USHGA Hang Gliding May 1977 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

13620 Saticoy P.O. Box 483 Van Nuys, California 91408 3) 787-6600 ~ (213) 785-2474 Telex 65 1425

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SEND TO: Kitty HawK Kites P.O Box 386 Nags Head.NC 27959

ISSUE NO. 52 EDITOR: Rich Grigsby CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Carol Price EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Sharon Grigsby Phil Warrender ILLUSTRATIONS & LAYOUT· Mork Allison STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS: W A. Allen. Leroy Grannis. Bettino Gray Stephen McCarroll

HANG GllDING CONTENTS

OFFICE STAFF MANAGER: Carol Velderroln Cathy Colemon. Jone! Meyer. Miriam Durkee USHGA OFFICERS PRESIDENT. Vic Powell VICE PRESIDENT: Vern Roundtree SECRETARY: Koy Broke TREASURER Lloyd Llcher USHGA REGIONAL DIRECTORS REGION 1: Vern Roundtree, Jeff Johnson. REGION 2: Wally Anderson. Jon Cose. REGION 3 Lloyd Llcher. Don Poynter. John Lake. Alex Duncan REGION 4 : Sieve Thorne. Lucky Campbell. REGION 5: Don Levalley. REGION 6: James Cruce. REGION 7: Mike Zloskas. REGION 8: Tom Peghiny REGION 9 · Vic Powell. Dennis Pogen. REGION 10. Sl<lp Smith. REGION 11: David Broy les . REGION 12 . Jim Aronson DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE : REGION 6 : Koy Broke REGION 8· BIii Allen. Don McCabe REGION 10: John Horris, Horry Robb. HONORARY DIRECTOR: Hugh Morton. EX OFFICIO DIRECTOR of USHGA OS we ore O dlVlsion of NAA: General Brooke Allen. The United Stoles Hong Gliding Association, Inc . Is o division of the Notional Aeronautic Association (NAA) which 1s the official U.S. representative of the Federation Aeronoutlque Internationale (FAI), Iha world governing body tor sport aviation. The NAA. which represents the U.S. ot FAI meetings, hos delegated to the USHGA supervision of FAl-reloted hong gliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. HANG GLIDING mo.gozlne Is published ror nang_ gliding sport enlhuslas15 lo c,eole f\Jrther Interest In the sport, by a meons. of open oommunlco1ton and to advance hang glldJr-,g methods and safety Confrlt>Ulrons ore weicome Anyone ,s an v,red to contribute artlcle1 . phot01. ond 1llustrotrons concerning hong gilding oc1lv1t1es If 1he moferlol is to be re1urned. o slomped . seJtOddressed return envelope must be enclosed HANG GLIDING magazine reserves lhe ngnt to edit confnt>ullons where necessary The Assocla· lion and publfcot1on do not os.sume responsibility ,or the moterlol or oplniO<'IS o, cor,frlbulors HANG GLIDING magazine ls published mon1n1v by lhe United Slates Hong Gliding A1sec1ohon . lric . whose malling address Is P,O . Bok 66306. L01 Angeles. Calif 90066 and whose offices 01e localed ol 113121', Venice Blvd • Los Angeles. Coll! 90066. telephone (213) 390-3065. Second-class postage Is paid o! Los Angeles Cold. HANG GLIDING mago~lne Is prfnted by Sinclair Printing & Llfho. Alhambra. Collt Subscription Is ovo1table only as por1 of membership m tne USHGA o member- controlled educational ono scientific orgon1zotaon dedicated to expf,,rnng oil foe.els ot uttrollghf fllghl, Meml:lershlp as Op9I\ to anyone interested In thlsreolmoltllgit Duasfortull membershlp ore S15 per yea: ($16 ror fOfelgn addresses). dues tor Associote membelshlp o,e SIO P9! yea. ol whieh S7 ore deslgnoled tor sl.Dsalptton lo HANG GllDtNG magazine, Changes of odaess Should be sent SO< weeks In advance. Including name. USHGA membership number. previous and new address. and o molijng tobel from a recent lsS\J8

Total paid clrculatl on for th e April Issue was 9400

MAY 1977

FEATURES

22 IN RESPONSE TO ACCIDENTS Roy Hoggard of Ultrollte Products answers questions about recent structural failures on Drogonflys

24 TROLLING FOR STANDARDS

by Jim Walker

Collectlng data tor HGMA certification

26 NEW ENGLAND FAA/USHGA MEETING ON POWERED HANG GLIDERS - PART 1 by Bill Allen Letting the FAA know what's going on

28 46 MILE SOARING SAFARI Tim James nearty breaks world record on ridge In South Africa

by Steve Baran

30 TOWING: TECHNIQUE AND SAFETY - PART 1 Taking the mystery ouf of towing

by Dave Broyles

32 LANDING ON TOP

by O,arlie Baughman

Approach with caution

33 WINDSOCK by Mork Allison 36 PAT JOHNSON, "JUST AN AIR JUNKIE" An lntEl(View with hong gllding's best female pilot

by Carol Price

40 EASTERN BREEZES - "MORE POWER TO YOU" Florida's Hutchinson & Co., Packaging power for ultralights

42 RIDGE SOARING

by Dan Johnson

by Dennis Pagan

Excerpt from Hong Gliding and Soaring Conditions

46 DECISION MAKING IN HANG GLIDING PART 1 by Don Wolter Your money or your life

DE PARTMENTS 4 ULTRAUGHT CONVERSATION 8 ULTRALIGHT NEWS 10 CONSUMER INFORMATION 11 CALENDAR 18 USHGA REPORTS 60 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 65 STOLEN WINGS COVER: The Seohowk. Seogull's new Intermediate glider is shown going through the paces for HGMA certification. Test pilot. Trip Mellinger turns away from balloon os Stephen McCarroll tokes this exciting oi r-to-olr photo. This month's cover was donated by Seagull Aircraft. CONSUMER ADVISORY: Hong Gliding Magazine and USHGA, Inc.. do not endorse or toke ony responsibility for the products advertised or menttoned editorially within these pages. Unless specifically explained. performance figures quoted in advertising ore only estimates. Per,;ons considering the purchase of o glldet ore urged to study HGMA standards. Copyright © United States Hong Gliding Association. Inc. 1977. All rights reserved to Hong Gilding Magazine ond Individual contributor,;.

In the p,ist the of hc1ng glidr;rs h,is not bet'n ,1 problem. Structural f,1ilures were fow :rncl far betwePn, and in practically all cases justifiable. 1 lorrihlc perform;rnn' was the probil'l,1 pilots w:rntPd (,rnd rweded) more per· formance. This is what they "asked" for, and this is the goal the manufacturers worked for ,ind ,1ttained. Even i11 1977, after a huge in . cre,isr· in rwrforrnance .ind stability and con .. troll,1bility in 197(,, the demand for per/or .. n1ancc continues.

Dear Editor, I am not writing this letter as a spokcsm:Hl of the 11.C.M.A., hut rather :1s dn individual con· < ernPCJ about tlw continued existence of hang gliding .is .1 sl'ff.. form of recreation with sensible, restraints. On March 1'J, I ,11 c1pproxirnatcly 2:30 in the afternoon, Scott Newnc1m took off from Cucamonga Peak in Southern Californic1. Flying a recently purchased Ultralite Products "Spyffor," he had been int he air approximately one-half rninute when according to cyewit· nc>sses during "slow, contrnllPd, level flight" he r!ntered a crisp thermal (600/prn according lo his vario) ,it which time the right crossb:ir failed, the right wing collapst>d, and tl1P glidPr "flat spun ir1lothemountain from 'iOOft." l'ilols flying al the same time desnibPd the lurlJulenn' as "moderate" and the lift "good". In view of lhPSP accoun1s ii docs not .ippear likely that poor maintenance, aerobatic attitudes, extra· ordinary turbulence, or poor pilo1 juclgerrwnt were the cause of the failure'. An t!arlier Ultralite Products dPsign, the MK II, h;is been involved in sewr;il accidents in which the crossbar failed. Because of the ldck of documented /light-load test d:1L1, whether these past failures .ire somehow related to this most recent incident or arc due to other circ:um .. stances is not cle:ir. flpc:wse· both designs use a "two .. picr:e" crosslJ,u. sorr1P have qtH'stioncd the integrity of this typP of construction. To the best of my knmylPdge no an:1lytica I information or empirical data supports this hypotlwsis-to the contrary such information suggests "one .. piece" ,rnd "two-piecP" crossbars lo be nearly identical in strength. Reviewing the information available to me, ii would appear the rnost probable cause was simply inadequate strength. A complex, "worst-case" mathemati· cal model suggests the positiw ultimate load factor of the Spyder with a IY4 O.D. X .04') 6061- T6 crossb:ir ,rnd pi lot of NPwn,1m' s weight flying it, could be as low ,is 2 Y. Before you gel upset and ask, "How can h:ippen? If indeed a glider was that 'weak' how could the manuLiclurcr not know?" Consider the following. A manuf.iclurr!r has nothing to gain ,rnd everything lo lose by producing an airtramc of inadequate strength. Besides, would a manufacturer who has close friends (and possibly himself) flying his machine, de . , sign and produce an glider that was conceivably inadequate in strength? Of course not! In my mind the problem is not a negligent rnanuf:icturer, but an antiquated (yet consumer accepted) method of testing. A "2g" load on a glider is not a frequent occurrence; flight tests with accelerometers show that surprisingly rc1dica I maneuvers and relatively strong, sharp tur .. bulence is necessary to move the needle to "+ 2g". The accepted "fly it for three months in rough conditions and do some radical wingnv . ers" will no longer ilo.

In an effort to perform:rnce,spans were increased sails were made very flat. While it is common knowledgt' among designers tl1at "thf• flatter the sail the higher the load 011 the crmstube," it is very difficult to rm,ntally estimatr> how high these loads can he and just how increase with increasing s<1il tautness. Why doesn't a m,rnufacturcr know how high? Bf'cause most marrnL1cturers h,1ve no\ und<•rlaken the difficult task of documf•nting the in-flight strength of their gliders. Why haven't takPr1 the initiative/ flec;wse you pilots not required that they do so. Of Ill ads in a recent issue of Hang C/ic/ing, 1 listed or dltl,stcd to the p<;r/ormancc of the glider being ,1dvertisecl. Only one ad listed a load factor which may or may not havP been documented. Manufacturers ,1dverlisc perfor .. rnan<:l' because this is what yo 11, the consumer, considers most important when purchasing a glider. Several taut sailed '77 designs could h<1ve ir,;1d<>quate rnargi11s of strength. It's time y o u s t a rt e d a s k i n ,1 I> o u l st r c 11 gt h documented strength. far as I know, no pro· duction glidN introduced in 1977 has yet to IJe /light lo<1d tested to determine its strength. A few marnrfaclurers ar!' in the midst of trying to figure out just how to do this, and h:1w the result,rnl rL1ta be, re,isonably accurate had pilots been the right questions in 197(,, you can bet would have hc1d this d:1ta in 1977! I understand out of concern, Ultrcilite Products has the "Spyder" and that 1lwy intend lo do whatever testing and modifi . . ec1tion is 1iecess:1ry lo ,.1ss1He tfw airworthiness of this design. Thus it would appear they haw accepted their responsibility as ,1 hang glider manufacturer. Now is the time for you hang glider pilots, lo accept the responsibility of being the consumer in a self-regulated sport and start asking questions other than "what is its L/D?" or someone else (or some agency) wi II. Sincerely, Cary Valle .i concerned flyer

Dear Editor, The d idtribe by Mi Icy Paul Hollman concerning Lee Sterios' fatal accident, printed in your Apri I issue, deserves a brief response. What follows is the portion that crn be printed .. Mr. HollrnJn seems to be complaining that no one had a right to try to determine the cause of the Sterios accident except "the two parties directly involved and the HCMA", and then only after "the testing of both my kite and the other unflown Stratus Ill which went back East". This is obviously ridiculous, since more accident reconstruction experts were not "directly involved" in the accidents they are reconstructing, and most kites (or airplanes or vehicles) which have been involved in fatal JC· cidents obviously are in no condition to be

testPd for function or operation. Post . ·accident testing may determine structural defects or fail . . ure, but it obviously cannot determine the indi . vidual flight ch,iractPristics of thP individual (wreckl'd) kite. The fact is that othPr flyers than Hollman had serious questions about the flight chc1racteris· tics of his kitP and LPe Sterios was testing the kite at the of Steve Mccorkle at the time lw was Fvc,n before Lee went into the fatal divP, he had down to those on the cliff that the kite to turn to the right". At least three of the eyewitnesses have reported in writing that Sterios was not executing a radicdl maneuver before the fatal divP. Steve Mccorkle had flown the kite only minutPs be .. fore and was suspicious of its dive recovery problems that he suggested that Lee Sterios test the kite over water .. Hollman ad mils that there has lwen a debate between the sail manufacturer and the frame fdbricator as to wh,1t the problem wc1s, but he complains bitterly th,it anyone would "speculatp" on the probable c<1usc of the crash. He attacks me personc1II y for" entering the debate" and assumes that I have t:iken sides against his good friend, Jim Lynn. He takes hitter urnbrage over rny comment that "lhe accident highlights the problems of kites made from kits and components, which often lack proper 'tuning' and

testing~'

The fact of the rnattPr is that I h;ive Pxcellent accident rnports frorn four people, three of whom were "directly involved" dS eyewitness . . cs, and letters from the sai I manufacturer and the pilot who flew the kite imml'diatcly before Lee Sterios. My rqxJrt of the accident took no sides between Jim Lynn and Albatross Sails, and I doubt that any rational person who is not as emotionally involved as Mr. Hollman obviously is would argue with my comment after reading the lengthy reports of four excellent pilots. In fc1ct, thP history of Mr. Hollrnan's AFG . / B/Stratus Ill w,1s itself the history o( a debate between a sail rn:inufaclurer and an air frame manufacturer. I take note of the fact that Mr. Hollman submitted no rPport of the accident himself, choosing instead to attack all parties not "directly involved'' who found it dcsircible to try to c·stab1 ish the cause of the accident. If everyone fol. lowed his course, only eyewitnesses could "speculate" on the cause of serious accidents and the rest of the hang gliding community would not have to bother itself with othPr people's accidents . R. V. Wills

Dear Editor, We just read Chris' article . . "You'd better shop around." In the March/77 issue of HANG CUD/NC.All was great except one part. Chris suggests the buyer should play one dealer against the other for the best pricP. Getting dealers to cut each other's throats is the lowest, shittiest, trick you can pull!!! How do you think that a "good" dealer can afford to have that glider in stock? How can he afford to show the customer 3 or 4 ships and afford to go out with the customer ;ind go "testing" with him, without making a decent buck on a glider? The good dealers are the only ones who can offer the kind of service that Chris says the customer should demand. We arc full time dealers, working every day in one way or another to tune gliders or doing regional work or just taking Joe Hang Glider Pilot out to test fly. We don't discount our customers' first glider but we do give I 0% off

MAY 1977

to all provPn custonwrs (who h.ivP glider .it list) then,aftc·r. We s<>II more tli,rn ,my de.iler in our AltPr dll our wmk last yc;ir we P,1Cl1 (last yp,ir). I, it worth it/ WP loVl' wh.i\ WP'r<' doing. But dS you c.111 SP(' PVl'l1 d "big" dP,ilr·r is b.trely hopefully will it. As th<>

ihPrt'

W(' h,1Vl' lllddl'

movcmcr1t bcltPr hPn'. WP dn· of the> loc.il club which we helped to ionn. And our good seme h,1,, bce11 instilled in .ill of our rnstomns, 111<1k1ng flying here s.iir· a•; well .is fun. If wP wr,rPn'I into it full

our cu,lornPrs that if we can'! rn,ilt h backyard dP,iler ,;hould who collH';, up with lowe'il You s11ggest th<1t fw should out of his ,ired (fr,mchise) and "shop ,HOUll(l. Do yn11 think it would be right for mP to ,ell d glidPr lo om' of our cornpc,titors' who h,ivr: spe111 d rL1y worki11g with 1;n,,·r,,,1;,,c out d I wouldn't do it. It 1'1>('v'01·1u my But sun, would b(' . Why not sell for',% ovpr cost? rnean I'm 1101 losing .i loc1I sale, ThP othe0r dealPr did <111 tlw

work. !he guy sold. So why not sell at :i'!'i, over cm! ,md put a $fi5.00 in my pocket? I know that de,iler mdtch th,it, not after investing a in thc customer, So now WP both go out of by (•ach other's thm,1ts. turn into p,irt time selling out of the of our va11s at ridiculous Is this lhe kind of d'(•alPr network you Is this what is best for us

.ill/ Chris (Tfw is right!), I beli1,ve you ow<> u•, .JII dealer•,) d relrc1ction. rl'ally hopr> Joe Hang ( ;lider l'i lot drn·sn't take your si1ggPslio11 loo OlhPrwisc, you may continup to Sl'II gliders but rt,prese11tyou will be like thP '><1ll'S11ldl1 in the CdriOOII. I know it goes ,1gai11st your ways to changP yom posilion. You art' quite outspoken. Alwc1ys with good for tlw sport iri mind. But, perhdps our lettPr will to light re,ditit·s which you haven't co11 sirforl'd. so, Wl' rc>spl'clfully requr>sl th.it .i new ,,rticle, rnorC' of the people who an' :,PIiing your be writtPn. Nc1rne wilhlwld by request

the r!'t,1il m,irk-up is a m·ce.1s,.1ry .111,r/ r,nnrl t.liiri:• The money or1c· community. dealers keef) new ones, /JecnnH· rnem' mn.,u,,, help run meets, and trdin new .students who a nrarket for uw1/ glidr'rs that otH' might want lo sell. I truly that the next step in t/1e growth of hang gliding will ht' in the est.ihlishmmt of a number of 1leal1'rs such the om• who wrote lo/lowing lcttr·r. C/iris l'ric(•

ot 1/ang Cli1/111g corHurning the "popul.11ily driw". Contimred iricrr>d'i<' I ic .iw,irenc";, 01 the 11al11rl' of h,rng l'l'(lllll'l'111i'll1'., ,llld Cdll do much good, suppOl'I dforh ,!long thPs<' linPs. 1 lowewr, solicitalion oi public inlcrt>,I is quite ,rnolhcr 111,1!\r•r. I iirmly believe' th,ll ii is nol to n•.il ddv.i11L1ge to rr,cruit other .. inrl,tlr·r,·nl or i,i·rni .. interested Pt·oplP into

tion to exist. 011<' dealer wrote tni' an exce!!r•nf fr,uer whit Ii is printed a/Jove, rlw dealer would 1101 IH me us<' hil name becduw Ire is on rhe lluard

of /)iri•ctors anc/ c/oc,rn't want to mdke an economic statement in Hang Cliding. Imm now on I will write exJct/y w/1at I helieve and let l<.ich talk mi' out of ridiculous staternent1. I truly hdieve thclt , _ _ _ _ _'""'II

II>

INC: liability insura11<:e medium for discussion via its monthly publication, HAN(, GLIDlNC magazine pilots and certifies instructors " Sanctions meets for national and international championships l<ccoqnizes with Olio Lilienthal Awards the National Aeronautic Assn. (NA/\), Aer,:ina1Jtkp.w lnternat1onale (FA!) pilot and the public represent inq hanq qlidinq al govermnenl levels.

l apply for membership in the United Sta1e!S Hanq (;lidinD Association, Inc.

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! include my check or money order for ,mriual dues

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full member you receive 12 issues of HAN(i GLIDING magazine, pilot liability insurnnce, and all

USHCA membership

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USHCA membership benefits. Subscription to HANG CLIDING maqazine, formerly (,ROUND Sl<IMMER, is availablr' ONLY as part of membership in the Association. money

USHGA, Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

tlw sport. On the• contr;1ry, we all share tl11' rPspon,ibility to i)(' Sllr(' tl1;11 ;rnyorH' who df'· sin•s to fly ,1 glidl'r should IJl' ,l'riou•, Prwugh 10 do so his or her own initi;itivl'. ( )ricl' th;it sf('ll is t.rkc•r1, lhc P11dlr•ss cooper,1lio11 of clubs, publicatioll';, rn,rnuf.rcturcrs, schools <1nd f('llow pi lots wi II cont inul' to hl; i1walu,1hll'. Of course tlH'rl' arl' m,1ny who h,1vr• sulist,111 I n1011pt ary intPr(•st in h,ing gl idi 11g ,rnd wou Id f rorn inc re,1sed vo I umr· in s,1 IPs or ,l'rflut it should hP rc,ilizPd thal hy rp,1ching tlw g<'nl'r,11 prrhlic we• rn,1y bP forci11g out of thl' lor1g-tPrm, lowc•r volunw ,111d inlo a short-term, high-volunw di·,I f'I'·, face• it, thi•; is not your ('Vf'ryd.iy sport liV('s ,rnd thl' l11turc' offlying fortiH' rl'St lh is at st.ii«'. I l't' s con I in11l' our grr•,11 d(ort to ,ind commu11ic,1tl' within ourorg,111il l't's ~JOT S<·il out hang gliding. Wf''rl' r'r10ugh to find for ,rnyorw who is sc•riou•, to look. I .. Thermallng lnstructioh pilot. • Weekly hlgh,periormance glider clinics. • Sales ond service of all major brands of new and used gliders.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING BOX 2165-GSl VANNUVS, CA 91404

n i rlC'-rni•m lJl'r d. Wi• <1pologizf' to of you who h;id whilf' visiling 11•, ,111cl welconw thosl' m,iy wi•,h lo fly OIH' oftlw grl'dl ,itt•, in thl' wlH·re it blP to so,H for many mi IPs ridge I Tltl' following is what yo11 h,w,• to cor1front in ordl'r to fly our ,ill•: l)o conw 1111 less you ,m' ,1 LISI H ;A I I.mg 4 rated ,rnd c,111 proVl' it. Rr•,1li1l' th,\t you will to wirl' launch off ,1 V('rtic;il cliff into tr.1d<'wi11Cls. It will cost up to$ 100 round lo airfrPight yow kill' to the isl.rnds frorn thl' Oncl' 011 0,1hu, you must pass a wriltc•n c•x,1111 flying thl' sill'. h,irnes, ir1covl'red by our sit<' inclwckC'cl ofith<' ridgl'. I lfr, lost ,is ,1,, $'i0. AftPr th,11, it i•, ,1 for c•,1ch d,iy th;it you fly. TIH"il' ,1r(' 1101 r.itc",, WP thc•n1 too. In add it ion, 'bl' lo hl' se11t and thl'r<' lo ,iccornplhis, .is Wl' do 1101 l'Xi,t lor our vi,itors' P, ('V('II if I hey hdV(' COlll(' l1,1lf-w,1y tf1r• world ,rnd rn1iy h.ivr• ,1 wPek to fly . c•xi•,I to pr<'servl' our flying site for us to fly, II c,111 ,iccC'pt I IH'S<' tl'rrns, we• [ook forw,Hd lo our sill' with you. II you pl,111 to comr·, 111 IA, Box I Jonol1il11, I l,1w,1ii 1 l for yow cor1t,1ct pPrsons. llrucl' Morton, lJSI ICA lx.irni1wr Co-Ch,1irn1,111 of tlw 111 IA llo,ird llonolulu, O,ihu

(213) 999,5460

[ditor, A I ittlc' news from the• darkest part of Afric,11 wc'rl' he,Hling to ,1 flying ,ill' outsidP Durwhich has ,lrl Alric an villagP ,it the base• ,lope. Wlwn we ;irrived, we• found ,1 new 011 tlw hill. The loc.11 Afric,rns had built ,1 bomber out of watlle poles and fr•rtilin.•r I'm sPnding a photo, as you have to sc•i: it it. Norman Cif'gg South Airic,1

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 launched ultralight flight. 7th revision, 205 pages, over 100,000 sold! $5.95 postpaid. (Californians add .36¢ sales tax). KITING The only book on tow launched hang gliding. 2nd revision, 102 pages, over 12,000 sold! $3.95 postpaid. (Californians add .24¢ sales tax).

DAN

Box CA 93103

Flight

Editor, As you m,iy know, lwc,rnse of SC'Veral flying at M,1k,1puu l,ist surnmer, the l',iciiic mis Sky Sailors lost tlwir credibility Bishop Est<1tc, thrc owner of the cliffs. To the pPrmanent loss of such ,\11 l'xcellent site, d group of nine formed IIH' I l.1waii,m Associ,ition (I II IA) and Wl!rc given Bishop Est.1tl' lo ,upervisc• the that tighter ,iccess ,1nd s,ifety Wl'l'l' m,1int,1ined. To this Pnrl thc• HA ha, become incorpor,1tc>d, P,t.1bli•;lwcl laws, conver t<'d to tlw US HCA pi lot training rating systems and appointed n10nilors to present during all flying hours to sc•e th,1t ridgl' rated pi lots with s,iiety inspected and hamcs,es l,1Unch under ,ippropriatP This tra'nsition has not occurrC'd easily. Mish,ive bl'l'l1 rnadr• on ,.ill sides, resulting in hassles, both from unsympathetic mainland visitors ,rnd frorn ,1 few unrealistic local piloh who drl'am of the nwllow old days whl'll it was just you, mr' ,111d the wind (forgPtting thl' who have dic,dl. ,HP now ovc•r tire hump and have l'Xour membership to ir1cludP tlw local

hlitor, rl'spo11<,(' to j.( ·. R;1,,p(r, letter, "Forrn,1tion Dl•,1il'rA•,soci,1tion", I would likr•to ,1 fr•w crn11111i•r1h. I irst, ,1nv intl'rvC'11tio11 C:011su1rwr i>mtPction J\gpncy worild not di tlw n•l,1il ll'vel, it would, like othl'r ,1ction,, Ill' aimed ;it tlw 111,rnuf,1cturprs or spol((•srn.111. th<' 11c;MA. !'or i11 to Like upon thc•msPlvc", liw lity to bc• thr• spukes111,rn for the in could not only bP ,1 n1isrl'prPsent,1tior1 ol tlw industry's objr•c tivl's hul could hurt tlH' h,rng glidPr corr1p,1nil's morP th.in hPlp tlH•rr1. It thC' h,rng glidPr production people want this type of reprc",l'lllation, I h,wl' not ht•,ird till'rn s,1y so. Secondly, ,ornl' of tlw "standards" l,iid down i11 tlw guidelirws do not conform to our frc•p Pnterprisl' systl'l1l of doing business. l'rires 011 items th,it are 11or1 .. f,1ir-tr.idc' m govi•mrnent controlll'd should ilP sPt by thP ret,1iler ,ind only thP rc!t.1iil'r. Mutu,1l ,1grr•i•rnents IJl'tWl'l'n dt',d('r ,rnd n1;rnuf,1cturl'r, howc•vpr, .1rc• ,1 function of thal p,Hticul,ir busines•, rPl,rtionship. rhirdly, rPq11iri d deai<'r to b(' ,111 instructor or riggt'r ,hrllJld lw to tiH' discrPtior1 of lhP kill' comp,rny l'11listi11g th,it IH'rso11 ,1s ;i dP,iiPr rlwrc drl' ,lrl'dS l'Vl'n in lhi' W('St wlwre this sport would bPnPfit from ,1 rlealc•r who is not ,1 rigg<'r or from sorncor1e qualiiiPd to 111,ikc• ri• pairs who i•, not an instructor or l'VC'n from ,1 de,iler who i, not ,lll instructor or For h.1m's in,L111rc•, in the RC'no ,Hhl John "Reno ILrnglidPrs" is ,l de,ilership, .1 rPpair shop, ,rnd an t•xcellt'rrt h,rng gliding school. How rn,rny shops oft his typl' can exist bdorr' ;111 ,H<'d I s,1l11r,1tpd with ,clrnols ,111d rPpair /;ic ilitiPs/ I ,1rn ,t dl'aiC'r in tlw Reno-I akc Tahoe ;m•,1 for l'.icific Cull, product which I belii'V<' is thP finest in thl' industry, but I pl'rsonally do not feel it or evl'n fair to cornpeti• with Reno in tlw instructing ,rnd repair fii'ld. I do not lwsitatP to send anyone I

MAY 1977

know intcr('SiPd in IP.imi11g tlw sport min nc•c•d

ot r(•pc1irs to John. I pf',; isle c• ii, 1101 ,ill cl(',11,,,,, ,rn' lo m.ike d living irom hd11g glide,, pilots. I thC' OIIC'S th.it ,m• riP,1ler,; IWf'd <111 tlw lwlp tlH'Y Cdll gPt from hotl1 tlw pilot,, ,rncl thl' m,11111L1cturc•rc,. fhis i, 1101 lo s,1y th,it tlwrc' ,ire• not p,Hllimr• dr•dlns who ,HC' ('XCPIIPnl s,1 lesnip11 ,rncl promot('r'·, of tlw sport s111rl who fipsprv<' to q•II for tlw 111,1nul'1clun•r,; ol thf'ir choic P. Whdl ,ill lhis rc•dlly boil,; down lo is rlo Wi' llE'C'd ,111olhC'r org,ll1i/,1lirn1 lrying to control ,111 dsppc t of th,, sport! I think 111ml of thP ideds ,,pt lorth by J.(. R.1s,,r'•, ('ditori,11 ,H(' ('X( c•llc•11t hllt I think tlH'Y eilhC'r dl'C' or sl1oulcl he• .i fu11clio11 of tlw 111,rnuL1clc1n•r-clP,1IPr rPl.1tirn1,;l1ip or ol thc lJSI I( ;1\. When I •;,1y tlw l ISi ICA, I 1nc•,111 ,111 ol u•; i11volvf'd in thi' A •,impl(' lc•ltcr from <1ny of u 11 to d rC'gr1rding rni()repfC",('llL1tio11 ol r'quip1m•111 or shoddy cl1•,1li11g ,,hould ,uifi, e ,is n'd',011 (•11011gh for tliC' co111pc111y to i1ivp,I Slt'VI'

dill/

/\lpi1w I Lrng Clicll'r Co. I .iki' l ,1l10c, NC'v. (702) il ll H72

lk,11 ldilor, I l1•1T's 1111• I', bucks for rc•n1•w,1I oi my 1,w111IH•r•,h1p ,rncl sulJ,;c ription to //,1ni; Cliclin;: rn.1gd/111c.

I'm stm' you've' hC',Hd thi, many limp•; IJpfort' ... , hut I 111,,l w,111tl'cl to ll't ym1 know wh,11 ,1 1,l11t,1slic job I thi11k yrnr people ,rn• doing. Tlw llldl',dlirw IIH' LJSI ICA is puhlishi h,ts ,iffr,ci<'d 111e grc•,itly i11 hc•coming tlw k11owledge,1lrl1• flvC'r I h,11 I .1111. My li1·•,l lwo yc•,w, of flying w,1, <01HluclPd out in thl' Moj,1vt' llt'sert wllf't'I' littll' 11,rng iding t,11«", pl,111•. Witho11I I Cmunr/ guicLrnu' I could l'dsily h,lVt' gonC' I giVl' th<" Cw uni/ Si<immc•r crr'dit lor the• I c1111 •,till i11 p(•11ect worki11g ordi'r ;1fter ,1l11m•,I l y(',Hs of flying ho1m·b11ilt L1pp('r St,rn 1Lml,, I 11'1 l'ntly purch,1,c'd ,11'hot'11ix fill ,1nrl ( ,rn 1mw fm,,1tlH' ,1 little· c•,isier. The' ,1rlicll's I found 1·nlPrl,1irweC i11for111t'd, ,1ncl instrncted IYll'. Wl1,1t rncm• c,111 ,1 g11y ,1,;kl

I W,Vi rr·,illy happy to l1t·,1r ,ilmul the l,1ic",I rc·,ult oi yo111 l,1bors, li,1bili1y i11,urc111t ,,. Now, m,1ylw wr• c,111 hold em to our good site«; ,11111 c·v1·11 g<'I ,1 fi•w rnor,·. I le•1·e in S,111 l)i1'go, whl'rl' 1'111 co11li11ui11g rny ,1c,1dprnic lir,1i11wc1shing, we' ldll LIS(' ,ill tht• help WC' e ,111 gl't I i,ibility in,111 ,llH c• sho11ld help quill' ,1 bit in the• long run. S11n• hop1• ,,,1. !hanks ,1g,1i11 for ,ill tlw effort you've put ir1. l lop1· IIH'SP S,1111,1 An,1 winds q11it pretty ',oon so th,1t w,• e,111 all go otrt ,rnd intl'ld( t 011n• ,1g,1i11 with thl' wind ir1 our l<lcr' ,rnd thl' •,mog i11 our eyl',. 1 ly I "ig S,111 l)icgo, C1lif.

Have something on your mind?

Hang· Gliding W<"komes Letters fo the Editor. Please your. lElUers to Gliding, c/o USHGA, Box 66306, Los

CA 90066.

I the competition season.

l'lroto of J.:eilh Nil'i10/s tals:e11 !!IJ /)1111·

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like 20" span, Albatross made of adhesive

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For rnorc information & a free

HANG GLIDING

contact your local dealer or write the f

direct:

UlTRAllGHT NEWS

Clinch Mo ht Clinch Mountain Sky Ranch launched the Eastern flying season for 1977 wilh an Easter Week Festival.Tennessee's new hang gliding site run by Busler Yates fe,1tures a 500 mile ridge that crosses over three states! Buster and other loca I flyers had made 29+ mile runs down lhe ridge the first week it was open to hang gliding. This exciting potential attracted 70 pilots to the Festival. The takeoff affords launclws in both easterly and westerly winds. This presented a problem, as competition was delayed by pilots who waited until the last second hoping the winds would switch to permit soaring on the other side. Saturday, April 9th saw 67 pilots free-flying to the delight of a field full of sunburnt spectators. Easter Sunday saw a c;:isual spot landing contest at a relaxed, Tennessee-style pace. Fifty bucks awaited any pilot who set foot on an auto tire bullseye. There were no takers. The best efforts seemed to be made by a group of Florida tow pilots, but even they evidently had more funds than they needed. But Friday was the re;:il contest. Over 125 flights were flown from the soarable west side. Pilots from all over the U5. prepared to "shoot the ridge." The average flights were 12 to 15 miles! Beyond the 12-15 mi a group of pro., fessional and amateur pilots rnade> runs of over 27 miles! Sean Dever, Charlie Baughman and Larry Newman all went about 32 miles, but Jim Del3auche look top honors with 35.4 miles. Clinch Mt. and the Sky Ranchers pro-, vided an exciting beginning for the ' flying season, More and more pilots are betting on this to be the year of the HlO mile flight, and Southeasterners think that Clinch will lw th<! launch point.

John Moody of Milwaukee, Wis. lootlaunched his motori1ed Easy Riser March 19, and gain<!d BOOO feet above his levc'lground take oil ThE' two hour flight, mc1de in calm winds with no therrnal lift, was powered by a 12 horsepower ne. This ciualified lhe 7S lb ultralight as the lowest powered aircraft in the world. It was a cool 40° on the ground when John tippy-toed into the air (from 6B0' AS[) and a cold 15° at B700' where John enjoyed the view of snow-covered Mil waukee. John, who manufactures the power pack for the Riser rqiorted that Mike Jacober of Anchorage, Alaska recently ned owr 5000' on only 3 ciuarts of fuel. Motorized ultralights provide a means for flatland to g<'t up lo soaring altitudes, nd elf'<' one answer to the high cost of flying that plagues sailplane and powered plane pilots. John Moody's two hour flight cost him just over $1. for gas!

Tony De Rosa flys 3B miles from Elsinore, and Curt Keifer flys 26 miles from Pine Flats. See next months issue for complete story.

On April 1 Bth, as many as 13 pilots at one ti mP entered ,1 convergence zone at Fort Funston and gained over 2000 ft. of altitude. fhe unusual condition occurred when two masses of air, a warm NW sea breeze lifted up and over a colder NE wind. The convergence zone migr,ited during the day occasionally allowing pilots ;:iccess to the strong Iift. Because of the unusual number of pilots and lenglh of time the convergence remained, the rising air was thoroughly explored. Several pi lots including Rick Lee and Steve McCorkle flew to Colden Cale Park and back, for a IO rni le out and return fl ighi. Set> the June is,ue of 1/ang Cliding for complete story.

Because of editorial cornmitrnents, John Moody's article "Inverted" received in l,1te November, was not published until April, I <)77. Our apologies are extended to John who wanted his account of the incident at Oskosh disclosed promptly tot he hang gliding con1rnunily, In the April issue of Jiang Cliding Magazine, a misleading juxaposition occurred between Chris Price's article "Using Variorneters" and "Variorneter Survey". Chris did not write or contribute any infor., mation for the survey.

with by Chuck Sl11s;irczyk In our continuing efforts lo be more sci., entific in our testing programs, Chuck's Clider Supplies teamed up with Cleveland State University Mechanical Engineering Dept. who are members of the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astrona ul ics) which is being headed by Prof. John Tomko. The project en1ails installing strain gauges on a Falcon airframe and on a test fixture which will be mounted on our van. The Strain gauges are epoxycd lo the airframe at various locations ;rnd mounted in-line on all cables. When loads are applied, a in resistance occurs and the change is recorded on a meter. The cfota recorded is then translated from electrical current variations into stress reading which are in the terms of force per unit art'd (i.e. per square inch). The purpose of the tests will be to determine what loads are actually placed on various members of the airframe in flight. The cHeas of investigation will include

cross spars, keels, loading wires, dpflexer wires, kingpost and upper rigging, and control bars. Once the actual loads are deterrni ned, the data can he used to redesign the basic Rogallo structure. We are to the point in hang glider designing where drag reduction is of prime concern. For example, whc-!n designing the Fdlcon, the computer gave readings of almost 16: I L/D when the of the pilot, crosspar, control bar, c<1bles, kingpost, ddlexers and upper were deleted. When all the afmementioned drag producing items were included in thl! computer formula, the L/D dropped to B:1 and 9:1 with streamlining. So possibly by redesigning and eliminating 1/3 lo l/2 of the present drag, des could be immensely improved and L/D' for membrane gliders could conceivr!ably reach IS and 20: 1. A test fixture will be mountc!d to 1he front of our company van and ii too will have strain gauges incorporated into its structure. The fixture will be able to hold a full size glider and will also enable the (continued on page 10)

MAY 1977

lO min.

Aircraft material used for and and "n•crs,n,,d indicator induded.

Kits

Gliding Stall

Max.

P.O. Box 4207 Ariz. 85258 Industrial Mcrnber

available.

engineering dept. at CGS and C.S.U. to vary the angles of attack to simulatP various flying conditions. We will be .ible to test glider structmes for yield and ultimatl' "C" loads and also test aerodynamic characteristics of various glider· designs. In otlwr words ii will function likP a portable wind tunnel. The strain gauges pl,icc!d on the structure will read out lift .1nd clr.1g forcPs on glider designs. I oads will fw n1<\1surPd at differpnf angles of attack and speeds. An umbilical cord will con,wcl the strain gauges on the glickr lo the Recorder in the van. C:lc,veland St;ite lJnivPrsity will then an.1lyze and convc!rt the rPcorded data for our use'. We will also lw .1blc to check the pitch st;1hility of various desail configuration ,rnd air flow over the top of the wing.

Advisory Notice Issued by Albatross Sails

Structural failures

Albatross Sdils discovered during static load tests that the "IJPlly bar" or conversion bar distributed by Albalross S,1ils as

In Southern California tlwre hilVC' been at least 3 crosspar fc1ilures on the Ultralite l)rnducts' Mark II ,rnd Spyder. An analysis of tlw problem is presented in the article "In Response to AccidC'nls" on pagP 22 of this issue.

well as olher rnanufacturers, is not safe ,ind should not be used. What happened was this: Albatross had been hanging a glider upside, down from the tether point and loading it up with chord 1t,ngth bags of s;md. Aftc!r a testing was completed on thP standard ASC 21 airfr,rnie, the straight tube on tl1c• control har w,1s rl'plciced with ;i conversion bar. By tlw ti rne !lwy lo<1c/C'd lhc glider with '1 g's, lhe shackle bolh had sprc•ad 3 Y,,", the conver-sion bar w;1s bowed out of shape, (see illustrc1lions) and the downtubes were' being

Sails Tearing in Flight In rPcent months, three separate incidents involved sails tec1ring in flight: 2 SST's in Norway and I FaglPman Aircraft in Southern California, sPriously injuring lhe pilot. In tlw SST incidents, the sail lme at ,1 "clipped spot" in the hem along the tr;iiling edge oftlw glider. (St'<' illuslr,ition)

V"-ILOAOEO

bowed oul also. They foll if tlwy had lo,ided the glider up ,rny more, the control bar would have failed. S<; if you l1i1vc this type of bar, do not use it.

Advisory Notice Issued by Elecl rn rlwrc w<1s r<'cPnlly <1ri accident in

CONSUMER

I L1waii involving an Electra Flyer Olyrnpu, crossh.ir modified hy thl' pilot. I le in-

rlw purpose oft his co I unm is Io prov idP the con,trnwr with rPI iahk information regarding glidcr·rcl,ited problem,. This will includ(' rf'call and ;1c/visory 11olin's issued by the manufacturers, accident infon11,1tion ,rnd/or accidt'nl reports partic u I Mly when sta hi I ity or strucl tJrt' is quPslioned. We ,ill know th;it rumors run r,1mp,111t in this sport. rhis column will <1tlt•rnpt to control these rumors that often distort tfw truth ,ind mislead th(: hang glidcommunily.

sLilled ,in inner slP<:'ve l'Xlending frorn thP hc,Ht bolt '1 ft,ct outbo,Hd on t'il<h cross t uhc. Tlw cross t uhC' L1i led mid--sp,111 at I lw Pnd of the inner slP<'V<'. El<'ctr.i Flyer ll<' licves the failure w,i, due lo Ifie, ('Xn''isive lo.id conce11tration c,1used by the improper sleeve placement ,HHI the slwar point al the end of the sle<'V(' which w;1s not strC'ssc!d relieved. All Olympus gliders conw with an i11ner slC'cve cenlc•red 011 each cross bar h,ilf <HHI stressed rc>iiPved on both ends. TIH'St' slec'ves should 1101 lw moved ;ind c1ny modification should not be done unless <1ulhorized by lhe faclory.

It is co111rno11 pr,tclin' by many rnanuL1eturers lo clip the hem di coriwrs to insu1·e a Ila\ hl'm. It i'i thc'ori/'.cd th.ii exlr<'nwly cold wc,ithcr in Norw,1y (-·l0°) conlributed to the prnblem. (lfowl) and 13ainbriclge is liPing conl,icted for i11fom1,1tio11 rc!garding Dacron suscep1 i Iii I ity lo extrerTll' co Id.) The remedy is to sew a reinforcement pc1tch al this Wt'ak point. II is not known at this timP prt'Ci'ir>ly what cauq,d the Eagleman Aircr;1ft s,1il to ll'M.

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•

LSAI J: /\V/\11/\llll •SI Nil ON I I ITEl{I IE/\IJ

•

MAY 1977

MAY 1, 1917, May Day "Ladies" to be held in Vallejo, We are pushing tor numbers, ladies! For more in· formation call: Jan Case (41!i) 756·0!ili0 or Judi Nielsen (408)

475,2526. MAY

1977, 2nd Annual Indoor Show at the Anaheim Convention Anaheim, California. Hang UI· tralights, Homebuilts, Flying and

MAY rn, Monthly meeting of the Southland Hang Gliding Assoc. 7:30 P.M. 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles. MAY

Sou1hern California Re· gion qualification meet. Pilots must be Imm Region 3 and be 3-4. 1 on 1 Cross,Counily from 3200' Pine Flats. Torn Milkie, 5645 Ave , Anaheim, CA 92B07.

MAY 19,22, Tactile Hang Gliding Championships and T·shirt con· Jockey's NC. Call (919) MAY 20, 21, Canadian National Vernon, B.C. The nm by the Vernon Hang Glidin!J Club, rules used are those outlined by the FAL (see December Flypaper). For more information contact' Dave Nelson, 8503 Westside Rd. Vernon, B.C. (604) (nights). MAY

Otto Lilienthal Fly-In at Dunes, Calif. The I st Annual Seminole Championships to be Seminole in Chat," rnrnJOc1me, Florida on Memorial Day Up to purse. Entrance fee flyer, with all entrance be as prize money. To championship, and for more information on the meet, camping facilities, Glenn A. Rinck, or (904) alter 5:30 p. rn.) 1977. Scottish Open Hang Championships. Meet is: Scottish Sailwing Association, Randol oh SL,

East Wemyss, Fite, Scotland f300 in cash prizes, trophies and medals. For more information, write to above address. JUNE 4,

Ttie 2nd Annual Great Mt. Fly .. l n to be held in Mon· tan a. Hang,3 ratin9 with USFIGA insurance required. Small entry fee. Contact Holly % Tl1e Hangar, Ht. 2, Mullan Mis· soula, Montana 59801.

across

JUNE 4-7, 1977, Scottish Sailwing Association Open Hang Gliding Championships, Minto Hills, NR Denholm, Roxburghshire. For more information contact: John Hankin, 1 Car, stairs Junction, Lanark 11 BRY, Scotland JUNE 10·12, 1977, lhe 2nd Annual East Coast Delta Wing Champ· ionship, White Lake, North Carolina. This tow event will ofter $1000 in total cash prizes along with trophies. If interested in competing, please write a let·" !er requesting an application and a copy of the rules. Include a brief resume of flying ex· perience, type kite you fly, any information of interest. to: Bill Winstead, 7409 Falls of Neuse Hoad, Raleigh, NC 27609 If you tiave a1ny

JUNE 16·19, Third Annual Molson's Beer and Northern Sun Hang Gliders. Thunder Bay, Ontario, $4,000 purse. Contact: Popov, Northern Sun Gliders, Inc., 628 W. Lar, SL Paul, Minn. 489,8300 JUNE 17 & 1st Annual God's Country Tow Glider Championship, Rice Lake, Wis .. consin. $500 guaranteed minimum 1st prize. There will be nightly entertainment. Camping and/or motel accommodations available. $30. 00 entry lee (re, fumlallle ii bad weather or can, cellation). Contact Mr. Scott Warwick, RR. #1 Cumber .. land, Wisconsin JUNE 18, 19, British Columbia 3rd Annual Open Champion, Terrace, 2500' ver, 12 mile soarable ridge. Dave 4616 Greig (604)

Drifting through turns, in a r1igt1 Hiked up on two \Alhanlc,

at home on your local dirt field, and dry lake it Races up to 2% times the of the wind. CONVENIENT STRONG ... LIGHT Winjammer's t1igh tensile frame can be ca:rtom::1ed and Sets up in 5 minutes.

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(continuud on p,lfW J .i)

HANG GLIDING

JUNE 18,25, Midniqht Sun Cup held in Boc1o, For more in· formation Bodo Glider Club, P O Boks 93, Skeid, Norway.

lree $20.00. 2500' ver\i· cal. lilt available to 6000' Contact Al Rox 1581, Fernie, B.C. IMO. AUGUST 3rd Annual Mt. Swan· see Meet, lnvermere, British Contact Dean Kup· lnverinere, (nights) Telluride Hang Glicler

,JULY 1·4, .July 4111 Fly-In at Chat· tanooga. JULY 1 4, First Annual Motorized Glider Fly-In, Marshall, tlyinQ, fun compe\ition and more. For more info call or write: Aero Float 82 Battle Creek 49017. 6)

Hawk Kites, Inc, Box386 JULY HJ.31, USHGA National Ch11mp,ionshi1is at Heavener, to Heavenm

on the First or other in, or write:

Great 6009, Chaltanooga,

Oates to be an·

Head, North Carolina 27959 441-6247

nouncerl.

,JULY be in conjunction USHGA Nationals at Heavener, Oklahoma. The of !he is to members on !he affairs of tho Association and answer lions that might he JULY N.V.S.H.GA 's Annual German Festival Meet for at Hunter

,JULY

Britir,h Colurn· Hang Glidi11g $1100 in prize money.

OCTOBER Fal I Hang Gliding at Cranmore and Mt. Washington, NH OC'fOBER 25-26, CIVL Meeting, Paris, France. NOVEMBER, Thanksgiving Fly-In at Cilattanooga.

at least 8 weeks advance Calenclar of Events Hang Gliding Box 66306, Los CA 90066

DON'T MISS THE LATEST ISSUE BY FAILING NOTIFY USHGA OF YOUR CffANGE OF ADDHESS!! USH(;A ff

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ALLOW FOUR WEEKS FOR

WHY PAY MORE FOR LESS?

In hang gliding, it's easy to get less than you paid for.

SURPRISED? Just check out any new high performance g lider t o day. Similar design, similar performance, s imilar handling, s imilar materials. Side by side, it is even more difficult to pick the best workmanship because the industry standards dictate that all the top gliders be nothing less than perfect.

THENWHYDOSOMECOSTSO MUCH? The workmanship of all Electra Flyers is impeccable. The structural integrity is faultless. The materials are the best obtainable. The performance is unsurpassable. We t hink our prices are very realistic. Not o nly are they realistic for the customer. but the dealer doesn't have to give away gliders at h is cost just to m ake them a f fordable. And if your dealer can 't make a living, who is going to service your g lider when you need parts or repairs?

By keeping ou1r prices realistic, we feel Electra Flyer is doing it's part for the hang gliding community. The OLYMPUS ... complete for $995. De'livery in 3 1/2 weeks, the industry's BEST. If you want your money's worth ... check out

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-w:NDHAVEN • 7530 WOODLEY AVENUE, VAN NUYS, CA 91406 • PHONE: (213) 989-1814 HANG GLIDING

A SUCCESS STORYfrom every point of view.

...-r.

l>,J

2 -, <?

....C

Leading edge length Keel length (.:ambered) Included r.ose angle Span Sail area (square feel) Weight

Maximum glide Minimum sink speed Maximum speed Stall speed Sink rate

(mph ) mph) mph ) ( mph ] (fpm )

112 32-9

19 8.5 112 31

176

162

22-24 18-19

55 12

L!D

.bb . bb Sail ~illow 8 8 Number of RI BS 160-210 140-170 Pilot weight""°Taiige 1.25 1.2 Optimum wing loading

MANTA PRODUCTS INC. 1647 E. 14th St. I Oakland, Ca 94606 I (415) 536-1500

A NEW CONCEPT TESTED FOR OVER A YEAR Contact Manta for free b~ochures Dealer Inquiries wercome.

FAI World Championships Cam:el led hy Dan Poynter The Aero Club of South Africa has an·· nounced a change in the October competi· lion from ;i FJ\I Wmld Championships to c1n Open World Championships. !his is good news for U.S. flyers as now all rn.iy aUend; it won't be necPssary to qualify for the U.S. team by placing WC'II at the Nationals. Rich Piccirilli and Dan Poynter ren•ntly made an extensive tour of South Africa rnak· ing film and lect1m• presentations to the clubs in lohanneshurg and Durban as well as visiting several flying sites ,ind the Carnp l',11k The trip to Barberton included flying the propos(x! site and meeting with the Mayor and other local dignit;iries. The Barbcr1on site is outstrnding. The l,rnding area is in a golf course situated about

BOO rn (2620') J\SI .. There are lwo launch area~ at 500 m and 900 rn ;\(;L; both are wide open, grassy knolls wi1h launch win· dows of c1hout 130 degrees. The norm a I flight path crosses over one edge oft he town. Founded hy !he Harlw1· Brothers in l B94 in 1he middle of the gold region, B,irhPrton is some :us krns (230 miles) east of lohannes· burg, the nearest port of entry, A picturesque rural community at one side of a large valley, it h;is a populcition of 3,900. ToLffS are being organized lo the nearby gold mines, Swazi· land and !he Kruger C,1me Parle In October (Spring), the temperature is 'l2-3'5 C: degrees (9(l-'Vi F) and the humidity is not too high. On the other sick oi the v;illey, somp 4'5 kms from 13arherton, there are a couple of excellent flying sites al K,iapsehoop, Both an· normally soar,1hlP. One has a l<1unch point at 3'50 m while the othe1· has a long ridge and a launch point with 4',0 m ek)Va· lion. South Africa is officially bilingual with most signs printed in bo\h English and J\fl'icaa,ns. There is no l<1nguage problc,m for those who speak E11glish and if you know a little f1utch or PVPn sonw Cerrnan, you crn probably handle the simple' J\frica,rn, Special fan!s are being a1·r,mged to incor" pcnate a vpry generous room, board ;md entry fee ground pac/«ige. Apply for your passport now a11d send lo the South African Consulate for ii visa application (120 Mont,. gorne1·y Street, # 1600, San Francisco, CA ')4104). For more information, have your narn<' placed on a mailing list for periodic bulletins by writing: South Africa World Open, l'.0, Box 33191, Jeprwstown, Transvaal 2043, South Africa. (It will take a Tl¢ air mail stamp).

Dear friend, At the last Hoard of Director's meeting tlw publications committee decided th;it in order lo raise funds for the USHCJ\ WP would produce a publication of, about ;ind by ou rtalented hang gliding commun· ity, This volume will include some of Hang Cliding!Cround Skimmer's better pieces, plus ,i collection of new contributions from many members of our soaring soci"" ety, We would like you to be one of thosP contributors. WP ,1rp looking for photos, dr,1wings, poems, essays, stories, etc. Whc1\ever your specialty, a piece of your work would certainly enhance our publi· cation and also benefit USHCJ\. Tlwre is no need to ('Xplain \o you as ,1 member the benefits of USHCJ\. Ohvi" ously, you realize the import.rnce of this organization, 1lopefully this publication will help provide the kind of financial assistance it needs, while r,1isi11g the aware· ncss of our rnovr,ment and its people. Please send a 11 works to: lim Aronson, Director, Region 12 % Aerial Tt:c:hniques R.D. #I, 49 Mine Road, Monrot', New York Hl950 (914) 7B367:i1 My thanks go out to you in ,idvanc:e, All contributors wi 11 receive a free copy of this pub I ic,ition which wi II show the talent and diversity that exis1s among us. Smooth Sailing Ji rn Aronson

by Vic Powell lJS HCA President

Rod Murphy, Administrative Director fur the Championships, stands 011 the l1111dl11g area below the lower launch point at the Barberton flying site,

When it cornes to hang gliding public relations, orie of the best methods is to take what you have available and use it to the sport's J\ recent event of the C1pitol Hang Cliding Association is an excellent On the first day of Spring held a display of 30 hang glidPrs on the Mall in Washington, D.C in front of the N,itional Air and Museum. The National Park Service holds a kite contest every year al that time around the Washington monument, Fred Kline, CHG!\ President, approached the Park Service for permission to set up a display by the Air Museum, The park service asked that the c I ub fol low ;i few rules, no sel I ing, MAY 1977

up tra,;h,

,rnrl permission WdS for th(• one· 1r this event c,rn he L1kC'11 ,1s an ornen lo, WPatlw,, this YhH, WP ,H(' llll' p,1r,1IIPlcd i,rntc1stic rnnditiom for 11,rng gliding Pvenls, Thl' ,L1y before tlH· displ,iy ii Wii', !Prrihl(•, Wind IJlowing 40 mph, r,1i11, cold tern1H·r,1t1m",, llut cor1w tlw for scl,u pt hP wc,1t l1t•r w.is he,1111 if ul, w;1r111 t(•rnpe1c1tu1Ps, light lirc'('/C'S and sunshim·, It helped tum out the crowd ,b welL I here was no lhe permit and crn1ditio11s didn't ,1llow iL It WdS 110! nPCPSSdfY to fly, ,rnd it ,ii lowed the people to corm' 1w,1r ,rnd gPt d view oi the (•quipmcnt They wc'n' L1sci 11,1ted, Mid Cl IC/\ m(·mlwrs could talk lo thPrTL

attract i:\ crowd; startinu

fly,ir or bystander in While the crowd lessons, USHG/\ and the local found ti ,e for information, and this crowd loved picture shows CHGA president, Frnd st,1rtin9 the motor on his learns ll motor

by l<,1y llr,1kr·, USH( ;A Secret,uy

Fm lhosP of you wl10 don't give a h.iiry leaf ,1bo11t sPriou,; co1npetitio11, but the ide,1 of flying with sonH' of the lwst pilots in thP world, whip 0111 IIH' olP' Ilic Jl(•11,rnd sign up now fortlw United St,1tt•s' first "offici,11" N,ition;il I (l'iloh i11 the Natio11,1ls will nol IJl' d 11 o w e d i n I h (' F I y i 11 ) If this opening ,;t,1ternc'nt seems slightly irreverent, then it will Iii in V<'ry well in, deed with the slightly irreverl'nt N,1tion,1l 1 ly,111 which will nm co11cum·r1tly with d very l'('Vere11t, 'ilr,iight up N,ition,1' Cl1,rn1pio11,hips, Jilly Ill,) 1, 197 ,11 1leaverwr, Oklahorn,L N,ition,il Ch,1111pionship t;isks will be nm ior a pPriod e,1ch day ,rnd, of co11rsc, these event<, will h,1vr' wec1tr1<•r priority, hut ,ifter \he serious flying is ove1 each day, 11H· iriendly skies of I leavenPr will be lo N,1tional Fly,ln events which will lw ,1irned at 'Tor,Fun, Only" ilying with jtJst ;i tinge of rnmpeli t ion, rlw hL1tion,1I I ly,ln is bPing liostl'd by ih(' I le,ive11<•r Run('S1orw I lang ClidingAs, sociation, tlH· s,mH' foolhardy souls who irmocently bid ior the N,1tio11.il Ch,1m1> ionships ,111d th<' ide;i was conceivl'd liy Jolrn I ,1kC', ,ill for the purpose of removing some oi the tension from the ,rnd i11volvi11g a J.1rger number of i111ht' U.SIIC/\'s evc•nt oftfw yC'ar, lvcn though the Fly.In ev!'nts will

no! be your run,of,,llw,,mill competition l,1sks, they will c,till involve ,1 modicum of skill of course, will be i1c·d, ~;o ,iccording to the I IRIH;A, need not dpply. As N,1tio11;1I I lv,ln ions arc r(' ceived by tlic I IRI Jc;A, th('y will lw 11u111~ IJered ,md lly,ln competitors will p,1te in 11umPricdl orr!Pr How often <'d<h p;nt ic ip,1 nt is ;ii lowPd to fly wi 11 de1w11d on Wt'<llhl'r ,rnd Ilic totsil lllHiiJ('I ol I ly,111 1'('1', istr,rnh, In n·lum 101 Iii<' $ 1(),()() N,1tio11,1I 1 ly-ln registr,1tion fP(', e.ich particip,int and one nPw nwrnhPr will bl' provided with all tlw facilities ,ivail,1blC' to N,ition;il Championship cornpPtitors, i,c, lr,111sportdtio11 up and down thP hill, c.irnping f,iciliti<", which includP cold hut W<'t showers, Ptc lor thos<' lly,ln pilots who wish lo liP downright '«lt rilegious ;rnd nol even w,itch all the National fl ighls, I hl' I 1P,\vt'1wr are,1 off Prs ,1 vMic~ty of flying sites within len rninulPs to two hours driving and the HRIK;A will provid<' ,l of sites and with d I itt le persu,ision, might C'V('n furnish driving di, rPct ion S, Packing your wardrobe for tlw trip will be quill' ('ilsy; pl,in on wearing as little as decency permits and ,1 sLmhat, Oklal10rn,1 in July is generally hot ,ind humid, but no complaints have y<'t bPcn heard irorn pilots flying the therrn<1ls produced hy tlH: lwdt. 011 the other hand, Will Rogers wa;, not exagger;iting wlwn lw s,1id, "If you don't like the wt',1tlwr in Okl;1horn,1, wait ,l minute•," ,,o just in c<1st' throw in ,1

Th(' National Air and SpdC<' Muspum is thr• most attract ion in tori,

or just curious <1bout ,1viation view it, 1lavsuch ,rn ,iudienct> to display ing to i', ,.i PR m;m's drPdlYL Plus the loc,11 m('di;i had b('t'fl notified, ,rnd ,1 TV ,L1tio11 g<1vc it covpr,ige on both nPwscasls, CIJCA helpPd crPatc ,i positive image for the sport, The tl11Jsi,1stic,1lly received ,md a introduced to a""""'"" ,1vi,1tio11 that hadn't seen ,,,,,,,,n,,,, A d m i t t l' d I y not (' v e r y c it y 11 d fldlion's ils rnall ,rnd air rnusPun1, But rn,iny cities have malls, city empty downtown lots, etc, th,it could be used to to tfw attention of a wider sppctrurn of thP public Use what you havP to prornole the sport: It's business, ,rnd ior glid, ing, HANG GLIDING

Pilot soaring the Southwest fuclng ridge at Heavener, Oklahoma.

and pair of long pants. For some re;ison unbeknownst to man, good flying sites in Oklahoma were not placed in large metropolitan areas which offer a variety of motels and restaurants and Heavener is no exception. Pilots re .. quiring motel space in all likelihood will have to drive to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, about .in hour's drive away. If, on theothh hand, you can muddle through in a tent, van or camper, you have a wide choice of camp .. ing sites, starting off with the "Pilots Only" site provided by the HRHGA adjacent to the site, and followed by Lake Wister, ten miles west of Heavener (free), Cedar Lake, about thirty minutes southwest (federal camping fee) and Lake Carl Albert and Talimena State Park about a hour's drive southwest at Talihina, 'location of 1 !00', south launch, Buffalo Mountain. The town of Heavener and surrounding communities, like all small towns, may' roll up the sidewalks at sunset, but Region 6's red carpet of southwestern hospitality will not have such an early deadline. Many events are planned for a little "after dark diversion" and those uncultivated souls who still expect to come to Ok .. lahoma and see cowboys and Indians will not be disappointed. Some "down home" bluegrass music, a rodeo, Indian "stomp

dance'" ,ind old fashioned fiddlers' contest are among the affairs scheduled for the "non .. flying" program. Registration details are rn1 the registration form; the completed form and $10.00 fep are due to the 1,RllCA no later than June 1 r5. 'f you want to IJP part of a US HCA "first", get in somP good flying, meet and talk with some top pilots and see a little piece of Americana all arranged cxclu .. sively for your benefit, then do your paperwork, arrange for your vacation, pack up your glider and suntan lotion and put Oklahoma on your calendar July

Hl-31.

Accident Comparisons Private Aircraft and Hang by [)ave Broyles, Reg. 11 llirector Statistics to which I have been exposed over the J,isl fPw yeilrs have led me to b,'lieve the accident rate for private pl,mes and private pilots is much higher than generally undPrstood. If this is so, then c1 frivorable comparison might b(' made between the accident r;ites of hang gliders and private pl,11ws. A call to the local safety officer of lhe FAA gave rne the following statistics.

Nurnlwr ;1ircrafl .155,000 NurnbPr current Medic,11 certifi,;ites .. .. .755,000 NurnbPr of first cl,1ss M,•dicals . 2'i,OOO Assunwd number of privatp pilot'; (non dir transpo1·t) . . ....... 730,000

Nurnber of repmted light .1ircraft ,1c:Cldenl'i N11rnb,•r of fat;ililies lot;il Number of injuries tot;il Number of ;ircidents with fatalities total NumJ)(,r of aircraft pPr f,llality per NurnbPr of accident ppr Nurnbn of pilots per f,1talrty per Nurnb,,r of registered pilots per fatal cr;ish 1wr y,•ar .. Number of lat.ilities per I.Hal .iccid,•11t

Y''"'

197.1

1974

1975

424B l 1'i4 1702

4159 1306

4244

1%B

704

682

654

119

121

220

i:rno

217

S l9

SS9

S70

10l7

1070

1116

l.')Ll

I. 915

1.957

On the basis that rn,rny fewPr licPnsed pilots lh,rn certified have IT'gul,H access to an airplane, and considr!ring the number of aircraft per fatal accident per year slatis· tics, as representing the number of aircraft per pilot .. in-rnn1m,rnd fatality (which ignores the passenger fatalities), it would seem that on the basis of ;111 estimated 34 I to 641 hang gliders per fatality pt)r year that hang gliding is much safer than flying light planes. On the other hand, on the basis just of registerc>d pilots 1x,r flying fatality per year, hang gliding sti II looks pretty good. (continuPd on page 'i4)

Participants must be Full Members of the Uuited States Hang (,liding Association and hold a US.HG.A. Hang 3 (with Cliff Launch Check .. Qff) or Hang 4 Rating Registration and $10.00 fee due no later than ,June 15, 1977 to:

NOTE: Championship competitors will not be able to participate in the Fly-In.

U.S. National P.O. Box Heavener, OK 74937

Name

Region # ....... ................. U.S. H. GA fl

Street & Number

U.S.H.(;.A. membership renewal date

City, State & Zip Hang Ratin~i Estimated date Estimat,id length of arrival st11y Probable mode of transport111ion (automobile, commercial flight, private aircraft, etc.)

Estimated number of non .. ..pilots in your party Number of other pilots usin[J same car .........................--......

Anticipated accommodations: [] motel

camping (specify: van .........-.......................... trailer

tent

other Do you plan to: Cook Out Use Available Food Service Both - .......... - ..- ....... (The host will arrange for food services in accordance with response to this question.) Please answer .all questions as accurately as possible so that the host will be 11ble to arrange adequate facilities at the site and in surrounding communities. All registrants will be sent a Registration packet with complete information concerning the area, facilities available, prices, etc., upon receipt of the registration form and fee; the host will, therefore, appreciate early registr11tions.

MAY 1977

I Floy Haggard of Ultra lite Products answers questions about structural failures on Dragonflys Over the past year, a new of "Supcrkitc's" ha'> evo/vcc/. fly rtc1tlt'ning sails and increasing spans, manufocturcrs were ah/e to make substanti.il in performance,. Many manufacturers, driven hy consumer demands and competition from other m;1nufocturers, rushed their new gliders into production without complying with 1/CMA specific1tions for load testing. Many of these n1c1nufacturcrs didn't realize the significance their design improvements, i.e. {/all('/' Sdils, had on the glider's strength. Structural (nilur<'S, particu/ar/)1 crosspar la/lures, began to crop up. A few we're blamed on severe flying conditions or an over-zealous pilot doing aerobatics. nut some of these accidents couldn't be so easily dismi.1sed and one company in par .. ticular came und<'r (ire Ultralitc !'roclucb. After a recent accidl'n/ in Southern California, a feller was drafted hy Curtis Colton and 5 other Dragon(/y owners, ancl sent out to various hang gliding publica· lions. The letter contained a number o(

To your knowledge, how many in-flight structural failures have occurred on Mark ll 1 s1 Mark IIB's, and Spyders? briefly. There have been three in.flight structural failures, possibly four. Two were on Dragonfly Mark ll's and one on a Spyder.

#I: Date: 4/20/76 Location: A;,usa Crnyon Pilot: Phil O'BriC'n Clider: Mark 11 I BO l'h i I engaged in heavy aC'robatics. Wit llC'SSt'S state,d that the glider flPw 'ovc)r the top', stabi Ii zed inverted .it about 500 fl. for sevl'ral seconds, and tlwn dove nearly straight down until it i111pactt•d tlw ground. l'rn uncertain whether or not this accidPnt ,ictually involved a structural foilurc>. Wilnesses report<'d that the glider appean)d to be intact during the dive. After the ,iccid,,nt I wondered why the glider hadn't completed the last 90° of !ht' loop and pulled out. I was skeptical, doubting the report that the glider didn't break. Upon inspection of the broken glidN and from the reports of the witnesses there was no way to dC'tPrmine whelht'r or nol this accident involved ,rn ir1fl ight structural failure. Perh.ips l'hi I simply lacked s1ifficient altitude to complc'tc> thr! re" co wry from stabi I ized i nvertcd flight. The re· suiting injuries wen• fat;il. #2: Date: ')/4/76 Location: La Cumbtl' Peak Pilot: lkn Factor Clider: Mark II I BO llen engaged in aerobatics that appeared rad" ical to both myself and his fellow fliers. I spoke with him on the efay II(' firs! picked up his M,irk

concerning structure on the Marl< II and SpydC'r. An accident report accompanied lhe feller, wl,ich was pre·" pared by Curtis Colton ancl reviewed by the accident victim, Scott Newnam. The report follows: Pilot: Scott Newn,1111, 2(, years old. c•nccid I Jang-4. Date: M,irch I 9, I 'J77, p.m. Place: Cuc;imonga, Californi;i. Equipment: Dragonfly "Spyder", 2 weeks old. Flying Conditions: Cood I ift wilh moderate tur bulelll:e. Description of Accident: cross· par (1 Y4-.049) broke in half .iiJout minute after takP-off ,111d during slow, controlled, l,•vel flight. Tlw failure occurred just as the pilot en .. ter<>d :1 thermal. The nose w.is pitched down toward the right side ,rnd the glider f1<1Hpun inlo the mountain from '500 ft. Scot1 sust<1ined a fractured neck ,rnd sevPred spinal cord. Apparent or probable cause: Structural failure due to possiblP defc,ctive design. Other probahlP c.wsr's such as poor mainten,rncp c.innot apply in this case. In response lo llw accidents anci the al·

leizat1011s ,1gainst U/tralite Products, 11.ing Cliding Magazine sent ,1 questionnairl' to Uf'. The questions /Jelow wer<' ,111swerl'd by /foy Haggard, head of r~esearch and Development at UP. II at the ractory, telling him to be consC'rvative in his wingovfls. I also told him not to atltimpt anything like loops or barrel rolls, ;is lw would then "be the test pi lot" Witnesses reported th,11 Ben put his M,irk II into ;i spiral dive, which he held for al)o11t 2 Y, revolutions. Tlw glider was pointed rwarly straight down and .icceleratPd 10 .in estimated 50 to 55 mil,•s per hour. I le then jammed lhe bar out .ill the way, ,rnd the crossp,H failed. i\t a velocity of 'iO miles per hour with a stall spPPd of 1 (, milps per hour, tfw resultant potential loading would b1° 9.77 C's. This is well past ih(' s,1fe load lirnit for any h;rng glider, rnost light planes, sailpla1ws, and dll airliners. The resultant injuries "wc>re fc1tal. # l: Datc>: 11 /22/76 Location: C:uc1rnor1ga Pilot: Dusty Stapp Clider: Mark II I BO Dusty was reported to be a conservative pilot. The ;iccident v,1ry greatly. We quPstirnwd as many as possible, and the general consC'nsus was that Dusty was on .i normal approach with approxirnalely 200 feet of altitude when his glider fell off to on<! side, and dove until impact. Other reports stated that lw had twen doing mild S0° to 60° banked wingovers to losP .iltitud,! ,md th,11 the glider iailPd d11ring one of thes,•. Since we wpre not allowed by the family to examine the glider after the accident, WP were not ,ible to ddt'rmine ihe causP of the failure. We' can, howevC'r, rule out the possibility of exn!ssive aerobatic loading as a Ci.lUSP. Other reports indicated that there may have b,•en .i maintPnance problPm with the glidPr, including possible careless handling during transportation. rhe res11ltant inj11riPs were f,1tal.

f/4; l)atp; 3/J ')/77 Location; C11camong;i Pilot: Scott Newnam Clider: 192 Spyder Scott was a rnnscrvalive pilot with extensive therm,illing experiPnce. l lw rPports on the fly" ing conditions ag.iin v.iry Sonw wit1wssl'S rc>porled moderate lo turbulencp at th<' launch site', while' pilots in the .iir, .ibout :iOO ft. .ibow l.1unch, n'portPd tlw conditions as rt'latively smooth. Some witnPssPs reporte"'d that wind, ond it ior1s during the day vdriPd from light to gusts above forty. Again, the accident reports ar<' conflicting. Sever,il pilots at tlw scene reported hl'aring ,1 loud cr,ick likl' a rifle shot, then looking ,rnd seeing tfw glidl'r slowly spiralling down lo the ground. Another witrwss observt!d Scott's flight from the! ground whik• standing ,it another lakeoff point above Scott's l.iunch site. This witnpss statt'd that Scott's glider was about 200 ft. out from the hill when suddenly it pitched up violr>ntly until the nose was pointed straight up .ind lw,idr,d over on its b,1ck. This witrwss observed that as this was happening, Scott had pulled the control bar down below his knees in an at1Pmpt to bring th,, glidPr back to level flight. That did not happPn. Thl' glider tfwn paused momentarily in an inverted position, thc:n tumbled through and recovered into a somewhal normal attitude. According to this witness, it was during lhe recovery that a loud cr;ick w.is h,,,ird, and I hat somc>thing seemed to havP broken 011 the glider. Scott m,rnagr'd to kP<'P thP glider somewh,it und('r control until approximately 50 to I 00 fp(•l above ground level, but it then slipped off to one side ,rnd crash landPd. Somewhere within a mixture of these stories lies a true .iccounl of the event. The resultant injuries were ;1 S('Vc>red spinal cord pilot pilril lyzed.

Whal conclusions have been drawn from these accidents'? Do you feel that I hey are related? H.ing gliders are not designed to meet ;wrobalic flight parameters. When pilots insist on trying steeper and steeper wingovcrs, they will eventually find "the limit." At that point it is loo late. All aircraft arc limited in what they can tolerate. Hang gliders, and rnore specifically, Dragonflies, are not in any way exempt

from these limits. It is evident that pilots often cnn't feel these limits approaching. II is also distinctly possible that some Dragonfly pilots are not exercising normal care and maintenance. LPt's assume for the moment that worn c:rosstubes may h;ive played some causal role in ;1 structural failure. A pre .. flight check of the glider, would have surely revealed worn spots on cross 1ubes. If the Dragonfly is improperly folded and/or transported, wear spols do result where the keel plate meets the crosspar. Ii is our opinion that Phil and Ben's accidents are related in that they were both the result of heavy aerobatic: maneuvers pushed too far. We feel Dusty's accidenl may h;:ive rPstiltcd from improper rnaintena1ice. Scott's accicJc,nt w;1s probably the result of turbulence which exceeded the design and conslructio11 limits of the MAY 1977

ThP rPl<1tionship iiPtwPen all tlws(' ,Hcidenh i;, that 1he wv<1kest p;nt ol the glidl'r, i,c,, th(' crossp.n, hrok(' in ;111 c1ses, llwrdore WP c.111 s,iy th,1t thr· CHISl'S of the ,iccidenh wcrp not n,l;it(·d, hut the' l'Psult;int L1ilurps wl're, The Mark Ii w.ts recalled. Whal modifiM;irk 11 was IWV('r rec;il, IPllcrs were sPnt out to .i 11 pilots .iftcr Dusty St.ipp's ,1ni dent 1101 just Midi ow1wrs, hut ,1// pilots, i them of the .iccidc,111s th,it h,id happerwd, and th,11 we f(,11 thal there w,is d potPnti.11 m,iintPn,rnce p1ohl(·m, WP ,ilso rPcommerHlf'd inst,11, ling .i Hi" innH slPl'V(' in .ill cro;,;,p,irs of ,di l)r,igonflies to protect against m.1int(" 11;111cp ,111d to lmpdully <'limi, 11.11c ,iny furtlwr lily of othPr no,;s, par L1ilurc·s of tlw rc'ci·;o11, Thi,; modific.itio11 innc'dSPd the of the cros•,p,ir .ip1iroxi l5 '!i.·, ,md ,1 Ilowcd ;111 incrl'd'iC'd mcirgin of c•v<:n if t/Je nos,;p,u w,1s poorly rn,1in1ai11C'(L

Whal load on !lw

was done on the Mk to Newnam's

Th(' Midi (ram(' w,is pr,1ctic<1lly id,·ntic,i/ to tfw Mkl fra rrw, which was stat ica I ly lo.id IPsied The crosspar w.is stqiportPd ,1t lmtl1 ends while ll 10 lbs of p<>ople were lo,idc:d into tlw control h,ir, WP h<1d them jump 11p and dow11 wh i IC' I I he no',',flM out of column d few thinking it would LtiL It didn'L ThP Mkll wa,, then tc",I flown thrnugh every unusu;d flying .11 titurlc ih,it Id Cesar c01Jlcl <Jll.ii11, which included 120° wingovers and lwyond· vc'rticil dives, f'hc I ')2 w;is flown by lollm,1r1, whom I obsPrv,,rJ put it all unu,ual attitudes, including I 20° wingovf'rs <111d vertical dive";.

acc~1dent, whai load what

Scott's

we' set up in our

d st.ti ic test fix! ure which si mu l,iied

in flight

on th(' cm'i'ijl,H of .i I 92 ;1irfr;11rn!, A IHidlc w.is used 1o the load to tlw ai rfrd me• i 11 ;1 sirnil,ir m,1r11ir'r ,is the s,1il, ,rnd over twenty nossp,ir'i, both slePved .i11d un, slc·evPd, wcr(' lo.ided to dP,lructirnL In ;1dditicrn, W(' wnc' vpry in1Prcs1cd in comp,1 ring the rPldt i w st rengl hs of ;1 piece crossp.ir ,1nd .i wc on the We IPslcd two I Y4 f,iilcd at 6ltJ lbs ,ind 60/l lhs rl1cn WC' testPd two I Y4 x crosspars, such as those used on Scol1 I\.Jew11,1rn's ,rnd failed al 6'i0 lbs all(] Tlw rPsults of these, tests were .ilino,t HAI\IG GLIDING

what our prior c;1lcuL1tiom h;id i11dic.1ted, I hPrc· ,1ppcars to lw no differ·· c'nU' between a ',i piece nosspdr a11d ,1 two ncVisp;H, since ii is only the di•;tann' liPtWCl'fl tho ,111d ilw lwdrt !Jolt or bolt th.1t dl'IPnni1H'S tlw column le11gll1, rl1ere is d popul.ir mis, th,1t ,1 cro,sp;ir i•, mo1·e (11,1s gre.itcr colwmH,11d fixity) ih,rn ,1 lwo piccP crossp,ir. 111 our IPsh, tlw OIH' piece' uos,p,1r deflected in ,111 s"bcn<L 011(' side would ddlecl forw,ml whilP thl' othC'r ddlC'c\('d rc<1rwc1nL rl1us thl' cC'nlcr would pivot on the heilrtbolL

llw two pil)CC crossp;irs both ddlectecl re,trw,ir<L We' tht'11 lested various combinations of h .ind w,1ll thick1wss of i11ne1 slei'ves on our crmsp.irs. The Ilest combination for mode of ddlcction, ,ind weigh! w.is ,1 1 )CJ x ,04() (i061 T,,6 crosspdr tube i111wr sle('V('d with a 72" length of 1 ':i,, x ,Ol'i 6061 T 6 tuliing with !dpC'n·d enck fhis inn<'dS(·d 1h(' strength of the 192 cro,sp.ir liy (,O'l, it d margin of simu/<1t<' dctual fli1;/1I /cJ,1c/s, 'j lhs, ,1s the ultimille load of t/1<'

cms11i,1r, a11c/ that /Jy the c 0111/Jini'd wf'ights o/ Scoli N<'wnam (I/JS

lbs) ,rnt/ his on Scott New11am

( 4S lhs,), the fond Ii mil is ,lf)fJroxi,

:!Jg's.

what modifications were made? After Scott NPw11,irn's we· im,, """"' ,v notified bytelqiho1w all Spyder pilots (1101 just 192 SpydPr pilots) of which !here were then twelve, telling them nol to fly tlwir until we: made dciditional lo.1d c,1/cul.itions ,ind pcrfornwd .1ddi· tion,il t('sts to det<'rminc' whether or not there w,1•; ,1 des deficiency in thC' After completion of our calcul.1" !ions ,rnd st.ilic lo,1d h'sting, which took we sent out inner sl<'cving desni lwd wi I h det,1 i led in, stall.1tion instruc1ion, to each Spydcr owner, one week latPr, we followed up by telq1hone each ow11er to be sure that tlwy had made modification .1nd dorw tlw installation We feel that this crosspdr modificntion with inner slet,ving probably gives the of the s!iongest ;1irframes i11 Since our modific1tio11 prog,

rarn w;is initiated, many of the other 111,111, uf,1cturer, h,1ve eitlwr incre,1sC'd the di,Hnetc'r of their crossp,irs or liavr' ddckd inni'r siC'cv·1n,u, Wt' h<1vP now lcarrwd th,1t ihP cross:i.11, h,is IJCPl1 ilw weakest llMt of thC' h,mg glider air!r,1rr1c', not ju•;t oms, liut most cveryont'' ,,

In the process of HGMA have shown up? LJ11til dllY 111;11rnfaclur(·r co111plt'tes 11w ('lllirt' IICMA certific.ition pron,durP for ,lily , we' c,rnnol hom'stly t!'IL We can s.1y that in kr·ep111g with tlw industry st,111(L1rcl,;, tlw glider Wd', de,, to h,we ,1 11 g lo,id limit with ,1

would these

nC',IS Sldt)(/ard, u·r1uirr•, ",i positive ulti, mnlc /oac/ faclor c·qu<1/ lo (Vcl/V,)i, <'Xn'p/ such loacl factor musl he ,lt lea·,/ I 4, ', and is 110/ n'quirecl lo ('Xn'C'(I , <,, Vd is t/1e lop 1/lC'f'<i c1nc/ Vs i•, th<' of the'

,ii the mean recommenrlerJ

!odciing'.' Using this r·c1u;lfion ,rncJ ndvert isecf fo1 cural<'),

maximum 1pc·ecl (4511 SJI

91~ load limit

exn'1·d the max, imum /o,ic/ /irnil tl1e must he slr<'swd for I,, 1;'1 in ordl'r to rnmr,111 with I /CMA s/am/arc/s,

Sine<' this

clocs

tified? All n'quin,d unusual ,ittituclc, lesls ,111d pM,H1H'i('rS have ht'('l1 SU( completed, !his o< cum,rJ prior lo tlw sail' of ,my of thc'SP to cu, !orners, and Iii(· Firefly will be' Both the halloo1HJroppcd, and in fl load tcsil'd for both ive and rwgative lo,ids heforc, April HJ, This completr· sequence' will be filmed for I fCMA as proof o( cornpli,rnn', With th<' advenl of the n,,r,,,i.,itn system, we c;rn do all

I JCMA l(:sts withoul i('.ll of the rc><,ults of an i1dlight f,iilurc. further, we are currently building a lest vehicle, which will tJP llSt>d for ,rn,umr"' (in flight) load 1r'sli ng and pitching mo, m<'nt rl1e test vehicle should fw operational within the next two and it will be available to any major m,rnuf<1clurer in the industry who wishes to cv,ilu,Jtp his II is (/oubtful, 1na1 many

Ifie marf<t,t nwel the stringC'nt load tests

required lw IIH' I /CMA rf1t, UP Scott NC'wnam was flying did not, Only when manufacturi'rs with I ICM/\ stanc/,irc/s can the consurner be' confident that his will withstand all hut the most extrenw

by Jim Walker You may or rnay not be aw,1re of it, but one fairly busy topic of conversation around glider manufdc:turC'rs tlwse days, is "certificition". The l1CMA (Hang Clider M,rnufacturf'rs Assn.) has prepared, largely through the effort<; of Cc1ry Valle, a set of regulations for certification of hang gl idf!rs which is pa1terned after the Feder a I Aviation Regulations. These regulations require the manufacturer to test, dnd sub·· mil proof of such testing, on each model of glider he man uf.icl ures. (It is esti m.ited that it will cost at least $2000 to certify each model.) The tests wi II cover strength of structure, stability, control, and some aspects of performance. Wlwn a glider passes these tests, the manufacturer will then put a sticker on Pach glider which states its pilot weight range, stall ,,peed, dive speed, list any maneuvers or conditions the glider is not safe for, i!nd tl1ings it is safe for, such as towing ,rnd so forth. All this is good except that most man· ufacturers don't sC'crn (or al least haven't in tlH' pas\) willing lo expend lhe time and money to go through a vigorous test progr;im that O'rtification will require. Why arc they doing it now? Probably a couple of reasons. A fair number of gliders have suf.. fered strnctural failure' and fallen oul of the in the last y(;ar. Since the gliders have started to use tighter and tighter billows, the frame stress has gone up immPnsely, and some of them have broken. And many more gliders that are flying right now are not strong enough for the loads they can pull. A manufacturer can stand the bad press it gets wl1Pn its gliders don't win a contest ("we didn't have our best flyers out there"), l)Ut wlwn a glide1· just folds up and drops like a rock, that's BAD PRESS. Another reason for the recent interest in certification, is that the USI IGA has voted to require that gliders entering sanctioned competition show thal they have met and passed the I ICMA specifications. Clider manufacturers 1wed to he able to enter and do wPII in the nationals and other contests. It means sales. Without sales, a manufacturer is iust a hohbiest and manufacturing hang gliders is a very expensive hobby. In ,iccorclance with the US~IGA "Foot Launch Hang Glider Official Competition Rules" (which are ;ivailable for $2.00from the USI IGA) every production glider entering the nationals in Oklahoma this year will

Bill Liscomb flys an instrumented ASG-21 with a remote indicator bomb feet below the Bettina

MAY 1977

h,1w lo haw an HGM/\ "Certificate of /\ir-

worihine:,s." Well, wl1,1t' involvPcl in the t(;sl lJnderllw st,illility and control section, the hc1s to show convergent trim which is ,1 w,1y of saying that ii you put it i11 ,1 turn, or a dive, or stall many of the above, it will return to ;ind 11or111dl flight liy itself. Try it on your glidPr sonwti1m when you art' up rc,11 high. Put it in ,1 11icc Hl 0 bank turn and let loose o( Ille bar. The glidl'r must return to straight level flight by itsl·lf. Th,1t' one of 111(; tesls. The same tesh ,ilso lo dives and stalls. II also Ira', to be ,dile to roll from 4'1'' i>,rnk tum one w,1y to l>ank turn tht· oilier way in S ',PC Some gliders currently on tlw markPl wi II have trouble pas,;i ng tlwsc' tests. Unckr the structure; sc,ction, the glider wi II h,1ve to lw c1!Jle to t,1 ke ,1 certain g Iodd, without struc1ur,il iailurc, based on ih rc1nge. I\ n,1rrow rc1ngt' glidPr c,in only pull ,1 low number of g's while a high r,111gP r1w,111s 1hdt the glidl·r cr111 pull higher g rliese ,He c,illed rn,11WUV('I lo,Hls. For ,111 ,\ r;rnge of 20 to 30 mph 11ie,111, ,1 rn,iximurn rna1wuvc·r lo,HI of about g's, while .i range of 20 to SO mph n,c,,rns ,l rn,rneuvcr !odd of ,1bout 6. g's. I didn't just rnakf' tlfr; up, and glider peopll· didn't either; it's a well known ,rnd usPd ;1i crilt'ria. [hen, ,He 1

hly a lot of current that won't pass this section. Our initi,il structure tests show the crossbar is one nitic;1I mPml)('r, ;ind that's not ng. What is surprising is that thC' control bar, made from I inch liy .CHU tubing may ,ilso IJe a !em. Don't fly with ;i control bar that has iil!Pn bent. Anyway, the nPrlnnn,., n,, P

sc1y "stall or HJ or even (J"( llC'cause nobody has rnadP them tt<II th(' truth and it sounds neat. /\nd surpri 1;ingly, most peoplP don't know what tlw stall rP,illy arr.,. To measure tlw ,1ir,1nd thus the st,dl speed, you have to measure outside the air disturbed by the . I\ good rule of thurnh is that th(; air i disturbed wilhin a distan1e ,iround the c1ircraft. I\ 32 fool span glidPr is surrounded liy ,l lump of messed up ,iir that's (to use this rule of thumb) (,4 f<'Pt thick, ,ind even wider1h,rn that. So howcb you meas11re stall speed? One way is to use ;1 tr,1ilrng boml> with ,\ rernote reading

is 22"

and so forth. What instrur1wnts will h,1V(' ,1 at low speed ,rnd then conw close to agr<'(' ing ,JI high (S<'c Figure 2) One(' lhe rna11ui.Klurprs h,1vp to stdf't nw;i,;uring some of this d,it;i the ,ids ,m' bound to improve', lwcausc righl now they arc 11ot much bettPr th,rn Lliry ta!(><,. What it all rne;rns is tlut gliding is more control !Pd, ,ii though tlH· con~ trol is for now, sci ( f'IH' sport is going to lw harder for ,1 sm,111111,inufocturi ng co11cem to make it Butt h,• wi 11 he s,1ier, and wlut inlcrE'sts a lot of fl('opk·, they will gel better. Orw of tlw side effect\ of ,ill this ((",ting will be datci ,ind inform,1 lion, and that is onP thing that this sport has bPen lacking. Up until now, ,1bout 99% oi Ilic ,1ctu,1I sci('11tiiic dal,1 ,rnd f,Hh about hang gliders werr· publislwd by N/\SA in the f>fl's ;ind hr,fore. /\lmo;,t nothing is known ,ibout rnodPrn 1wrforrna11c(' ,,ail glider,,, but the s,irnc equipnwnt ,md th,ll will bl' used to your lll'Xt gl id Pr wi 11 c1I so IH' used lo rrn'd',ure, for tlw lir,,t tirm', the rl',1/ glide r,1tio ,ind re,1/ sink r,1tP. /\nd when that h,1ppP11s you will lw su1 to find th,it tlw ,ids h,1vpn't lwl'n ,rny more rc,ilistic with sink and I /I) th,1n th('y have been with stall OnP !;1st note. Ii you are pLrnning on flying competition this surnllll'r, 11H'l111wr that you 1n,1y 011 the contest) have to show < C'rtiiic,1. lion. So write the 111al«'r of your ,rnd ,isk how he' doing on his test progr,1rn. You rnight just h;ive to ch,rngc br,ind, of glider Certification will lw rpquircd at tlH' nation,ils ,rnd the world championships, and som(' of the m,1jor flying sites will sL1rt requiring it by next yedl'

I illustrates affec1ecl airllow trial surrounds glicior ;iir·snPPri indicator IJelow the glider as you

fly along. (Se(i Figure 1) You cornp,m' the ,.,,."''""you get off the "homl./' with readings you W't off ;1 ccrnvc0 ntionally 111ounted /\SI (air indic,itm), on the control bar or so1m' such. rhen you make a ch,Ht that "when the control b,n /\SI reads 1 the re,il ,;,,·,umd is 19. when the con, tml bill /\SI reads 1

of the glider is fYll),1sured. It is then tested to the g load limit indicated r,rnge. Om, of lhe n,,1so11s this pmgram is going to bl' cxpPnsiV(' is th,it 011( ,1 ,:i,1111,,·111,1 lo this kind of testing, ii

the real

''. I

:1-

for

HANG GLIDING

must rlemor1strc11c< ,; st,ill rnph and a dive of It must have an 1./D of di re1:.iuirern1')nls would <dimi-

with a wing loading of 1 lb/sq. stall any slowPr than about 17 mph, and with of I ·1 or 1 or even I. the bottom possihll: stall closer to 20. do tlw ads

It. to have

now there j,; ,1 very interestIf you read you are bound to conclude that most modern have ,1 stall of about I 2 miles per hour. That's not only wrong, it's not even close. :1,,,.n,l\/n;imi,·" I ly i rnpossi ble

Iii

for ;inythi11g but the

least

II 11iITit.,

l ~ij

,. ..

l..

II' l

ii 'l

l 1\

inaccurate airspeed indicators are when mounted on the glider, Hie air,;1)€,ads (It is to note that were rnade inflir"Aitm 1mrn 1ntrod On (hEJ COf1tFOI fiQ ft urn,ffe,ctE,d airflow.) The example shows tliat at mpr1

fAA Flight Service Station, Concord, N.H. J. Edward Coodwin, Chid New Fngland slate ;wron;rntical authorities Phillip W. Simpson, Maine David W. Craharn, MassaclwsPtts C;ordon Bunker, New Harnpshirl' Richard F. Hurd, VPrrnon1 (Conm'cticut & Rhode Island not prl'sPn\)] !\/Jen: I would like lo introduce a few peo

After the demonstration flight on the powered Merlin, members of the FAA gather around glider to inspect and ask questions. 1\//en: llowdy! This is a nweting primarily lwtween the NPw England region of thP U.S. 1lang Cl idi11g Assn. and the New Eng· land region of tlw Federal Avi,1\ion Administration. We'vt> been informed th,it the FAA is here ... not so much lo tell us wh,it's going on, not so much to re,,d policy to us or lo answt>r questions, hut [ rat l1N I to ask quPs1 ions, to see wh,it WP' rP doing. Mr. JJohnJ V.in Horn from thP Portland CADO IFAA Ceneral Aviation District Offiu• I is the purson I've Ileen working with [for! by getting in touch with myself and Don McCabe, who is <1nollwr USHCA Director in this region. IM r. Van I lorn I, wou Id you Ii ke to introd ucc the people here th,1t you h,we/ Van /lorn: Thank you I am from the Portl,1nd, Maine CADO. We handle the aviation activities in Maine, New Hamp· shire, and Vermont I would like to introduce'. [FAA Ceneral Aviation Division, Washington, D.C. Mike Sacrey, Opns. Safety lnsp., Certific.11 ion & Opns. Sect. (.i lso sai J. plane pilot with some hang gliding experience)

D. Coppadis, Principal Opns. lnsp. fAA CADO, WPi;tfiPlrl, Mass. Dick Northrup, Unit Chid John Craham, ident l'rPvPntion Spl'ci;i I isl FAA CADO, Norwood, M,1ss. E. B ,1 rrw,, Ac c id<' 111 I' rev en ti o 11 Speci,1list f"AA Boston Air Route• Traffic Center, Nashua, N.11. Ray Cerrn;rn, Controller (,1lso skydiver)

plC': John Moody frmn Milwaukee, Wisc. he is rc;illy the person who got all this off the ground. In Parly 197rj he put an engine on a glider sornewhat ,;irnilarto the hipl,rnp !Easy Riser] you seP in the background here and prov<'d that all of this is possible. It's gone from therp [to where Jhe is casi ly the Li rgcst producer of engine kits for hang I le's primarily involved in hipl,rnes which probably hav(! thl' number of ;iirnaft th;it h;ive hc'l'n motorin'd ,it this point in time. lrom here at f I ight Rc'sources Co--op, TNry Sweerwy h,,s lwen the person

who has dorw thP most in this area lo lwlp get motorized ha11g gliders going. I-le has conccntraled prim.irily on flex wing rkvelopments. Up until recPntly, most peo· pie felt th,it "motorized hang gliding" meant rigid wings. tn fact, llO'X, oft he hang gliders in this country ar(! flex wings and il's qui\e Iha\ now thesP gliders are becoming motorized, too. John Winsor has been working with Terry quite a bil ... lie docs ,1 lot of the rnachinist work and most of the actual fly.

f'AA New Engl,md Region Office, Burlington, Mass. V.C Brown, ChiPi, Air Carrier/Cen'I. Avn. Branch L. I. CC'ne Turner, Asst. Chief, Engr. & Mfg. Branch C. Baird, Opns, Specinlist (also sai lplanP pi lot) !AA Eng. & Mfg. Div. Office (EMDO), S0u1h Windsor, Conn. Ray Morin, Mfg. lllSp. (inspects all New England powerPd hang glidC'rs) FAA Cen'I Avn. Dist. Office (CADO), Portland, Maine John Van Horn, Chief J.A. Ferrucci, Opns. Unit Chief Donald B. Smith, Airworthiness Unit Chief

Bill Allen addressing meeting between FAA and local pilots. MAY 1977

ing i11 thic, ;ired I k's tlw onP who developed the kePl-mour1ting system T h ,1 I o n <' I rn o t o r i e d K :, t r (' I i n I h,1,,11'1 flown yet . one !Merlin] we'll u,;v for the dcmonstr.itio11 flying i,, ,1 set up Oil the hill w.iiting for us. LJ11fortun,1tpJy, we don't h;ivp ;ill the peopl(• h<•rc yet. W(• h,ive .i couple of 1m•,idt•nts of 111,rnuf.1cluri11g firrns th,11 will lit• corning in I'd like to introduu• Sarn rrancis who is IVice-l'resident I of tlw Soaring of !\ nwric,1 I'd like to ask fw d show of h,rnd, of Plllh usiash we've got , <>re. I i ••,I of ,ii I, how manylwrehavP ,1ctu,1//y 1/ow11h,1 id(•r>, not necl"i,.irily motorized I iftcen. !The numlH•r u lll'ntly rTHHl' thc111 doubled W./\.A. ]. I low m,rny h,ive flown with an engim' on/ lour. I low rn,rny arc putting ,111 P11gi1w 011 n1ore. I low rn;111y w,1111 to/ IL.i That' tlw h.iLrnce. I gliding lids ,i rPally Pxtensive sl'lf n•gulation dfort and I'd likP to Lilk about th;it. As most of you are ilW,HP, through Advisory Circul.ir 60-10 i11 I 97'1, tlw FAA recogni1l'd this,., <'ffort ,rnd s.iid ii would c1n eye on us but would continuP to leav!: it up to the m,rnufdcturcrs' org,rni;,1. tion ,HHI both the loc.11 ,md n,1tion,1I clubs to sc, thC'msPlvPs. Although we've certainly had our prolJll'ms s,ifetywisP, thosf' of 11s in authority f<'Pi better th,111 ever ,ibout how sucn•ssful we'vl' IJr,cn with ldtion. Thl'n' ,trl' p,11'h of tlw country thc1t havl' a ways to go SomP dr<:ds 'iuch as New 1= ,ind ,HP doing quite well IUSIICA I full Division of the N.i, tion;il Ac•ronautic Assn. in W.ishington, thP U aero club having to do ITC and contests, and such. We with ve on the National Aviation Council, which represents sport aviation to the FAA in W.ishi11gto11. We're a subscriber to !he lntPmational Code under till: Federation Aero11.iut l111Prn,1tionalP in l'c1ris. We represent about h,ilf the sel effort in this country. flw other half Ii ] the Hang Clid(•r Manufacturers Assn lllCMAI.. ;ireatthispointin lime hPavily into establishing an of airworthiness certification progr,1111., lis] requiring that, nThP USI I with the N,itionals ICh,1 ipsl in Ju di! uction gliders that fly in the N,1tionals h,ivc: airworthiness ct>rtificatPs. This puts a tremendous .irnount ofpressLJr(' on 1nanufc1cturers to because, to sell in this country a1 gl you have wPII with it in

HANG GLIDING

In this region, in ,iddition to LJSI !CA, we h;1ve ,1 lot of I()( ,11 clubs, such ,is till' ConlH'<tirnt club, the lloston club, clubs representing Vermont and M,.1inc, ;md we hav(' ,111 i11form,1I group of pilot in this ,11-p,1 krmwn ,is thP llushwackers Club you h,wc• lo l,111d in a treP to qualify. And ju,,t two weeks ,1go we formed the New f ,rnd fed('r.Jlion of llang Clidi11g Cluh,,. One of th<' purposes of thi fedt'r.ito carry along further the scltdforts of the US I Cliding A<;,11. I le y won't want to be recognized ,ls lw w,ilkcd in l,itc lw drove all the w,iy from Fllington, Conti. this morn ing, •,o he', got ,111 Pxcuse Fe! Vickery just w,ilkl'd in I l<''s president of which i', one of tlw l,irgest rnanuf,1ct11rl'rs of gliders in the United SL1tes. llc's,1 mcmlwroflllCMAl. lfyou w,1111 lo see ,1 full 11,ing glider foctory tfw way it's rnn tocL1y 011,1 modern k•vPI, ,111d if d like to find out about what tlw I ICMA i•, doing m1 testing prograrm, you might like to t,ilk with him l<1icr on. Motoriz(•d hang glidi11g rh1ily got its st Mt, ,is I •;;iid, in 1<J7'i, hut it ha,s 11't grown too (,1st until tlw end of last year. All of ,1 s11clck11 it'•; rc•ally getting off thP ground now fast John is quite• busy. Terry is a11swc>ring the• phone ,di the lime in ;rnswl'r to questions from ,iii over the' country

High overhead, ,Jonathan Winsor demonto FAA officials, the capabilities of powered ultralights,

With John' efforts ,md the dforts of ,I f Pl low in f lorida, who u11lortu11,1t(!ly couldn't he hen; tml.1y J,H k Hutchinso11 11 Lrng-Fm 11 Inc. I, itlH· spurt hc1s some I units rt'.idily ilv.ii lc1bll' for rwoplc to put on tlwir gliders. llut outside of thme two ef. forts ,rnd c1 r,1tlwr limitPd 11umlJC'r of glider,; 1h;1t the units ciln go on, PnginC's arl' no/ c1vail,d1IP di this point in ti nw to go on gliders for Pvvryorw who wants them right off ihC' hat, ibutl we're right ,1rou11d tlw coriwr from h,iving thdt c,1pabil With this winier then'' lwen a rwmbt'r of probl(•ms ,ind OIH' has hvPn th,11 ltlw wt•at her I helped to putt he sport in sort of ,1 people don't w,mt to rnorwy as much for obvious reasons. Also, d lot of our flying site's h,lV(' been closed. Fxtr.i snow has closC'd somc of the sit('S in the east In C1lifomi,1 without r;1i11, tliP ForPst Service kcPps the high ,1n•,1s closed . lwcausc• of the fire ha/,Hd The Los AngC'll'S ,m'.i has tlw conc('llir,1ted glider ,ictivity in tlw whole country ,llld, dS of about ,1 month ago, it w.is down to l,1hout] two flying sites. You just know that all those people ,HC' going to w,1111 fly ,rnd I ,iren't .ill lo drive to S,1n lr,rncisco to do iL So rnotms ,ire goi11g to get ,111 impetus from the weather in addition to thP f,1ct that people are just quite excited about the c;ip.ibi I ity Ii n It's ohvi ous, I think, to evPryorw herf', that you crn go out ,rnd fly from near home. You don't have to spend ,1 lot of tinw and gas driving to and up to ,1 hang gliding site. 111 thi area we h,1vc to walk up to most of our sitPs. Another reason !for fast I really comes from outside of ihP sport . ,! lot of editors are tired of running ,irticles on hang glidPrs just ,is they are. Put an 1w on ;i hang glider and tlwy'vp suddenly got sornething th,11 they're really interested in telling the readers about So all the articles you are going to see in Mechanix Illustrated ... and places like that are going to he• ah out powered hang gliders. That' going to bring more pPople i11to this ,port, p,irticul.irly just forthisrnw ,Ktivity.

Continued next monlh: FAA

Baran

Being a hang glider enthusiast from the i '.S., a geologist working in Sudan, ancl a guy with three weeks off, I decid('d lo fly myself and my glider south for llw winter. In South Africa I was warmly welcomed hy M<1rtin \Ian Der Merwe. It was through Martin that I met and flew with most of South !\frica'.s finest flyers, including Tim James. (Tim flew 74. l l<m or 46 miles in less than 2 hrs.) I had the opportunity to interview Tim over a slf'ai< at a f3raai (Bar-/3-.(.)) on rny last night in Johannesburg. The following is an account of his fantastic flight.

Nineteen year old Tim, an aerodynamics student at a technical college, was up early Sunday, Feb. 6, studying. Al 7:00 AM he called the Aerometer Reprni at Jan Smuts Airport. The wind was gusling from 16 to 20 knols at 150°, a good direction for the Magaliesberg r;rnge to the north of Johannesburg. In lhe Transvaal the winds usually turn northerly c1fler blowing from the south in the morning so it was easy to gel back to studying. 9:00 AM came and the wind hdd picked up to 26 knots. When the conditions

remained the same at 10:00 that was the end of studying aerodynarnics. Tim doesn't own a car, so he hitched rides and rode a train home lo wh<'re his Mk-llB Dragonfly was wa iii ng. The flight crew, Tim's mother, sisler and two friends, was readied and they left around I :00 PM. On the drive to the Magaliesbcrg Range near Prcloria, one of two possible takeoff sites had to be chosen. The sites were 7 km. apart and separated by a gc1p cal led Hornsnek. The site just west of this wc1s chosen since Tim knew he would al least be assured of a 20 km. flight west to I lartebeestport Dam. No one had ever attempted to jump the dam nor had anyone flown west, past it. The glider was assembled on tqp of the ridge at 600 ft. ACL. As a precaution two topo maps of the r;rnge were rolled up and inserted into the truncs of the Dragonfly. Wind speed readings were taken for ten rninules and showed gusts of 26 to ]fl knots! A site 50 feet lower was moved to and here the

wind measured ,l mon· reilsonabl(' 24 to 30 knots. A last minute check, then a smooth takeoff. 11 was 3: 55 PM. The cl imh after takeoff was quick, and after a couple of passes Tim was soaring 1000 feet above the pine and palm trees of the emerald valley below. Tim waited two minutes to al low thP fl ighl crew to be on its way, then it was non-stop for the next IO krn. Being pushed by a 30° cross wind, his ground speed must hc1ve been 50 to 60 km/hr as he kepi up with tr;iffic on the highway below. Silkaatsnek, the first major gap, lc1y ahead. To clear this gap, Tim atlained his highest possible altitude then flew out from the ridge. When he began to sink he turned down wind and headed for the west end of Silkaatsnek with his vario reading in excess of 1500' /min. On reaching the cliffs on the other side his glider was pitched into a violent wingover towards the rocks. Ti in pulled the bar to his knees and in the last few sec-

MAY 1977

onds lhe kile hack 'JO feel from 111P cliff's face. L;itcr lw the Ii.tr· [\1rn. No one had ever nmsed krn. gap

with its exp;rnsc of watpr and lrces. The same mPthod was (;rn ..

as in Silkaatsnek hul this time then' was IC's', sink and tl1(: harrier w.is ove1·. ('()Ill(',

ovn it and slartecl tumbling the cliff Lice. Tim Pncou11lerf!d the worst lmbulencc of tht· fl .ind aftpr a vpry sudden and uninten1ional 1BO he searclwd for ;1

for anotlwr hitch hike ,ind

may very well do just !Jut he'll sl,Ht f.1rther away ,rnd land in tlw same Tlw

in am;izprnent. Tirn was usherc·d into th<·

food WdS gre.il I

land

Afric,rn vulture. Thcs(! birds, sometimes numbering I '50, becarnp his trav<'I mm .. for the next 16 km. ;111d swal lows also not to nwntion ;m o<cc1 .. sional group of baboons in the forest lwlow. One more gap w,is krn. past the and Ii m was the treC'tops to rem;iin in the> air at the end of it. The next 20 km brought him a feel i 11g of lone I iness. He was now more than 70 krn from takeoff and over an hour and 45 min. ute>s into the Here the tPnded towards the northeast and the air ceased

HANG GLIDING ttHA/

Upon bwing

train ride l10mP, Mr excl.ii "Well done, and fly f.irther m·xt 1impl" Tirn

(com) field as lwo Boers (farmers) look<·d on

A while latPr Tim spotted d <Luk leaving the cliff face in the distdncc'. It w,is soon hy others ,md h(' rt>aliz<,d that tlw cliff'> ,dwad were c;illed Whit<> Rock, a popular sile for watch a South

fl()\A/

w;is made in d rnel iPs

f.ll'rnhousc whue he feasted on

kudu meat, and fresh

\\\

I by Charlie Baughman Fig. 1 Landing on top behind rotor.

Charlie Baughman, one o( the best-known and highly respected of all hang glider pilots, is not. an easy person to get to know At his local flying site in Colden, Colorado, he typically drives to the Lop of the hill and spends the cfa 11 flying (/anding on lop whenever the lift begins to die, and taking off again when it picks up.) At the end of the day he loads his glider back onto his van and drives home. He doesn't nec d a driver: he's totally se/f..sufficient. The only problem is that he cornpletelr misse~ out on the hull session taking place in the landing area at the bottom of the mountc1in. (Everyone's trying to figure out how Charlie manc1ges to get the best flights all day long!!!) In this article Charlie gives the read£'t: a few clues on "Land· ing On Top." 0

Landing on top of a mountc1in gives me an ecstatic feeling, a triumph over gravity. Without the help of the sun and the wind, gravity pulls me down. So I elect to land on top and wait a new cycle of good air. If I can stay one step ahead of the sink cycles, I can fly al I day long and hog the best Ii ft cycles. Thermal soaring birds are the masters of this art. They wait in trees for a big thermal to come through, then launch themselves into the core

since it had never been done there before. After we started soaring, lhe wind picked up to 20-25 mph. higher wind velocity increased risk of turbulence in the top landing areas. After about an hour, to my surprise, Pat landed on top to the north of a Microwave Radar Scanner. (By the way, stay away from microwave towers; they will cook you.) She picked a good spot. The slope of the ridge was steep but it gradually tapered off near the top. I also landed there and we decided to stop flying until the wind died. The safest way to determine what the air is doing in any given area is to fly a remote control glider there. RC gliders are very sensitive and will react to the slightest turbulence. Another way to check is by feel. The planned landing area should have a steady wind direction, the same as that of lhe takeoff area. If the wind has some other direction and is switchyor gusty, it is probably and unsafe for landing.' You can check the air a little higher up by throwing light as high as possible and watching their rnovement. note: Don't be a litter bug). They should flow back from the ridgeline in a smooth manner. The shape of the upwind of the landing area determines the type of

of the ridge in that particular area fig. A good ex.:imple of this situation is the Torrey Pines landing area and sailplane take-off-landing window. The slope of the ridge upwind of the landing area ideally should be rounded (see

Fig. 3. Sale for landing on top.

If a landing attempt is made on an upslope area (even on a very slight upslope), there may be too much liftto the glider down. Therm a I bubbles, breaking off of the top may also cause LI

Fig. 2 Glider path behind tow boat.

important to remember that flying on the inside of a turn offers no danger to the flyer. It just may cause the tow boat to have to go faster or make a wider turn to keep the tow line from going slack. If the tow line does become slack, the flyer should try to get over the vehicle path and fly slowly until the slack is taken up. If the glider is near the water when this occurs, the boat speed should be slowed as the line tightens, to avoid climbing the glider too fast. If the flyer has to land in the water, he should release the tow line just above the water, to avoid the glider being accidentally towed through the water, which will destroy it. If the glider has a strong tendency to track to the inside of the turn, a two point bridle will overcome that tendency, by allowing the glider to be towed by the release on the ·top of the control bar as well as from the release at the bottom of the control bar. This will increase the control la bi lity greatly under conditions which make turning difficult or lock-outs hard to avoid. The flyer should understand that most gliders will fly well from the top release alone, even in a turn, and that for the bottom line to be slack is of no consequence. The last flight towing problem is oscillation of the glider. This commonly occurs when beginners tow, and is minimized by using a two point bridle to limit the angle of attack of the glider at low altitudes while under tow. Almost without exception, experienced hang glider flyers do not oscillate when learning how to tow, except as a momentary occurrence in turbulence. Oscillation from side to side is usually caused by poorly timed over-correction and the best advice for the beginner is to relax and make small, prompt corrections. In turbulence side to side oscillation commonly occurs when flying prone, but is easy to stop after no more than a few cycles. If it should continue, the boat crew may want to momentarily cut the throttle and then reapply it. If the problem still persists, the flyer should use a two point bridle with the glider in question. Up and down oscillation is caused by a number of factors: flyer over-correction, towing fast with the glider topped, and rough water causing jerking on the tow line. Towing with a bridle may help or hurt HANG GLIDING

the problem, depending upon the cause. The problem is rarely serious. If the flyer will hold his body steady and avoid the urge to correct the oscillation, it will rarely become greater. If towing on a bridle, releasing the top line will usually stop it, and flying lower so there are forces on both the top and the bottom lines will also help. The worst threat to the tow flyer is structura I failure caused by excessive tow forces. The most effective protection against structural failure is the weak link mentioned earlier. Gliders used for tow should easily withstand 600 lb. of tow force. The next larger size of rope is %" braided polyethylene which has a breaking strength of 1200 lb. Gliders should not be subjected to this much tow force, and the glider reaction if the rope breaks is much harder to deal with. A point to consider for the flyer who thinks that a weak link is not necessary for safe flight: a glider flying at 30 mph may be exerting 300 lb. of force on the tow line. Including the weight of the flyer and glider the total lift produced by the glider will be around 500 lb. Should the glider be towed into a 1000 ft.Im in. thermal, there will be an increase in angle of attack and airspeed due to the resultant of the glider's forward velocity, and the velocity of the rising air, which will cause the glider to increase its lifting force 113% to 1065 lb. of force. Subtracting the 200 lb. combined weight of the glider and flyer, this leaves 865 lb. of force on the tow line. This is equivalent to 4. 33 G's of overload, exerted on the glider in just a second or two and lasting as long as the glider is in the thermal. With more tow speed or a stronger thermal, the forces could be double or triple the example just given. The weak link acts as a necessary overload protector against such invisible hazards. Placement of the towpoint on the con-

trol bar is a direct factor in the handlingof the glider and in the amount of lift it produces at a given airspeed when topped out (as high as it will go on the tow line). If the tow point is located too far back, the glider will produce greater lift than necessary, and may provoke structural failure at high tow speeds, while also adversely affecting handling under tow at low altitudes. This factor should be considered when changing a tow kite from prone to seat trim. · Conversely, when changing from seat to prone, if tow point place_ment. is moved too far forward, the glider will be impossible to climb to the top of the tow I ine at reasonable speeds. While there is a wide range of acceptable tow point placements, be aware of the possibility of misplacement. If a glider has excessively rearward tow point location, a bridle will make the glider flyable, however, a safer solution is to sweep the control bar a few more inches forward, or to move the release forward on the control bar if possible. The two point bridle also offers protection against structural failure by allowing the glider to fly at a lower angle of attack under high air speed conditions, however its real value is to protect the flyer from a bad tow at low altitude. The flyer should remember that the safe release procedure at excessive speeds is to release the bottom line first, and then the top line. The previous paragraphs explain the proper use of two important safety devices which, if applied properly, will virtually eliminate serious accidents in tow flying. However, the most important safety precaution will always remain good judgement on the part of the flyer, driver and observer. ......,

End of Part 1. Part 2 continued next month

Fig. 3 Two point bridle system.

ANG-LE OF A TT'Ac.K~ L I M /Tl NG- :STOPS l< rr/E.. I:. NTElePRISE 2.. F'O I NT' PULL.E.Y 8RIOLI:. ALL..DW/NG- IN-F/...IGrH-r' CJ.!ANCrE,. OP AN&LE, OF ATiAC..K... •

-roP LINE. CAN BE. RELt:.A5"E:.D

FIGURE:..:5.

LANDING ON TOP by Charlie Baughman Charlie Baughman, one of the best-known and highly respected of all hang glider pilots, is not an easy person to get to know. At his local flying site in Golden, Colorado, he typically drives to the top of the hill and spends the day flying (landing on top whenever the lift begins to die, and taking off again when it picks up.) At the end of the day he loads his glider back onto his van and drives home. He doesn't need a driver: he's totally self-sufficient. The only problem is that he completely misses out on the bull session taking place in the landing area at the bottom of the mountain. (Everyone's trying to figure out how Charlie manages to get the best flights all day long!!!) In this article Charlie gives the read.er. a few clues on "Landing On Top." Landing on top of a mountain gives ine an ecstatic feeling, a triumph over gravity. Without the help of the sun and the wind,gravity pulls me down. So I elect to land on top and wait for a new cycle of good air. If I can stay one step ahead of the sink cycles, I can fly all day long and hog the best lift cycles. Thermal soaring birds are the masters of this art. They wait in trees for a big thermal to come through, then launch themselves into the core and sky out. When the I ift goes sour they cruise away or park in some lofty perch and rest, watching for food and waiting for another good thermal. By landing on top I have also eliminated the need for a driver by driving the car down the mountain myself at the end of the day. Also a good reason for learning this may be the need for the flyer to warm up and rest if he is freezing or tired. Last summer, Pat Johnson and I were flying Francis Peak, Utah, for the first time, and we had no driver. Francis is about 4500' vertical and at least a 45-minute turnaround. I talked about landing on top, but I wasn't sure 32 I

1:c: >-

I wherei it would be safe, since it had never Ibeen done there before. After we sta~ted soaring, the wind picked up to 20-.i25 mph. The higher wind velocity increased the risk of turbulence in the to/p landing areas. After about an hour, to my surprise, Pat landed on top to the north of a Microwave Radar Scanr)er. (By the way, stay away from micrqwave towers; they will cook you.); She picked a good spot. The slope: of the ridge was steep but it gradually tapered off near the top. I also landed there and we decided to stop flying until the wind died. The safest way to determine what the air is doing in any given area is to fly airemote control glider there. RC glidelrs are very sensitive and will react to tHe slightest turbulence. Another way ito check is by feel. The planned landiing area should have a steady wind direction, the same as that of the takeoff area. If the wind has some otheir direction and is switchy or gusty, it is probably rotorized and unsafe for land,ing.' You can check the air a little higher up by throwing light objects as hig~ as possible and watching their movement. (Editor's note: Don't be a litter bug). They should flow back from the ridgeline in a smooth manner. The shape of the ridge upwind of the landling area determines the type of windflow in the top landing area. On I an :upslope windy day, a cliff-type ridge always has turbulence and rot<br-type activity on its downwind side. The turbulence can extend from thr~e feet to an indefinite distance behind the cliff, depending upon the wind velocity. The stronger the wind, the rougher the rotor. (See Turbulence Pa(t 2, March '77, HANG GLIDING) On a very light wind day (0-10 mph), there may not be any wind or turbulence behind a cliff. To be on the safe side, land as far back as possible. (s~e fig. 1). Shallow gaps and valleys that break up the continuity of a cliff allbw smoother airflow across the top

Fig. 1. Landing on top behind rotor.

of the ridge in that particular area (see fig. 2). A good example of this situation is the Torrey Pines landing area and sailplane take-off-landing window. The slope of the ridge upwind of the landing area ideally should be rounded (see fig. 3).

Fig. 2. Gap provides smooth air to land.

- .. - ...

---------- \ ,, ........

-------

Fig. 3. Safe for landing on top.

If a landing attempt is made on an upslope area (even on a very slight upslope), there may be too much liftto get the glider down. Thermal bubbles, breaking off of the top may also cause problems in getting the glider down smoothly. If the wind increases in velocity or changes direction, the planned top landing area may no longer be a safe place to land. Before attempting a top landing, a pilot should have a least 40 hours of soaring time, should be able to do very good 360's, should have plenty of altitude above the top landing area, and should be able to make pinpoint landings. He should also seek advice from the most experienced local pilots. Trouble will happen when a pilot is too inexperienced to land in the right area at the right time with the right altitude . ...,. MAY 1977

HANG GLIDING

I J

It was slightly downwind at the takeoff of La Cumbre Peak 4000 feet above the city of Santa Barbara. Patricia picked up the ASC 2 I that was two sizes too for her. Other pilots were takeoffs. Pat had never flown a ASC before and did not want to miss the chance she had now to fly l<ick Wilson's. U('r takeoff was flawless. The fact that she is a woman might have made the rnoment even more in the minds of some. At llw landing area after rnost of the flyers had gone home, the ex-gymnast, was doing flips off level ground onto her feet. I realizecl that her takeoff and the (/ips were for herself and not a conscious effort to perpetuate some sort of a reputation. She is just in love with /'lying, joking around, good times and liv(as opposed to ex1stir1fz).

is almosl say Patricia Johnson. What do you think of

gall to upa hook yourself into a kite and run down the side of a hill as fast as you can just 'cause you want to get your feet off the ground. But there's another thing we should talk about: why there are no harnesses for women bui It the industry. My harness I a friend of mine in Salt Lake had made and it's fitted for my body I ike ev1"rvtt11ng in it and about On top of that it's 20 suspension really funny looking so it's my protest to the industry for not making harnesses for women Evel'Y time somebody goes, "What the bell is that?", I say, "Well, if you come up with better ... It's really comfortable though, which is all that really matters. I was thinking that when I get pregnant I'll have to rnake a maternity harness not that I'm planning to do it in the near future. What's your life away from the site? Mow do you live I'm pretty much a typical air junkie I think. I live in my car and go where the flying wil I be good. I work when I have to .. if it doesn't interfere with my It's probably pretty typical of an air junkie, I think. Right now I've been in Santa flarbara for a few months and 11 ti probably leave for the summer. What are the pr(~rei~uisiti~s 11

When you ask the best woman

this? I doubt that I'm the best woman pi lot but I probably meet more hang glider pilots than most of the other women pi l~>ls. , , so I imagine if someone had to thin~ of who the best woman pi lot is they would think of me. Just becausp I'm the only one they've met who's above I Jang Level II. It seems kind of meaningless anyway to think of who is the best woman r,i lot. It just doesn't seem to mean that much. But I don't think of myself as the best woman r,ilot at all. No. It' turned out that I encl up running around a lot and a lot of people. I would like to think that there's a lot of really competent women pilots out in the tulies that I haven't met yet. Maybe tbat's not true. Why aren't there more women That's really a hard question. It's something I'm curious about myself. There's probably a lot of reasons. It probably has something to do witb just how a lot of women themselves as They don't think of doing something completely on tbeir own that they're to

ex1:Jer1erice alone , , which hang gliding is. At least during the flight itself you're PxnP1"1e1nc1rrn it alone. Do you know what I mean? Probably a lot of women outside it think that the the sport looking rnen are su/JP(JSE·CJ to be the ones but con-· quering tbe air, and they're the ones who're supposed to experience ii second hand through them after they finish driving the car down. It's really a shame. I'm kind of disappointed. I would have l'>"""''cu years ago that there'd have been more women pilots by now. How women (Hang Ill or better) you think there .are? I can tell you how many I've met. Probably not more tban 20. But that's nothing. That's hardly any. Now making that even a ·100-pound women could be flying, that could lift i.1p fairly and l;iunch. There's nothing rnasculine about the sport unless yourself at all is masculine. It takes a bit of

for

A lot of air time, a lot of different conditions. Mostly just wanting to be in the air. If you love to be in the you' re going to be in the air enough that you're just to pick ur, the ski Ils without really being conscious of saying, "I want to really get good at this, I want to get good at that. 11 It's mostly a matter of paying attention to what's going on and being aware and in the air a lot because you want to be there. What qu31iiti>es I can tell you what respect in the r,ilots I consider the real expert pilots ones I respect more than those pi lots who probably bave the same flying skills but lack

MAY 1977

I consider impor1;m1. I pilot who is li1tle rnorc who is I le doPsn't come on 10 feed his own ego, lw 1ries to actually tlw guy, And he'll 1ell hi clues lo 1nakc him a lw!ler pilol tlic lwconw bettPI I h,rn he

,rnd nw, "Wh;11's1l1,1I guy me/ I wc1s just him how lo fly not too ago!" I respect ',omemH' who doesn't 11p on thc1t, who dot>sn't mind sorneonc lwcorne ,1 bet1el' pi lot tl1.in he Ano1her is just considerate · abou1 the other pilots. Sometimes you ge1 up lo hill that's got a lot of and there'll bt> one guy and shoving hi,, way 1o the front of tlw lin<>, I le wants to fly and he' putt in down No 01w knows how lo fly no rnatte1· if lw hdd has some excuse for it r;ither than sonwone who c;111 admit when b\('W it, admi1 that 1\wv didn't do that well on the fl And I respect ",,Jornn,~I with someor1e who:;e you wonder a bout a rpa I headaclic for me at least. I h.ite to worry z1bnut 1hat per son who' in the air because of tfwir or bec;rn,c of how I think

person to sonwthing you t ,111 feel that IL

Francis PPal<! You know what 11:11nn'""'r1 there/ We didn't have a driver, We'd been of land i11g on top of this mountain anyway when wc, were up, we out these various spots ,rnd checked them out. "This will lw this will and this will be if WC driver and it w;is a haul to try to bum ride up, we soaring around for a while for quite a whilP ,md were gelling burned out HP from my view I lw'd landed at this one ou1 And I

him there," I hc1ve gone ok so I landed, The next know Charlie and say, "How the and I go, "What/?!!" all that intenlionaL beautiful to land, HANG GLIDING

a friend of mine in lake and it's fitted 20 suspension points. On top ol that it's really everytt1ing in it not making harnesses for wonum."

workPd out g1·eat. We just had to a few fe>et and launch ag,iin, So lent. I've landed on that n1ountain several tinws since then. It',; real

your

renJrd?

re,d poor I've never got past ifications. I've only flown in meets l,1s1 I flew in thP Escape Country World Open and thC' Mountain Nationals, Both timPs I just got so 1wrvous about the whole I let all the pressure and 1hc PnNgy get 10 nw, l',irt of it, I think, is th,it I'm no1 all that stoked ,ibout in the in the first I don't know I even went to the meet, .. I'd look around and see all of these who I know better than I am and I'd just let it intimidate me,, I'd go, "Whal am I doing here/" I'd get too much attention because lherc aren't enough of us worrn·n in We !Pn times the attention thc1t any one> of guys does even though it' nol cJc. servE•d, It has to do with how we're

,c1,""""""· rny stomach is just in knots and after the flight I'd realize th,it my brain wasn't even "ni""''"'1 I'd like 10 that hopefully other worrn•11 to do ii Hopefully srnrne·rL1v I'd be ahlP to s;iy, "Yec1h, I flew in that rneet as w<>II I'm of flying." Those two meets We're frustrating I I bombed out and that was tota I ly my

who arP friends ot bummed 0111 lwcc1usp gotten screwed out of the nwet for that had nothing to do with pilot skill or how th(' glider tlew. It really didn't 111ea,11re wh,11 ii w,1s lo he rneasuri ng, It was sorne fluke ,rnd here gotten totally scrPwed out of the meeL Like what is this even for? If it's 1101 measuring the skill of the ,rnd glider, what is it I think ting a lot closer to tho,e lwo meets were pretty far from it

So you feel that contests aren't measurement of skill? No, the pilots who win them ,ire c1mong the top as for as skill, but the guy who gut 30th be just th(• way are set up now, !he guy who gotcutonlhefirstcut becauseofconditio11s migh1 be just ,is a pilot ,is the guy who ends up winning iL Hut I think to win it you do have to bed good piloL It definitt'ly takes skill and judgment and perforrnc1nce on the lo win the rm·el, but it doesn't tc1ke 1he lack of all those to !OS!' it

How would you like run? Well, i1 sounds like I wasn't at the Masters but everybody who I ta I ked to who was there said that it was run real welL Well, the way worded it w;is that the Masters was the first real meet bee14 to. So having one on one or at least heats (continued on page 4/l)

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THE HANG GLIDER'S BIBtE is actually a 2-in-1 volume with easily understood "flyers theory" and down-to-earth, practical information you can really use to improve your !lying skills. The author has cleverly unraveled the "mysteries" of flight and revealed the "secrets" of the birds, This book is written in plain-English without any engineering "double-talk" Yet, it is extremely accurate, well detailed and lavishly illustrated, Whether you're beginner, expert, builder, buyer, !Iyer, instructor, designer, manufacturer or retailer, this book is for you,

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TO RECEIVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL COPY, THEN CUP OUT AND MAil THIS COUPON NOW. DON'T DELAY. DO

below, I enclose my check or money order as indicated: r I U,S, $8.95 t 75¢ postage and handling (softbound) LI U,S, $12.96 + $1 postage and handling (hardbound) u Europe and So, America add $4,25(LJS) airmail [l Australia, So, Africa and ,Japan add $6(LJS) airmail Please make payable in US funds to: THE HANG GLIDER'S DIBLE, P.O, Box4371-HG,Harrisburg, PA 17111,

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Fuselage spars make for easy mounting of a direct drive engine on the Quicksilver B.

Engines arc' no1 new 10 hang gliding. In tact, this publication covered one of 1lw current development,; thlree issues ago when lohn Lake expounded on his flights using a motorized SST. We have also heard of the• alto Brot John Moody, and The Birdman (of Florida) to name just a few of the com· mercial ventures that have occurred in the last couple of years. In addition, there' have bee>n reports published ofvcirious in· dividuals mounting engines on for their personal USP. And it' likely th,1t many other efforts never ren'ived any notiC('. For a time engirws looked to be an "ac·· that would gr,Hlually creep into the hang gliding community. However, all the work that I was <lWill't' of was with fixed.wing gliders, ;rnd my mind dazzled on the thoughts of a powered Mitchell Wing or other spaceship·to-be! But perhaps th;it concept was not accurate. l)erhapsitwa notan atall, and perhaps fixed wings would not hold all the promise. My very recent visit to Terry of the Flight Resources Co-op in Wilton, New lfampshire showed rne that flexible wing gliders make a likely candidate for engine additions. for tlH' same reasons that flex wings far outsell rigid wings (i.e. cost, set-up time, portabil· ity) powered flexible wings should outsell powered rigid wings. Terry's work was very irnprcssive; he and his group have made excel lent progress. In February I went to Florida to examine the work of Jack Hutchinson and cohorts. Word had reached rne that Jack's work was not only of exemplary quality, that he was very close to going into production. The Hutchinson system is the most refinE!d looking, smoothest operating, most professionally executed engine adaptd· tion that I have seen. Details of marketing and distribution are still incomplete but it wi 11 be a ready.to-go set up that can have you off flat ground with less effort, less

noise, ;md less cost than ycrn would im· ne.

HUTCHINSON AND COMPANY Up until three years ago Jack Hutchin· son was a fireman, tinkt>ring around with new ideas and flying those absurdly small tow kites of the ec1rly seventies. After pro· ducing some h;imesses and J number of steel tow bars for r:lorid,1 tow pilots, he began experimenting with engines. This effmt now dates back nearly 3 yc>;irs. Twcnty-tlnee year old CrPgg Bryant carnc out of the construction industry to join Jack in his 1w notion. Like so many r loridians, background is also in low flying. Cregg, being smaller than Jack, was trw principal test pilot fm their powered Quicksilver B. Bud l)uch, :l is a former Carmer. I le has also been a machinist, and is responsible for some unique hMvesti ng rnach i nery. I le will eventually h;1ve the role of power· plant manufacturer. Bud's assembly of the engin(! package calls for some (:xacting welding; this part of the production is

handled by John Matthews, who has pre· vious ;ivi,1tion experiN1cc. John was once involved in the construction of Stearman aircraft. The entir(' group will lw known co111mercially ;1s llang'Em 1"1igh rlight terns. I h,1ve dditwd tlwir diverse research dirc:c:tions what will thC'y actually be produci

BOLTING ON THE POWER nally their efforts date back to a Quicksilver B which was used in conjunc· tinn with a f3ennett 13ackpack. While this package did pror\~,1 Cregg off the ground, it was not an dficiPnl syslt>rn and fell the Next they tried ,1 Phoenix SX and experim nted with d kingpo t mounted cngiriu using both direct and belt drive. In addition they have employed a rear keel mount, direcl drive. To date they are most s;1tisfied with the results on the Quicksilver. The rear em· rw1111age or t;1ilp\a11P allows for spars, which ,ire useful in the mounting of the power package. However, p\;rns are rnnv· ing ahe<1d rapidly for development of the

Greg Bryant climbln11 out over the trees at a comfmtable 300 feet/min. using " two cycle, 8 horsepow<er Chrysler engine.

MAY 1977

lhe latest models surpass the per ''"'Ivers, High intends \o and conversion pacl<agrE'S, so that one day you rn.1y c:onup to your prc>sent Cf)1v,1illv add thei1 machine. Thus, rc>sec11Th goes "full ahead" to have flex.wing work catch up to 1he Ivers. lhe <:ngirw used is a model which, in its initial st,11e, n,,·1,1,rr1,,, A wide r,rngc of ar(' available to llutchinson ,rnd company lo boost thrnsl and (•ngi ne It was thesP optior1•; that had Jack (2101bs) ng the srn,111 Jl (about 1 lO h11t the comp,rny',; inten·st is to utilize ,1 more• or less basic Pngine. lhis wi II n•duce ch,rncPs of hn·r1kdow11, PilSP m,1intc11,ir1ec ,ind WPM, ;ind gp1wr.illy make for system thal w<> avcr,1ge pi lots c;1n d(•,d witl1 from a mechanical ,;tandpoi nt. While I was in Florida, the group had just the "C" rnodf'I, and lo say , /l.11

Jack was cxciiPd about flyi 11g ii would he ,1

is m•cess,iry, fort he pilot, is a student nwdical license>, ,l cornbination pnmit which calls only for physical examination by an approved FAA doctor, These doctors are in almost ,rny city in the country. Student pNrnils do expire hut can be ,ipplied for repeatedly. If you alrPady hold ,1 license, .ill you nt>ed is a valid first, second, or third cl;iss medical and you're set, For the craft itself, you must Sl'CLm' ,m experimen!al dircraft rwrmit, which de. rn,rnds only an ;ipplicr1tio11 for "l'.J" num lwrs ;1econ1p,rnil'd by $'i. Ihm, dPpcnd ing 011 thr· sl,1te, and local FAA officials, you must opPratP tlw n,1ft within a natcd ,HPa for ten to hours. !his is lo

lhPir testing, rnade the first run as wind was an uncooperative .rero. Eleven steps later was in the air. Ile throttled hack lo about half and flew up and back some two hundred feet over our lwads. It ser,rned for Jack. I.Pt me mention that this new model had only lwcn fitted with liasic minimal ne. wanted to see if it would support J,ick without modifications. lack was not Lirnili,ir with the 1ww craft, and his firi;t takc,.off was aborted. flw ,econd attempt with the nos<' a tad lower h,1d Jack off ,rnd flying in a hrief B steps. Soon were taking off in (i steps. Now, I wds PXCitccJ. !his i;amc loop ,;t,irtPr, so the whilc' so,iring. not lest it in the air that b11t ground ,,ttPrnpts ,ind a lr1ter report confirnwd tl1,it it works well. When I w,1s on the phone checking thc1t ,ispect of J,ick wry happily told me he had climlJed to over 1700' tilt' d,iy P<lrlier. Thi' climb r,ile prolJalJly PXU't!ded 300' fW r rn in u \ <', with on I y ,1 rn i 11 or to boost thrust.

,,ssun• flawless engi11c operation, before you ;HP ,illowed lo travPrsc• ,irpas. Thr1t's it, fm now anyway. l'Pople M,1g,1zirw wr1s jusl in llorid,1 lo do r1n article on II ul ch in son r1 nd compr111y. Champion Plugs have appro;1ched

J;ick

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closer now 1h;rn PVPr. If you ,HP c1 who looks clown your nosc' at powPr, you will just h,ivc to look up ,it /ack ,1nd me ,rnd many others on thosP non-•;o,1rahle We wi II st i 11 he cruising Mound h,ivi ng tlw linH'S of our lives. Mon· power to you//

hun1orous understaterrwnl. Thl' "C" hr1s sq. fl, of wing with d l4 fL sp,rn, ,1 necess;i ry for a pi lot, We ;111 stood in the p,isture used for

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HANG GLIDING

Ridge (orographic) lift is produced by any object in the path of the wind, wide enough to ca use the flow to go over the object, rather than around. Figure I shows how the wind generally flows around a small hill, while an elongated hape (ridge, cliff, or wide building) causes the air to lift. A side view of the air flow over a ridge is shown in figure 2. The velocity of the wind is by an arrow (vet> tor) indicating the speed and direction. l"ig.

Ho 1 Wind over ridoe and around hill

This velocity vector is into aver .. lical and horizontal component. As can be understood from the diagram, the vertical component will vary with location on the ridge as well as with the steepness of the slope. For the same mean wind velocity, a sleeper slope dS in figure 2(b) will have grea· !er upward movement of the air (lift) than a less slope 2(a). Since the upward com .. ponentofthe wind velocity must be equal to, or greater than, the downward compo .. nent of the flying of a glider, the theoretical limit to the minimum slope re .. quired to soar is the maximum glide ratio

Utt on difternnt shaped ridoes

of the glider. If a slope is less than this, a wind slrong enough lo µrovide the needed lifr will have a horizontal component great er than the glider's, and the pilot will be blown backwards. By the same argument, the limit of the altitude a glider can gain in simple ridge lift is where the slope of the upward flow has a vertical component equal to the kite's minimum sink rate. This is shown in figure 3, along with the loc;J .. tion of minimum lift. Maximum lift occurs where the slope of the wind flow is greatest, for any level, as along line A .. B. The "soarable envelope" or "lift band" is the area above ridge that exhibits the amount of lift to soar. Figure 3 shows typi .. cal lift bands for various slopes. Higher and steeper will provide lift over

Fiq. :3 Reqion of lift on

rid(Je

highPr and wider areas. It is possible for pi lotto hover in one spot if the vertica I and horizontal velocity of the wind is within the range of the glider's variable combina· tion of horizontal vi;locity and sink rate. If the horizontal velocity of the kite is greater than that of the wind, it wi II be necessary to "crab" along the ridge to avoid flying out of the front of the lift band. Crabbing is flying sideways at an angle to the wind as in figure 4. The crab angle wi 11 depend on the flying speed of the glider with respect to the wind velocity. A turn away from the ridge wi 11 swing the kite around to run the other direction. The most common error committed when learning to ridge soar is flying too far away from the the result of too small a

Fiq. 4 Crabbin,J (top v,ew)

crab angle. Another error is turning too soon or too often. Altitude is usually lost when turning. Gaining this back may take several minutes if the lift is only a few feet per minute greater than the glider's sink rate. Consequently, all other factors being equal, a long ridge can be soared in lighter winds than a short one requiring numerous turns. An important factor contributing to the soarability of a ridge is the angle that the wind is blowing, relative to the face. The best lift will be when the wind is perpendicular to the hi II, fal Ii ng off as the wind begins to blow at a greater angle. Figure 5 is a graph depicting the vertical component of a wind blowing perpendicular to the ridge for varying angles MAY 1977

,ig

Cl1m1ge o1 litt

slope cl1anqe~:

This <1ssumc•, !hat tlw wind is not slowed in the areil offlying (it will he when it is close to the and that the steeper· c11e sufficiently wide enough to insure that the wind is nnrr,r,n111c111;1r to the face, A low cliff may not deflect 1f1p wind any more than a This is USPful for 1n,:cu,,u"h tlw rninim,d conditions that must be met for sustaim•d ilight For if ,1 p.-irticular has ,1 sink rate of 7.0 feet per second, horizontal line drawn at 7.0 011 tlw curves the minimum slope ((L 7m/sec) wind. The for other wind minimum similarly found, For winds not pe,rpr•nc11c1 lar to the we musl refer to and 7. The in 6 represents uniform and frictionthe of the wind away from and the wind vPloc:11v vector V The vt>rtical component of the pPrpendicular wind is Y. A wind mr•nt11n<> the will not continue in the same (as V1 does), but will be deflected so that the be I ween V and (the of the wind) is a is asV2in The actual vertical compo-

ncn1 of a wind meHing the ridge at an is IL Solving for his a involvPd rxocPss, but the graph in <1 vis11c1I accu· rate p110ugh to use in calculations of available lift The different curves are for slopes from I to 90 rhe hori· zontal axis is#, the of the wind. The veitical axis is h 1 the lift expressed as a fr,1ction of th(: total wind velocity V. Some gPneral information can be observerL When the wind turns parallel to the ridge ({3=90°), there is zero lifL for steeppr ex:), the upward component oftlwwind more quickly fora wind shift than for more shallow slopes, fo illustrate, note that the wind 011 a 90°slop(' (cliff) will drop to half its value (,'1) with d shift of only 30° from perpendicular. On the other hand, a wind on a I slope will not losr half of its lift until a shift of 60° is HowrvN, thr lift over a cliff is still grp,iter 1ha11 for ,i I 'i 0 slope di ·rn°. Wlw11 cornhi11ed with figure ',, this graph can fw usPd to predict the soaring possibilities of ,1 particular ridg<' under the conditirn1s prescnL The rt•.ider is rernind<:'d that this is for 1hr ideal condition of a uniform surf,in' with littlP friclion, The v,dues found will he the rninirnurn requirPrnrnts for so,1ring.

rig

Fig. 6 Deflection of wind en slope

HANG GLIDING

Chanqo

lift

wind slowPd down ;1t the surface creates an uneven force on the wings of the tending to roll it into the hi IL This 11·''"·"'"" a more or less consli111t force on lhP control bar whirh can be quite tiring over the long run. This effect is negligible c1bove a clifL

f'ig. 8 Wind Gradient on rirJ()e

A common obstacle (or 11Cm-obstacle) in ridge soaring is a gap, A gap is a break in the ridge which the pilot must cross if he is going to continue on his way, FigurP 9 shows a typical gap and the manner in which the wind tends to rush through like a break in a dam. If the gap is small, the pilot rnay cross it with 110 noticeable but if the winds arc high and the certain maneuvers may lw gap is requirPd, The lift across thP gap rnay be reduced lo zero if the entire broken, but the main problPm is the may not be able to penetrate the highPr horizontal wind velocity in the gc1p, This will rpsult in "going down the drain" along with I he flow a ride certai 11 to end in high turbulPncc>, To avoid lhis, simply rdrain from "shooting" gaps when the wind velocity on the reaches more than the glider's of flying The best method found for and dficiency reasons is to increase flying and head to a point labelPd A in figure 9 instead of the normal heading B. This will combat the increased wind velocity and carry the pilot through the reduced lif1 as quickly as possible.

direction of wing changes

There are several differences in soaring in and cliffs. Oue to sharp surface more turbulence will be associated with a cliff, In addition, launchcliff in soarable conditions rewire, assist to avoid being blown back a potentially dangerous situation. However, once the pilot gets into the air and is soaring, cliffs tend to requirP less carPnmn and skill to remain in the lifL The reason for this is due to that old culprit, wind 8 indicates how

Fig. 9 Gaps

The involved in are mostly associated with the greaterturbulence that occurs in higher winds, ure 10 indicates how slight unevenness

in the slope can cause problems when fly .. ing too low.

Fig. 11 TurbulencGJ from ridge irregularities

Fig. 10 Turbulence on an un<1ven slope

Another problem occurs when a ravine or spur ridge is imposed on the main ridge and the wind is blowing at some angle to the ridge face. This can resull in areas of great sink and lurbulence as in figure 11. If lift is sufficient, the pilot can avoid these areas by flying over or around them, but if the wind is quartering, the lift probably isn't too great. Avoidance of these areas is probably the best solution in this case. There is a possi bi Iity that a pi lot in a kite with poor penetration and a low sink rate rnay get carried aloft to higher winds and hack behind the ridge top, Normally, the

pilot the problem immediately and dives to a lower point (out of the higher wind) and prevents any serious dif.. ficulties. The instances when, penetration does become a problem in ridge soaring usually result in not being able to reach the desired landing field, If the wind is from one side, the pilot rnay fly along the ridge very quickly in one direction but finds he can't make headway in the upwind pass, If the landing field is upwind, crisis is re· vealed. Certain sites may have landing areas far afield which require special con·· ditions to reach. For instance, in gen!le lift conditions the extra height acquired at the ridge may rt!ndcr it easy to reach a landing area that is unattainable in higher winds or a calm, As mentioned before, performance of the glider as well as the pilot is a big factor in soaring. 11 is not sufficient to merely have a slow sink rate, From the preceding, penetration and glide ratio are seen to be equally important. The conditions are as

varied as the types, and a good all·· around machine will be designed with all these factors in mind. Higher performance kites tend to be safer in the sense that they require less wind to do what pi lots like best soaring, This means that there is less possibility for uncontrollable turbulence to occur, Pilots vary greatly in their ability to ferret out the available lift from a ridge. Although ridge soaring requires the least experience, a few well-studied points will serve to further one's abi I ities, The take-off should be concentrated on to avoid nose· ups and ground loops. Too rnany pilots are thinking of that super lift outthere and end up compromising their launch. Once the take-off is successful, turn left or right to st,iy in the lift band, Many beginners fly too far out before turning and thus pass out of the lift. A run in one direction should be made to determine whether or not pene·· tration is a problem in either direction, Turns that lose little altitude can be per fected, utiliting more control bar push than normal. Flying speed will have to be adjusted to the wind speed as well as the bumps. Inland ridge soaring usually is nol nearly as smooth as on the coast, so more care rnust be taken to maintain control. With these few ski I ls, a pi lot is free to joi 11 the hawks and ravens for as long as the wind blows. ...,.

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<1>

To order your harness or for more information write or call SUNBIRD GLIDERS 12501 GLADSTONE AVE., #7 A SYLMAR, CALIFORNIA 91342 (213) 361-8651 Please specify pilot height and weight when ordering by mail. A minimum $20.00 deposit must accompany all mail orders. ONLY $65.50 fob, Canoga Park. Californians add 6% sales tax. DEALERS INOUll!IES INVITED

MAY 1977

or Art you why Falcon experience. special feeling combines sensitive response with excet>tlo11u'AI ease of handling. No more struggling kite In turn or fighting to roll almost does It for you. The CGS Falcon is the new dynamic flying machine that has been heads wherever It has debuted. If you had the to see one of these outs1larading in air, consider the following facts and use your ima!Jination:

at 24 mph feet per min. • Nose ,mgle ..... 105 degrees • Stall Speed .... 15-16 mph Max ::11i,ee•o ..... 'l,v Sall nu1011v ..... 1.t,::i sizes with pilot weight ranges frmn lbs. c,111111< •••• Ao,

believe In on the new deflexor four major problems previous 1) It drag than type; com1r»hite set-up folds and deflexorn they cost less to they're the market. optional. the clincher! Standard on all Falcons (and for that matter) set·np that allows Falcon

more Falcon address and Find out for yours,elf 1111d good flying machine.

Expected Values f:VBuy

.20 (

f:VNot buy

100) + .80 ( +$100)

.20 (0) I

.ao ( -$SO)

l-$60 $40

In this case (Table I) the best decision is to buy beer by a great margin. In the next cise (Table II) where the probabilities of rain and no rain are different, the best decision is not lo buy beer.

II Conditions

rt 1 H;rng gliding, like a nurnber of high risk sports, requires particip,rnts to make continuous in-flight dPcisions, some of which can he quite crilical Even though all flyers rnake these decisions, very few flyers are aware of exactly what goes into (or should go into) such decisions. This is an article which first explains how people make decisions in general, how this applies to fly. ing a hang glider, and how can m;:ike better decisions and fly longer and safer.

/low People Make /)ecisions First, let's take a look at how people make everyday decisions. Your local hang gliding club has scheduled a picnic to be held the following Saturday. You, for unknown reasons, havP been hooked into supplying beer for the picnic. You h,we to do this out of your own pocket ($100.00), but you are allowed to make a small profit ($ 100.00) on the beer sales ($ 200. 00) at the picnic. The problem is that you aren't certain that the picnic will be held. There is sorrw possibility that it will rain on Saturday, in which cas<:' no one will show up (the club is stacked with fair weather types). Nowthec/ecision you must make i whether a) to buy beer or b) not to buy beer. There are two conditions under which this decision must be made. d) rain or b) no rain The decision would be easy if you knew which condition was going to occur (rain or no rain). Unfortunately, weather forecasts are notably inaccurate (as every flyer knows), but thP decision must still be made. The way in which this is done is explained below. Each decision has a specific expected value (EV). The decision with the highest overall value (EV is the correct one because it will net you the highest profit in the long run. In the examplP above, you can see that if you buy the beer and it rains, the outcome (profit or loss

EV_.. H0(-$100)

No Rain (. 20)

.20(+$100)

$60

IV~ .HO (0) + .20 ( $SO)

from the specific crnnhination of one decision and one condition) will he the loss of the ,imount you spent on the beer (-$ I00.00). If you buy bt'er and it does not rain the outcome will be a $100.00 profit from the sale of the beer (+$100.00). The expected va Iue (EV) of th is decision (to buy beer) is equal to the (prob,ibility that it rains) X (outcome of buying beer and rain) (the probabil of no rai11) X (outcome of buying ber:r ,incl no rain. LV 00 p (rain) X (-$100.00) p (no rain) X (+$100.00). The decision not to huy beer also has an expecied value\ and this value is corn puted the sdme way. The expected value of not buying beer is equ;:il to (the probability of rain) X (outcome of not buying beer and rain) + (lhe probability of no rain) X (the outcom_P of not buying beer and no rain). The last outcome is difficult to assess

because no money is directly involved, but it can be estimated as the money that you would pay to avoid showing up at the picnic without ,my beer. For the sake of Pxarnple, let's call it a loss of $50 (-$50). Now, which decision is the best (ha, the highest EV) depends on the probability of the two conditions, rain or no rain (See Table I).

Conditions Decisions

Rain (.HO)

B11y Decisions Not Buy

Buy Not Buy

-$10

/)ecisions in / Jang Cliding Now, how is this similar to decisions made in hang gliding/ Well, let us takP the decision to take off at .in unknown site. Thanksgiving weekend I traveled from Charleston, West Virginia to Knoxvi I Tennessee with the idea of flying some of the Knoxville sites which I had heard a great deal about from Mark Kenyon, who lives in neMhy Huntington, West Virginia. Strong southwest winds dominated the Pntire wPekend until a snow storm swt>pt over the ,irea late> Sun(by. Both Mark and I werP frustratPd by the facl that ,.ill the sites in thP Knoxville area had ,i northwest f,icing slope except one, which faced south. It could only be reached with a four wheel drive vehicle. Since we had nothing better lo do and were becoming terribly weary of tPlling heroic stories lo each other, we decided lo try it, despite awful sounding stories about tht' access road (trolls, muds, etc.). We failed, but were lucky enough to be discovered by someomi with a jeep who was kine! enough to take us to the takeoff area. There we found the following situation: t lw wind was blowing fairly hard, anywhere from 15 to 20 knots up a sheer cliff foce. The takeoff seemed to present no problems (with a wire assist) but we were leery about the wind velocity away from the slope (it certainly had to be greater due to wind grc1d ient and other factors). Since both of us had gliders with limited penetration capabilities, our major concern was whether the wind velocity above I he ridge wou Id force us back over the ridge. If this did happen, we would most probably crash, for there were few areas to land in back there. In short, there were two conriilions: a) penetrable winds and b) not penetrable winds, and we had to make one of two decisions, a) to fly orb) not fly. I implicitly estimated the probability of no penetration at approximately .10 and the probability of penetration at .90. The outcome of flying in no pen@tration conditions would have been the cost of a MAY 1977

nash in woods, To µul monetary value on this i•; difficult (this is discuss,'d in !'art II of this Mticle), hut I would esti1nc11e it to be --$1000, ou1 come of if thP wind was was about t $ 20, (I would have given $ 20 ,it the ti me to soar, becc1 use I hc1d not flown for quite while) Theoutcomeofthedecision not to fly in either· condition h.id a small negative value, -$ HJ. Tlw values of each decision a) to fly and h) 1101 to fly (see Table Ill) shows thdt 1he decision not \o fly was the cor-rPct mw. This is the decision we made. We madP it beciuse the probc1bility of not ablP to penetrate was si too great and the cost of in such conditions in lenns ot to holh ourselves

i 11 I he lw havior of professiona I There are, howPver, some exceptions to !his rule, l'irst, people lend to overcstimc1te liHg(' losses. This makes them very conservative• in that they don't Ii ke to risk the loss of sornethi ng th al is very valu;ibl<! to them. peoplP tend to think of vny rare events as being more common dlld cornmon events as tend to ,ivoid ex-

and our

sion not to buy beer had one outcome which had a loss. That is the embarassrnent of al tire picnic without beer, or not going to the pic:n ic at al L It is sometimes difficult to put a monetary value on losses such as eminjury, or loss of 1m1Do1rta1nt point, for there rnay be a for some participants in risk sports such as hang gliding to rilake d bad decision because they do not a enough (negative) value on injury and loss of life, or because they too great a value on the outcome of in safe conditions. These situations are shown in Tables IV and V

probability of winds been _(J()"i rathPr than , 10, we would have made the other decision,

m Conditions Not fly Fly ,90 ($20)

tVNot Fly

, 10 ( $2000)

,90 ( -:1, 10) + , 10 ( -$10)

IB2

-$ HJ

Now, I don'! wish to say !hat when a person makes a decision tht>y compute the expe,::terl va I ue, of each one of these cJeciwere make decisions which will make the greatest profit (or have the greatest value) for them over the nm, This can be seen HANG GLIDING

tn0rne probabilities, Wha1 this results in is a resistance lo long shols and sure things, It is sonwtimes difficult for a flyer to put a morH:l a ry va I ue on some of the outcomes of decisions, In the ofthebeerandthe picnic, money was the major factor in the decision to buy beer. l"lowever, the deci-

IV Conditions Fly Decisions Not fly

Conditions Fly Decisions Not Fly '·----- -------·"·

For an individual maturing and lP'1,rn,rw in the h;:rng gliding world, outcomes do not remain cons!anl. The vdlue of probably decreases slightly due lo (a) mellowing and reduced novelty, (b) interesls in oilier such as sai occupation, falling in love, etc The value placed on the destruction of a (only a portion o1 the total outcome or an accident) is bly fairly const.rnt, but again 1ht' cost of injury or worse probably fluctuates depending on .i Vdl'iety ol 1·easons, It seems reasonable (but is not certain) that costs and profits <1re pretty much under the control of the personality and outlook of thP flyer and cannot be by education, outside influences, or the community. The ability to estimate probability of safe conditions can (and is) influenced by education, tr,iining, experience, or simply careful listening. Looking back to the ample that I aliout involving the site in Knoxville, r>ither of us had encountPred that p,Hticular ~ite without the knowl edge that high horic:ontal winds would exist at elevations above the launch site due lo gradienls and stability, WE' might have rnisestimated the wind velocities aloft. This, of course, would have affected our decision, quite possibly to our detrimenL If a flyer consistently rnisestirnates the! probability of safe conditions in which he intends to fly he will eventually pay for it. The time in a cMecr at which this seems to be a problem is the interrnediale stage. This is the ;;tage in which some get a sense of invincibility, which reflects a general ignorance of the effects of the atmosphere on their glider, and the amount of control which they have in adverse conditions, If they are lucky enough (and it is simple luck) to survive this period and gain enough nm·,,,r,no to be able to c1ccurately esli mate the safety of conditions they will probably fly safely for a number of years, If a ilyer intends to use Medicare and collect social security he/she must learn to estirnate the probability of safe and unsafe conditions correctly, He will, in the long run, get more flights than the flyer who cannot determine the of conditions. End of Part I Part ofthis artide isdervoted to a detailed discussion of how outcome and estimates may be imrm:>v1~d.

*Too high a value here?

/continued from page 37!

... it's so obvious lo rne that that's 1he way we have to go. At Dog Mountain you have this guy who has to penetrate into a mph headwind out to the spot afrer he's done his pylon course and his duration. Then later in the afternoon there's the guy who's flying in the heal of the day ,rnd then?' s a thermal coming off where the one pylon is and he's just climbing on each one of his figure,.eights. So it hardly has anything to do with pilot skill, I would think. That guy had to know how to work that lift but what's the first guy to

do? In contests I'd like, to SC<! a distance comp<,tilion. I think that'd be We could try lo compete like sailplanes do where we go for distance and time, although right now hang gliders just go for the distance. VVe don't really care how long it t.1 kes for us to get 1here. Ir we get there at all, we're doing good.

Chris Price says he's not to go to a single contest this summer. He says distance is all that counts and contests are worthless. So he to sit on top of Cerro Gordo or all summer and wait for the conditions are to fly 100 miles. That's l3ut even though contests t1ren't perfect yet, people like Chris haw to be there to fix them. It's people like Chris who're going to change them and make them more of a measurement of what they're supposed to be measuring.

Didn't you win a the best girl n11111hv', World Meet?

and at

Yes, because by one point I had the highest score. I hadn't even gotten past qualifications so the whole thing kind of looked I ike a joke to me. I won the Hang Ten war·· drobc. I pawned it though. It was mostly, well I wouldn't call ii a whole wardrobe!, but it was more than I felt I deserved. I hadn't done anything. Are contests im1om·ta11t to the Indirectly, because they sell gliders. I think

it's kind of dumb but I think people do buy glider because they saw that it won so many meets that year.

How

isequiJ>menlf

I think each generation of gliders is lwtter than the l<1st, hut which parlirnlar glider you're flying in that generation isn't all thilt important, . compared to pilot skill. I think that the right pilot in a lesser perform· ing glider would outpPrforrn someone else in the latest hot set-up. And it also depends what kind of you're into. All gliders (with a few exceptions) are good but one will shine more in some conditions. One is good for one thing and another is better for another. And I guPss it's always going to he that way. It's just give ,rnd take. You want the glider to do one thing but you might have lo give up on its doing sornething else. The way to go is to have a different glider for different conditions. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get that toget her .

What do you

of the designs will be a little 111ore standard· ized. Right now any new infom1ation is relevant to evPryone. It's relPv,rnt to the guy who's just t,1ken his first lesson and it's relevant to the ow1wr of the biggest company. Which way would you like to see

go in the future? I'd like to se<' it stay small. But that's truly selfish because l'rn always going to have a place where I can go fly and it's only me and a few friends. The bigger the sport gets, the hardt>r it's ng to be for me to find that place. I may have lo go to the back woods in Australia. Flut if it stays small I'll be able to find ii real easy. So I'm sure !hat it's just selfish reasoning.

now?

Righi now I'm flying a Cumulus 5B. I had a Cumulus .'i before 1ha1. I haw to decide what new generation glider I want now. I havpn't flown a lot of the new generation kites yet. Some of them, I don't know, sometimes I think everybody gets too in· lense about the whole thing ... everybody along the line from the builders in the indu'itry on down the I ine lo the pi lots that fly pretty as far as having the latest hot set-up. I guess it' II always be that way; it's just the nature of it. But it's kind of scary sometimes to think .. I don't think a lot of gliders get tested properly. Actually, I don't really know what kind of testing programs most people go through with thei1· new I just know there's a lot of pressure on each of the companies to come out with a new hot set-up right now. And it's kind of a shame. It would be nicer to sec people sharing knowledge a lot more bee a use we' re sli II at the point where we don't know what is 1he way to go with glider I think eventually the shape

I'm tempted to sdy hang gliding should slow down, [Jut at the same time that's not what I mean. I just think in a lot of ways we'rp loo intense about the whole thing ... and I don't know if that' II ever change. Another re;Json I'd like to see it stay small is that tlw rnore crowded it gets, the more pi lots per flying site and the more the qua lily of flying goes down. I like to just go out with a couple of friends to our own mountain and have a day of flying. So what part do site re~:ul,Jt1cms I think it' a necessary evil As far as whether we're going to be able to control ourselves or whether the FAA is going to do it. I don't know. We' II just have to see. I think we're going to have to get together with the FAA somewhere along the line just because the air that we're flying in

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now (during th las1 yea1· Pvcn) is ning to touch the 1·c,1lrn of other c1ircr<1fL We'vr· IHif'II flying 4,000-'j,0()0 f('Pl ,,how takeoff, <111d arc going 1'i, \0, 40, .SO mile,, you know. I almost hit an dirp· L11w I.1st s111rmwr in l.Jt.ih. It sc,ired nw more ih,in I've evf'r been in the .iir. It seenwd to me th,11 fw rarnc out of the hlue. It's <1t ,1 tl1.il has ;i lot of .iir tr,1ffic ,o I stay pretty awMe. Tfwre', ,rn .iirstrip to ttw north of tlw mountain ,ind sometimes 1l1P pl.im"; will he rnnr,•n,r·h«H> and off h.i/lw;iy down the n1ount<1in from nw. One<>, I c,rnw out of the fl.it with dhou1 l,OOOfept ,rnd I w,1sjw,I w.,,rr·nirw tlH' SCPllN\f. Tfipn I lookprJ OV('I. to rny left ,rnd thp1·p w<1s this guy. I w.i•; on his wingtip practic;ll/y. I w.is looking in\o 1he p,issPngcr sp;l! of ,orne ki nrl of !win Sl',lt(,r .i Jitt/C> tiny It w,1', ,md d,irk grC'en .ind kind of lil<'ndl'd in with the h.t< I think my hlf'ndcd in with wh,it w.is behind nw be· (dUS(' I know lw didn't SP(' /11(', !ht, fldSsenger lookl'd re,1/ly frr'clkPd ,rnd I'm sure I did loo. The color went out of rny face. 11(' dove ,ind went off to tlw Id! 0111 of my w;iy, I didn't ewr1 get dllY lr,1•;h off him, IJUt ii was jrF,t 100 clo;;e, 111 S,rnta 13.irbarc1 there',, .r lot of air traffic arorind lli.11 proh.ibly rne .1s much as else in the .iir ,l jc!t m who

b(«.;1 for diflnPnt reasons. I suppos(' ovPr,ill would hP flight /,1st surnnwr wlwrP I 4,000 fc,ct abovl' takeoff IH·caus(' it was scPnery. I w.is at .i sitl' in lJt.il1. Mostly, I got off 011 that bPc,1us;, it wa', such .i surprise. I'd watched a few ahPc1d of nw get sled rid(";, I took off ;ill rny warrn clo1h('S, .tnd tlwr1 I got so h'rgh I was f101.en. My wPr(' tied lo the nossb;ir! llut that was rm,h,1hl,v OIH' of my more• f,ivorile flights. 1h11 IIH'll tlH•re'•; ;i lot of fl that I like jusl iJC'c,.111sc of tfw ,n·n(·ry . where tlw flying w,l:;n't .;II th.it but I just the scenPry so much th;it they fl to rnc. Thi' first time I flew Cl;icic'r l'oint w;1•; like that We werP jusl so psyched up over the whole thing, mr· and Richard Coke. We la1rnclwd harr•{oot because we didn't think w<1'd h,ive c•11r)llgh traction with our shoes on 1 It wa, before lk.in w.is tlH·re. fl1erP w.is some ra11ger who didn't know ;inyt almul gliders hut lw had to be tlwre wlw11 you L1u11Clwd. You could lake off hackw,11d, .ind lw wouldn't know the dif. forenn•. llut h(• h,id lo he s1,111ding there. We h,\d .i breakfast ;3fter WP

l.mded

Not !('ally.

lo I don't know how they could work ii. I wish there was •,onwt I could put on my ;,o th.ii I could rnml' ;1cross on his rc1dio ,ind say, "I Jpy, !'111 lwrc,I" I le cloesn'I want to hit 1TH' .iny rnore lh,rn I w,111\ to g('t hi!. Nol a elal)()r,1\(' r,Hlio do11'1 need tot.ilk to tlw guy. Just to show up that lw knows th.it there's something tlwn·. Like tlw guy I ,1/n1ost ran into, . he just didn'I PxpPcl c1 to be l,DOO fe<>t .ibovP trw

1hat

thai?

th;it myself. th,1t by now I would h,wP mPI· low('d out on ii, th,1t I wo1ild hP .ihle lo do something el dnd just fly on lhP Wl'(:kt·ncb . . hut it l1,1sn't happcrwd that way yt>L now is top priorily. I'm still exp(·cting th;it ii won't be somP hut I don't know. llut it's kind of weird thdt you ;isk rnc this now bec.111,;p I'm starling to thi1ik th,1t I would likP to cl1;in1.~e tht' w;1y I've fJpen living. Oh, just Sl't11c down and have• a house. Settle down for rnc would mc,rn to l1<1VP a housc th.it I went home to ev<'r·y or even tlw s,111w ng space every n igh1 !

rumor th,it you come from in the Day if you your lifothat's true, to become a There's

very we:all'hv

I h,1vc11't re,1//y ch;1 rny I .ill that much to be a hang glider pilot. llefrnc' I w;is flying glide1·s I w.is going to school and I didn'I have much rnonl'y tlwn. Now I liw pretty destitute, 011 thc· line of broke .ill of tlw lime. But before I was into h,ing I w,1sn't sittinf~ fat. It w,1,;n't like I g,\VP up ,1 v.i•,1 fortune to pmsue ,1 carP('r in You didn't answer my questw1r1. evasive! Well Do

lo make your

in don't rc,1/ly think th.it there'll

there is, bul I definitely wouldn't fly h,111g for the s,1kc of rn,1ki ng morwy. 13ut having rnom'y is ddinitl'ly not rPIPvant in h,rng gliding. Mo•;t don't know how much monev .inymw el•;e h,1,: like this friend of niirw that I've /)('Pll flying with for a while. I just found out '"'"n11,1 he's got quite a hit of morwy. I le talks aboul c1 p/,111t;1tion he owns sornewlw1<' and 1his dnd \hat and the other It nl'ver came 11p before l>ecausc it's so ir· relcv,111L Wh.it rn.illPrs is if I like being in the' .ii1· with him. Most wl10 MP involved in gl ,HP so tot.illy im tn(·rscd in it that tlwy find lhcrme/ws get ting close to sonwhody thPy would otherwise proh,1hly detPst lwc,111sP other thc111 n n l h , , r n in corn is 1oh,ivPin common, so i nstcad, !hey' re pr('tty close to the rwrson. You know, you S('P them C'VPry and you don't PVPl1 givc· ond thought lo the fact that the guy ec1mc from differc·nt th,rn you did, . or ,rnyt ebe. I guess that's just bet,llJSP rP in love with the sc11rn' thing, h,rng gliding. lhat's all thc1t malte1·,.

nr:rut::rt::s on

101

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HANG GLIDING

PVPI

much monc>y in h,rng ,11 least I'm not 011 it. I irw;in, if th('r( llwn

THAN

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USHGA REtPIDfilS 1 continued

by Hedy Kleyweg If sormmnc asked you to name the best place for a hang gliding meet with the promotion of the sport in Canada as its main objective, would you know to answer Crouse Mountain? Picture it ... at .1700' and with an B0° Canada's biggest and most spectacular skiing site can he seen from every house and office building in Vancouver. 13ut how lo go about getting permission for a meet at this site? Don Whitmore of Aurora Rogal lo and the Hang Cliding Assn. of B.C. will tell you it wasn't easy. In /act, it took a year .. long negotiation with the corporate owners of the mountain and several hang gliding conscious1wss .. raising presentations to win their approval. The invitational meet, offering 60 o/ thP world's top pilots a $.'i,000 purse to vie for, has been scheduled for September 3-5, 1977, the Labor Day weekend. It'll be an open class competition no fixed wing or standard class. Competition between manufactur· ers' te<1rns will take place and a team trophy will be awarded. At this time the tasks are still undecided. A pilot entry fee of $3'j has been set; however, tlw fee for the 3-rnernher manufacturers' te,;1rns has not yet been established. Some aerial bal· let will also highlight this spectator· oriented meet. 30,000 spectators are daily. For a$ 3 gate fee they wi II be transported to the TOI' of the mountain (now that's dif.. forent) by the largest passenger-carrying cable car in Canada. With two cars, each carrying SO passengers and leaving the base of the mountain every IJ!n rninutes, the skyride up should be fas! and efficient. The landing area will be used exclusively by pilots, their vans and ground crews. CBC and local TV stations wi II be covering the meet which may be filmed as a sport spectacular Canada certainly won't be hurting for meets this year. The Canadian Nationals are scheduled for April or May and meets will be held two weekends before the Crouse Mountain spectacular: the Mt. Swansea Invitational and the B.C. Meet. Another competition will be held in Vernon, B.C. later this year. All facilities (i.e. launch ramp, etc.) are scheduled to he built and, depending upon the meet's success and community reactions (thus far most favorable), there's a good chance Crouse Mt. will become famous for more than its excellent skiing. It may, if all goes well, become the largest combination ski/hang gliding facility in Canada and North America. Within a

couple of after the meet's c:omple· tion, the l;rndowners are expected to give their decision as to whether or not Crouse Mt. will be established as a permanent site. The Hang Cliding Assn. of B.C., an organization of over 250 members, is keep· ing their crossed and, more impor· tantly, joing efforts in organizing a well· publicized and smoothly run meet. If you're interested in applying for an invite (Hang IV and major meet ence mandatory), or plan on being up that way during the Labor Day weekend and want more info on the meet, write: Don Whitmore, c/o Hang Cliding Assn. of B.C., Box 91176, W. Vancouver, CANADA V7V 3N6, or call (604) 922-

by Vic Powell, USHCr\ Presirfont, (]VI

Delega1C'

ginning drivers is foar. S111dies have shown it makes drivers more cautious. A report in the February, 19 7 issue of Human lfohavior not(xl the results of 144 un· licensed school subjects. One group was shown a movie whilt· ,rnotlwr group was shown ;i car maintenance film. They were! asked how noxio11s, likely and avoidable they thought ;rntomobile accidents were, ,rnd their performance behind the wheel of a simulated autornobilP was observed. The researchers found t hos(! students who watched the gory movie tended to be rnindful of the possible in. juries from unsafe driving practices, and the 1T1tire highly noxious the accidents were perceived to be, the stronger the student's dirn lo avoid tfwm. The scary movie w;is highly effoctive in curtailing driving errors on the simulators. Fear-arousal reduced the time required to learn good driving techniques. The article noted that whC>n traineps hclic>ved that nothing serious would ever happen lo them, they seem Pel to become very complacent. !he group who perceived that accidents were both unlikely ,ind avoidable committed three times as many driving f'rrors ,is did the high-probability group. fhe re· searchers that driver education courses should strive to prevent the formation of compl,1tenl attitude's by stn'.ssing to students their susceptibili!y to dangerous accidents. Aviation, however, may havl' a built··in fear factor al IPast in some people. A Pan American World Airways pilot holds sPminars around the country to help people overcome their fear of flying. A seven-part seminar held recently in one of the House of buildings by

Captain T. W. was well al· tended. He estimates tlwre Me 2:i million Americans who fc,,H flying, or fly with a substantial ,irnount of fear. Those citi,C'ns who fly with cold sweat streaming across white knucklPs are being ht>lped by the program. He also estimates then, MC ()l million Arnt·ricans who 11,we never flown al ;ill. Some undoubtedly would place themselves in the quiPtly-pelrified category. Of course om' of the factors rnay he that the airline pilSSPng('r is placing his life in the hands of another person, whc'l'('as in c1 driving situ;1tion the oppr,1tor has d greatl'r degree of control over his own destiny. Whatever tlw c;1se, aviation by itself sPe111s to crc,atc'. a greater of c,wtion than does driving. However, this is not to s;iy that gliding students would not benefit from a good dose of caution. Accident rates indi cal('. thue may 11(· d continued nl'ed for caution ,is the flypr progrc>sses through the rating lev('l>i. My own 11011sciP11tific rPsearch rev(:als that most serious accidents happen to those who are in the middl<> slages of flying c>xpC'rienc:e. They h,JV(' mastered tlw Ila sics of and are in the procPss of widening their flight know· ledge. It se(·ms to he ,111 too easy for such ii /Iyer to find himself in a situation that is outside his level of expericncl'. Unfortunately, c,111 be• the resul!. OftPn ,l kitP or flyer, or both, gel mangk'd. It's <111 expensive, dangen11is, and unnPn'ssary learning rnet hod. A slep .. by .. stPp, 011c-thing-al-,Hinw approach is often tossed to !he wind as confidence outruns caution. Accident reports can help all flyers retain .J sernblence of c.iution while revc.ili ng ca uses. 11 is a way to obi a in experience vicariously. Accidents viewed by themselves can he as random, unprogr,1mmed anornolies. Often the lossl's ,HP not high; ,1 broken kite. What can he a rPal loss is the benefit of an investigation or considera·· tion of the ace ident and disseminating the information, thereby helping to gain the ability to dcl to prevent recurrence of the same problem. LJSHCA h;is been doing this for ,l number of years through the fine voluni<'er efforts of Mr. Robert V. Wills. I le has been compiling information on accidents reported to USHCA and issuing pt>riodic reports published in liANC CLIDINC. Through LJSI ICA's membership abroad and the International Hang gliding cornrnission (CIVL) his reports h.ive a worldwide readership. Those reading the reports should receive anew a healthy dose of caution, c1nd an understanding of what causes accidents. II is in this spirit of c:ommu11icc1tion that (continued on page Sb)

' what others only claim. to tost fly the Seagull r1oc,nn,u1 for you. Light to heavy 1 to Hang 4-cross country, soaring to high wind thermal ling, there is a Seanull glider ttrnt will take you up and away to undreamed IJf COfltrollability and norlnrlYIClir\Nl

All Seariull

HG MA c,,n,-,h,-•d '"'"' hy tho for aircniH use. construction and deflector the security you need for turbulrmt cross country flights.

the flowing lines of the

family tradition, it rnnrne,rni< aRrnrf\111a1mu: curve, accented by finish only '""""'"'"""'''~ manufacturers could pro·

forever TH

THE

ING SH produced this latest cross 4 pilots. J..\ pacesetter for our

ALL

G IDEAS AR

SEAGU

10m

TH SEAHAWK At last, a high plHformance glider for Hang 1 to Hang

4 pilots. Docile and smooth in rnsponse for lrnoi1111ers, yet affords a glide and sink rnspected by pilots. BALLOON DROP TESTED

WILL SEND COMPLETE DETAILS WRITE

AVENUE

Ulf:»ll'IUiA IREU:>1Dr1tS. continued

tlw C:IVI. is undertJking to acquire and dis

lit ion around the world

serninalc ;1ccident reports. Helping others lo become aware of dangerous silu.i1ions, C.:HISC'S and rPsults of accidents can have a world·wide hcrwfici,il effect. Roman Camps, ol Barcelona, chdirrnan of the C:1\/1. Accident Committee and is all pilots ,iround the, world to help in this ef. fort. A11 au ident docs not h,1Vc' to lw fc1t,1I to the flyer lo be sio,n11w.;rn1 accident th,it may seem to d flyer or observer mc1y lw undergoing replL

never know unless reports ;ire' fi Methods can then he developed to c!lirni· n,1le or rcducp the accidents. An expert has good judgenwnt based on Such a flyer leiwes a margin wh;,n(•vPr possible. No tests, logbooks, or high r.iting will gu,irant,'C' this ,1tlitude. It is 1101 ,1 function of skill or proficic'ncy. It i bPing mc1turc and thoughtful. th.it attitude is llw purpose of accident reports. You c,111 lwlp this

Rom;:rn C1mps Beethoven, I Barcelona (6) 11 Tel. (CJl) 2r59 09 ll'5 Centlenwn, As you rxobably know by now, in the last Cl\/1. meeting I was elected C:hairm,111 of the Accident Report Cornrnittee. II is as such that I arn to you. All of us who take an active p.trt in C:IVL, as well as the majmity of pi lots around the world, are fully aware of how important it is for all of us lo have accurate, objective knowledge of the circumstances involved in Pach h,111g gliding accident, so that thi,; knowledge may be applied by others to increase their in flight. We also know that ii is trouhlcsorne, time consuming job to fill° in ,rnd remit accident report forms. In many cases, those involved wish to remain incognito since they mistakenly consider that it is sharrwful to have had an accident; or they the circumstances as to l,1y the blame for their accident on certain ele· rnents which, inanimate, sate,rumcl the pilot's reputation. The rnain reason information of this type> col· Jected and is the laziness and inc'rtid of observers and witm'sses. Neither th(' pilots who hc1ve had acci dents nor the observers are conscious of the fact that by putting forward that grain of sincerity, in I he case of the former", and effort, in the case of the latter, they ar·e contributing very effectively to the of all hang glider pilots and to the recognition of certilin risks which, without being proper are inherent in this activity. We . must be aware that the falsification or, even worse, the omission of inforrna· tion on accidents is a serious matter and fhat it may be the cause of further serious

a fact orn, would

fort by d report when in vo I ved in an dccident. Whetlwr you have the USHCA or CI\/L form is irnrnatcri,ll. While it is helpful lo file tlw correct form with th(' applic;ible group, the' irnpmt,int thing is to get it cornplet(\d ,rnd in the mail no matter which form is used. The letter from Rom.in to the De·" of CIVL member coun1ri<:?s ,,v,11:,,11,,

his views Oil this Save lhc forrn ,rnd u•;c it. If necessary xProx it at thP local post office ,rncl send ,1 copy to both USHCA ;:rnd U\/1. -.,

;1ccidenls and, in a word, of more injured c1nd more d(,ad. I enclose one specimen of the Accident Rqmrt Fom1, which I wcl11ld lw grateful if you would translate it into your country's language and hav<' it circulated c1mong th(! poss11:>1P number of hang ing if possible, have them publish it in tlwir magazirws. rhe more forms that arc clistrihul(!d .irnong pilots, the gre,1ter is the possibility of their IJeing filled in and returned in casp of ,1c" cidenl. Om intention is that the forms should be in tlw pilots' possession and tl1,1l pilots, not adrninistrativ<' stilff, should fill them in. W(' believe th,11 nobody is more qualified to cornmcnl on ;1 gliding ace ident than ,Hl active hang gliding pi lot. We would like to get every single pilot to kec•p an Accident Report Form together with his flight equipment at all times. If its sole presence should induce some pilots to pPrforrn with greater than the one display, W(: would bP happy. This letter is sent to all addresses contc1i11ed on the intvmational M;liling List prepared by Mr. Dan Poynter, C:1\/L President. Reminders will ,llso be periodically sent to all, persons or bodies, which hav· ing received this letter, do not send in re· ports. For the purpose of being includPd in the minutes, information will be given ,11 the 11ext CIVL rne<''ting on tlw persons or bodies that have submitted infonnation on ,iccidents, and also of those who, in spite of letter and n•mindvrs, have not sent anything in. Our intention with this process is to make known, in writing and without any shadow of a doubt, those, pc'rsons, clubs, national bodies or countries that rduse us their cooperation. Thi, program is costing, and is going to cost, a great effort in tirnP, dedication and money, and we are aiming at discovering accurately the causes and persons who a re i 11 the origin of its fa i I urp if the objectives are not attained. It is our that where a person has been a wi1ness or is in .i position to investigate and report an accidc,nt at any

level, he should contact this Committee, directly by rn;iil, to my ,1tlention, ;1t the above adclrr:ss, inslt>ad of chann(dling things t local bodies. It is obvious th;1t, as well as sending the report direct, tfw i 11fornwr shou Id send a copy lo.the body on which lw directly depends, that is, club, Natio11,1l Federation, Association or Aero Club. Nevertheless, we believe that direct lr,rnsmission to this Cornrnit\Pf' is an effective' me,rns of accelerating the influx of information and avoiding risks of tcrg i versated. Once the information r(;ceivcd at !hi, cc,ntrc' has be Ni it wi 11 be red is" lrihuted 10 di! those in the men·· tioned Mc1iling List so that thPy may use it ,it their discrdion with a view to obtaining the widest pos~,iblc distribution. As an example of this, you will find herewith re. ports on 39 accidents that have reached us liy difforent channels. (Reports are not included in this issue of Hang Cliding Magazine). These reports refer mostly to I 97'>. You will probably know about most of them. They are of lirnited practical use due to the fact that most of them refer to sland,mJ which are now disappearing from most of the flying sites. But it is a good example of how th is progra 111 wi II work. We wish to rPpeat, once again, the fact that for this program to operate at worldwide level, it is absolutely necessary: I) that people should know, fill in and remit reports on the accidents they know ,ibout; and 2) that the information, once processed and redistributed, should reach each and every one of !he <1ctive pilots. During 1975/76, when this service was in operation in Denmark by order of C:JVI., information was received from only one person in the whole world. All other persons, groups, national organizations or bod. ies either said they did not know about it or they inhibited themselves to tht> extent that the whole program was a failure. Only in the U.S. was there an effective inflow of information on accidents. r:rom here we re<:054n1ze their success and congratulate Mr. R. V. Wills and his team. MAY 1977

IBRE

REPORT ANY ACCIDENT CAUSING THE ILOT NOT TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM HI DURING A PERIOD OF 30 DAYS, OR OVER. COMPLETE FORM AND AIR MAIL TO: ROMAN CAMPS - BEETHOVEN, Da

Flyer'

den

iden

NORMAL ACTIVITY

- BARCELONA (

- SPAIN.

Name Add ry

,Weather concl it ion

who

the pi 1 ng ng rmedi

Wind irnate Gu ty Wind rect on V - D rectly into wind? ross wind angl have any IVL, i nternat i ona Issued

known, would you or

the pilot

on:

inner

intermedi

flown: ion Di

Swing

pi lot wear

or other

lmet:7.

Cond

ident:

Bent of broken bar 1

·--·-·;;·~~-·-··-·-·-···---·-····--..-·---·

pi 1 , angry iden ident could have been avoided? No

SUPPLY ANY OTHER 1

If so, whom?

INENT INFORMATION ON REVERSE.

newspaper

l i pp

or other

ta pertaining to

i dent.

--·-·..··-···-,----- Name of reporter -·-,---··--·--···--·-·----·----···-·-··Rating or flying experi i~Jnatu

We think is important. Maybe you have noticed that most manufacturers offer top deflexors as optional equipment. We are not sure it should be optional. Our OLYMPUS comes standard with one of the finest wingpost in the country. And now the most popular selling glider of 1976 features STANDARD inverted struts. What is this glider? The Electra Flyer CIRRUS, of course. all CIRRUS' will be delivered with the Effective i for NO EXTRA sophisticated "OLYMPUS Wingpost CHARGE. Not only does this make the CIRRUS the least complete glider in the intermediate/hig~1 but with over 10,000 hours (accumulated total all delivered units to , it is also one of Hie most proven. If you think any new intermediate is excep-

tional, put it to the real test. Fly it nst a CIRRUS. We al know wt1at your choice will be. The inverted rigging is on us. And OUR Spring Sale lasts forever!

700 Comancho, NE. Albuquerque, NM 87107 7703 by IDEA-GRAPHICS

SAFE

STABLE

6 BREAKDOWN

SINK RATE 180 FPM

•

PARACHUTING CAPABILITY FOR COMPETITION CAR TOPPABLE WITH2SURF RACKS

DINGEFl WING. HF'· 105 I. Bitcilin Custom Sail. Includes seated and and harness. Cost sl)rnc,ci.oc. excellent conditionl Asking $475. Must sell. Earl FLEXI ·· FLIEIC::, 18'. tion. $275. Wa(Je 456·6946 Pt._ .c:....::'.-...'.....:... ,,,...... ·..... _ .................... . FREE FLIGHT SYSTEM. 18 loot. White sail. Rerigged with wide control bar. Good co.ndition With new prone harness helmet. $22l'i. (714) 548-4524 ... ' ' " ' " ' " '

,,,,_,,_. '"''" ,,

PACIFIC (:iULL 19'. Fied and Good condition. CallF...r.a...n...k...:...... , ............... ,--· PACIFIC GUL.L AL.PINE. 6 months old. Excellent condition. Call Frank 444-6301.

SEAGULL Ill. Excellent condition Good trainer. 3:38-4151 _ ......- ..- ...... - ... $400. Russ, SEAGULL. Ill. 1.. ate 1975 Like new Only flown twic0. Gold with black With cover. $495. VT :.... ......,.C,.,,••,. - · - " ' " " " " ' " " " " " " " " " " ' " SEAGULL VB. White, yellow, & red, pur· pie U::. and rudc1er. Battened, flatter billow. 3:3'. Perfect condition. $500. Get 107 Pacific, CO 81611. SEAGULL. Vll,20. Near new. Light blue, yellow, W/bag. $T15. SEAGULL Ill. Blue lime & & wr1ite $350. Call John Dresser, SeaAircraft 377-9660. SEAGULL SEAHAWK. Two months old. Custom and seat. $825. 837-9242.

" ..:........ - .....·=.."

PACIFIC GULLH/\·19'. W/(custom sail & Seated harness & helmet Purple and white Exctillent sail. Pilot weight range 140-185 lbs. All for firm. 868·5978. PHOENIX 6B. Cro,sS·{cou1nt1 clean sail. Six months old. 267-4193. PHOENIX 6('l $495 or tow kite condition. $385. For pilots 130-160 lbs. tive wing struts sleeved post. r:~,,,c.chr finances force sale $750, offer. 732··5874 Visalia. CA

18 x 16. New, 18 !12'. New 432-0522. Make offer.

PHOENIX VI-B, new, $795. SKYTREK TOW KITE, flown twice, $595. Hi' x 16', like new, $495. 18W A,ivanced Standard, near new, $295. , used, $195. 19W Standard, $295. SUNDANCE Brigid wing, $675.

custom sail. Bubble bars. Excellent condition. vArv rmrln condition. White, purple, red, Flied beautifully. $700. Contact 338-1351.

·-····-''

CIRRUS 11. Factory custom. Low billow, and IJeautiful sail. Pr1otos av21ilalJle. of hours in last few It Up Texas! $750 lnquiritis Blvd, Austin, TX 2) 4c;,4.::,q:1.4

THE STFlATO PHIL WARRENDER THERMAL SOARED TO OVER 19,000' IS THE SAME STRATO HE USED TO TEACH HIS BROTHEFl TO FLY! are considHring the purchase of a Hang 11 consi<jer the Strato the higher performance "Standard" from 7:1: minimum sink, 250 Available in three sizes. Write: Sunllird 12501 Gladstone Ave., #A4, Sylrnar, California 91342.

PLIABLE MOOSE SHEARWATER. and bag. Nice soaring.

Dtirnti...r_1t ......_ .................... - ....... _ CUMULUS VB. Hl', fully batttined, negative wing wires. Excellent shape, only three months old. Cornes complete with for $800, with Colver Audio Visual Vario., or best offer. Brad (616) 962-2053.

U.P. 16', BFlOCK 82. Red and gold sail. With harness, and helmet Super condi lion. or trade for a Kenwood TS-·520 Trans· ceiver Mike Pettyjohn, 2606 Briargrove, San Anqelo, TX 76901. (915) 949-4104.

litti We offer you the most boautilul custom hang gliding dosigns you've ever seen Quality screen printed on heavy weight, 1000/o cotton T-·shirts.

Short-sleeve Long-sleeve . Women's Tops Add $1.00 postage & handling per •hlrt.,

H-2 Clouds H-4 Flight

(Line drawings printed Dk. Brown on Beige and Yellow, Navy on Lt, Blue.) H-6 Sunset (Highly detailed full color) H·B Rocket Man (Highly cletailed full color)

M@n'S 11dz1111: S M L XL Women'1111IU111: S M L Shirt Colors: Lt. Blue, Yellow, and I Beige To Ordllr: Please shirt type, size, choices and your

H-4 check or money order. name and number, two shil1 cc)lor address to:

H-6 Dealer Inquiries Invited Custom Screening Available

MAY 1977

lLf) Df1AGONFLY MK2-B feet of sail Elag hours time. TunecJ, no UF' Will show new owner l1ow to Hay, weekends, early. 13)

SUNDANCE B. Good condition. Wife says sell. $800. (714) 1·501 to fly. Quick included. enthusiast Arlington,

parts, gliders accessories. invitGCL Smith, Ark 72904.

V,JZJ. Controlled flight. Good rr~,11,,,'Y1ci1·1c,hin aircraft materials. :)ucces:31u11v rack!$1800. Call VJ-23. 40 ft. Must be well rnade. Pre· 250 Honda Elsi nor(, if int,irested in trade. 4879 Old

Must sell. 875-8828.

ICAfiUS V. Brand nt:,w with trailer Beautiful vAllnvv,,nrnr1ne color Must sell. $950 or best II. Brand new. Fled with rudders. $650. Call (408)

full control, dacron covered. HANG GLIDING VOL.· ME:F1 BUILDEFlS. 4" x .0:35 alurninurn boom tubE, material and I W' .035 brace for Vol$145. Contact mer V,J-23. Builders Charles Macfarlane, Higl1 School, Ml 49203. 2400 4th St,

CHANDELL.E SF Featuring Seagull, Eipper, Manta, Sunbird, and Electra, with other maJ()r tmmcjs availatile We stock new well line of as a PLUS a

V,J 24 SunFun Super Performance. Super sate, , ,1t,rnlinh1 with f;,5 trailer. l.ow tune, no darnor 323-7540, even-

AF1IZONA and Wills

PHANTOM SCORPION

HANG GLIDERS. Featuring Seagull F1eprc,sE,nt,,ti\1es in Flagstaff and 1·0,,m,1"'" lessons, sales, service, up to 4300' vertical. Arizona 85023. 779-0236 in

Ar1KANSAS ···"·--"

WEST ARK I Call or write the professionals

HANG GLIDERS WEST-Dill.ON GEACH FLY ING SCHOOL. For the rnost complete line or Hang Gliders, parts and accessories in the Bay Area, come see us. USHGA certified instructors and observers. lessons with of Visit our new shop, to 6:00 Ground School are welcome performance sale, it's service that After Gliders West, 1011 Uncoln Ave, 94901. 453 7664. " " " ' ' " "'

'"'

THE HANG GLIDrn SHOP Blvd, La Habra, CA 90631 ; Come in, visit, and see our Han9 Gliders,

rhis year, somewhere, a hang glider pilot is 9oing

a thermal, and fly out oi sight, It may bo you.

THE

LAT

AND

Sunbird, Seagull, what ever l=r11c,,·,~1,ic,,c has a Tow Systern for your and return

rncorfl 1snut,you'cJ lo ho 1nvolvnrJ

Whun n company dovelops a 9l1rJo1 tl1at 1s to ,ill other•; you d oxpoct 10 l\fl\llJ 1t

/"It's m•dv nme,,. wo'vo

got

Tow System co,rn1)leto floats for heavy qi iders Reloaso for point bridle sold ~1,,·,,11·,11·,"lv Boat 1,elease with carabi ner Kite point pulley bridle ~;nhH'nYicnc

Send $1 . 00 1or information package.

Texas residents add 5% sales tax, all orders Whon now 1nfprl\lat1un

.,,.,,, ··.·

rnod1d, vou cl OX)!!IC1

knuw nl)out 1l

HANG GLIDING

ESTABL.ISHED, GFiOWING HANG GLIDEf1 MANUFACTUFlER is seeking investment capital for expansion, promotion, researcl1, and cle· velopment Interested persons should write Bill McIntosh, 8622 Apperson St, Sunland, CA 91040. SEAGUL.L AIF1CRAFT is now number of the lJSA Please requests to: Aircraft, Inc., 3021 Airport Ave., Santa CA 90405. SIEF1RA SOAR. Access to launch sites, local wincl dummies. P O Box 404, Bishop, CA 93514. (714) 873 7349 (behind the bike

LEAF:, Manta, Sun amJ Ultralite Pro· ducts. Our sl,op specializes in expert repair ancl custom work. Huge inventory of and accessories, including Chandelle parts. Fast service mail orclGr. advanced, and high-performance les· sons. Mountain flights to 2600' vertical. Rat· ings available. west of Denver at the foot of Green Call or write for free list or further information (303) 278-91566 Orchard St, Golden, Colo. 80401. CONNECTICUT CONNECTICUT HANG GLIDER CENTER selection of new ancl used gliders, accesrentals, repair shop, instruction. V4 mile east. (203) 621 <'l695

ancl Pliable Moose

MONNlCH FLYING complete hang service. Training with new generaInstructors and Observers. tion gliders, Electra UP, ['3ennett, Wills Wing, and UFM products. repairs, mountain flyino trips. Call ,Jim 3) 268-6254, or write Monarch, 10301 W. #109, Shawnee Mission, KS 66214 MASSACHUSETTS Try FREE practice run at Aeolus Flight Training Center, Groton Hills Ski Are, Groton, MA Aeolus and easily, instructors can teach you to fly and are certified USHGA Open Saturdays and Weel<clay instruction by appointment. To enroll, contact AEOLUS HANG GUDEf1, INC, Box 184, L.ittleton, MA 01460. 486·B278.

SUPER FLY SKY-SAILS, INC. Dealer tor Manta, Electra Flym Demos available. Fly the lin~11 Oldest, most experienced instruction in South Intermediate, Ad· vanced 21383 Aldercrolt FM , L.os Gatos, CA 95030. (408) WINDHAVEN l·IANG m IDING SCHOOL serv Southern California. line of to advanC('lci instrur:tion. ins1ructors. Write or call, WINDHAVEN, 7530 Woodley Ave , Van Nuys, CA 91406 (213) 989-1814

KANSAS

IOWA

---····---···-·····--·

Qualified pilots (aclvancecl two's-·· up) try out the fantastic new HOF1IZON. Abate's Glider Glid MICHIGAN

·--··· ---····-····

CANADA cessories. All services, Associate dealers servino all of Canada. Box 91176, West 922-7275. Vancouver, Canada, V7V-3N6 COLOHADO GOLDEN SKY SAILS, featuring Electra Flyer,

DELTA KITES OF INDIAN LAl<E --7844 Shaver Rd., Ml 49081. Tow fli(Jht school, comof or custom work. Call 8 a.rn. -· 5 p.rn or (616) IOWA Glider Co., Central Iowa dealer for Pliable Moose, New and used oliders, lessons, 2564 Boyd, Des Moines, Iowa 7. 262-5080.

MID-WEST SCHOOL OF HANO GUDING. All levels ot instruction, located :i1,i mile from Warren Dunes, one of the best training siohts in the u.s.1

You can build your own harnHsses, Hie. We stock a cornpl(ite line of and sailrnakor's hardware. If you are looking for a selection of fabric and assistance in sewing techniques, we have what you need. Sailrite Kits has just published The Wing Book by Jirn Grant a complete text on the buildin9 of hang glider fabric surfaces. It is available along with our Arnaleur Sailrnaker's for $1.50 (prepaid). Use the coupon below to order

Sail1rite Kits, 12937 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, Ca. 900!$6 Pleas,1 send me the Amateur Sallmaker's I have enclosed $"1.50 for each set ordered and understand that they will be sent postpaid.

, •• inexpensively solves !"he who bu lids or repairs l"he l"ube horizontally precision-ground cmd hardened bushing guides your drill bit through !"he exact vertical center of tho tube time. OpHonol hold-down keeps t·ube from shifi-ing. pin block aligns previous holes with your drill, and bot·h blocks con be used for splicing alignment. • Press-fit or interchangeable bushings ore available in many sizes. Tube capacity ta two-inch dlamei"er. Send drawings for quotes on specio I tooling to suit your needs,

Name Address -··-····--·-···· City ·-·-···---·-·-···-················-··-··Zip_··--···-··········-

Free deh:iils in the brochure, HANG GLIDER TOOLING. Write: MANTA PRODUCTS 1647 East 14th SI-Oakland, Ca 94606 415:536-1500

MAY 1977

Stalls Under 1 MPH. Sink H,ite FL Per 18 To 1 Cilide Ratio. Set Time 5 Min. Fold For (:iround Handl Car fop Loadin\J. Safer Than A l<ite To Fly And Easier To Take Off And

Land.

World's

Finest

And Safest

Hang (31 ider

AvailablEl In Kit. Stabilator Control All Three Axis. Soarinn Performance, And Much More. Send $3.00 For Full lnfonnation .And Brochure.

COMPANY PORTEFIVIL TE LE PHONE 209·781·0778

WTNU CONlJTTTONS anabatic al titmle

SOAR INC thennaI

ACCURATE··-each meter cali·· brated individually.

DEPENDABLE--not affected by dust or static. RUGGED-clear READ-from front or in U.S. Includes

Hall, Box 771, Utah 84050. HANG GLIDING

131ueprints Now Available MINNESOTA

Oregon's Source for qu,al1t1eci represent Ultralite ,-ll,,,uu,,,,,, now feature Grants Pass, ask for Jeff MISSOURI

TENNESSEE

VJ-24 Sunfun .. Airplane controls <!I All metal, except fabric to tiuild ~e1'm,ca1nt11,ov<1r monoplane hang (llider @ Send $2 for brochure

TEXAS ELECTRA,Fl_YER DISTRIBUTOFlS South Mid-Western distributors for: E:lectra Flyer Corp,, UFM F'roducts, Seagull Aircraft Now Call or write 2200 "C" South 76013, Metro LONE STAf'i HANG GUDERS and UFM, Sales, South Smithbarry, Arl1nc1to11, 469-9159. UTAH

off and lands 15 mph wind Fully controllable in 3 World's first high performance for literature, 3,view, and color photograph

SKY PEOPLE SCHOOLS, Northeast ters for f::lectra Manta at 3 moun tralight anci Pleasant tains: Attitasl'1, Mt USHGA certified Instruction and special '"",,rn,,r,,,1"' pacf(ag,es, Write tor free information Box B9B, North

HIE K 11 E SHOP A 1

NEW JERSEY BENNETT DEL.TA WINGS EAST Come try a see how handles, Save $250 on scr.,1pi:;11ng ANY OLD KITE Also tow sl1ippi1ng and cover, Write N.,J 07922, Call (201 NEW YOFll< ATLANTIC GUDERS, *Lessons* Sales; new and used Bennett, EippHr, Manta, Moose, Electra End of cJiscounts and club member

VJ-11 So-Lo ® Ruild the world's

firnt fully controllable glidElr <!I ,,,t~1nrtmr1 aircraft controls .. Fully enoineered <!I Can be tiuilt in 6 weeks 111 Material cost ::in1nrr,\/innC1tAh1 11 Send for literature, sp,9cific,,tic,ns, and photoqraph

vv1..1v1cn AIRCRAFT

DEPT. """-l;;;l'lll!JMIL.!;;,

CA. 91201

AIR HANG GLIDERS Manta & repairs. Kenny Cross, Jerry Pastine, 636-2B01, VA 26241,

too, Greenwood Lake, NY No tax to NY Bernie ) 464,03B3 or Charlie Kenison 40 miles north of NYC, Aerial Techniques GSI Certifiec1 Beginners School with advance trainer kites. Dealers for all Manufacturnrs, H1t>rv11rn,,n for the intermediate, and cir11,,,,,""''; Dan James Aronson, Douka dEicJ1ca1tec1 to the 78cl-6751, RD#1, OKLAHOMA

Plans, Kits & Matr:irials

W Vlf'iGINIA

Now has new and used and the new Wills Wing for Bennett, Scott, and Co,m~)lete service and Dealer inoun 1es niv11eu, Contact: Richard Kingrey at Unlimited, Star Rout€,, Box Heavener, (91B) 653 2437 Site of the ANNUAL U,S, NATIONAL, HANG GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIPS,

WYOMING Dealers for Electra & accessories, Ratings available fly inw,dible Cirrus cl, Russ l<idder, 743 St. John St, Casper, Wyo 265-7292

ONE COMPLETE TOWING OUTFIT Control bar, boat floats, & rope. Never used. $125, SAFETY·.PRO harness designed for parallel bar sailplanes, Advanced quick release DesignecJ for comfort, safety, Ct1oice of any two colors, Send waist and thigh measurement $64.50 plus $4,00 hancJling charge, Aero Float Eliqhts, P,O Box 11p5, Battle Creek, Ml 49016 • MAY 1977

in 3 for $2.00; all 6 for Tl10 900 Salt I.aka City, Utah B4102

USHGA, l30X 6630G, Los

Cl\ B006G

METAL_ LICt'NSF PL/\TF FF1AM[S "l'D RATHEF{ HANG GLIDING" Wl1itn lettering L>ackqroun,d. $4.00 .r,r,1,, trfa,n

WINGS OF THE: WIND", a11 award 16mm Hang Gliding film, is for and cli1b rneol1ngs, for promotional rental, iniormation, tainment. Re 12814 Collins North lfol tact GibCo CA D1607, or telephone (21 )

60056.

USHG/\ sewon ernl>· $1. Decals, :1W' din. np1pllc:at1on. 25¢ oach. Include '"''v11mn wit11 eacl, order

yel Nc•v. i11 lh,1d Je11kins, 1 I ()11LlliO, OrPgon (:iO l) (Hdngc\

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)dnu.iry, I S W. 1 I th St /Hl'l-.l41M

TYPE: SST 10013 #ill') yl'llow, white. r, ld.iho, 011 J IHI.I rr,,,.,. .,,,~ llrcc k, '1r,

I il or I') Wing Inc.,

SI., S,rnt,1 An,1, CA '12701

Stnd. lb\12 I',, Seri,li Ke1·I out; dk. blue, dk. blue. IYl'E: I EAi World low, ft. SAit PATTERN: Whit<· S111d. sleev<·s ,llld keel pock1·t. DISTIN•GtJISMING FEATURE: BluC' r ontrol bar ,incl kingpml; whcPI·, WMERE WHEN: i)(•n·mlwr IC, Oil 0111'

or,ingt', red, p11rpl(·, rl.irk blue, white on "'cond side. WHERE WPr(' stolen out of John Dunham's t111ck whill' in S;m Diego in Mdlch. $100 rew,1rd off<'r<·d Electr,1 11w return of

,md black l(,,idi11g Df·n·rnlwr, Wells, lb

tlw (,.v'""'"'· SST, # b07, without 1 011\rol All whit(· with or,1n1w dnd Wlll:RE WI.UN: Sr·pt. :>7th,

Cliders, (702)

SAIL l'ATHRN: Keel white;, blue. TYPE: PATTERN: Blue,

Al~l-E3RUSHED TShirts. "GIFT OF FLIGHT" de against bluo or -small, rrmclium, large, front or back.

#7149. blue. W~IERE WHEN: Stolen in V;rn Nuys, Calif. WirnJhaven V,111 Nuys,

NPw Cirnrs Ill. SAIL PATTERN: Keel out; die blue, It. red, orange, yellow, with It. blue leading Seagull Ill.

HANG GLIDING

W,1,,,itcl1 Wings,

Ill

.00 for

Enclosed is a check or money order for: month's issue for a $10

$18

$25

"19

$12

$20

$27 49

$23 34

$29

Canada

$14 18

33 Mail Check or Money Order To: GLIDER RIDER •

A-2

P.O. Box 6009 TN 37401

Name Address St & Zip

BY BILL ALLEN AN INDEPENDENT COLUMN Wilton, N.H. (AUNS)-Howdy! "What's up!" during 1972-74 in Ground Skimmer, and "News from the Aerial Underground," syndicated through many local newsletters during 1974-76, were an outlet for small news items, personal observations (read "opinion"), and miscellaneous trivia. Here's another go ofit. HOME SWEET NEW ENGLAND - After two years of upheaval, I find myself settled in on the far side of the country. A nice pace of life here, lotsa clean air, good exercise with walking required at most sites, and an excellent general attitude among flyers. The winter wasn't as bad in these parts as it sounded, and spring finds us with no shortage of full streams. "FLYING BULL" - A natural title, hey, what?! Loaned my helmet for an art experiment and now wear a ("sure, paint anything you want") flying bull ... well, I got the message. NOMADS, JUST HAPPIES - Terry Sweeney says he's going to migrate south next fall via hang glider with engine assist (off duck routes, presumably). He predicts travelling in flocks "for protection" - better chance of being seen by conventional aircraft, scouting out thermals, helping with repairs. Sounds like Dr. John McMasters' prediction in SSA's 2-72 Soaring: "We eagerly await the cultural revolution, when we will again resume our nomadic existence centered arond our enormous, multi-purpose, split-level, Rogallo wing, hang-glider tent." MARIAH - Hope you saw Mariah's winter '76 issue with report on last summer's Mt. McKinley expedition. The two-page spread of Ed Kvalik's Dragonfly small against the world below has to be one of the sport's top ten photos ever. How about a flight with landing at 7,000 ft.?! SLOPE SLIDING - Same Mariah had an article on avalanches. Mentions a flyer who skied into a prime danger zone near Loveland Pass, Colo. and started a big one. Tried to fly but ended up unhurt in a pile of snow and glider parts. Probably the first case oflosing groundspeed control before take-off. Maybe our intrepid pilot was looking for the remains of another avalanche which put an entire truck of Coors on ice in the same pass. FIX NOT WARN - The 1-24-77 People magazine had an article on Susan Baker about accident prevention. She says warnings do no good - danger has to be designed out of things. A case in point, from my viewpoint, is putting seated flyers' thighs under control frames so legs come between glider and ground without protection in a crash. The industry must stop relying on people swinging their legs out of danger in time. STARBUCK SAFETY - Dave Starbuck, following his brother's paralyzing accident, has done considerable thinking and researching on seated safety. He concludes that pilots should hit ground in supine, not upright position (but note this puts legs directly between glider and ground on most designs). Seats should have high impact foam; and have smooth, slightly (Frisbee-like) rounded seat bottoms for sliding, glancing ground contact instead of sudden stops. Sears-typ_!:l ~wing seats are back b:r;eakers. NEW ENGLAND SITE - Here's a short review.BLANCHARDS HILLDunstable, Mass, 175-ft. WSW-facing training site, under new management by Jerry Thomas' The Hanger (617)

649-6137, if no answer (603) 654-6154. Less than hour from Boston. MITTERSILL - Franconia, N .H., 1, 700 ft., facing SW around to NE, advanced site with NW small training slope. Looks like it will have ski lift operating (closed last year). Managed by The Hanger (603) 823-8150, if no answer (603) 654-6154. Soaring record around 2 hours, tentative site for Reg. 8 Regionals in mid-June. MT. CRANMORE - North Conway, N.H., 1,100-ft., W-facing, ski lift operating. Site of Sky People school and numerous meets. Associated with nearby, newly opened Mt. Attitash. Both under control of Don McCabe (603) 356-5872. HANES HILL - Two miles S of Claremont, N.H. on Rte. 12. Probably best training site in New England away from dunes, W-facing 450 ft. and 200 ft. downwards. Site record about 45 mins. Camping available from May, close to other more advanced sites. Under managementofStuart Soule,Morningside Recreation Area, RFD 2, Claremont, N.H. 03743 (no phone yet). MT. KEARSARGE State park permits flying (nice change). Warner, N.H., 1,600-ft., W-facing, class III site, under pilot voluntary control. Must shoulder up 112-mile path. OK for SW but ragged in NW winds (avoid southern ridge in NW winds). Before flying here for first time, please call Terry Sweeney (603) 654-6154, Stuart Soule (see preceeding item), or Ed Howard (603) 823-8150. Soaring record 2+ hours, gain 3,000 ft. (watch for small airliners whose path is over Kearsarge at that altitude - they expect you but strobe lights are recommended). CAPE COD - Truro and Wellfleet, Mass. Sand dunes up to 160 ft., ENE-facing. Soaring record around 4 hours. Take-off sites are on border of towns, National Park. Cars in restricted town parking lots will be ticketed 9 AM-5 PM from Memorial Day to Labor Day, so set up your own shuttle service from legal parking areas. Otherwise Truro and Wellfleet have no objections to flying activity. However, the National Park, while not formally forbidding flying, also does not permit it. Please use supreme discretion or you will destroy years of flyer/town/park negotiations past and coming. A citizens park advisory committee this April recommended further studies on flyer usage, going against park wishes. There could be another year of negotiations before formal permission to fly. If coming here for first time, check with Ron Cadillac (617) 636-2703, or, ifnot available, with me (603) 654-6154. SALES SAFETY - USHGA Director Jim Aronson has just let schools in Reg. 12 (N.Y., N.J.) know that selling a glider to a customer below manufacturer-recommended proficiency (such as class-IV glider to Hang-II customer) may be considered by him as grounds for considering revocation of an offender's USHGA observer/examiner/instructorship. ENDING WITH A FLARE - The Boston Globe tells of a Durban, South Africa court case where a hang glider pilot flew over a lady nude sunbathing and made "an extremely indecent suggestion." Her husband pleaded not guilty to attempted murder with shooting an air rifle at two flyers. No word on his marksmanship. GOT NEWS OR AN OPINION? - Write % Flight Resources Co-op, Wilton, N.H. 03086. 1/lm-""'"('r-7-77

HANG GLIDING

.8 .62

.41 .7, 44

.. 68 .... 10

.. 68 ... IFC, 17

.61

.61, 6'.l

13 .. 10 ''' '' .49

... 63 .IBC, BC .. 14, 38, 58 ... 38 . 10 .66 ....... 60 .63

.11, 16, 62 .48

.68 ''' ''' '' '.48 '''' .49 ... 52

Soarmaster Inc. So. Cal. School of Hang Gliding . Sunbird Ultralight Gliders The Hang Glider's Bible . Tut Skiers & Kite Fliers, Inc. Ultralight Ultralite Volmer Aircraft . Westwind . Wills Wing Inc. Windhaven Emergency Parachutes . Wings for Man

rlHHH

.21, 44 .39

.53 .. 59 .. 51 .64

.41 . ... 12, 50 .15 .10

IMSl'ftUCTION

I Info

$5.00 (refunded with plans purchase) $55.00. SALES PARTS SERVICE

JACK BRITTON All

HANOI

(llll m 1014 hlldlng

MAY 1977

over.ts.

QUICKSILVER flown by Ekkedhard Reiser West