC TO DO IT? If it crn lie done, wc;'re going to do ii. WP're c1II oliscsscd with it now. Wl!AT MAD[ HANC CLIDINC ALL or A SUDDEN SURC[ INTO A MAJOR Sl)ORT? I think it was the facl that 14 of us got togPtlwr on ;1 hillside in 1971 and a couple thous;rnd J)l!ople drove off the road and "Wh,1t are the,,c c r,lZy guys doing?" Of course it got into National C:eographic wh ic:h l' d say h,1s .i cirud;it ion of 4 rn i II ion. Ii got in all the 1wws and of course, it wenl from there . ...,. APRIL 1977
Five-color designs, as well as the famous Kitty Hawk Kites two-color design on high quality ·100% cotton hi crew T-shirts. T-Shirl Color and Visor Color
Size (circle one) Small, Medium, l.arge, X-Large First choice: light blue, yellow, beigo (circle one) T-shirts or visors Second choice: red, white, orange, tan, green, (circle one) I enclose$ ........... for ·I $1.00 postage and handling for each shirt and Design (circle one) 50¢ for each visor. NC residents add 4% tax. Total enclosed$ .. ......... $4.25 (5 color design) Fly A Kite .... $4.25 (5 color design) Surf the Sky ORDERS PROCESSED DAY OF RECEIPT Get High Fly A Kite . ..... $4.25 (5 color design) Kitty Hawk Kites .................... $3.75 (2 color design) Name Address City
Zip
Send to: Kitty Hawk Kites P. 0. Box 386, Head, NC 27959 $1 for poster/catalog
Hang gliding and tow kiting are brought together by the innovative Kite Enterprises tow system. This is the tow system engineered for your glider. No special cable set or expensive modifications required. Although on the market for only a short time, a Kite Enterprises tow system was used by Greg Mitchell 011 Seagull Ill to win the 197S Cypress Garden World Tow Kite Championship. The Kite Enterprises tow bar is made in many different sizes, each a direct substitute for the model of hang bar it replaces. Non-standard bars may be srecially ordered at no extra The tow system is of 6061 T6 aluminum, with a FAA approved 1200 lb. rated tow release. The whole system is exception.illy strong. The Kite Enterprises System is suitahle for all towing, hut as we do not encourage land towing for any but experts, we will normally supply all systems with flotation. Kite Enterprises Tow System Complete . . . . .............. $22S If than ft 5 ft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $250 . . . . . . . . . . . ............. $ 7S Top release system Boat release. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... $ 30 dd<l 5% stale sales tax
Kite Enlter1ori!'leS
1403 Austin St. TX 75061
Telephone inquiries Dave Broyles (214) 438-1623
Nights and weekends.
Standard flotation system not depicted. Standnrd flotation mounts on control bar.
46
APRIL 1977
0
z0
. i
SAFE AND
0
SINK RATE
CAPABILITY FOR COMPETITIOiN $
CAR Tfl,Pl-'Al:U WITH2SURF
INNOVATION MUST FULFILL A NEED
WINDLORD IB 6• I beginner • • advanced MIRAGE
9: I+ intermediate· - advanced
FLEDGLING 10:1+ beginner· -advanced WINJAMMER somph
Contact Manta for free brochures
"'
''
'------·---- .... _... __ _
--~
lhelmeto THE VERY BEST AVAILABLE FAMOUS SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT HELMETS WITH EAR OPENINGS IN ALL SIZES & COLORS ...... .$28.00 DEALERS-25 to a carton Ask about our Special Price PHONE (213) 787-6600 (213) 785-2474 P.O. BOX 483, VAN NUVS, CA 91408 TELEX 65-1425
Get Higher With The New
THEO-TEK Variometer
(available through over 115 Electra-Flyer dealers beginning Feb. 1) • lightest on market (1.5 lbs.) • smallest on market (completely self-contained; 4" square and 51/i' deep) • audio sounds in lift...silent in sink • sensitivity adjustment - extremely short lag time • ready-to-mount (bracket included) • low power usage (4 AA batteries) • rechargable Ni-cad batteries • day-glo orange needle w/blackface and white numerals (large & easy to read) • gold anodized case
The best audio/visual variometer available! suggested retail: $160.00
This unit was recen!ly used in the new altitude balloon drop of 31,600' in California
• If your dealer doesn't have them, contact us & we'll ship yours immediately
ELECTRA-FL YER • 3701 Princeton, NE • Albuquerque, N.M. 87107
50
APRIL 1977
resistant Vario x Developed, tested, mtinfld and Porier and Stove Patmon!. $22.50 made not
i n:u I at ion
sys terns
,l i
fronts
TlJirnULl .NCI:
Wll\~J CONDITIONS
analiati altitude HIGH1
1NSTP.UtTlON
SO/\n!NC thonnal
I HICK BRITTON invited
(11ll 943 1014 Building E
FITS ALL Co1mpllete with ..,,.,,,..,,,..._,_ knee n~nr1i:>r·.:::: 1OO<>fo made from SPACE AGE MATERIALS Send with address 4320 cu1mrr1in(1s
can <II
(refunded with plans purchase)
$55.00.
HANG C;!JDINC
51
CUMUI_US Vl3 1 Willi stroamlining, elc $COO
f'HOLNIX 6. Lxcc)llont c:cmciilion. Bennett $600. Tom, 3)
lj
FLIGHT 1fl' Red and black. Hame;,s, lmlrnuts, extras Also, Gxtr,1 frarne, control ancl J1ardwam $?Cl0. (213) 944 5888
CONSl JMEJ1 ADVISORY Usocl l1ang shoulcJ bo disassornhlocJ beforo the time and for ber1t or donlcrl ruir1cd holts the heml boll), nuts, or rusted with 11or1 circular and on FlorJallos, hadly torn or tom loo;m from tl1tw anchor points front ai1rl l)ack or1 lho keel and leading edQHS. II Ill douht, ma11y \Jlidil1\J hiJSlll()S ses will Im to op1n1on on th8 condition you Lmno thorn to
ALl:lATHOSS, 16' x I 2' 10;)" noso, E'iO lruncation. RoachccJ, battH1ecl intrn mediate. l,xcollunt condition. With haq. Must ;;acrifico, $600. Will shippinu. Santa llmCA OVOr111l(JS
months old. E-.xc0:llo11t condi. nu,:plrvo wiros Co'.,t $990. Will sell for trnnmed. Call Windllavcm (213) 9il9181'1 Van Nuys,
20' X 10' 135 IO 1f35 lbs, portorrnar1co yet very forpilot who can't fly too condition. $1\Sh Worll1i11gton, (714) 4t;2 t 7fif\ days or 4!i3 ovcm13£i 1W> lbs. Airbrusl1ud cloud/star or1 wliite Never [xcel condition, lrng incl11cloci (31 :l) 7793b9tl
nuss and riarJ 813A, l'Jriarcliff fld, 11s 1 !JOi33, ?!J l1011rs SLAGLJI.L V. E\lurl and white. Scallopod and fully battor1ed sari Fxcollunt condition Covm 1ncludoc1. $500. (21:l) !63M03 SIF:RFlA I, 17
M[J1LINS Two allwhit,) custom Morlins will, ne:Dative dellexors ar1cl oxtra clean snils. Hown $975. Kestrel 220, witt1 rainbow colored sail Excellent $650. Michael Good follow or Hob J<olls, 637 9426 or !J46 2:l/7
SST 10013. New. 197b durno 185A. $600 /\lso. Standards lrorn $300 11p l'lilh 50'.11
or
1il' With rnci, oran\)o, and hluo Prono hamess, case, ,mcl 1-111·,,,11111r1n well carocJ for 600 f'.M
PACIFIC GULi AIPINI~. Flown liy Mike Mitchell a1 tl,o Nalionals. $7ti0 with baq. ,Jim Odoka 4) 7836751
BHOCK 18 S Hot standmct includes harnosci. Sail and hardwaro in fJxcollont ccndition $350/offor ) 894-h366,
WIU.S SW/\11.0WTAIL, 20'. Now sail and rrq for bo~1im1or to intmrnudiate. Steve, (71'1) 222-1563. San
CHANDLLLE 113' Star1dard. Lxcollunt co11d1t1on $250 281 or il39 398h
[ASY HISrnS, Fledqlin(.Js, Ouicksilvms usod and kits Moody motor uack,Jac0r ble Wi11q lloadc·1u,1rte1rs r'OR MAN, f3ox 2'19, L
Cl!MUUJS V. Fxr;ollont conciition Musi soil, oran\jo, rnd nnd l1lue $600. While conler Call Paul 3) 66:l-8562, or write IJrn1I Darn. IB75 Ave,., Los CA 90026 CUMLJI.J.JS V[l 17' l.iko new. ffainbow sari rifice $700 Sumnor, '192 Hille, f)aradse, C/\ 9:S969 il 77 -64 79.
New,
NY
[5[l1 :39!/3 , L.L,.,~,. .,, ,,~
PHCJLN IX VI 13mncl rmw I Sun seated and harness $800 Dorm,
"A" Only used onco Twist and all covor tJnqs. Bost olfm. !/47-6152
FI_LDGL ING Fl. Used limos Fl est olfer ovor $1000. (213 \ 13?,J 6::WJ e11er1inc1s
1+2 Clouds fHFlight
(Urie c!ra1win,gs J)rin,ted Die Brown on Beige Navy on Lt. Blue.) H-6 Sunset (Highly detailed full color) l+B Fiocket Man (Highly detailed full color)
Men's sizes: S M L XL Women's slz1111: S M L Shirt Colors: Lt. Blue, YHllow, and Boige To Order: Please send check or money order. Specify shirt type, size, design name and number, two shirt color choic(,s and your return address to: Go Graphics P.O. flox 3003 ..__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.,::,::::::::::------Clemente, C:a:·;,:9:26:7:.:2;,..
Dealer Inquiries Invited Custom Screening Availal~e
-==:::::;;~':".:;::___,_______________... APf~IL 1977
1:1
11\IG
New, orrniqn mid CJOld, llown
I times $DtiO Mmk (213)'.J!l!JO/!ll, mn !b!J9
IC/\llLJ~; II. Molmi/uci, le,;\ flown onlv fl11:,; qrnat Cui top liox ir1cl11cfon, Wli1tc, winer; wlrncl on lip 111clclors Nuw McC11lloci1 (JO wiprup Mu,;t ,;ell, nuecJ room 111 /\ stnul for $1()()[) lfoll I clwmds (!JOfl) 259blJ:YI IC/\RUS V, Mint c:011r11t1rni, must s,1c11fice, need cxcnllnnl cond1t1011, Will deliver w1vwl1me, 13esl offe1 lc1kc,s enc) or l)(J\li (flD1) tiCl-'.3:lhb 01 (?1'.l) 9:J3-9B97
VOI.MFJl V,J full co11lro cliic:rclll covmm1 11/\NCl C3LIDINC3 VOi_ Ml R V,J 23 EllJIL.DUlS. !J" x .ll3:i alurrnr1um ilorn II tulle? 1m1tminl <.111cJ I V/' 0:35 lm1cu for Vol rnrn V,J ?'.l. l311ilcJer,; $1 Co11tacl Cliarlc,; Macfarla1ie, I l1Dl1 Scl1ool, 2,100 !Jth St, ,Ji1cksrn1, Ml ,1!);>03 ,
/\f1I/ON/\ HANG GI IDET1S. I eat111in\J Sc),I\Jll'I I 18prm;c11talives 1n I' lii~Jslaff micJ lossoris, salm;, service, its up to !J'.lOCJ' vrntlcal /\ri1011a f35()?'.l (b02) 19 o;,3c iii
IC/\11U~; V. Ell11n ,md wl1iln w1tl1 car top llox l,xcullm't conc11t1011, Will ,;m1ci pl1olos, Ncmd $'s, mu"t sell for CD:;11 Call Stuve (flOh) 6ll/ I/Ci
riv
IC/\Fll IS V. [luiJI I rnr, I flowr1 only, W1casn arid lca111sV for parts, $91i0, (21'.l)2ill ?:i'.l!lor
C/\l ll:OF1NI/\ /\I. WADDII_ l_e,;;;u1is 011 weckc11ds ill G11acJalupc D11rms, Calif (f305) DJ7.!J5CJO
[31f1D 13UII rn~ns 11/\N(; CLIDINC SHOI' l1a,; n ul c,xcollc,111 11s0,cl (1101 at low cm;t Below price: on bramb of qlicJc•,;. Call 11s llcfcmJ you 1Juy1 1 7 rac. Coast Hwy, Mal1b11, CA (21'.l) 45fH>94h. I lo.11s 1O 3D (1 Closr,ci Sum1:.w mic1
ud1, W1ll1 llox, I 11:DCL ING I\ 111odr)I
B3!l-39il5
/\F1KANS/\S
OlJICKSII VLR IJ, I lown five lirnc,s Ncvrn drnn New tr iler incl11dc,ci $/5() (!JD:,) ()(321 or 9!1 (3 lt3h I
W[:Sl/\f11<1 Call
••
E'dw:.ircis, :JIODGr,mrJ, 1) !82 3!15b.
1
•• •
H/\NC GI IDl::16 W[ST-DIIION 13[/\CII flY INU SCHOOL .. I or 11,u inm;t complete l1nu of I lar1(J Ul1clms, parls a11cl accm:sorim; 11-1 tl1u llay /\rn,1, comr, sec u:; USHGI\ crn lif1ed 1nstructcm; ,111CJ otismvcr:; I lc:c;som; wit11 p1ircl1asn ol ,1 w111q. V1:;1t our 11ew :;l1op, oprn, IDOO to EiOU I rec Urm111d Scliool lridays Vvclcorrn, 10 come a1ici try Ille latest pmformai1cc ql1c1ms. Aftm ll1u salr;, it tlm service lliilt crn111ts H:mq Cilicfors West, I 011 L il1colr1 /\vc ,
• ••••• •
• • • • • • •
• • 19 ft, Keel (sa i I) Area
from fully aerobatic kites. which far exceeds that of many kites is achioved efficient sail and in Australia by RN IV is and building high
• • •• • • •
9'4" 170 sq. ft. 32 ft. 6.0 110
1 Min. Sink
220 fpm, 180 lb. pilot weight Other features include, Cambered Keel blown leading edge Full length, curvn battens
PRICE $930 f.o.b. San Francisco . California residents add 6V:e% sales tax . SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER $110 OFF for orders received by May 1, 1977 .
dealer inquiries invited
•
HANG GLIDING
•
••
•
••
••
Sa11 Hofael, CA 94901
5) 1153-7664.
fH[ IIANG GLIDEJl SI 10P 1:t,1 [ l:3eacl1 l:31vd, I.a Habra, CA 90631, (::013) C043-1U74.
parts. Fnsl '.;mvico mail order. l'leo11advancod, and lessons Mountain fliglits to vertical. Ratir 1gs available. Locnted west ol Uenvcr at Ille foot ot Green Mountain. or writu for frc)e price list or further informalion (:303) 2789566. 57? Or· chard St, Gold on, Colo i3040 I
KANSAS
CON NEC I ICUT CONNf:CTICLJT HANG GI ID[R C[Nffll soloction of 11(,w and usuc1 gliders, acce,; renlals, i11slr11ctio11 1/o rniln 1<l695.
number ol the U.SA F'IEJase Arre rail, Inc , 30:' 1 CA 90405 Sll:RF1A SOAR Access to lwmcl1 siles, local wi11d dummies l".0. Box LlOtJ, Clisl1op, CA 93511] (71tJ) f3/3-7:JL19 (hehrmJ tile liikEJ
MONAllCI I !TYING MAC!IIN[S cornplole smvice. Training with new nenern Instructors and Otiscrvcrs. , lW, l:3ormott, Wills Win[], and lJf'M parts, rnountai11 Cull Jirn Wilson, (91 26f3-6254, or ill h It 109, Shawnee
MASSA CH LJSl:TTS (advanced two's up) try out AbalH's Glider Glic1
IOWA
structors, Observer. 1383 Aldercroll 950'.lO. (40f3) 35~l
MICHIGAN MICHIGAN AND MIDWEST [Nfl-llJSIASTS Dislribulor
CANADA ThEJ AUROflA COMfJANY. Har1q CJliders arid ac cessori()S. All services, 1nforrnat1011. Associnlu dealers r;ervino all ol Canada. Elox 91 I /6, West ) 92? /:) Vm1couver, Canada V7V-3No COI.OF1ADO GOl DcN SKY SAILS, L[AF, Manta, Soauull, Sun ducts Our woi' oquippucJ port repair and custom parts and accoscmries, including
II you arc localed i11 or near Iowa, chHck wit11 IOWA GLIDER CO. In addition to t110 Dliders oi several rnanuiacturers, rnany oi we stock, we nlso oftm trai11i110, and cessoriEJS. Give 11s call; 1s our only business. IOWA m.lUEJ1 Des
MIUWEST SCIIOOL. OF IIANG GLIDING. All levels of instruction, located% mile from Warrer1 Dunes, one oi ll1e best training siohts in thu lJ.S. I Dealers include Wills Wing Altialross, Moyes, and E.lectra-Flyer
ynu'd 0xpoc1
(25 miles, ou1 and return .. ,TANDEM!)
cJovolops n 9l1dor that 1s others, you'd uxpoct
("It's ready now . . we've got it")
Whnn d world record 1s CRYSTAL to ho mvolvod,
{We practically pioneered tandem training)
" To order your harness or for rnore information write or
SUMBIIU> GLIDERS 214!!0 CHASE ST" 1J CANOGA PARK, CA 91304 ('lU) IH-3171 " Please specify pilot height and weight when ordering by " A minimum $20.00 all mail
54
W!lon 11ew mformat1on broaks ou\ to \ 110 nows med1,i, you'd expect CHYSTAL to lrnow c1lmut ii
(Matier of fact, we probably wrote the news
Wl1nnnll 1n tho east, CRYSTAL,
(Why do you think Wi} call 1\a Hang Glider Pro Shop)
mlicle)
, distribution, retail sales, slope trnining, tandem instruction, repairs, parts, accesssories, instruments, ratings, c/oarancos, and professional, friendly
Wt: ACCEPT MASTFl1CI 1Af1Gr: anri BANKAMEF\ICAHD
APRIL 1977
Don't miss another copy, Subscribe Mail Check or
I I
in
News
GLIDER RIDER
l I
I
1st Class
YRS, $18 34
1st Class
40
1 YA,
I Domestic -
other current news items
I
I
0
I
I I I Name I Address
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 HANG GLIDING
I
St &
49
lioforo your buy. Cc1II orders for tho n1)w , Phoenix Cumulus 10, alllJ Moyns
f'fox G9il, Norll1
rrnw and usmi stnncJarcJ, i11terrr1odiate and hi[Jl1·perforrrnmco [Jlidors LJSHGA In ,;tn1ctors ancJ OLiservms lor ho,"11nn,nn vrn1cr,c1 ler;r,ons lancJ. Okla City,
NFW ,J[RSf.:Y Come try a l1a11dl0,s Save $?50 on ''N""'·"nn ANY OLD l<ITF.. Also tow coh,nn,nn anci cover WrilD Kitm;. N ,J 079??. Call (?01)
m1·\\A111·rn 11 We can now oftnr weal cfoals or, Hyer and flhoenix. Wn offer instructior,, ratin(Js, suppl1e:; anci repairs. Spi,eiul aclvanewJ lesso11s lroewith n11rn,~"0 of rmw or USl;(J H,11h .. lJr.1rlnrm,m,~1,
OF1E(30N SUf)ERFLY 11/\NG m.1Drns
NEW YOflK
pmlormance
Grants Pass) ask tor ,Jeff
Salos; new ;:incJ used Bennett, F.ipper, Manta, Moose, discounts anci club rnembur on Pi1oenix AIIDdin Tracfo·ln NY No lDxto ) 464 ·03i33 or
PENNSYLVANIA
TEX/\S
Sl<Y r~1opu· tors for C::k,,1,,r1m11,, tralight trnns Attitasl1, Mt. USI IG/\ cortilimJ lnstruct1011 ,mcJ special lemn·lo·fly packaqes Write Im frne intmmnt1on
LLf.::CTRA ELYEF1 nlSHilr-llJTORS. Soull1 M icJ·Westem ddribulors for [lm;tra f· Iyer Corp., UEM Products, Seaqull /\ircrnl1. Now Call or write "'" ),•. • ,.,,, 2;100 "C" South TX 1Ci01 J. Metro
,10 miles nort11 of NYC. Aerial TeclmiquDr, GSI Cort1fioc1 Reciinrim,; Scl1ool with adv,mce truinm kilns. Dealers fur c1II Mmrnlact11rors tor 111() l\{'1'11f,nnr Dan r ·1,,n,m,,n ciocJ1catecJ mc111. (91 7133
LONI~ STAH H/\NCJ GLIDL'HS and Ul'M. Salos, S0u1r1 Smitl1IJa ry, 0
76013 (El17) !169·91:i9 UTAH
OKI./\HOMA THE. H/\NG GLIDf]l SHOP. Six rn11jor 111cmufar:· lurers of glidors, nccessorier; and reprtirs. Willi
You can build your own sails, bags, etc. We stock a complete line of Bainbridge fabrics and hardware. If you are looking for a wide selection of fabric and assistance in sewing techniques, we have what you need. Sail rite Kits has just published The Wing Book by Jim Grant a complete text on the building of hang glider fabric surfaces. It is available along with our Amateur Sailmaker's Ca>tah,gu1e for $1.50 (prepaid}. Use the coupon below to order your now.
lightweight ·* easy to handle
6 sizes to fit pilots from 90 lbs. to 225 lbs.
Sailrite Kits, 12937 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, Ca. 90066 Please send me the Book and the Amateur Sai!maker's I have enclosed $1.50 for each set ordered and understand that they wil I be sent postpaid.
* combines a
LID with a high sink rate excellent accuracy characteristics ,;,, breakdown to less than 12'
Name
mc,Lu,ct1f1q cover
Address City
Zip
For more information & a free brochure, contact your local Albatross dealer or write the factory direct: ALBATROSS SAILS P.O. Box 192 Solana Beach, CA (714) 755·7000
56
APf;>IL. 1977
WindlorcJs, Cirru:; 111\; aml \110 I sitilo f1xmi lhc l<itc io ea;;ily 9111 So. & U\11 aoci qmat rrntur,11 loorb slorn ;mcl S,111 I ,1kc;':; I lCJ:;I 1;;111ciwicl1c1; Wu mm So. 900 Snit
) '.359 /91 :1 VV/\S/\TCI I WINGS INC , Scliool of I leat1He:; •F'e11,u1·1al1/CJcl ir1:;t111ct1rn 1 Ce1tificci ln:;t111ctor:; 111Trirn, c;tc1t1lc, ,mc1 well 111ai11tai1mr1 trrn111110 111F1ei1t:1I to rntncJ pilots. stock of 1""',.i""'"" Inc denims 101
Ilic, lil;rnd llan(J Glidin(J A1;"ocialion, USHG/\':; $5. per Write H !\ , c,rrilCCl, In, CJlc,wooc1. C/\ Deno I
'.Jf)ICI/\L 111 lli\CI\ ISSUES 01" GROlJI\ID SKIM Mll1 MN,/\/INI IS) :l~, !10¢ oach, c11ncmt 1ss1ms at II 1e rcqjnr pricc ol $1.00 oncl1 USHC/\, Box 66:l0f3, los /\11qc,lc11;, C/\ 800Gb
16'.lO WYOMING Denier lor I lym, & nccc,ssor1c,; llut1nqs c1vailaillc lcsl fly i11cmd1l1lc C1m1s 1111ss r(1cJclrn, /,1:l Si. ,Jolin SI, C;i:;pcr, Wyo (307) 26:i /292
/\IJJMINUM TLH31NG, scarnloss drawn qunntitius lasl. 11!? x O~~l x I:)', 1 l,O It. '.30 ~t, I:. U/\1,
wl11ICl
St..
('.30:3)
CO flO'.JO~
S/\ITTY .f'flO 1·,11T1cJ'.;:; for pm:1llol lJm srnlplane'.3 /\dva11ccJC rnlu,1Sl, for cornfo1t, safely. CIKJICO ol illl\l !WO Smid war,;I illld ll11ql1 [1l()il:illlCI rlC11I. $(311 HJ $~.00 clia1qu. /\mo I loat Fl1ql1t,;, Box I Cmck, Ml 119() 16
TYi'[: N< W Ciriw, Ill. SAIi. PATTERN: 1<1 1·1 out; 1
/\IIH:l11USI IIJ) T Sl11rt11. "Clt'T Of f'IICiHT" de ,;iq11 13row11 ,mrJ white cmqln acp1nst blue or Mrni's ,111011 small, rncd11J1T1, larcJc, lro11t or IJack. l'lna:;c I IUC,ldlJU PICliJS() llliikO lo Colrnrnm, City, C/\ 90?30
1
dk. hluP, It. red, yellow, with It. hl11r' lc,Hling Si•.1gull 111. SAil PATTERN: l<Pt'I 1H1I; rPd, m,rng1·, ypJ low, WHERE Nev. in J,11111,iry, 1')77. CONTACT: llr,1d )l'nkin,, 11 S . W . 1 11 h S \. , () 11 LH i o, () rt' go I\ ( ', () l) Bil')- l41H.
TYi'[: ssr I OOB /Ill I'). SAil PATTERN: R<'d yellow, whit!', WHEl~E & WHEN; lrL1ho, 011 J,11111<1ry I il or I'). ]l rry ll11·<k % Will·, Im., I )OB-I I Ldst W,1lnut St., S,111td 1\11d, I (714) 1 l44. 1
l'J. SAIL
Yi·llow
,llld b[,Kk clioicc rm1, :i tm $2 CJO nil b for 900 Salt I .nkc Cily, f'ATCll[S & DfC/\IS lem,; :r dia. I 1111 colo'
I J~,1-IG/\ ,;cw-on uml1 $1 IJocal:;, '.3W' d1a
lk1 P111ii1·r, Wr·lls, Nev.1d,1. CONTACT: lrr·l'do111 Sporh, Ib Jd,iho SI., [lko, Nevddd ll'Jll01,
TYPE: Wills Wing SST #ll07, without rn11trnl b.1r, SAil PATTERN: /\II white with or,1111w ,rnd yl'llow p,11wl. WHER[ WHEN: S1 pt. nth, S,rndy, LJt,ilL W.1sdt< h Wi11g,, (llO I) )(,(,. 2'JD.. 1
SAIi. PATlE[-SHIITrS w1ti1 LJSHG/\ cmlJlem $5.50 includ 1rnJ ,md C,1lilorrmm1; aclcl b 0/c, tnx XL USHG/\, BOX Eiti:JOEi, I OS /\noolc0s, Mi:1 /\I I ICI I\JSf f'l/\ff fll/\MlS ''l'D 11/\TI ILH 11/,NC'l (3LIDINC" Wi1itc0 l()ttmi11rJ or1 $~ 00 1nclurlinq ,iclcJG% lax Cl\ 900Gb iii/Cl orde:r lorrn,
tJOOCifi
c:io I l\110x Ave
II/ING/NG IN Srn1tl1, Flicl1f1c:lci MN
/I/ING GUDrn WFD<LY
Hox
Hl60 '.', Sa11lii Monica, C/\
SOAWNC; M/\C,/\/INI
Covms w1ll1 SOIII() 11llmlitc CO'VCli1(l() wil 11 rnrnnricrsli1p (McrnLH,r /\;;soc1atu mcm1l>m, $ 1,1fo kil with smnplc copy $1 :)0 ol /\1r1er1cil, Elox 6UO / 1 8006(3 SOUTHU:lN SOAIUNC SOCIFTY tional 01\Jimi1111 rn1 lor lrm S0ut11er11cr1;
for local ,,1.,,,,,,,,,, wrte to
77UU8 SOUTIILAN\) fl Yl.11
HANG GLIDING
Monthly 11,1hlical1011 ol
WINCS 01 TIil. WINIJ" m1 award lllmm Har1u C,l1iJ1110 filrn iclt)al for 1;l1owi11CJ cl11tJ rne1:limJ,,, for prorr1oliorml us() ,111d rn1l1J1 tnimnonl He rental, inlormat io11, contact CillCo I ?fl H Collins Si, Nortli I lol C/\ 91607, 01 lnlepl1CHIC (213)
linw grl'\'n, KePI, lc 1 rllling <'dgl's, p,1in1ed school bu,, yp[[ow. July I 0, from,\ I os Angl'll', Melvin lord, 11 lf,A, I. ( .1jon, C/\ 'Wl20. (7 I 4) 444 OIL'IL
TYPE: I ippr·r SLrncLml. SAIi. PATH RN: lntric.1tr· geo111ptri1 on '.,,iii by Mlist· WHEN: Stol<'n M,1y CONTACT: John l)dvis (21 lJ (21 l) 'J7\-'i0l2.
TYPE: l'hdntom protolypl', SAIL PATTERN: l<C'C'l out; ligl11 blur>, thi11 oi hide k, whit!' p,111C'ls to thP tips, black cross 011 l'dch side. TYPE: l'h,111torn Scmpion. SAil PAfTERN: Ke>r'I out; Yr llow, gold, n·d, with white l1 c1di11g PdgC's. Cl\. Stol<•n off Cdl ir1 M,iy '7(,. Bri,111 f al Ion ,'x J,ick Jone,, (,(JC) rrnwbridgC', S<111L1 Rm,1, CA 'l'i40 I (707) .'i 2/l ll7(,0. 1
I Im
1
ILLS ING DOES ORE THAN SELL KITES ! ! ! Researched and by Colver Soaring lnstrnments in conjunction wilh Wills Wing, Inc. the Colver soar· ing variometer i.; a dual range audio and visual variometer tha1 offers all the features that the best hang r.ilider pilots require. II is a must for op1imum soaring flight. • Audio and visual for total flexibility • Dual sensiti·· vi1y for even the most marginal or extreme conditions Super sensitive audio for the quickest possible re· sponse to lift • Damped visual for easy reading and a slight averaging effect although it is still quicker that the best sailplcJne electric variome1er. • Prove circuil in production for over ?V2 • Entirely self con· tained with no exterior or flasks • Audio may be turned off for visual use only • Shock resistant • S1rearnlined for minimum drag • Extremely lightweight only weighs 33 ozs. • Built in mounts can be attached 1o any control bar • Low power usage insurns long battery life. $194.00
Audio Only
19.00
HARN
In !he four harnesses for
Chris
Price has been designing and sewing pilols, he has developed the most soi:irlng harness on 1he market. harnesses lo fit every special need.
FEATURES OF THE STANDARD SOARING HARNESS • Six sizes: small, medium, and extra aircraft type pa1:lde1d shoulder and straps. 1-oam1-t·111ee1 body support out, eliminating
allows lower
CG for easier
seated and lar1dinq posni,on makes for and hitting in contests Glider • More ruru1e•d altimeter
lighter than an aircraft
vi .. ihillitv orange
needle ,,,.,.~m~r black numerals • 19 Jewel oil-free movement • 20-foot increments to 15,000 feet
easier. om;iti,rm. allowing the • The harness locks into to maintain a oositiive with the even in turbulance. Adlim,te1rs used throu!ghcJut eli,mirrntiing the need for
face and
in 4 colors: with for control bar. Features Available: Knee
temperature co1mi:,e111sation
• Velcro wrist strap • Made in Switzerland
orange, and & hang
Visit your local dealer for a demonstration or write to:
L 1208-H East Walnut Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 (714) 547.1344 58
To order standard you APRIL 1977
$1.00 to cover postage om:! handling.
Murray, Saddlebm::k Mountain
IN Albatross Sails . . . . . . ........... . APD Flight Systems . . . . . . . . . .......... , · Bennett Delta Wing . . . . . . .IFC, 45, 50 Chuck's Glider Supplies . . . . ............... A 1 Crystal Air Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 51, 54 Duncan License Plate Frames . . . . . ......... 8 Eco-Nautics Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. A Eipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ .!BC Electra Flyer Corporation ........... 9, 16, 17, 50 Every Man's Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 2 Flight Bag Mail Order Co. . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 57 Glider Rider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... , .... 55 Go-Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 52
Hall Wind Meter " " " . ,, " ,, " ,, " ,, ,, 17 Hang Glider Shop . . . . .... 51 High Perspective . . . . . ........ 56 Iowa Glider Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 60 Kite Enterprises . . . . . . . ... .46 Kitty Hawk Kites ........... , ...... , .. , .46, 60 Leading Edge l~ir Foils . . . . . .. 7 M Company . " . " . " ,, ,, " " " " " ... 17 Manta Products , . . , . . . . ... AB, 49 Mehil Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . ........ .43 Morton Enterprises , . . . . . . . .... .43 National Hang Gliding . ... 60 Cooperative . , . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .... .59 Pacific Gull . . . . . Patmon! Variometers ..... " ... , . " ...... " .51 Poynter Books . . . . . ..... , .......... , ..... 11 Sailrite Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... ,56 Seagull Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... , . . .. 5, 29 Skybird Hang Gliders .................. .53 Sky Light Flight ... " " .. " " ... " " ........ 51 Sky Sports . . .......... 1 . ............... 21 Soarmaster Inc. . . . . . . . So. CaL School of Hang Gliding ........................... , , .... 13 Sunbird Ultralight Gliders ..................6, 54 Ultralight Flying Machines ................... 47 Ultralight Products ...... " .......... 15 Wills Wing Inc. . . , ....... 58,BC ...................51 Wings for Man
¥it
T i(
NOW Don't just wish you had that Variometer that gets your friends up to cloud base. You too can afford'iliose once out of reach items. Now,buying hang gliding accessories _Ji.,, needn't be an expensive proposition once you become a member of the National Hang ~ Glirtinp Cooperative. ,Join with the hundreds of pilots and enthusiasts who are finding _Ji.,, ~ out first hand the fantastic benefits as a Co-op member. Name brand hang gliding "J" ~ accessor,os are avaHable to members at low low prices Jo·,n YOUR Cooperative now.
"1'
Representini:i Several Major
Lessons Sales
~ MONTHLY SPECIAL~ SWEET SUPINE HARNESS BY HAWKWINGcoL,!J'r'.
Manufacturers
2564 Boyd, Des Moines, Iowa 50317
I
.Zip available to new members
Ph, (515)262-5080
***~
rs' of hang
in recent y(,'Oi'S. Kitty Howh Ki res hos set the exon,ple of
have benefited from the ,,,,·v,,~"'" of pilots who ore IS rhe This refinements and only finest now in nine different techniques ond service glioer now-rher<'' s Each location provides an 1ro1ned no need to woir our 4·6 factory ro fly or sele'ctir,g your w1n9s·-QO conduct First School or most locanom
NORTH CAROLINA Hawk l<;iteS··--Margonton
5566 Kitty Howls Kites--Charlarte Terry Harpe Dovidson, N. C (704) 892·5::l94 Kitty Howl< Kites--Grondfother Moumoin John Sears Linville, N. C (704) 7::J::J.5242
doss. Come to the ~,,·,tc,« 1-~~~ VIRGINIA Kitty Hawk Kires-.. Richmond Herb Porrs Ashland. Va (804) 798-5729 MARYLAND
004) 96::l-4969 Willard Mochine Co. l\ichord Harris Greensboro. N C: (919) 892-5::)94 SOUTH CAROLINA The Great Escope Mike McMoins
5. C 29607
Econ-0· Flight Systems. Inc llob Morrin Randollstown, Md (.'.\01) 655 681 ll PENNSYLVANIA Oil Ory Hong Gliders 13ob Young (814) 645-5104 Oil City
Po.
WASHINGTON. DC Flight King Gethesda, Md (301) 840-9284
60
P. 0. Box 386, N Phone 1.. 919-441 Send $2 for
Deoler inquiries invited
APRIL 1977
Photos by
Morton
1976. Mike Tournament.
wins
Mike Arrambide won the Masters of Hang Tournament at Grandfather Mountain, NC. in late 1976 flying Eipper Cumulus His prizes included the Mutual Broadcasting Network Trophy (shown here), a week trip for two to Acapulco, and his choh::e of any hang glider in the world. Mike chose the new Cumulus 10. an Eipper Team flyer, he was sure to get a Cumulus 10 anyways. In addition, he could have had any other for his prize. Still Mike chose the Cumulus 10. A superb pilot's choice. You also should consider the Cumulus 10. With great handling and improvement undeflatable, semi-floating wing tips; and cambered keel pocket in the tip end speed range. With features such having undeflatabli, reflex in very steep dives. With traditional Eipper attention to sail cleanliness, frame construction, and general finish. Designed by ·1975 World Champion Dave Cronk. Test flown extensively by experts like the Arrambide brothers. full line of Send today for your copy of our new spect sheet no charge, or $1.00 for information on gliders and equipment
EiPPER·FORMANCE: 1840-G Oak St Calif. 90501 (213) 328-9100/715·3087