USHGA Hang Gliding March 1984 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

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I HAVE ENCLOSED A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO: USHGA, BOX 66306, LOS ANGELES, CA 90066 USHCA will ONLY accept foreign checks payable on a U.S bank in US. funds. (U.S dollars or International Money Order.) Allow 4 to 6 weeks for processing. I received this application form from:

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P.O.Box 66306, Los Angeles, California 90066 USHGA Item #4

Revised 9/81

( 213) 390- 3065

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Volume 14

CONTENTS

Issue No. 3

(USPS 017-970)

Features

Columns

15 Wild Bill's Chute Out

5 Viewpoint

by Michael Helms Delta Wing Kites and Gliders sponsors one of the most successful parachute clinics to date - and attracts more than 200 pilots.

by Liz Sharp USHGA's Competition Administration Committee Chairman discusses the competition point system.

16 Hang Gliding Interviews - Dick Boone by Lynn Miller Warrender . Pro Air's owner is more than an old timer. Here Dick divulges some entertaining facts and anecdotes about his involvement in the sport.

26 The Answer Man Page 16

by Mike Meier Mike answers some technical questions about the mechar.ics of a turn in a weightshift controlled hang glider.

32 The Right Stuff by Steve Hawxhurst This month Erik Fair invites USHGA President Ha wxhurst to expound on site procurement. Steve wrote the recently published USHGA Site Procurement Manual.

21 The 1983 Arizona XC Contest by Bob Thompson Last year was another dynamite one, with 74 miles only good for seventh place!

29 Stranger Than Fiction

40 Medicina A vibus

article and illustration by Rod Stafford "It'll change your life if you let it ... "

by Fred Leonard, M.D. Dr. Fred continues his series on nutrition.

30 Towlines

Departments

article and photos by Bob Thompson A die-hard foot-launch freak and power skeptic gets converted - to aero towing.

37 Remote Thermal Detection by Deane G. Williams How much further could you fly if you could see thermals in the distance?

Page 37

6 Airmail 8 Ratings and Appointments 10 Update 11 Calendar 12 USHGA Chapter News 43 Classified Advertising 46 Index to Advertisers 45 Stolen Wings

COVER: Gerard Thevenot and a sunset airto-air tow of a foot-launched hang glider. See story on page 30. Photo by Bob Thompson. CENTERSPREAD: John Heiney pilots his 160 Streak over the Elsinore, CA takeoff. Photo bv John Heiney. CONSUMER ADVISORY: Hang Gliding Magazine and USHGA, Inc., do not endorse or take any responsibility for the products advertised or mentioned editorially within these pages. Unless specifically explained, performance figures quoted in advertising are only estimates, Persons considering the purchase of a glider are urged to study HOMA standards.

t UP we really believe in competition We have put our name on the line for over ten years and have probably won more hang gliding competitions than several other manufacturer's efforts combined. We know from years of experience that competition improves our aircraft by proving the designer's intent under the most severe and demanding circumstances. Sure, another manufa cturer might claim that its glider has more speed, better climb, or even possibly a superior glide or sink rate, but like all aircraft, hang gliders are design compromises One of these claims might be true, but favoring one flight characteristic or performance advantage over another usually degrades the other aspects of the glider's total performance envelope. Competition tends to el iminate those designs that do not consider the entire parameters of flight. e at UP have developed that careful evaluation of design attributes to a very high degree It shows in our competition record. Years of success do hot come by luck. For example, on the following page you will find the offic ial results of the U.S.H.GA,

Region 5, 1983 competition. This region ran the most grueling regionals competition in the U.S. hang gliding history Literally days and days of competition in all types of conditions. Over eighty pilots from five states flew in the Region 5's competition. Result? Turn the page and study the results. Please note that all the UP gliders flown in this event were gliders that can be purchased by the average pilot. These events were not flown by factory sponsored pilots in specially built and tuned equipment that is later advertised as ' stock'.' All the UP gliders flown in these events are off the shelf as were most of our competitors Only in competition does the real truth emerge onsider this, UP factory sponsored pilots fly production equipment right off the assembly line, exactly like those we sell. Because we do sell them, usually after every event (this means the gliders must pass H.G.MA certification if tested) Most of our competitors factory sponsored pilots fly specially built ' choppers' (racing gliders that rarely resemble what they sell to the average pilot) These gliders cannot be sold to you, as they are not H.G.MA certified and in many instances could not be certified as they will not meet the safety criteria involved. Yet, these same manufacturers advertise that their glider won such and such event, implying that it was a production glider- don't be fooled. If you are thinking of a new glider, shop around, ask the dealer if the glider they are selling is H.G.MA certified, then ask if it is the same model as those the factory flies in competition If they say yes and you agree to buy one, get it in wri1i.og . Chances are that it might not be and you will be in a great position to get your money backl We will be glad to guarantee any production glider we sell as H.G.MA certified , ask Larry Tudor- he is the only pilot to ever fly over 200 miles on a hang glider and he did it on a stock Comet 2.

Ur.I SPORTS SEND S2. 0D ULTRALITE PRO DUCTS. DE PT. H FOR PHOTOGRAPHS , PO BOX 659 PRICE LIST ANO TEM ECULA. CALIFO RNIA 92390 US A INFORMATION (714) 676-5652 • Telex (910) 332·1306

(213) 390-3065

P.O. Box 66306, Los Angeles, California 90066

JULY 31, 1983 OFFICIAL U.S.H.G.A. COMPETITION POINTS SYSTEM (CPS) RESULTS

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Chuck Bright Rod Snider Bill McKellar John Pendry (England) Charlie Stone

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245 82

167

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106 219

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Conrad Agle Paul Clarke Maynard Pogue (Calif.) Eiji Spurlin Ross Henson

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Ed Goss (Colorado) Paul Lundquist Ian Huss (Colorado) Ken Cavanaugh Dean Tiegs

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Frank Gillette Andy Long Jay Stephens Shawn Osen Al Bilker

Steve Blankensop (Aus.) Steve Kingsolver Mike Smith Jeff Feldman Lee Deobald

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UP Comet 2 UP Comet 2 UP Comet/Shadow UP Comet UP Comet 2

439 412 296 290 221

UP Comet/Sensor UP Comet Sensor Magic 3 UP Comet

220 220 217 196 178

297 220 217 199 180

UP Comet UP Comet Duck UP Comet UP Gemini

171 157 139 135 128

UP Comet 2 UP Comet 2 UP Comet UP Comet UP Comet

121 118 114 103 97

124 118 114 97

Duck UP Comet UP Comet Streak UP Comet

75 59 52 39 16

Probe UP Comet Duck UP Comet UP Comet

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108

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Getting you on

top

has done the same for us.

The faniliar VE-10 (including its predecessor models A, B, and D) is five years old noY• And over the years we have built about 9000 of then, We get r'\odel A's in for repair (crash danage or many seasons of cough veax) and they go back out as quickly and cheaply gs a new one, A typical repair bill for crash danage usually runs less then 30,00, h'ith a background such as this, it !'lakes a good investment at 179,00 (still), You hardly ever see then. on the used r,arketplace, Instead they are out at the flying site on gilders all dented up and taped up, "Vhy do you keep it?" "Because the thing still .,,,arks like it did when I got it, 11 Sone of our dealers: Sunrise Country Inc,, Tokyo, Japan 03-433-0063 Tunnis Been Chandelle SF, Daly City, CA •'d5-756-0650 George Whitehill Davld Mandel, Po1:t Elisabeth, Sout'n Africa 041-335-364 Mission Soaring Center, Fremont, CA 408-656-6656 Pat Denaven Winje & Co, Lillehamr.ler, Norway 47-62-55875 Leif Winje Windsports, Van Nuys, CA 213-789-0836 Jqe Greblo La Houette, Dijon, France 33-(80)-56 66 47 Leading Edge Air Foils, Colorado Springs, CO 303-632-4959 Bill Raisner RAE Harketing Ag, St Gallen, SYitzerland 071-23-39-62 Walter Roosli Skysoarin.g Industries, Thirroul, Australia 61-42-6717,94 Ste·1e Kennard Sky Sailors supply, Applegate, OR 503-846-7385 Steve Bissett Hainair Sports Ltd, Lancashire, England 44-706-55131 Jim Hudson llurdock Sales, Christchurch, ~ew Zealand 529-285 Kevin Murdock

l / T£ K

4326 Fish Hatchery Road, Grants Pass, OR 97526

IMPROVE YOUR FLYING! Learn the secrets of the pros from hang g/iding's most widely read author.

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HANG GLIDING TECHNIQUES by DENNIS PAGEN THE LATEST BOOK FROM SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS For the novice to advanced pilot, this book continues the learning that began with Flying Skills. • Learn about thermal soaring - A full 31 pages on thermal techni· ques will have you soaring like an ace. • Learn about speeds to fly - the key to efficient flying whether in competition or cross-country. • Learn about cross-country flying - How to fly further with safety. Also: Perfecting turns • Handling turbulence • Flying at altitude • Using ridge lift • Design concepts • Parachutes • Performance tuning • Cardinal speeds • Harness adjustment • Competition and much more! Don't miss these other great books! • HANG GLIDING FLYING SKILLS -THE BASIC TEXT FOR LEARNING TO FLY USED BY MOST SCHOOLS WORLDWIDE. $6.95 + 70¢ POSTAGE. FLYING CONDITIONS - THE ROAD MAP TO THE SKY, DETAILING ALL ASPECTS OF SPORT FLYING WEATHER. $6.95 + 70¢ POSTAGE. POWERED ULTRALIGHT FLYING - THIS NEW BOOK IS THE MOST UP TO DATE AND COMPREHENSIVE ON ULTRALIGHTS. $11.95 + 90¢ POSTAGE. POWERED ULTRALIGHT TRAINING COURSE - THIS MANUAL CONTAINS ELEVEN LESSONS AND GROUNDSCHOOLS FOR THE BEGINNER. $9.95 + 70¢ POSTAGE.

SAVE 10 % - ORDER TWO OR MORE BOOKS! SAVE -ALL FIVE BOOKS FOR ONLY $35.95 PLUS 1.10 POSTAGE SEND CHECK OR CASH TO: DENNIS PAGEN, DEPT. H P.O. BOX 601, STATE COLLEGE, PA. 16801 DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

FLIGHT DESIGNS, INC. P. 0. Box 631 Manchester, CT 06040 203/644-1581

Gil Dodgen, Editor Janie Dodgen, Associate Editor, Production David Pounds, Design Consultant L~roy Grannis, Bettina Gray

VIEWPOINT

Staff Photographers

Erik Fair, Staff Writer Harry Martin, Rod Stafford, ll/11strators Gretchen Niver, Eas/ Coast Correspondent

Office Staff:Carol Vclderrain, Manager Amy Gray, Ratings Mary Marks, Membership Terrie Jo Nelson, Accounts Receivable USHGA Officers: Steve Hawxhurst, President Dick Heckman, Vice President Hardy Snyman, Secretary Gary Hodges, Treasurer E.recutive Committee: Steve Hawxhurst Dick Heckman Hardy Snyman Gary Hodges

USHGA Regional Directors: REGION I: Doug Hildreth, T. Michael lloylc, REGION 2: Russ Locke, Gar)' Hodges, REGION 3: Steve HawxhursL Bettina Gray, REGION 4: Jim Zeist. Bob Thompson, REGION 5: Mike King, REGION 6: Ted Gilmore, REGION 7: Dean Batman, REGION 8: Charles LaVersa, REGION 9: William Richards, Vic Ayers, REGION 10: Dan Johnson, Steve Coan, REGION I I: Hardy Snyman. REGION 12: Ken Zachara. Paul Rikert. 1984 DIRECTORSAT·LARGE: Dennis Pagcn, Dick Heckman, Elizabe(h

Sharp. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR: (With Vote) NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION Evcrc(( Langworthy. HONORARY DIRECTORS (Without Vote) elec1ed to 12/3 l /84: Bill Bennett, Hugh Morton, Vic Powell. Mike Meier. The United States Hang Gliding Association lnc., is a division of the National Aeronau1k Association CNAA) which is the official U.S. representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale {F Al), the world governing body for sport a\·iation. The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FA! Meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision of FAl-related hang gliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. HANG GLIIJING magazine is published for hang gliding sport enthusiasts to create funher interest in the sport, by a means of open communication and to advance hang gliding methods and safc_ty. Contributions arc welcome. Anyone is invited to contribute anidcs, photos, and illustrations concerning hang gliding activities. If the material is to be re· turned, a stamped, ~elf-addressed return envelope must be enclosed, Notificalion must be made of submission to other hang gliding publicalions. HANG GLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING magazine is published mo111hly by lhe Uni_ted States Hang Gliding Association, Inc. \1,-·hose mailing address is P.O. Bo.-.; 66306, Los Angeles, Calif. 90066 and whose offices are located at I 1423 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif, 90066; telephone (213) 390-3065. Second-class poSlage is paid at Los Ange/es, Calif. HANG GLJDING magazine is printed br Sinclair Printing and Lithographers. The typesetting is pro\'ided by lsr Impression Typcseuing Service, Buena Park, Calif. Color Separations arc provided by Scanner House of Studio City, Calif. The USHGA is a member-controlled educational and scientific organization dedicated to exploring all facets of ultralight flight. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for full membership are $29.50 per year (>32,50 for foreign addresses}: mbscription rates are $22 ..SO for one year, $40.00 for two years, $57 .50 for three years. Changes of address should be sen! six weeks in advance, including name, USHGA membership number, previous and new address, and a mailing laDcl from a recent issue. POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: USHGA, P,O. BOX 66306, LOS ANGELES, CA 90066.

MARCH1984

The Competition Point System by Liz Sharp

would like to amplify on Mark Bennett's answer (December '83) to Ray Sine's question on World Team Selection (October '83). Larry Tudor currently ranks 17th in the nation on the strength of just four competitions, which is quite a feat in itself. A total of six competitions during a three-year period is used in determining CPS ranking. Larry, quite unknowingly, has been following Rich Pfeiffer's policy of not entering a contest unless he is sure the contest, and his final placement, will earn no less than 400 points: 1981 XC Classic .. I st place 1982 XC Classic. 2nd place 1983 XC Classic. 2nd place 1982 Nationals. 16th place -

434 points 464 points 421 points 109 points

Well, at least for three out of four. One more competition earning 400 points for Larry will put his total over 1,600 points (in 1983, points earned in 1981 lose 300Jo of their value) and would rank him ninth in the country (right behind Rick Rawlings), Two more competitions earning 400 points each would rank him third in the nation and would automatically place him on a World Team. And now for those ''countless local pilots all across the country who are easily as skilled as any World Class pilot" that Mark referred to in his letter, I would like to offer the following guidelines: 1. If you will be satisfied to be in the top 50 pilots in the country, you must earn at least 100 points in each of six USHGA sanctioned competitions over a consecutive three-year period. 2. If you want to be among the coveted top 30 "ranked pilots," you must earn 150 points per sanctioned meet. 3. If you want to be in the top 20 pilots in the nation, you must average

200 points per sanctioned competition. 4. And if you want to be assured of being among the top ten U.S. pilots, 250 points per meet will do it (six meets total remember; Larry Tudor has only four). Impossible to do you say? Because local meets and Regional Championships don't earn enough points! Hogwash!! Very easy I say. First place in 11 out of the 15 (1983) Regional Championships reported to date did earn more than 150 points (that's the amount needed to be in the top 30 "ranked pilots"), First place in nine of these eleven earned over 250 points (that's the amount needed to be in the top ten pilots in the nation!). And to those doubting Thomases who still have the mistaken idea that pilots outside Southern California can't accumulate many competition points through local meets and Regional Championships, Region 5 has proved you wrong! Region 5 (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska) now has three pilots in the top thirty "ranked pilots" (which will almost double the "difficulty factor" of any competition they all fly in), and three more pilots between 31st and 50th. All six of these pilots (one is really from Region 7 but competed in Region 5) had never earned points before 1982. The Competition Point System does work for pilots outside Southern California. A total of 25 competitions were sanctioned (and made available to earn CPS points for local pilots) in 1983, four more meets than 1982. The opportunity and possibility to be on a World Team is there for any skilled pilot; take advantage of it. Compete in USHGA sanctioned competitions and, when possible, by choosy. •

AIRMAIL PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS

Dear Editor, Whoa! Please give us "professional journalist types" another, perhaps undeserved, chance. Hang gliding can't easily be written about well. You have to do the sport to truly understand it. I, too, cringe in anger when I read a knee-jerk, unresearched, one-sided news article about our sport. Not only is the sport hurt by these too frequent sensationalisms, but journalism too. There are others of us who have given the sport a try, realize its joys, understand its safety, and who will take hang gliding journalism off the ground. You'll soon see more literary and eloquent articles about the sport (including mine). Vin Crosbie United Press International Regional Executive New York, NY ON KNEE HANGERS

Dear Editor, I finally found a riposte to Erik Fair's labeling me "four eyes." From the looks of the coke bottle lenses he wears and what he wrote in the January "Right (sic) Stuff," he must have come up in the Myopic School of Hang Gliding. All that is to say I disagree with one of his points. Erik claims that ''knee hanger harnesses ... are inherently inferior to stirrup or cocoon harnesses (because) they inhibit the freedom of motion of your legs and make it more difficult to run all the way through a takeoff (especially dead air, shallow slope) ... " I beg to differ with this because of my long years of flying a Bennett knee hanger harness. I could run much faster on takeoff with this harness than any cocoon I have ever owned (three different designs). I have never come close to blowing a launch with my knee hanger harness. I can't say as much for my cocoons, for the bulk of a full padded cocoon somewhat restricts my run

(an unpadded cocoon does not, however). I agree with Erik that knee hanger harnesses are harder to run with on landing, but I don't believe in running on landings anyway. The point of this letter is not to disparage Erik, but to offer another opinion. I like the knee hanger harnesses, especially on takeoff. (Some technique is involved in keeping the glider from lifting too soon.) I finally retired my knee hanger harness because it couldn't compare to the comfort of a cocoon. However, I still take it out from time to time and promise to defend it from the likes of Erik. Dennis Pagen State College, PA

CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE

Dear Editor, Holy Ned! This knee hanger, stirrup thing is getting real interesting. First, Grablow calls me up and describes my Jan. column as presumptuous, arrogant, and irresponsible. Naturally this causes me to sing out: "Who you callin' irresponsiblet?" Next, DeWoof gets ahold of my nose and patiently explains the similarities between myself and a hyperactive, uninformed two year old. Naturally this causes me to thrust out my lower lip a foot or two. Finally, Old Four Eyes himself writes a letter to Gil Dodgem' and "begs to differ" with my assessment of them thar knee whanger harnesses. I just gotta assume there are other folks out there who are eager to repeatedly annoint my head with an overbuilt downtube until such time as I see the error of my ways and publicly admit that knee hangers are groovy. Now look here! I never, never said it was impossible to teach good launch and landing technique on knee hanger harnesses. Grablow and DeWoof do it all the time. I simply stated (in a somewhat arrogant, presumptuous manner) that it was more difficult and involved less margin for error. Rather

than restate my case in a limited space let me just say this: I personally think it was mighty humble and gracious of me to label all that guff "my own personal stinking opinion," especially considering my driving need to live up to the preposterously pretentious title of my column, "The Right (Sic) Stuff" at least lOOJo of the time. So much for sticking to the old guns. Time for some conciliatory gum beating. Uhhhh - let's see now - what can I admit??? Oh yeah!! I gotta admit this: Joe, Greg, and Dennis have a point!!! The hang gliding public deserves to hear both sides of a given issue. Therefore I cordially invite anyone who is teaching on knee hanger harnesses to write an article outlining his techniques and discussing the virtues of knee hangers. I will cheerfully run such an article as an installment of my column so long as the author doesn't get real serious and call me a whole lot of bad names. Fact is, I'm considerably better at "dishing it out" than I am at "taking it." The Likes of Erik Santa Ana, CA INTERVIEW KUDOS

Dear Editor, Congratualtions on your December issue interview with Mike Meier. That is undoubtedly one of the best articles ever published by your magazine; it provides some good laughs and at the same time covers lots of serious material. Erik Fair and Mike Meier could go on the road with their sideshow! Please keep up the good work. Tony Gilles HANG GLIDING IMAGE

Dear Editor, I would like to comment on the interview of Mike Meier by Erik Fair in the December issue of Hang Gliding. What was otherwise a good article

HANG GLIDING

AIRMAIL was totally ruined by the pictures, pietures that had no connection with the article at all. I wonder which these guys think the most of, beer drinking or hang gliding. And for that matter beer drinking should never be associated with hang gliding. The two do not mix just like driving and drinking do not mix. We have enough prob!ems with our public image already without perpetuating this association. What worries me is the action the FAA is going to take when they pick up on this sort of thing. We keep telling the FAA we are a responsible selfregulating association. I think it is time we started acting that way. Charles Covington Cookeville, TN CALL TO AID

Dear Editor, Super job on the January Hang Gliding. Brave new world and all that rot! January provided 10-15 flying days on Des Moines' training hills including one super Friday with four USHOA members flying the Capitol grounds west hill. In all we had seven pilots fly that day. Obviously even under the most adverse circumstances recreational hang gliding thrives. I would like to issue a call to aid for us so we can find other sites and pilots in our area. Please help. Joe Sztukowski 1010 25th St. Des Moines, IA 50311

ads). Now don't misunderstand! I like a cool one as much as the next guy, but my first thought was, "This guy is totally uncool." The pilot that I was talking with looked at Mister Macho and tactfully asked, "What're ya trying to do, kill yerself?" Macho's jaw dropped, then tightened as he growled, "Who are you?" Well they went away to discuss the matter and no blood was shed. The point of all this is that we pilots need to speak out when we see something like this. The only person a pilot is going to listen to (if anybody) is another pilot. If this jerk wants to kill himself in some obscure way that doesn't record as a hang gliding accident, that's OK. If he wants to drink beer, that's OK, too. But it affects you and me and the sport when 200-plus members of the public see a pilot decked out, ready to fly, sucking on a beer at launch. Next time I see this type of behavior, I'll say something. I won't just think about it. This may be the most dangerous maneuver associated with hang gliding. My compliments to that pilot who had the courage to venture into the unknown. I hope we all can display such courage, and keep the ''clown sauce'' in the LZ where it belongs. Dennis J. Baker

AIR-TO-AIR

Dear Editor, CLOWN SAUCE

Dear Editor, While waiting to launch at Mt. Wilson on the day before the new year, a fellow pilot did what I only thought of doing. This was a gutsy move done at great risk of injury to himself. He and I were standing directly behind launch along with about 200 wuffos (watching the current launch), when up saunters another pilot dressed in helmet, harness, and grasping a frosty Coors Uust like in the macho beer

MARCH 1984

The French have arrived! And with them have come the Azur 19 (211 square foot) and the Cosmos Trike, complete with an electric starting, 432 C.C. Fuji Robin. Can you believe 330 ft. lbs. of thrust? Just enough to make our tow-tug an elevator operation for 25 air-hungry students. The crispy cold air greeted us at the gravelly air strip at Hull Mountain. Jean Michel Bernasconi's clinical concept brought a wide variety of soaring "purists" and motorheads into direct contact - without any bloodshed.

Available to all comers (thanks to Bones and Sharai Strickland's kindness) were two days of high plains drifting and a training certificate for both tug pilots and tow pilots. Gerard Thevenot, the designer of the Atlas and the owner of La Mouette, a veteran of over 1,000 tows as a tug pilot, gave all present a feeling of confidence. He lived up to his reputation by automatically compensating for the perennial over-correction by the novices. Pilot after pilot was carried aloft in a relatively quiet mode while the center-of-mass, double French Connection set up made up for a plethora of pilot errors. The use of sailplane release hardware and double weak links in the tow line gave maximum assurance against lock-out problems. The weekend of learning was the beginning of a four-week cross-country odyssey, during which clinic after clinic would introduce flat landers and mountain pilots alike, to the Skylines approach to a ten-minute turnaround to 1,000 feet. As the day passed, all too quickly, the ground delays attendant to the early flights dissipated and all got their fill. New maladies arose, but never, never a problem that was not taken care of by the system in use. These French guys knew what they were doing! One pilot, losing it altogether on his second step, completely let go of the glider and believing that he was about to bash his face into the gravel, threw his arms out in front of him! The tow tug simply pulled him off the ground (on the glider's two wheels) as if he were on "auto-pilot" launch. Regaining his composure, he grabbed the base tube and towed up to 1,000 feet with the crowd roaring with approval. If the Frenchmen came expecting to convince those of us who seriously question the viability of ultralight hang gliding towing, they did; and they did it all very, very well. Dick Cassetta San Francisco, CA

RATINGS AND APPOINTMENTS BEGINNER RATINGS Name, City, State

Region

Keith Brown, Casper, WY ........... 5 Kevin Christopherson, Casper, WY ... 5 Ken Maxfield, Moyie Spgs., ID ....... 5

"Bud" Brown, Malden, MA ......... 8 Michael Cabbage, Bellingham, MA ... 8 Curt Johnston, Chattanooga, TN .... 10

Robert Allgeyer, San Jose, CA ....... 2 J.K. Bohlke, Berkeley, CA .......... 2 Michael Saari, San Jose, CA ......... 2 Brian Heuckroth, Menlo Park, CA ... 2 Lee Dlaton, Mar Vista, CA .......... 3 Peter Hocking, Honolulu, HI ........ 3 Dirk Richter, Arcadia, CA ........... 3 Nathan Waingrow, Phoenix, AZ ..... 4 Tom Hayes, Carub, MA ............ 8 Jan Theberge, Au burn, ME .......... 8 Andrew Brown, Virginia Beach, VA .. 9 Robert Fuller, Dumfires, VA ......... 9 Doug Schlorff, Laurel, MD .......... 9 Joe Greene, Baton Rouge, LA ...... 11

Ron Trobaugh, Portage, IN ......... 7 Karen Truumaa, Indianapolis, IN .... 7

Kenzi Klithuma, Aichi, Japan .. Foreign

James Carliell, Palmer, MA .......... 8 Maurice Roundy, Auburn, ME ....... 8

MASTER RATINGS Name, City, State Region

Dennis Cornett, Groveport, OH ...... 9 Dave Deming, Pittsburgh, PA ........ 9 Peter Harn, Baltimore, MD .......... 9 Michael Maxson, Herndon, VA ...... 9 Kirt Williams, Brecksville, OH ....... 9 Richard Guay, Knoxville, TN ....... 10 Vincent Collins, Austin, TX ........ 11 Dannie Durre, Houston, TX ........ 11 Mar Stewart, Bryan, TX ........... 11 John Allen, Endicott, NY .......... 12 Troy Hawker, APO NY ............ 12 Mark Henline, N. Tonawanda, NY .. 12

NOVICE RATINGS ADV AN CED RA TINGS Region Name, City State Randy Chaffin, Bothell, WA ......... I Bradley Hill, Monroe, WA .......... 1 Ron Almeter, FPO San Fran., CA .... 2 Cindy Burleigh, Hayward, CA ....... 2 Bill Hartwick, Morro Bay, CA ....... 2 Terry Harvey, San Andreas, CA ...... 2 Michael Jones, San Francisco, CA.... 2 Tom Moulia, San Francisco, CA ..... 2 Jeffrey Simpson, Union City, CA ..... 2 Brenter Thompson, San Francisco, CA2 Bruce Thompson, San Jose, CA ...... 2 Edwin Watts, Hayward, CA ......... 2 Dwain Zsadanyi, Arroyo Grande, CA. 2 Kevin Clements, San Diego, CA ...... 3 John Dickenson, Santa Paula, CA .... 3 John Dykert, San Diego, CA ......... 3 Joe Fiano, Ventura, CA ............. 3 Jonathan Greenburg, Encino, CA .... 3 Bruce Knowles, Downey, CA ........ 3 Philip Paris, Flagstaff, AZ ........... 4

Bob Faris, Ft. Collins, CO ........... 4

INTERMEDIATE RATINGS

Gerd Schaefer, Tokyo, Japan .. Foreign

Name, City, State

Paul Burns, Lake Elsinore, CA ....... 3 Greg De Wolf, Santa Monica, CA ..... 3 Roman Dodson, Sepulveda, CA ...... 3 Jim Shaw, Santa Ana, CA ........... 3

Region

Darren Fox, Everett, WA ............ 1 Stan Jones, Everett, WA ............ 1 James Crosley, Chico, CA ........... 2 Terry Ferrer, Berkeley, CA .......... 2 Lee Grisham, Concord, CA .......... 2 Jim Manning, Lompoc, CA .......... 2 Dennis Owen, Santa Clara, CA ....... 2 Gary Roark, Carmichael, CA ........ 2 Brian Scharp, Sebastopol, CA ........ 2 Doug Wallace, W. Truckee, CA ...... 2

Name, City State

Region

Lance Chandler, Tacoma, WA ....... 1 Merle Roberts, Electric City, WA ..... I Mark Messer, Milpitas, CA .......... 2 Jim Grissom, San Francisco, CA ..... 2 Renny Barta, Walnut Creek, CA ..... 2 John Erickson, San Francisco, CA .... 2 John Erwin, Long Beach, CA ........ 3 C. Jones, La Jolla, CA .............. 3 Mike Murphee, San Bernardino, CA .. 3 Terence Secory, Tucson, AZ ......... 4 Mike Schuler, Albuquerque, NM ..... 4 Brian Yowell, Ruidoso, NM ......... 4 Bruce Hedge, Boise, ID ............. 5 Jim Andersen, Traverse City, MI. .... 7 · John Sackmeister, Elk River, MN ..... 7 Randy Adams, Stockbridge, MA ..... 8

Robert Bockstahler, Encinitas, CA ... 3 Ralph Chaney, La Jolla, CA ......... 3 Bob Loudermilk, San Bernardino, CA3 Kenneth Washburn, Arcadia, CA ..... 3 Tom Call, Tucson, AZ .............. 4 Al Menz!, Fayetteville, AR .......... 6 James O'Connell, Maple Pk., IL ..... 7

C.R. Anderson, Centerville, VA ...... 9 David Johnson, Booth, WV ......... 9 Fred Marstiller, Morgantown, WV .... 9 Jim Ozier, Laurel, MD .............. 9 Robert Shumaker, Bangor, PA ....... 9 Dennis Garrett, Bowdon, GA ....... 10 Phil Harper, Bowden, GA .......... 10 Kenneth R. Massey, Odessa, TX ..... 11 John Benzimra, London, Eng .. Foreign

HANG GLIDING

OFFICIALS Observer

Keith Schopman, Ellicott City, MD ... 9 Basic Instructor

Kurt Schmidt, Long Beach, CA ...... 3

BRONZE A WARDS ISSUED WITH NOVICE RATINGS

John Bowles Doug Kinzey Donald Carron Kenneth Lewis Terry Crippen Lee Morris John Dickenson Arthur Othon Tim Edwards R. Christian Schmidt Mel Glantz John Stekli J. Michael Gretta Bruce Thompson Richard Hawkins Michael Tryon Mark Helgeson Ronnie Vest Kenneth Johnson 0. VonRosen Richard Kelly Edwin Watts

BONZEAWARD

W. Charlie Mayton, Birmingham, AL Daniel Armstrong, Harbor City, CA Tom Watson, Downey, CA David Goldsborough, Pasadena, CA Thomas Gill, Cupertino, CA Alejandro Campbell, N. Hollywood, CA Earl Chambers, Birmingham, AL Chris Holloway, Chattanooga, TN SILVER AW ARD

John Gisse, Haslett, MI Charlie Mayton, Birmingham, AL William Scott, Ellicott City, MD Dana Roosevelt, Tempe, AZ

GOLD AWARD

David Whitehall, San Diego, CA DIAMOND (RIGHT WING)

David Whitehall, San Diego, CA

MARCH 1984

WOR

WRIGHT F'LYER REPUCA

announces the cross country fly-out. from a one of the five Of season and win! The contest is open to any Intermediate,.rated or above is not The contest starts now and nms until I, 1984. Awards '"'"'°"r""" at the annual WOR must be witnessed. Cash for the top five contestants. Contact: Pat Denevan (415) 656,6656. HANG GLIDING CANCELLED The 1984 Professional announced in last column will not be listed as scheduled for a two,.week 2, 1984 at Torrey

CHARLES TAYLOR HONORED

AIRW A VE GLIDERS USA Airwavc Gliders of announces the establishment of Airwave dealer netGliders USA. work and promotional events arc Chris and Ken Brown. Airwave manufacture the Gliders of

Builder and pilot of the Wright flyer Ken Kellett cranks the props just before.flying his on the 80th anniversary of the '.1· J1rst flight.

The celebration of the Wright Brothers occurs each December 17th at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. The memorial stands on the site of the Wright Brothers' flight exand their first powered This year, hundreds of aviation enthusiasts to watch history had repeat itself. Just as its taxied in 1903, the wooden track and lifted itself into the air. The success of the flight, after one aborted attempt minutes earlier, thrilled the crowd, but it was parfor builder, Ken to fly the for the first time at the 75th Anniversary in 1978. Due to technical problems, it failed to fly that year. This time, however, the replica completed three the 146 feet.

Winner of both the US Nationals and the Masters of Gliding Chris is ranked in the top ten in the USHGA points system. Chris won the South African Nationals. As a member of the U.S. World Team, Chris will bring his knowledge of the market to Airwave Gliders USA.

Ken Brown developed a professional outlook on today's gliding industry. Ken is currently in the process of with the HGMA on certifying the 3 line. the For information planned towing seminars and 3 demo write to: Airwave Gliders USA, P.O. Box 1153, Mercer Island, WA 98040.

PILOTS LEARN AIJOUT PARACHUTES

WINDSPORTS MOVES!

National Memorial at Kill Devil was the nation's first mechanic, the building the motor that in 1903. Paul Garber, left, historian emeritus at the National Air and Museum, chairs the committee individuals to honored. USHGA Director Vic serves committee secretary.

formerly known as Southern California Gliding has moved. located in the San Fernando address is 16145 Victory Van CA 91406 (818) 988-011 l. Headed veteran world class pilots, Joe Greblo and Rich Windsports, lJSHGA certified school, continues to offer all levels of instruction, as well as a of gliders and accessories. In addition to offers lessons and sales in ultralites and windsurfing.

Course, a sixteen lesson home,.study workbook, provides a pro .. gram for obtaining the FAA senior certificate. Each lesson presents materials, referenced answers. past A Master Parachute director of the USHGA and pilot, Dan Poynter has made over 1,200 jumps. He has written more than 400 H«,5U.LU,~ articles on aviation and eight

HANC CLIDINC

UPDATE of his 16 books are on hang gliding, parachutes and skydiving. The Parachute Rigging Course is $11.95 plus $1 shipping. Para Publishing, P.O. Box 4232-220, Santa Barbara, CA 93103-0232 (805) 968-7277.

Shaw. The response from participants was an enthusiastic one; even those who did not pass the course and thus were not granted certification generally felt that the knowledge and experience gained were well worth the cost of the seminar.

WILLS WING INSTRUCTOR SEMINAR

Recent articles in both major hang gliding publications have pointed to the lack of growth in our sport. One major reason cited is the lack of new people trying, and, more importantly, staying with hang gliding. Wills Wing has long felt that competent, well-informed and enthusiastic instructors are fundamental to any effort to revitalize our sport. During the 1983 season, the Wills Wing USHGAapproved Instructor Certification Seminar was conducted at locations throughout the United States by Jim

Wills Wing plans to continue the seminar in 1984. If you are interested in bringing this unique seminar to your area, please call or write for more information to: Wills Wing, 1208-H East Walnut, Santa Ana, CA 92701, (714) 547-1344.

Calendar MAY 26-28: Southern Nevada Hang Gliding Championships in Las Vegas, NV. Trophies, prizes, barbeque, competition, fun fly, camping. Contact: (702) 363-1140 or 871-8627. APRIL 27-29: Marina Steeple Chase. Beach race over 12 miles. Minimum prize $1,000. MAY 12-13: Demo Days. Manufacturer's reps will be on hand to demo equipment and answer your questions. Party and films. JUNE 9: Parachute clinic. JUNE 16-17: Mountain clinic for Hang III and JV

rating tasks and advanced technique instruction. Contact: Kitty Hawk Kites West, PO Box 828, Marina, CA 93933 (408) 384-2622. MARCH 17-18: First of five San Diego County competitions open to USHGA Intermediate and Advanced pilots. Competition points. Contact: (619) 450-9008. First weekend of each month: Wings Of Rogallo rating weekend for Novice and Intermediate. Ed Levin County

Park in Milpitas, CA. Contact: (415) 656-6656. SEPTEMBER 14-16: California Balloon Festival, Visalia, CA. Contact: Balloon Festival, PO Box 4516, Visalia, CA 93278 (209) 625-2784. MARCH 17-19: Tennessee Tree Toppers Tree Topper Regional Opener. Cross country tasks in the Sequatchie Valley. Pre-registration March 16 at Henson's Ramp. $25. Contact: Gary Engelhardt (404) 398-3678.

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MARCH1984

USHGA CHAPTER NEWS edited by Joel Howard "The Flier" Ultralite Flyers Organization, Inc. (#31) P.O. Box 81655 San Diego, CA 92138 Steve Koji, editor 1/84 - The date for the annual Torrey Pines Benefit Fly-A-Thon is March 20, 1984. The rain/no wind date is the following Saturday, March 17. ''Cloudbuster'' Wind Riders Hang Gliding Club (#17) 407 Old Philadelphia Pike Douglassville, PA 19518 Fred Mack, editor 1/84 - The Wind Riders have meetings on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 8:00 PM at the Burroughs Building in Paoli, PA The Sacramento site saw some December flying on the tenth. At least six pilots showed up to log some airtime. A great way to end the year. "Newsletter" Marin County Hang Gliding Assn. (#25) 20-A Pamaron Way Ignacio, CA 92401 Denise Francisco, Lauretta Klockars & Eric Beckman, editors 1/84 - A 'chute clinic is scheduled for February 27 at Hang Gliders West at 7:00. Eric Beckman reviews his recent experience with aero-towing on December 19th. He was towed by Brian Robbins in his 50 HP Fledge III Foxbat to altitudes of 1,000', 2,000' and 5,000'. Beckman uses a modified Hewett Skyting bridle to obtain an average climb rate of 200 fpm. "Flypaper" Crestline Soaring Society (#16) P .0. Box 2454 Crestline, CA 92325 Debbi Renshaw, editor 1/84 - New officers are: Rob McKenzie, president; Bill Maxwell, vice presi-

dent; Kay Lee, secretary/treasurer; Bob Loudermilk, activities director; Dave Cleve, launch monitor chief; Debbi Renshaw, newsletter editor. President McKenzie defines the club's purpose. That purpose is to secure a permanent launch area for foot-launched hang gliders.

"The High Flyer" Alaska Sky Sailors Assn. (#2) 4650 Reka St. #F-8 Anchorage, AK 99508 Katie Bennett, Vickie Griffeth & Becky Whisman, editors 1/84 - The Christmas party featured video, hot tub and a full moon. A good time was had by all. Katie Bennett reports of the beautiful scene when in the hot tub and looking at the full moon and watching a few crazed individuals rolling in the snow between hot tub dunkings. "Newsletter" Coastal Condors (#84) P.O. Box 828 Marina, CA 93933 Jim Johns, editor 1/84 - The dates for the Steeple Chase are April 27-29 (three days for more weather allowance). To attract more pilot participation there will be a minimum purse of $1,000. Once again Kitty Hawk Kites will sponsor with the Rotary Club and an area radio station. "Newsletter" Cloudbase Country Club (#92) P.O. Box 55144 Seattle, WA 98155 Sandy Sweptson & Clarice Forseth, editors 1/84 - Site Chairman, Mike Daily reports that work is being done on Grasser's on the island. Please don't attempt to fly there while negotiations are under way. Also, when flying Barr Mountain please take the time to pick up some litter between flights.

"Newsletter" Blue Ridge Hang Gliding Club, Inc. (#99) 706 W. State Street Coopersburg, PA 18036 Eric Newhard, editor 1/84 - Officers are: West Vogel, president; Steve Lidie, vice president; Bev Campbell, secretary/treasurer; Eric Newhard, newsletter editor. "Sylmar Hi Times" Sylmar Hang Gliding Assn. 11851 Addison St. North Hollywood, CA 91607 Wayne Yentis, editor 12/83 - Since the inception of the SHGA in late October of 1983, much has happened in favor of the activities of hang glider pilots in the Sylrnar area. A city councilman has changed his position to support the sport. This was accomplished by the efforts of the SHGA to display the organization and to contact the local residents for their support. The petition that the SHGA circulated in and amongst the residential areas adjacent to the Kagel LZ is now attached to the paperwork coming out of the councilman's office. Great job. Continued success!! "Flight Line" Wings of Rogallo (#66) 18880 Tilson Ave. Cupertino, CA 95014 Greg Shaw, editor 1/84 - The WOR is announcing the first annual "Cross Country Fly-Out." It is open to any Intermediate (III) pilot or above who logs one of the five longest flights from a WOR flying site (Ed Levin/Mission Ridge/Mt. Diablo) during the coming flying season. The contest runs until September l. The awards will be presented at the annual WOR picnic. Sign up at a WOR meeting or a Mission Soaring Center before you do big XC. The fee is $20. Launch and landing must be witnessed. Names and phone numbers must be reported to "Flight Line" editor for HANG GLIDING

publication. Longest distance is overall winner Cash to the top five. All contest fees go into the pot.

Glider'' Assn. (#36) P.O. Box 897 OR 97045 Gordon & Natalie editors Officers arc: Gordon Gibbs, Dave dent; Natalie Gibbs, treasurer; John Morse, flight director; Gordon Gihbs and Natalie Gihbs, newsletter edit.ors.

"NewsleUcr" Western New York Assn. 128 Richmond Lancaster, NY 14086 Jeff editor 12/83 New officers are Jeff sol!, Dick vice dent; Scott Barrett, treasurer; Mark Henline, secretary; Mick site director.

''The Cunent Northern Sky Gliders P.O. Box 364 Minneapolis, MN 55440 Robin Linder, editor This photo, which includes most of

Assn. (1145) P.O. Box 31 l Medford, OR 97501 Guy Parker, editor l /84 officers arc: Parker, prcsident/1 rcasurer /editor; Will vice Howard Benson, secretary; director. The Christmas party was a smashing success. H featured food, good company and Mark Bennett showing and his slides of and World Meets.

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by Michael Helms USHGA President Steve Hawxhurst (right) presents Bill Bennett with a "Three More" shirt.

January 25, 1984, there was a "chute out" at Bill Bennett's Delta Wing Kites & Gliders Inc. Bill sponsored the first in a series of educational and entertaining seminars for local pilots. Paulette Bennett (Bill's wife) prepared a feast of edible goodies to be munched along with tons of fresh bread from Foix Bakery via Rome Dodson. Bill asked Jim Handbury of American Ballistic Chutes to do a "show and tell" on his new ultralight ballistic parachute. So show and tell he did. There was a remarkable video tape of Jim flying along in a powered Quick with a big smile on his face while in the background the theme song from Superman was playing. Next thing you know, Jim reached over and sawed his flying wire off. The Quick responded by promptly folding and plummeting in an ugly spin. The ballistic chute (attached to the kingpost) deployed quite well and in no time Jim was under canopy. I'm sure he'll stir up some interest in the ultralight community. Rich Pfeiffer spoke to us about hang glider chutes and fielded questions from the 200-plus pilots there. Most everyone knows Rich is one of the most consistent winning hang glider pilots around but he is also a former Skydiving National Champion and Master Parachute Rigger. I think the evening was a success because all the ingredients were there. There was education via Jim and Rich, food from Paulette, Gary Stuart was in charge of booze (Ken Brown seemed to equate that with putting the fox in charge of the henhouse), and there was entertainment when pilots hooked into MARCH 1984

the "simulator." You see, there were these two very big gnarly guys who spent the evening working out with dead weights (pilots). In the midst of being thrashed by these two ogres you had to toss your chute. Somehow it wasn't very reassuring for Rich to tell us a broken glider would be much worse. Anyway when it came my turn, l hooked in and told "the boys" I wanted them to see if they could simulate a bent batten. They couldn't. I got my chute out in the midst of their "cumulo-resonant-thermotrembler-busted-diver-treatment.'' Cindy Drozda raised a few eyebrows when her chute (beautifully tossed) came scootin' across the floor in a white plastic bag duct-taped shut. She just grinned and said she didn't want to get it dirty. For $7.50 Joe Greblo, Betty Moyer, or Rich Pfeiffer would repack your chute. Jerry Carson collected the repacking fee which went toward the World Team Fund. And there was more entertainment when Delta Wing's Marketing Director, Luigi Chiarani spoke ... about anything. As Master of Ceremonies for the evening, the privilege of handing out door prizes went to him. Jerry, first-manover-one-hundred-miles, Katz won a space blanket. He was grumbling he'd never won anything in his life until he recently purchased a space blanket and in the last year he's won three more! Some people have all the luck. Scott Sorensen won a cross country mileage gauge. Rogelio Hernandez won a T-shirt. Steve Hawxhurst, President of the USHGA, presented Bill Bennett with a

"Three More Members" T-shirt. h seems Bill has been the local "Have You Joined?" zealot and it has paid off. In retrospect, I believe one reason the parachute seminar attracted so much attention is because of a recent deployment at Mt. Kagel. But, whatever the reason, all the locals are thankin' Uncle Bill for good info and a good time. •

Betty Moyer from High Energy Sports demonstrates packinf.!. technique. 15

Dick Boone hooks up the Mariah to a cert/jkation test rig-···1977. Photo by Bill Bennelt.

is known in the world for his many over the years, he is much more . rle is, a entered the sport in is trn· in the sense that he has become involved in all of forms, to us about how and when you Dick! been 16

real close and both of us have been involved in some form of grew up in Wichita, which is kind of of the world,'' where for We my father was both grew up to be aeronautical and were interested in whatever we could sec that could fly. Did you ever jump off the roof to try to like so many hang pilots seem to have done as children? Well, whrn my brother and I were high we a and spent two years trying to get it

span . HG: And next came actual DH: Yes. We were of

ended up

pretty atrocious as far HANC CLIDJNC

hardware went, since we used store bolts and such. The roommate at the time nose was a so he made us a twoounce dacron sail. This was back in 1971 when we wen1 out and tried to our heads on the few times in this We ground didn't know off into the wind or the use of We had no idea where the e.g. was. Back then there was no inforNo one

ill a powered 1974. Photo ?Jy Bill

area. HG: Tell us about what when of you flew this DR: W c found 150' hill near the colto blew up it; the winds were from the side covered with trees. So since the wind never blew up the front of the hill, where there was decent we flew off the side and sort of crashed into the side of the hill. We'd been out about twelve taking off, stalling, and crashing into this hill, when one the wind turned uphill. We looked at each other excitedly, set up, and somehow decided that would be the one to I took off and found 50' in the air, where crashed into before both of us had the hill. froze and the pilot's times of fear. We'd never seen fly before and knew about how to control them. Meanwhile, in the blowing cross, of course we hadn't noticed. As J came down, the up a and since I didn't know how to control it, around and turn downwind. ed to The only reason I walked away from the was because I had on very slick tennis shoes that slid many across the wet grass as I slammed to halt. left these two lit.tic furrows in the mud across the area. After that we were hooked. We learned how to the and flew and flew. built our first real standard.

MARCH 1984

Diclc-Do11nic slir1s into a landing -195. Photo by Bill /3cnnctt.

aero-WC

were allowed to use this super wind tunnel that Lockheed, and the for about aeronautics there, with our in which gave us the mechanical However, it became harder and harder to study as we to learn what flyable looked like, since we'd want to be out flying about ourselves instead of mechankal aspects. My brother and I were also on a bit by our own After tinkering wilh it awhile, we got it better than the other stanwcre to in the northwest. (This is now 1972.) a lot or started HG: And that was how you got into the manufacturing business? DB: Yes. We started a glider company called West, building the side as we attended of were pretty much the only other at the time. HG: How did you go from there to become head designer at Delta DH: We ran our business for a couple of years. Meanwhile was slowly Then in 1973 I flew to Los 18

to in the Otto Lilienthal meet. There I met all the big hang names of the time. Bill Bennett offered me a job at Delta Wing as a test pilot. The first day I was there I helped with a problem they were working on with a certain They were trying to in the _sail to keep it from but this put all the gliders tremendously out of trim. I asked if I could mess around with one. I put a cambered keel on one, with camber in the front and reflex in the back. They looked at me like Twas really crazy. But it flew OK off the training hill. Two later Bill had a land tow meet. A number of pilots failed to show up, so Bill asked me to fly

in the meet. I'd never towed so "OK, but I don't want to be first off." I wanted to sec how somebody else did it. We drew names for launch order and I drew second. That was OK, as long as I could sec someone else fly. to Well, the first guy is about launch when he discovers he's forgotten his swing seat. The launch director yelled "NEXT!" and there l was, never having towed before or ever seen it done! Somehow I did it and managed to plow into a tree in the landing area after having made some maneuvers. At the end of the meet, though, I had twice as many points as everyone else. We had all been flying the same glider, only mine had the cambered keel and had up much I had banged up my knee and wrist on the tree landing so that they were really swollen as I flew the second round. Bill Bennett had me grip his arm to prove that I had enough strength to hold onto the control bar as the tow yanked me up. After the meet when I went to the hospital, the doctors told me I had broken my arm on the bad landing, and had then set it when the tow yanked me up on the second round! I could no longer test lly with a broken arm, so Bill said I could try my hand at designing. And things took off from there. I designed the Phoenix line, and cvcn-tually became a exclusively because that was what I did best. A year after being at Delta Wing I was vice president of the company. HG: Now you own your

Dirk and Donnie Osmond. Bennett photo. HANG GLIDING

this come about? DB: For a long time I had quite a bit of freedom at Delta Wing to do whatever I wanted. We produced quite a few gliders, and did a lot of research. Eventually, though, we disagreed on a few things, and I decided I wanted to go into business for myself. HG: For the benefit of those hang glider pilots who dream of starting their own hang glider company some day, how does one go about starting a new manufacturing company? DB: My experience at Delta Wing helped me quite a bit in learning the business aspects of running a glider company. I learned how to advertise, how to sell, how to run production. You need this kind of background in order to get in-

valved in such a project as starting your own company. You also have to be flexible to the needs of your company. A lot of things I thought l would do have by necessity been changed. For example, I thought I could sell directly to the public rather than through a dealer network. But as it turns out, we can't sell to as many people directly as we can if we have a lot of dealers. Then you get into higher production, higher costs, and more overhead. You have to invest in developing your shop, in building it. HG: What kind of cash investment do you need to start a company? MARCH 1984

DB: You 're probably going to need $150-$200,000 to get going your first year. HG: What do you think about certification? Do we need it? DB: Certification has provided a really good source of knowledge over the years. The large manufacturers know that it's to their advantage to put out a reliable glider, and they do what's necessary to research glider design. If a glider is certified, it's going to be in a certain range of safety. I think small manufacturers consider certification a hassle and an expense because they don't have the knowledge to draw on. It's these people who need to draw on certification the most - they have the most knowledge to gain.

Everyone wants to make the best glider on the hill. Certification makes them prove it's good. A lot of times someone can't believe how much he learned from the certification process. It's a guarantee that a glider will be reasonably safe and reasonably well constructed. There's also no reason why you have to compromise a glider's design to meet certification. If you design it properly in the first place, a glider should inherently meet the requirements and yet perform like you want it to. HG: Should gliders be certified in order to fly in meets? DB: We've discussed this at HGMA meetings for a long time now. We decided that there was no way a meet director could determine which gliders were safe and which weren't. It would just be too much trouble. I'm the oldest HGMA member there is; I've served in all its offices for years and years. So I figure we might as well tell the public that many of the gliders that competition pilots are flying aren't in certification configuration. The pilots have changed the gliders around in order to get extra performance out of them. Let's admit it: just because a certain glider wins the Nationals, that doesn't mean that that's the identical glider the public is buying. HG: Dick, you have a wealth of good

TOP: Point Magu air slww. Tl,ree gliders towed up 011 1200-foot lines frmn a Cadillac- 1975. INSET: Dick flying standards- 1974.

f'/10/0 by Lance Lcm1ard.

hang gliding stories. Let's here some. DB: One funny story was the time I did some filming for the Mike Douglas show. I was supposed to fly tandem at Torrey Pines with Robert Conrad. As were were getting ready to fly, Robert Conrad was busy getting looped. He'd never seen a hang glider before and had been given this assignment to fly tandem. The whole show was filmed live on the cliffs at Torrey, and then the wind died to nothing. I had drummed it into Conrad's head that the most important thing was that he run as fast as he possibly could on takeoff. So when it came time to launch, he took off in this incredible sprint. I couldn't keep up with him and the glider started going sideways. But somehow we got off the cliff. When we got airborne, I found I had no control. I looked at Robert Conrad and saw that his hands were glued to the control bar like magnets. His muscles were absolutely locked into position, even though I kept telling him to relax. I finally managed to knock his hand off, and we flew down to the beach since it wasn't soarable. Conrad didn't know that Black's Beach was a nude beach, and was pretty embarrassed when an entire nude family, mom, dad, and two kids, came up screaming excitedly, "Wow! It's Robert Conrad!" Then there was the Donnie Osmond episode. We got a call at Delta Wing from a film crew who asked if we could fly into Anaheim Stadium (a baseball stadium). Well, no matter what film people ever asked for, Bill Bennett always said, "Oh, sure, we can do that. We can do anything." It turned out I was going to dress up like Donnie Osmond and fly from the top of the stadium into his concert. My costume included high-heeled boots and a superman-like cape. I was to be car towed up to the top of the stadium, fly down behind the stage and land, and then be replaced by the real Donnie, who would then proceed to walk onstage. The day of the show came, and at the last minute, the producer told me I would have to shave my mustache because Donnie doesn't have a mustache. I told him I really didn't want to do that, but he insisted that he really wanted me to do the stunt. I resisted, and the Osmonds were urging me not to shave, 20

but the producer finally won out. The only problem was, no one had anything on hand for me to shave with, except for a pair of fingernail clippers. So I went into the bathroom with Donnie and Jimmy Osmond so that Donnie could hold my mustache out while Jimmy clipped it off, hair by hair. Later, at an exclusive party given by the Osmonds, I was given a standing ovation for "shaving" my mustache. Meanwhile the stunt went off real well. The band had come on and begun the concert, without Donnie. But they kept stopping and asking "Where's Donnie? Where is Donnie?" About then I came flying into the stadium, my cape flopping about my shoulders and choking me as flew, and came down and

landed for a screeching, howling mob of fourteen-year-old girls. I put down the glider and started waving at the crowds. Then I went backstage and Donnie came out onstage as though he were me. The crowd had gone absolutely berserk, and no one knew it wasn't Donnie. "Rolling Stone" later wrote that this was the best entrance ever made by any group. Six months later when I was in Europe for a meet, I saw a German teen magazine that had my picture on the centerfold dressed as Donny flying into the concert. Naturally the magazine identified the flyer as Donnie Osmond. HG: Well thanks for sharing your ideas and stories with us, Dick. Good luck with Pro Air. •

Dick flies /,is first /10111e-lmilt. !iome-dcsig~wd stundurd from u 150' hill near his collcge-1971. I'hoto /,y noug Boone.

HANG GLIDING

1983 Arizona XC contest ended as the most successful ever, with lots of pilots getting long flights and having a great time doing it. FUN, that's the best part of this kind of contest. Lasting the entire year, you can pick the days and the weather to fly. If things aren't just right, there's always tomorrow, next week, or next month. Plus, there are a number of good sites and most are less than a two-hour drive for the majority of pilots; for some, it's only a few minute drive. Each year since its inception, the contest has been won by a flight from a different site. The first year Shaw Butte, in Phoenix, produced the winning flight of 52.5 miles. The 1982 contest was won by a flight of 140 miles from Mingus Mountain, and this year Mt. Elden, in Flagstaff, finally showed its potential, with the winning flight of almost 114 miles. The rest of the state produced quite respectable flights in 1983, also: Shaw Butte 83 miles, Mingus 76 miles, Yarnell 74 miles, Miller Peak 85 miles, and South Mountain 60 miles. Six of the top eight finishing pilots logged their longest flights ever, and the competition was so tight that a flight of 74.0 miles would not have even gotten into seventh place. Picking a "most improved" XC pilot would be difficult, indeed. Hans Hcydrich maxed out at 38 miles last year (good for seventh place in the '82 contest), made a giant step this year with 98 and 83 mile flights, good for second place. Bruce Rucfer came from relative obscurity in '82 to third place in '83 with two 86 + mile flights. Andy Rockhold, third in '82, upped his longest to 76 miles in '83, good for fourth place this year. Dana Roosevelt came from the ranks to place fifth with 75 + miles. Dr . .Tim McEown, eighth last year with 33 miles, moved up to sixth this year with 74 + miles. And Jim Whitelaw landed in seventh place in '83 with a 74 + mile flight, eclipsing his previous best of 42 miles last year. Bob Thompson made it three straight, winning with 113 + miles, backed up with 112 +. No records this year, though---maybc in '84. And, once again, UP dominated the placings with seven of the top eight, including first, second, and third with C-II 165's and fourth with a 165 Comet. Wills Wing produced the only non-UP winning glider, with Dana Roosevelt on his new 160 Duck. MARCH 1984

article and photos by Bob Thompson

Yes, there were other gliders entered: Streaks, Pro-Stars, Ducks, a Fledge, a Stratus, and a Voyager. UP came through with their support money $600 distributed among the first three places. Wills Wing provided the trophies, beautifully etched Arizona plaques, complete with artwork by Dennis Pagcn, and Desert Hang Gliders provided other awards. The external support was certainly appreciated by everyone involved. Needless to say, a contest of this length and scope produced some interesting tales. Heading out for some air time prior to a movie/dinner evening with wife and friends, I jokingly com-

mcnted to my wife, .Tanis, "I'll call you from Payson," an area that had long been a goal of pilots flying from Shaw Butte. The usual Arizona "luck" prevailed, and with Kenny Peyser driving the chase truck, Payson was reached shortly after 4 PM. The 63 mile flight was concluded in 1 hour and 40 minutes, helped along by a hefty wind aloft. After a quick phone call to announce the big flight and arrange to meet everyone at the theater, we were off on the "Great Arizona Road Race" back to Phoenix, with little time to savor the flight. Handily, all the DPS radar was aimed at the north bound traffic, and Kenny was able to drop me off at the movies with about 21

ten minutes to spare. Where else but in Arizona could a pilot work until 1 PM, drive to the launch site, set up, fly 63 miles, and be back for a date at 7: 15 PM the same day! Hans Heydrich had begun the Payson flight with me, but chased after an elusive dust devil and lost out. He was fit to be tied! Two days later he turned the tables, eclipsing my flight by 20 miles. However, his flight had its price, and Hans learned an important lesson: sticking one's neck out on an XC hang glider flight can help win a contest, but it might also get your buns in deep trouble. Instead of crossing the Verde River while working a thermal up, Hans crossed the river and entered the Mazatzal Wilderness topped out. Sinking as he went, Hans ended up ridge soaring about 100 feet AGL over an area that: (1) would be hard to land a helicopter in, much less a hang glider, and (2) would take days to walk out of if a safe landing were negotiated. After considerable scratching, Hans found a boomer and continued on, passing Payson at 12,000' MSL. While circling the last open area below the Mogollon Rim he encountered one more light thermal. Unable to resist, Hans left the safety of the last LZ and headed for the Rim, not knowing what to expect on top. As fate would have it, the thermal drifted him right to the Rim where, upon getting slightly higher, the thermal shredded, leaving his Comet in strong laminar air. With the bar to his knees and the glider backing up over the 100-foot tall pine forest, Hans learned just how bad the pucker factor can get! Fate was on his side as the only opening in the forest for miles was a few hundred yards behind. That's the good part. The bad part was that it was about knee deep in 33 ° water and surrounded by equally deep snow. Somehow, he managed to land safely, then got blown upsidedown. Sloshing out of the lake, then walking, soaking wet, through the snow to the highway was a most urlpleasant experience after such a spectacular flight. Memorial weekend was another time not to be soon forgotten by Arizona (and a few California) pilots. Several of us traveled to Las Cruses, New Mexico to support the local fly-in that would have been the Region 4 Regionals had it been accepted. Arriving a day early, we were treated (?) to strong downwind 22

conditions, rain, and a road up that split a new tire. Back to Arizona for some good weather and roads. Stopping in the Flagstaff weather bureau, we were informed that "several" people had been reported to have flown from Mingus to Phoenix the previous day, something never accomplished before. Nothing like driving 1,000 miles to miss a magic day at the home site! As it turned out, a storm had moved in from the north and not several, but nine pilots had "surfed" the bouyant air in front of the south bound storm 75 miles to Phoenix. The day had been incredible! A lady flying a Gemini, who had never thermalled XC made it. Jim McEown's vario battery quit half way along the flight and he completed the flight on his own. Rik Fritz was the first to arrive, totally flipped out at flying from Mingus to Phoenix, describing his flight to the local pilots at the Butte LZ. As he pointed to where he had come from, someone noticed another incoming glider, and another, and another ... , Chuck Rhodes came streaking over in his Mitchell Wing, Dana Roosevelt landed just short of the LZ, at Thunderbird High School, and Jim McEown ended up a few hundred yards short of that.,By the time the sky had quit raining gliders inbound from Mingus, Rik's enthusiasm was somewhat subdued. To top off things, only two of the pilots completing the flight were entered in the XC contest - Dana and Jim. As we arrived back at Mingus, the day was looking strong, with lift everywhere. The drift began from the southeast and I headed out for Seligman. Forty-five miles into the flight we picked up Rik Fritz's desperate transmission "I've been sucked into a thunderstorm! I'm gonna die! Give all my things to Dan Joder. Bar is to the knees, vario is pegged, goodbye!" Then silence. Looking south to where Rik had radioed from I could see a cumulo-nimbus towering to about 40,000 feet. That was really depressing, and I pulled out at 17,200' MSL and spiralled to a landing. An hour later and 25 miles back down the road we spotted a pilot standing next to his bagged glider thumbing a ride; Fritz the Cat had survived another harrowing experience. Having had numerous parachute deployments and other such close calls in recent years, Rik takes these things in stride. Personally, it seems that

even cats only have nine lives, and Rik ought to think about the odds one of these days. As we were heading back we picked up Andy Rockhold's radio transmissions - heading south. Six hours later he landed at Shaw Butte in Phoenix. Bound and determined to get a long flight in, a number of us decided to try Mt. Elden for a while. That decision paid off, for me anyway, as I bagged two 100 + mile flights in a week, both terminating, as usual, with changing weather conditions forcing a halt to forward progress. On June 27 the increasing wind was progressively shredding the thermals and after about one-half hour of getting thrashed about, and spit out of even slightly workable lift I decided to head out with only 800' above the mountain, figuring either I'd find a nice flatland thermal or land. After getting a hang check, Jim McEown launched, only to discover that the hang check wasn't worth beans, as one of his harness ropes wasn't hooked through the carabiner. Caught in an unsafe situation with trashy air, Jim wisely headed out and landed. A bit of salt was added to his wounded pride, as I managed to catch one of the magic flatland thermals and Jim was relegated to being a chase driver, along with Kenny. About 50 miles along on the flight a heavy overcast covered the area and I began what was expected to be my final glide. About 1,000' AGL a wayward thermal was encountered and I headed up once more. After about five minutes of circling in the thermal a large bird entered the lift from below. Several minutes later it began to flap its wings and I realized this was a big bird - a golden eagle. As it flapped past me I picked up the camera for a picture. Turning my head with the camera I saw through the viewfinder the eagle diving toward me from above with talons outstretched. Yanking the control bar suddenly altered the path of my Comet II enough that the eagle bounced off the left wing. The picture didn't end up too good, but I figure it was best to blow the shot and just get brown shorts, than get a good picture and maybe blood on the flight suit. The obviously very territorial eagle moved several hundred feet away and just watched for a while. I managed to re-find the thermal core and left the area ASAP. Topping out at 18,800' MSL I flew straight and level for HANG GLIDING

about 40 miles in some kind of clouded over shear. Realizing that there was a headwind parallel to the highway to Greasewood, the flight path was altered, heading straight east. Jim and Kenny made a wrong turn somewhere south of Greasewood and the rest of the flight was on my own. As in all my flights over 100 miles, the weather became less cooperative. The flight could have continued to the southeast, tacking along the headwind, but no roads could be seen. Thus, with the possibility of landing where there were no roads and no witnesses, the flight might not count and a long walk might be ahead. The landing was in the middle of nowhere, but along a dirt road. Handily, the middle of nowhere in the Navajo Indian reservation usually is occupied by Indians, and there were several witnesses to the strange, quiet craft that came from the sky. Elmer Yazzie was most helpful, rescuing me from the incredible masses of gnats, and giving me a ride back to Greasewood, where the operator of the local trading post opened up after closing hours so I could get something to eat and drink. Elmer dropped me off at the local school gymnasium where the wait for Jim and Kenny began. Time went by fast as the local folks were quite friendly and interested in my mode of travel to their town. One young Indian chatted with me for quite a while, as he was quite knowledgeable about hang gliding. While attending Bringham Young University he had a room mate who flew at Point of the Mountain. During our conversation I heard a familiar engine roar by a few blocks away. On the CB l quickly made contact with Jim and Kenny. They had wandered several hundred miles through the desert area, only to find me where we had last been in visual contact. As it turned out, the flight was good for first place. Playing it safe and landing where there were witnesses worked out again. Labor Day weekend brought an exciting close to the cross-country activity. Lots of pilots headed north for one last try at bagging a long one. Some went to Mingus, most headed for Mt. Elden. Saturday looked superb, and, as the thermal cycles allowed, we took our turn negotiating the tricky launch through the trees. Bruce Ruefer and Hans Heydrich got off first, getting to the 14,500' MSL cloudbase quickly. Mark Bennett and I got off next, with Mark heading out to the north. Bruce found MARCH 1984

some trashy but usable lift out over the leupp road, but Hans and I, being a bit behind, got drilled. As Bruce headed on farther, the lift got progressively better, that is until it got too good near Many Rocks on the Hopi Indian Reservation. There, the cumulus turned into towering cumulo-nimbus and Bruce wisely landed before getting sandwiched between two growing storms. The flight ended up giving Bruce 86.98 miles, dropping Hans, for the time being, into third place. Mark paid the price of being unfamiliar with northern Arizona territory, coming to the end of the road at Wupatki National Mounment at 14,500' MSL and having to land there. Sunday was blown out and crossed slightly downwind. Mark and I foolishly believed the weather bureau that conditions would be similar, but worse on Monday (Labor Day) and headed for Phoenix. Sure enough, it was trashy on Monday, but a number of gliders did manage to get off. One, also, managed a short out and return on launch, getting tangled in the trees lining the launch window for a few hours. Once again, it was Bruce and Hans leading the way. Northeast to Merriam, east to Leupp, cutting back southeast to the cloud lines at Winslow, and then east towards Holbrook. Near the Holbrook airport they separated. Hans stopped to work some weak lift and Bruce continued on looking for something better - to no avail. Bruce landed at the east end of the airport and Hans worked the weak lift to 12,000' MSL where he was able to glide to the Adamana exit along 1-40, just short of the Petrified Forest National Park, good for 97.67 miles and second place again in the contest.

Considering this was really a so-so year for flying weather, the season ended up being quite successful for Arizona cross-country pilots. Once again, we learned a lot, pilot proficiency increased, and glider performance inched up. A whole gaggle of pilots will be real contenders for '84 and there is quite a crop of new pilots eager to work their way to the top; 1984 should be a banner year in Arizona. Come on springtime! Anyone interested in entering the 1984 Arizona XC Contest should contact the AHGA at 4319 W. larkspur, Glendale, AZ 85304 for further information.• 1983 ARIZONA CROSS COUNTRY CONTEST RESULTS I. Bob Thompson, C-ll 165, 113.61 miles, Mt. Elden past Greasewood, 6-27-83. 2. Hans Heydrich, C-11 165, 97.67 miles, Mt. Elden to Adamana exit on 1-40, 9-5-83. 3. Bruce Ruefer, C-11 165, 86.98 miles, Mt. Elden to Many Rocks, 9-3-83. 4. Andy Rockhold, Comet 165, 76. 5 miles, Mingus to Shaw Butte (Phoenix), 5-28-83. 5. Dana Roosevelt, Duck 160, 75.38 miles, Mingus to Thunderbird H.S. (Phoenix), 5-27-83. 6. Dr. Jim McEown, Comet 165, 74.85 miles, Mingus to 19th Green Driving Range (Phoenix), 5-27-83. 7. Jim Whitelaw, C-11 165, 74.15 miles, Yarnell to east of Ashfork, 6-18-83. 8. Tom Fuller, Comet 165, 62.2 miles, Yarnell to south of Ashfork, 6-18-83. All flights were measured by the great circle method and are in statute miles in a straight line.

FRONT ROW: Left to riRht. Bruce Ruefer--Jrd, Hans Heydrich-2nd, Bob Thompson-1st. BACK ROW: Andy Rockhold-4th, Jim Whitelaw-7th, Tom Fuller-8th, Dana Roosevelt--5th. Dr. Jim McEown-6th. 23

THE ANSWER MAN Dear Answer Man, I have been into hang gliding several years and have read Dennis Pagen 's books at least three times. I have found his books helpful but I was never satisfied with his explanation of what makes a hang glider turn. He didn't seem to tie together a complete concept. I went for months, and hundreds of flights, turning my glider and not really knowing or understanding why it turns. This went on until I read The Mechanics Of A Turn by Mike Meier in the January, 1978 Hang Gliding. It was an eye-opening article! I love the explanation of a turn in terms of increments of pitch and yaw with the tilted aerodynamic force providing a centripetal component to provide continuous curved motion. However, even though I loved the article, I still found some questionable statements: 1) The article says that billow shift causes the glider to yaw in the intended direction of the turn. This is a contradiction to Dennis' explanation which says that billow shift causes the undesirable side effect (or at least aids it) of adverse yaw, while providing better roll response. 2) Meier's article says, "As the bank angle goes up, the required increase in Fa goes up, requiring you to push out more to fly at a higher angle of attack for a given airspeed. " I would think that in a turn (coordinated or not), the glider is going to be in a certain amount of side slip which would cause the airspeed to be greater for a given angle of attack and not vice versa, like the article says. Furthermore, in a severe side slip, I should think that the wing would have more span wise relative wind flow which would decrease the effective angle of attack thereby requiring even more push-out on the control bar. l would appreciate it very much if you could shed some light on these little tidbits. Rick Nowack San Jose, CA

by Mike Meier

E.rst, thank you for your complimentary comments on my article on turn mechanics. With regard to your first objection about whether or not billow shift aids or opposes the yaw rotation in the intended directions, I think Dennis' explanation is probably closer to being correct on this point than mine. I plead temporary insanity and/or ignorance. (This was 1978, remember?) What I should have said was that billow shift causes the glider to roll and yaw in the direction of the intended turn, which I believe it does. The mechanism by which it does, is that the billow shift causes a profound loss of lift on the inside wing, which results in a bank in that direction, which results in a slip in that direction, which results, through the glider's inherent yaw stability, in a yaw in that direction. However, I didn't say that. Knowing as a pilot that billow shift aids turning, I tried to find an explanation for why it would cause both roll and yaw in the intended direction. The roll is easy to understand; the billow shift lowers the angle of attack of the inside wing and thus decreases lift. As far as the yaw was concerned, I looked at the fact that a wing with more twist would be less efficient, i.e. have a lower L/D, i.e. have more drag, which is what I said, except it wouldn't have to have more drag to have a lower LID if it had less lift. Strike one for me. Dennis' statement was based on the idea that some of the drag, the induced drag, is a function of lift, and that if lift were reduced drag would be reduced. He thus concluded that the billow shift which reduced the angle of attack of the inside wing and thus the lift, would also reduce the drag and thus cause adverse yaw. That is a perfectly logical conclusion to come to. The only problem is, it doesn't seem to work. Gliders (like the Raven for example) that have good amounts of billow shift (measurable from photographs) have

very little or no adverse yaw. Other gliders, like the Alpha, have little adverse yaw in one tuning configuration, and have tremendous adverse yaw if tuned a little differently. Also, the degree of adverse yaw is a critical function of the airspeed (angle of attack) at the time of turn initiation (weight shift). Many gliders will exhibit almost no adverse yaw if the turn is initiated at best L/D speed, but lots of adverse yaw if the turn is initiated at minimum sink speed. None of Dennis' descriptions of the origin of adverse yaw adequately explain this gross discrepancy. In the years since my article I have done a lot of designing, a lot of flying, and a lot of thinking about adverse yaw in flex wings. My current thinking is that the single most important cause of adverse yaw is a stall of the "outside" wing (the wing you are trying to turn away from) in the midspan. What happens is this: You are flying at or near minimum sink speed, which means your root section is at or near the stall angle of attack. Your midspan on each wing is just below the stall angle, while your tips are well below the stall angle. You shift yo~r weight to the left, for example, which causes the twist (billow) to shift into the left wing and out of the right wing. The area of greatest twist differential takes place in the midspan, because it is the area most removed from the support of the airframe. The shift in twist causes the midspan of what was to be the outside wing (right wing in this case) to increase its angle of attack beyond the stall angle of attack. This causes the right wing to lose lift and increase drag. The loss of lift opposes the intended roll and the increase in drag causes th; adverse yaw. The effects that Dennis describes probably operate also, but are so slight as to be difficult to notice in the absence of the stall induced adverse yaw. In other words, turn initiation at higher

HANG GLIDING

THE ANSWER MAN than minimum sink speeds doesn't (in my experience) usually produce noticeable amounts of adverse yaw. It does seem that the newer generation of gliders exhibits more adverse yaw of the type Dennis' describes (where the glider does roll as asked to, but while doing so momentarily yaws in the wrong direction) than older gliders. This may be due to the fact that newer gliders have less sweep, and that sweep is a primary source of yaw stability, and therefore that newer gliders have less yaw stability so it takes a little longer for the roll induced slip to get them yawing in the right direction. With regard to your second question about the relationship between angle of attack and airspeed in a coordinated turn, consider it this way: in a turn the pilot and glider are being accelerated, because their velocity is constantly changing. Their speed is constant, but the direction of motion is changing constantly and therefore the velocity is changing and they are accelerating. This acceleration requires a force beyond the normal force required to support the pilot and glider against the pull of gravity. If an additional force were not required for curved motion, it would be no more difficult to drive a car around a corner on an icy road than to drive it straight. It is the lack of the ability of the tires to grab the ice, and transmit the centripetal force needed to accelerate (change direction, not speed) the car around the corner that causes skidding. The centripetal force needed to force a glider into a curved path must come from the same place that the normal aerodynamic force that supports it against gravity comes from. If a given pilot/glider combination requires 200 lbs. to support it against the force of gravity, then flying at twenty-five miles per hour in a straight line it must fly at an angle of attack that produces 200 lbs. If the same glider and pilot want to fly a curved path at the same speed, and they thus need some additional aerodynamic force to provide the centripetal acceleration, the only way to get it is by raising the angle of attack to produce more

MARCH1984

aerodynamic force for the same airspeed. If they don't raise the angle of attack, then they will have to fly faster at the angle of attack to achieve the required increase in aerodynamic force. You say in your letter, "I would think that in a turn (coordinated or not) the glider is going to be in a certain amount of side slip which would cause the air speed to be greater for a given angle of attack not vice versa like the article says." But the article doesn't say vice versa, it says essentially the same thing you say, only without reference to side slip. I'll get to side slip in a minute but first let me point out that to say, as I did, that the glider in a turn must fly at a higher angle of attack to maintain the same airspeed, or to say, as you did, that in a turn the glider must have a higher airspeed at the same angle of attack are exactly equivalent. As angle of attack increases, airspeed decreases. So if I say you need to increase angle of attack to hold the same airspeed in a turn, it is the same as saying that if you hold the same angle of attack you will have to increase airspeed. Either way, what you're doing is increasing the aerodynamic force in order to provide the required centripetal acceleration. With regard to side slip; a coordinated turn is, by definition, one without either side slip or skidding. Side slip will occur if there is too little yaw rotation for a given turn rate, while skidding will occur if there is too much yaw rotation for a given turn rate. Or, another way to think of it, you slip when you have too much bank angle for a given turn rate, and you skid when you have too little bank angle for a given turn rate. In an airplane, the pilot has independent three axis controls with which to coordinate pitch, roll and yaw in any turn. In a hang glider, the pilot has no direct control over yaw, and has to rely on the glider's inherent yaw stability to bring the nose around in yaw during the turn. Because of this, a true coordinated turn is probably impossible in a hang glider, and some degree of side slip takes place continuously. I hope this has been of some help. I must confess that after six years of

designing hang gliders I still have a lot of questions about precisely what makes them do what they do. One of the reasons I no longer write articles like the one I wrote in 1978 on turn mechanics is that when you are writing about a subject on which you have substantial ignorance you either have to extrapolate from theory to conclusions which are sometimes in conflict with the truth as represented by observations, as Dennis sometimes does, or you end up staying true to your observations and give illogical explanations, as I did. The real truth is that this whole thing is a lot more complex than any of us understands, and there are just not many of us willing to admit it. •

Stranger Than Fiction article and illustration by Rod Stafford

It was the early summer of 1978, and I found myself in need of adventure. As I considered the options, I realized how few valid contenders there were: robbery? (too risky); ice climbing? (too cold); drugs? (too expensive); training for a triathlon? (too trendy) ... ? Then I recalled that my sister, who lived in the next county, was carrying on with a hang glider pilot, and could talk endlessly about his great courage, his unique perspective on the human experience, and other advantages. I dwelt long and often on these facts, sometimes wondering if in the Eyrie of Men there might be room for one such as I. The summer passed in its time, beach days giving way to racquetball giving way to the rich, textured keg parties of autumn, and through it all my greatest longings were for flight: its freedom, silence, and energy. (Hang Gliding to me then was a muscular, square-jawed fellow with handfuls of blonde hair and an Ultra-Brite grin that shone and beckoned, "Come hither!" to the unwilling or the faint of heart. I envisioned his glider as a glinting weapon, with which he hew the air in an uncertain contest of skill and power.) Curiosity eventually prevailed, so I arranged to spend a Day of Discovery with my sister's champion. I arrived at his door rested and alive and ready for anything. My first knock produced a skinny, red-eyed creature who blinked at the light. He watched as I craned to see further inside, and finally asked, "Can I help you?" "I'm looking for a friend of my sister's, a hang glider MARCH 1984

pilot?" I said, wondering if the right place might be a few houses over, but the creature replied, "I'm the pilot." We had an awkward moment, luckily interrupted by sudden rain, wind, and so on. Inside we started out with the imported beers, and somewhere around Maison's my host said, "Yep, when I looked out the window this mornin' I could tell it was gonna be late night and early morning low beers, with partial clearing toward midday and a ninety percent chance of scattered beers throughout the evening,'' as he gazed at the sheeting rain outside. I was told that flying in the rain was unrewarding, leaving as my only choice a visit to the local dealer to learn what I could. The proprietor of this establishment was an odd sort, and I sensed an air of mischief from the beginning. Surrounded by implements of obscure purpose and the most bizarre of poster decor, he observed quietly while I stood in my wet shoes pondering the character of his habitat (the Champion had gone for more beer). Suddenly he began to move toward me with a reassuring smile and a firm, determined step. I fully expected his coat to swing open, its linings hung with an array of hang glider key fobs, or plated macho neck chains. Instead he thrust out his hand, introduced himself, and hung on as we tugged along toward a corner of the room which contained a movie screen and projector. There I viewed dim, blurry films of what appeared to be a body suspended beneath

some kind of great flapping tarpaulin as it fell away into some desert arroyo, or out over an ocean of trees. "Where does he land?" I asked. "On the ground," that curt specimen replied, followed by a quick laugh (to make me feel less insulted) and a lively summary of his training system; how well it dealt with such problems as Landing Area Recognition, Flight Without Wind, and Willingness To Be Maimed (all of which he assured me would become issues). The Champion then returned with his six-pack, and the two of them went on with such zeal that in the end I had confessed a great interest in the whole business, signed into at least one lesson, and conceded that they definitely had experienced something I had not (although I left the interpretation of that remark to its own fate). Thus satiated, I left with the Champion and outside we found the same drenching rain. As we splashed out to the car, I noticed that my image of Hang Gliding had lost a handful or two of hair, his muscle tone, and that he wore glasses! His glider had become a rain fly, and apparently his primary skill was for the design of ingenious beer-chilling methods. Something about that bothered me for awhile, until I realized it was also a pretty good description of me! I resolved not to be impressed, but to no avail; the seed was thriving and as I drove home the shop owner's parting remark won its day in court: "It'll change your life, if you let it. .. " • 29

Gerard Thevenot aero towing Clary Gromer high over the Arizona desert. INSET: The tug silhouetted against the Arizona sky.

'round! Your time gliding may soon be nearest pasture. The with a tug. Com· system is ing from the pen of a staunch ultralight that's quite a statement. The tug was not or as a designed as either a ""''"""''".v' ultralight. Rather, it combines technology from both, providing for and hybrid designed easy towing of hang gliders to altitude. Future articles authored by far more educated in and involved in the and use of the tug will shortly be forthcoming in I will not try to in· volvcd in aerotowing in this article, but I do hope to present a condensation of what I've seen. gliders is not new. Bill was towed in a standard behind a Cub a few years back; boats, cars, and winches have been used; and, recently, ultralights have it a go. Now, after several years of evolution and use in Europe, the tug is 30

HANG GLIDING

shown to hang pilots around the U.S. The tug l observed is a sleeved, beefed up and based on the La Mouettc Azur sealed up to 211 square feet mounted above a specially , ..,.,..151 ,1eu nm:vPr,,n by a 50 + The systern was demonstrated by Gerard Thevenot, who is for most of the and evolution of the tug, with Jean· the tow Michel Bernasconi. Control pilot is easy and sure (with proper train-· ing!), power is more than with the th rot tie

with a great amount of it mildly. in who knows me knows my intense love and my distrust of for nnmPrPn ultralights. Well folks, now I'm a believer still not in but in the tug and its ultralights and potential for It isn't as it still has a power plant that can fail, but it seems miles ahead of else l 've seen. Towing with a tug,. which is really an overbuilt trike hooked to an overbuilt hang , offers rnany features: STRENGTH this is bird that should never tural failure. POWER with extra power in can power out of situation. the tug is a trike below a with a center of thrust tow line (right through a eel tube in the prop hub). With no tail, as is common to most powered ultralights and aircraft, as the towed gets out of line vertically or laterally) the tow line tends to tum the tug in the pro· per in an automatic correction input, rather than the op·· posite as may be seen in tailed craft. The tow line is attached to the shoulder straps of the towed pilot's harness only, an automatic once The system doesn't do but it sure helps. Both pilots have a release for the tow line, so either can cancel the tow at will, instant· MARCH !984

ly. And the tow pilot has a large rear view mirror for easy viewing of the being towed. In two we observed quite a range of pilots tow behind a tug 4 and pilots, a brand new pilot, pilots who fly several times a week, a pilot who only flies once every two or three months, prone pilots and all with a high of control and Of course, we were with instructors who had years and who had been involv-

of the system, too. Like cd in the anything else, if something is ed the results arc usually commensurate. The system was well worked out for prone pilots, but we had to exa bit to arrive at an optimum situation for supine. Ifooking the tow line/release to the support straps al the bar above the helmet proved to be the answer. With either prone or three or four steps and you are off The only modification to the glider

necessary is a pitch axis French Conncc· tion, to reduee bar pressure and maxunder tow. imize pitch The most obvious of the proper aero-tow is you don't need mountain or a long road auto tow), method will moun· tain launches or car tows, but it will open up a lot more for our sport. The USHGA of non-involvement with "'""'"''""'' ultralights, which I support H)()O'/o, and I have yet to be convinced that aero .. towing of lional is safe. However, as the tug appears to be hybrid for aero· towing, has a record with over one and a half year's use in and has been demonstrated to many hang pilots in the U.S., in .. eluding myself, I expect the of what position the USHGA will take with to with the tug will be discussed at length at the MARCH USHGA Directors One note of caution: there arc serious concerns and problems which need to be worked out with the FAA with which your USHGA are hard at work. All parties involved arc working in toward an equitable outcome. touch with your USHGA Director for information.

Thevenot demonstrates aero towing for hang glider pilots in II rizona. The tug is hPre and your day may soon be coming! 31

THE RIGHT STUFF

Site Procurement by USHGA President Steve Hawxhurst

The procurement and maintenance of secure, legal flying sites is perhaps the most important issue facing the United States hang gliding community today. To be sure, the relative paucity of secure, properly maintained flying sites has always been a "nagging problem" in this country but given the reality of dramatically reduced participation levels in the sport this nagging problem could rapidly become a critical one. It's a simple matter of two relationships: The one between numbers and clout and the one between convenience and numbers. If our numbers continue to dwindle our ability to secure and maintain new flying sites will almost certainly be diminished. If we are to realistically hope for new growth (increased numbers) in our sport it is imperative that we have secure, safe sites that are convenient to existing pilots, hang gliding schools, and the populations they serve. It is essential that we act now to secure existing sites we haven't already secured, to arrange for the maintenance of ones we have secured, and to begin laying grass roots groundwork for the acquisition of new sites. Rick Masters' efforts to secure Horseshoe Meadows and the formation of a responsible club to save L.A. 's Kagel Mountain come immediately to mind. With all this in mind I asked USHGA president Steve Hawxhurst for permission to publish the following excerpt from The USHGA Site Manual ·which he authored. The excerpted explains in a forthright, informative, and entertaining manner some of the do 's and don't 's of dealing with private

The

landowners whose land you would like to secure for hang gliding. I think it's great stuff, maybe even inspirational stuff So if you find yourself inspired after sampling the Hawxhurstian prose, don't be surprised - Just call up the USHGA office and order up a copy of the VSHGA Site Manual. It contains a wealth of information on how to go about the business of dealing with the governments, agencies, companies, and private landowners that stand between you and a secure hang gliding future. Ladies and gentlemen, please wecome - The Prez. Erik Fair

process of negotiating with a private landowner for a flying site is more variable than that of dealing with a public agency. Unlike situations that involve city parks, etc. the private landowner has no obligation to provide for the welfare or recreation of the general public and often expresses this situation by posting ''Trespassers Will Be Shot" signs. In my exerience, most people who live and own property in the mountain areas do so because they don't like cities. They don't like cities because cities are full of people (drug addicts, winos, murderers, purse snatchers, air polluters, condominium developers, etc.). You are generously offering to bring all these benefits of modern society to him since he won't go to them. Such a deal. Aside from the potential liabilities I've discussed under insurance, you have nothing to offer the average farmer or mountain dweller except an excess of beer cans, cigarette butts, erosion from 4-wheel drive vehicles and noise from same. He knows it. Approach these critters with extreme caution! In general, if you put yourself in his place, exercise above average courtesy and prudence and take things nice and slow and easy, you can avoid the end a coyote usually meets. Probably nothing will get you kicked out quicker, or more permanently than flying first and asking permission second! I would recommend that after you've discovered a likely site and located the owner (the county assessor's office if it seems like no one's around), that you make your initial contact with no intention to fly that day or even that week. It might be

HANG GLIDING

THE RIGHT STUFF best to avoid driving around with gliders on your vehicle until some initial understanding is reached. Let's assume you 're dealing with a rancher who has on or near his property a large mountain that has not been flown. A good approach might be to drop by his place, introduce yourself and tell him you'd like to try flying into his property. Where would he suggest you land? What day would be okay? (He might like to invite his friends to watch the damn-fool city feller kill himself.) Make sure you let him know that it's just you .and not thirty-eleven crazies. After you make your flight, assuming you don't pound in, you should get to speculating with him about the possibility of a few other friends of yours trying it. He may at this point, if he hasn't already, bring up the questions of insurance and so on for which you have the answers ready. If he has any hesitation back off and offer to check with his lawyer or insurance man if he has one. Remember that he owes you nothing and can kick you out or shoot you as his mood dictates. You have no right to be on his land without his blessing. If you get lucky he lets you and a few friends fly. Make sure that he is introduced to each pilot; a landowner in a good mood likes to feel that he's a participant. He wants to know who's on his land by name so he can tell the tale in the saloon on Saturday night. He's not into playing host to a bunch of strangers. (Obviously careful selection of your "friends" is important here). If you get only semi-lucky, he declines the idea of others flying but lets you continue. Keep at it. Bring another pilot each time as a driver and hope his good nature gets the better of him. If you're totally unlucky he tells you to vamoose and forget it. The best you can do under these circumstances is to stop flying. If the site is definitely worth pursuing, sign him up as a member, pay the dues and hope receiving

MARCH 1984

Hang Gliding magazine piques his interest. Write him a nice letter thanking him for his time, telling him he'll be getting the magazine and expressing your hope that he'll reconsider in the future. Then WAIT. Dropping by or writing a note every three months or so is all you can do to keep your hand in. You'!! be surprised at the results in seemingly "impossible" situations if you stay cool and don't push/ When you do acquire a flying site on private land you should take immediate steps to control its use. As much as we all dislike regulation, it seems to be a necessary evil when it comes to keeping our flying sites. At the very least you should explain the basic requirements of the landowner to your club or chapter and encourage your members to tune in anybody from out of the area. Although you don't want to over-regulate, it's important to head off problems before they happen. It's also important to keep the landowner informed and happy with your activities. I know of one major Southern California flying site at which the main landing area was lost just because the pilots failed to stop by and say "howdy" and "thanks" to the landowner now and then. This man started out really enjoying flying and was very supportive. After a few years people started taking him for granted, failed to introduce him to new pilots and took a general "this is our land" attitude. Fact was, it was his land and when he had his fill of it he tossed everybody out. Can't say I blame him, but I'm still mad at those who took things for granted and I still covet his landing area. The bottom line is that in the case of a private landowner, just as in the case of a government or municipality, you should look not only to the temporary enjoyment of you and your friends, but also to the necessity of nailing the damn thing down forever as a flying site. It's the nuclear war position: I want my kids to have a world to grow up in (and fly in) too.

WHAT ELSE? What else? Got your flying site? Great! Now how are you going to keep it? Let's talk about complacency. The foregoing material is admittedly designed for those who are attempting to negotiate for a new site. These individuals are in an enviable position: they haven't screwed up yet. Unfortunately the majority of our battles are over sites which we have already identified, acquired or flown. We've been around for ten years or so and we've managed to notice most of the high places in this land worth jumping off. We're losing them. Fast. I'd like you to take a long look at your present flying sites and try to determine what material in the USHGA Flying Site Manual might be useful for their protection. Pretend your existing sites have never been flown. Do you need to negotiate a use permit? Is the site insured? Should it be? Coming up with site insurance without being asked for it might go a long way toward protecting your privileges in the future. In my experience we tend to lose sites because we don't do anything to avert disaster until we're physically thrown out. Pretty shortsighted. Take a long look. Act. Call for help if you need it. Do it today, and, if you've read through to this point, on behalf of all pilots everywhere, "Thanks." •

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the sport of sky diving there is a grim but descriptive term depicting the fate of a jumper with an uncorrectable malfunction. The term is "to bounce." In hang gliding, our different trajectories and slower descent rates render the outcome of an accident as more of a "smear" or a "crumble" than a bounce. Nevertheless, the results are the same: broken bones or even loss of life. Certainly we have drastically reduced the number of fatalities in our sport. Hang gliding has fewer fatal accidents per capita than a number of other active sports, including sky diving and rock climbing (according to insurance company statistics). However, it is the opinion of this author that even one fatal accident is ten too many. The USHGA accident review written by Doug Hildreth indicates that the majority of hang gliding accidents consist of stalls during landing approaches followed by stalls that occur during takeoff. Since any accident can be fatal given the wrong kind of luck, it is apparent that preventing stalls can greatly enhance the safety of our sport. To this end, we will review stall prevention in this article and landing technique next month. Now I know you have heard most of this before. Other authors and I have written articles and preached about stalls until we are sure we have banished the dragon from our realm. But like Grimalkin of yore, the beast comes back to haunt us. We must face the fact that stalls continue to be the single greatest cause of all flying accidents even though they are totally preventable. Whether 34

you are a newly fledged ground skimmer or a wizened ol' buzzard, this review is for you (I got my reminder by writing it).

IDENTIFYING STALLS You all know what a stall is. A stall occurs when we fly so slow that not enough lift is produced to hold us up so we plummet, right? Well, that's close enough for this discussion. The sidebar that accompanies this article goes into the exact causes and different aspects of stalls. For now it is enough to understand that a stall results from flying too slow. Herein lies a problem, for takeoff and landing consist of zero airspeed at some point. Consequently it is necessary to make the transition from zero airspeed to ample airspeed and vice versa as smoothly and quickly as possible. Another problem is that the clues to an impending stall are very subtle and may get lost in the crowd when other inputs such as a tree in your path, a hefty surge of turbulence or a nude sunbather demand your attention. Before we see how to prevent such problems, let's look at the ways to recognize a stall. First, airspeed is reduced. When things go quiet, you can be sure that it will get exciting real quick-the calm before the storm. Learn to recognize airspeed and monitor it at all times. A sudden (or gradual) drop in airspeed should scream STALL! in your brain. Closely linked with the above is control bar position. If you are flying straight and level and are eye-to-eye with

your control bar, chances are you are about to kiss a stall. Learn the control bar positions for your glider and develop another flashing red light warning system in your mind when the control bar gets beyond the point of safe control. The last important sign of an impending stall is lack of roll control. When your glider is about to stall or is actually stalled in some portion of the wing, roll control will change from power steering to manual. Unfortunately, if you are flying straight you may not recognize this change unless one wing retards and you try to correct. Consequently, you must use all three inputs to warn you of a stall. (A fourth input-buffeting of the wing-is a standard stall indicator for aircraft, but our flexible wings usually dampen this effect out and make it very difficult to detect in most cases.) To be a virtuoso you must rehearse. To be an expert at stall detection (as even a novice pilot should) you should practice stalls at a safe altitude. With a minimum of 500 feet, slowly push the control bar forward while noting the airspeed and feel of roll control. Try this in both straight and turning flight. Learn the bar position that relates to sudden loss of control authority and how long it takes to regain this control. Remember, one of the major problems of a stall is loss of directional control. Practice stalls until you know how much control and what airspeed relates to every given bar position at slow speeds. To recover from these practice stalls, simply return the bar in a smooth manner (don't jerk it) to about chest level (a HANG GLIDING

good flying speed). Note how much altitude is lost in each stall and think of the consequences if you were only 20 feet up when the stall occurred. You can practice these stalls when you are soaring well clear from a mountain, for flying at minimum sink means flying close to a stall. STALL PREVENTION Now we arrive at the heart of the matter. Most beginning pilots have had the dangers of stalls hermetically sealed in their brains by their sober instructors. Most experienced pilots have run through the above exercises. We all can understand and recognize the causes and indicators of a stall, yet we still have pilots falling out of the sky. What is the problem? In my view, it is only one thing: lack of concentration. Rather than lack of concentration I should perhaps say misplaced concentration, for as mentioned above, the signs of a stall are subtle. If we are concentrating on a powerful run, a quick entry into our stirrup, an immediate turn into the lift band, a difficult landing approach, a spot landing or the hot number watching from the landing area, we may miss the signs entirely. Some stalls occur when we are milking the lift right after takeoff, trying to join our buddies soaring aloft; some stalls occur when we are lining up for a spot and are already counting the prize money. I have talked to pilots who were victimized by the above two syndromes and in all cases they simply stated that they "weren't paying attention to their airspeed." The cause of the problem bears repeating. We all can recognize a stall and we all know how to prevent one. It is only lack of attention to detail that gets us into trouble. It can happen to you, especially if you are green enough that the mechanics of every takeoff and landing demand most of your attention or you are experienced enough to be flying on automatic pilot (that covers just about everyone). To prevent stalls, remind yorself to concentrate on airspeed control everytime you are within 100 feet of the ground. It also helps to remind yourself how hard the ground is and how much inertia the earth possesses. For those pilots with short attention spans, here is a little mantra you can repeat slowly MARCH1984

when flying lowly: Airspeed, airspeed, don't forget to concentrate Airspeed, airspeed, is what you need to aviate. ST ALL RECOVERY Before we leave confident that we will never stall again, we should at least mention how to get out of a stall in case some power greater than us decides to smite us for getting too self-confident. In case of a stall near the ground, pull in on the control bar instantly to regain airspeed. This is the only reaction that will return control to your trembling grasp. As soon as airspeed builds up, return to normal control speed and avoid hitting any obstruction that may have imposed itself in your way. Obviously, this reaction must come quickly if you are near the ground. The amount of pull in depends on how close you are to the ground and how severe the stall is. If you are very close to the ground-say below 20 feet-chances are you won't be able to fully recover from a well-developed stall before the ground looms up in your face. In that case, make your correction, then flare hard before you contact the ground. Chances are you will land on your feet or at worse "pancake" if your flare is hard enough. You won't have time to stand up to grasp the uprights in such a dire situation. Don't worry about it for your main concern is getting on the ground in a wings-level, nose-up attitude. This technique works whether you are flying straight ahead or in a turn, whether heading into the wind in a landing zone or back into a mountain after takeoff. Remember the two most improtant points: regain airspeed immediately and flare hard to cushion your fall if your glider is still stalled as you reach the ground. Before we end our little discussion we should mention the effects of turbulence. Turbulence can cause a stall by randomly varying the airspeed of the wing. Again the solution is airspeed-maintain enough so it never drops below stall speed. At the risk of sounding like a do-wop refrain from a 50s song, I will repeat: concentrate on airspeed when skirting the terrain and you will never bounce, smear or crumble due to the after-effects of a stall.•

THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF STALLS Anyone who. has been in aviation long enough to know upwind from downwind will tell you that airspeed doesn't stall an aircraft, angle-of-attack does. This is correct. A wing stalls at a specific angle of attack regardless of what the airspeed, attitude (nose position) or wing loading (amount of weight per area of wing) is: The thing we should realize is that in a glider (and an aircraft with a steady power setting) angle-of-attack is closely related to airspeed so that airspeed is a good stall indicator. For a given pilot weight, a glider will always stall at the same airspeed as long as abrupt control inputs aren't applied (abrupt controls create curving flight which causes centrifugal force, thereby increasing the apparent wing loading and thus stall speed). If the pilot weight is increased, stall speed will also increase. Angle-of-attack is the angle at which the air meets the wing. As shown in figure 1, the air appraoches the wing exactly opposite the direction of flight. As the nose of the aircraft is raised, the angle of attack goes up and the airflow .around the wing is more distorted as shown in the sequence la to le. This distortion creates an imbalance of forces on the wing that we call lift and drag-more distortion, more lift and drag. At some point, however, the distortion of the airflow becomes so great that an innocent molecule of air cannot make such an abrupt transition and the airflow over the top of the wing detaches from the wing as in ld. When this separation occurs, drag is increased dramatically which slows the wing down, thereby quickly reducing lift. This is a stall. Once a stall occurs, a wing becomes an inefficient and unbalanced parachute. Since most lift force is created at the front of a wing, the center of mass of the aircraft is arranged toward the front of the wing. Thus when an aircraft starts falling vertically after a stall, the nose drops rapidly since there is more drag area behind the center of mass than in front. Once the nose drops, air will begin flowing over the wings in a proper manner, the proper lift and drag will

develop and the aircrnft will pull out of the dive if it has been designed to be stable. The only damage done will be a loss of altitude (as long as the ground was nowhere around when the stall oc curred). Stalls on a high performance hang glider tend to result in a mush rather than a rapidly dropping nose as long as the approach to stall is slow. The reason for this is that the combination of washout (the tips are at a lower angle-ofattack than the center section) and low amount of sweep allow the pilot to remain under the aft-moving center of pressure as the stall occurs. In a . like manner, spins are almost impossible to perform on a high performance glider 0

due to the washout and yaw response. Sweep and washout have interesting effects on the stall performance of a wing. For example, the more swept back a wing is, the greater the tip loading is and the more apt it is to tip stall. Likewise, the more tapered a wing is the more prone it is to tip stalls. I used to readily spin my early standard gliders, despite their abundant washout, for the inside tip area would stall in a high angle of attack turn due to the abundant sweep and taper. As mentioned, washouf lowers the angle of attack of the wing tip and thus prevents stalls in this area. Even with tightly strung high performance gliders we have gobs of washout (say 15 ° com-

pared to 3 ° of a conventional aircraft). Thus. our gliders tend to stall inboard of the tip-about midspan. This can be seen by watching a glider with tufts of yarn taped to the sail as it is pulled along on a test vehicle and the angle-of-attack is increased. The result of this inboard stall is Jack of a spin problem as mentioned, as well as the ability to maintain some control even after a portion of the wing is stalled. This control isn't much and is quickly eliminated as the stall worsens, so don't press your luck. Remember, the only cure for a stall is to lower the angle of attack and regain airspeed. Any stall is serious if it is unplanned.•

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HANG GLIDING

Remote Thermal Detection by Deane G. Williams

the art of hang glider design becomes more and more refined a point will be reached when further performance gains will not be possible without redefining the operating mode of the craft. Increased weight and/or complexity much above present limits will greatly reduce portability, foot-launch capability and probably will increase cost. Although sleek new gliders will continue to be of great interest to pilots and designers alike there is an area of this sport which holds the possibility of greatly increasing our flying performance. This area is that of remote thermal detection. I suspect that there are more hang glider pilots trained in the areas of electronics and optics than those trained in aerodynamics. This might speed the development of such devices. Let's look at the possible advantages of thermal detection. Imagine being able to be sure of launching into a good thermal. Think how cross country flying could be extended. In some areas of the country your hang glider could almost become reliable transportation! Fly in to your freind 's picnic, your high school reunion or your backyard all without a MARCH 1984

motor. It would be like magic. Some people might argue that this would take the challenge out of flying but there would be plenty of challenge left. Would you like to go flying without your vario? By now you are probably wondering if this is all possible or just more science fiction. The facts are that several devices exist that do remotely detect convection cells (thermals) although most are currently too big for use even by a sailplane. Let us examine the known technologies involved. For our purposes a thermal may be defined as a bubble or column or air rising upwards from the ground. It's buoyancy is caused by the relative warmth and/or humidity compared with the surrounding air. Remote thermal detection may be divided into two classes: active and passive. Active detection makes use of some power source in the detection apparatus to bounce energy off the thermal. Passive detection makes use of some naturally occurring characteristic of the thermal to detect it. One of the first people to examine the problems of finding thermals was the famous Dr. Paul Mccready. In (ref. 1)

he notes some of the characteristics of thermals which might be useful in detecting them. In his sequel to that article (ref. 2) he re-examines the problem ten years later (in 1971) and concludes that of all passive and active schemes only one, space charge detection, is "really practical" although no one had tried it at that time. Space charge detection is about the only passive method on which any work has been done to my knowledge. It works like this: In a mixed free atmosphere above the earth's surface an equal number of particles are electrically charged positively and negatively. But close to the ground there is an excess of positive charges due to natural radioactivity in the soil and other causes. When air near the ground is drawn up in a thermal it brings these positive charges with it. When this positive parcel of air is more than several hundred feet above the surface it becomes detectable from its neutral surroundings by means of sensitive, horizontally looking electrostatic field detectors. See figure I. In 1972 Dr. Ralph Markson published a detailed study of this method including results of experiments he had performed 37

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More information about method con be found in 4 and around Mount Massachusetts he seemed to be able to the loca·tion of thermal up to about 6,000 feet The with the system include tht: vertical electric field of the atmosphere is much stronger than the horizontal fields thermals so the craft must level when measurements are made. Also materials such Dacron tend to build up static in the air which overload the sensitive detectors. The advanof this system that it makes use available electronic components, is small and is the block in the basic system. In the summer of Jim Westpilot with a keen interest in this and an excellent of electronics, worked with me on detection system for a Initial fluctuations of the occurred. On flew a cross country from Mountain with radioactive electrostatic detectors attached to the front and of my The sensors connected to amplifiers and then to a differential meter on the control bar. The results were inconclusive. ll was difficult to make much of the meter fluctuations that seemed to take

the system Jim has continued to work on the systcn1 38

instrument called an acoustic sounder is of thermals at distances of up to 6,000 feet or more. However, such units are far too to with at present. The acoustic consists of (6 reflector A powerful of audio frequency lone to the and then the up the weak echoes as the sound reflects off thermals, inversions, wind shears and other atmos-

phcric For use it is pointed straight up so that reflections are not received from hard obdifferent sors of directional could be constructed information for in-flight use. A system could be worked out to show type and direction of echoes. Wind noise on the microphone would be a in our and would have to be filtered ont somehow. More information on acoustic echo sounding for thermals may be obtained in references 6, 7 and 8. now knows that radar is used for finding areas by weathermen but they don't know that there are many other kinds of meteor·· radar used for other purposes. of

photo showing the radioactive electrostatic sensor probes as mounted on the glider. The high value resistor and a Field 1:.:tfect Transistor pre-amp circuit are mounted in the clear plastic box. The assembly L5 clamped to the keel tube. HANG GLIDINC

thermals. Some of these are the frequency modulated continuous wave radar (FM-CW), Doppler radar and high power narrow beam radar. See figure 4 for a radar display showing thermals in cross section. Note the doughnut like construction. The main disadvantage of radar is that it requires a fair amount of power to achieve thermal detection. But the antenna may be made smaller than an acoustic dish because of the shorter wavelengths used. Some sort of lightweight display device will have to be created, perhaps an LCD flat panel display. More information on convection sensing radars will be found in references 8, 9 and 10. Radar which uses laser light instead of microwave beams is called Lidar. Lidar is only fair at locating thermals and many problems exist such as how to handle the high light levels found on a sunny day. Laser light has less tendency than radar or sound to scatter off the interface of air boundaries that occur at the edge of a thermal. Some of the best sources of further information on Lidar will be found in references 8 and 11. SUMMARY Remote thermal detection by hang gliders or sailplanes becomes more of a

possibility as the technology of electronics and related fields speeds ahead. Such a device would revolutionize the sports of hang gliding and soaring. It will require lots of work by dedicated experimenters. The author will correspond with interested individuals. Send letters to: 6 Harvest Lane, Farmington, CT 06032. REFERENCES l. P.B. McCready, Jr., Improving Thermal Soaring Flight Techniques, Soaring, p. 6, December 1961. 2. P.B. Mccready, Jr., Instruments and Techniques for Locating and Exploiting Thermals, Technical Soaring, p. 14, July

1971. 3. Ralph Markson, Remote Detection of

Thermals by Means of Horizontal Electric Field Measurements, M.l. T. Symposium on Low Speed and Motorless Flight, proceedings of, p. 293, 1972. 4. J .A. Chalmers, Atmospheric Electricity, Permagon Press, 1967. 5. B. Vonnegut and C.B. Moore, Apparatus Using Radioactive Probes for Measuring the Vertical Component of Atmospheric Potential ... , Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, v. 42, p. 773, 1961.

w z - 10 <..'.)

<:(

0::

20 RANGE (km)

FIGURE 4. Photograph of the PP! display of the JO-cm radar at Wallops Island, obtained with the beam at an elevation of 3 °, showing characteristic doughnut-shaped echoes where the beam intersects the upper parts of inverted U-shaped convective cells {Hardy and Ottersten, 1969]. MARCH1984

6. E.H. Brown, F.F. Hall, Jr., Advances in Atmospheric Acoustics, Review of Geophysics and Space Sciences, v. 16, p. 47, Feb. 1978. 7. C. Gordon Little, Acoustic Methods for Remote Probing of the Lower Atmosphere, Proceedings of IEEE, v. 57, p. 571, April 1969. 8. V.E. Derr and C.G. Little, A Comparison of Remote Sensing of the Clear Atmosphere by Optical, Radio and Acoustic Radar Techniques, Applied Optics, v. 9, p. 1976, September 1970. 9. V.R. Noonkester, The Evolution of the Clear Air Convective Layer Revealed by Surface Based Remote Sensors, Journal of Applied Meteorology, v. 15, p. 594, June 1976. 10. T.G. Konrad, The Dynamics of the Convective Process in Clear Air As Seen By Radar, Journal of Atmospheric Scineces, v. 27; p. 1138, 1970. 11. A.G. Kielaas, G.R. Ochs, Study of Convergence in the Boundary Layer Using Optical Propagation Techniques, Journal of Applied Meteorology, v. 13, p. 242, 1974 . •

EVERYONE WAS AMAZED My instructor couldn't believe my progress and one of the flyers thought I was a hot pilot pretending to be a student. I could talk hang gliding like a pro and I flew better than any other novice on the hill. My secret? I read Dan Poynter's book before my first lesson. In just a few evenings at home, I breezed through Hang Gliding, The Basic Handbook Of Ultralight Flying and learned all about the sport. It made me an instant expert on weather, materials, design, construction, the principles offlight and I even picked up the basics of flying.

It must be a good book, it was the first on our sport and it has been updated nine times; over 125,000 people have bought one. To get your copy of this fun, easy to read book, send $7.95 (includes shipping, Californians add 48it sales tax) to:

~Para Publishing P.O. Box 4232-301 V.

Santa Barbara, CA 93103 USA Telephone: (805) 968-7277 Send for FREE brochure! 39

MEDICINA AVIBUS

How To Stay Healthy Though Hang Gliding by Fred Leonard, M.D. "To eat, or not to eat, that is the question." Lough it is not widely known, this quotation is taken from Shakespeare's first draft of the play we know as Hamlet. It was originally entitled Om/et (this is the original Elizabethan spelling), and was the story of a young prince wrestling with his conscience and his waist line. Shakespeare apparently felt that obesity would soon replace starvation as England's major nutritional controversies of his day in what he felt would be his greatest work. Unfortunately, one of Shakespeare's major financial backers was a prominent porridge magnate who wanted no such nutritional soul (or profit) searching, and he made Shakespeare undertake a hasty rewrite which transformed the play into the form we have come to know today. Well, much like Hamlet (or Omlet), for the last two months we've taken a look at some of the problems that face us in trying to figure out how, what, when, where, why, and if to eat. This month we'll try and answer some of the commonly asked questions about nutrition and diet. Much of what is said is going to be opinion, but if you remove the typos, grammatical errors, and run-on sentences, it should be pretty close to what is recommended by the majority of today's nutritional scientists. However, because space is limited, this month's nutrition answers (coming to you, of course, courtesy of Dr. Fred's Answering Service) will be pretty brief. Specifically, they will apply only to healthy adults, and not include some of the special nutritional considerations of kids, pregnant ladies, or people with medical problems. These folks should consult their own doctor. But for the rest of you, here's: 40

DR. FRED'S FAST FOOD FACTS So pull right into the take out line, shout your questions in the clown's ear, and drive up to the take out window (the clown's mouth dummy) for your answers.

You, my mother, and my home economics teacher Miss Quiche all tell me I should eat a balanced died. So what's a balanced diet? A balanced diet is simply one that is varied enough to supply you with all the essential nutrients, without overwhelming you with so many calories that you become fat in the process. Awhile back, nutritionists divided food into four basic groups (meat group, milk and milk products, vegetables and fruits, and breads and cereals) and suggested that if a person ate a certain number of servings from each group daily, he would have a balanced diet. though-this classification is doubtless very helpful for meal planners (such as down at the school cafeteria), it may be too boring and too exact for many of us to easily follow. So instead, here are a few suggestions that should allow you to maintain a balanced diet without having to remember food groups, serving sizes, or numbers. The most important suggestion is to eat a wide variety of foods. There is no

single perfect food (with the possible exception of the chocolate mousse rum cake I had the other night) that supplies all the necessary nutrients, but a variety of foods will. Next, eat a moderate amount of all foods. That is, pig out only on special occasions. Include dairy products (low fat if possible), Jean meats, high protein vegetables (peas, beans, lentils), fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grain cereals in your diet. Finally, if you have the choice, choose unprocessed foods over highly processed foods.

My neighbor takes about a dozen vitamin and mineral supplements a day. He claims that if I would do the same and give up hang gliding I'd live a lot longer. Is he right? That depends on how you fly. However, as we've noted before, the only thing the megadose vitamin and "food supplement" regimens have been consistently shown to affect is the size of your wallet. Further, some of the more extreme regimens (particularly vitamins A and D) can be toxic. A more reasonable question would be should you take a vitamin or mineral supplement at all? Most nutritionists would suggest that if you eat the aforementioned balanced died then no supplements are needed. However, since most hang glider pilots seem to eat about the way they fly - inconsistently at best - then a daily multiple vitamin might not be a bad idea, and if you're a female of child bearing age, that should probably be a multiple vitamin with iron. Any further vitamin or mineral supplementation in a healthy adult is a waste of money. Again, however, pregnancy and certain medical conditions may require specific vitamin or mineral supplements which should be prescribed by a doctor. HANG GLIDING

MEDICINA AVIBUS My neighbor also says that eating foods with lots of sugar like candy bars and sodas is bad for me. What do you think about that? It depends on your height and weight. If you're too short for your weight (also referred to as being undertall or overweight) then he may be right. The main problem with foods with a high sugar content is that they generally supply lots of calories but few essential nutrients. For most peopie, then, this kind of diet usually results in getting fat. Further, for some susceptible folks, having a cup of coffee and a candy bar for breakfast can result in large swings in blood sugar that may make them feel less than well (see the June 1983 column). Finally, as your dentist will be happy to point out as he drills on your teeth, prolonged exposure to sugar can be detrimental to your smile. What's fiber, and how come the breakfast cereal makers are coming out with high fiber cereals? Fiber is that part of the diet that is not digested or absorbed by the intestines. It's sometimes also referred to as roughage or bulk. The probable reason that cereal manufacturers are coming out with high fiber cereals is that they expect it will make them a lot of money. However, the fact that the high fiber cereals may be better for you than the previous low fiber cereals could be a pleasant coincidence. It turns out that processing of foods tends to remove both fiber and vitamins, hence the previous suggestion to attempt to eat unprocessed foods. However, whether a high fiber diet is really better for you than a low fiber diet, we're not sure, but most physicians believe that diets low in fiber may result in more intestinal problems than diets in which the fiber has been left in. What's the relationship between diet and heart disease? Again we're not sure. However, a diet which is low in fat and cholesterol, does not contain excess salt, and which

MARCH 1984

allows you to maintain your ideal weight, is probably the best current recommendation for optimal cardiovascular health (see the November 1983 column for more information on the prevention of heart disease).

What do the words organic and natural mean when referring to nutrition? Natural, unfortunately, has come to mean anything a company wishes it to mean. Currently it is used to describe all manner of products from foods to cosmetics to clothes. In short, for the consumer, natural should have no meaning at all. Though by the original meaning of the word all food is really organic, organically grown now generally implies fruits or vegetables grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. Though the goal of eliminating potentially dangerous chemicals from our food is certainly a worthy one, as consumers we have no guarantee that the more expensive "organically grown" produce has any lower level of these chemicals than the regular kind. One survey done in New York, for example, found no difference in the amount of chemical residues between regular produce and that sold as organic. If you really care about the chemicals in (or the taste of) your fruits and vegetables, you might consider planting your own garden. What is a vegetarian diet, and are there any benefits or problems associated with it? There are basically two types of vegetarians diets, one that includes no animal products at all, and one that ineludes eggs and_milk. For diets ineluding eggs and milk, balance is not a problem. For those with no animal products, more care must be taken in meal planning to obtain a balanced diet, and certain vitamin supplements may be required. Both diets, however, are perfectly adequate, though there is no proven nutritional advantage to either.

My mom says the fast foods I get down at the local hamburger stand aren't nearly as nutritious as the stuff she fixes at home. What do you think? First of all I think you should never argue with your mother. However, mom might be surprised to know that the food served at most fast food places is really pretty good (nutritionally speaking). Its main drawback is that it tends to be fairly high in calories (usually high fat) and high in salt. This could be a problem for people with high blood pressure or for those who are trying to watch their weight. However, if these aren't problems for you, compliment your mother on her cooking, and eat wherever you want on the way home from school. What is meant by food intolerance or food allergy? Certain people may have difficulty digesting particular foods. An example is people whose intestines don't break down milk sugar (lactose) properly, so called lactose intolerance. Depending on the severity of the problem, drinking milk may result in anything from a feeling of mild abdominal fullness to severe cramps and diarrhea. People may also be allergic to certain foods. Common offenders are chocolate, eggs and shellfish. Eating that food may result in itching, hives, difficulty breathing, or again abdominal cramps and diarrhea. The treatment for both disorders is generally avoidance of the problem food. However, if you have severe problems, you may need to see an allergist or gastroenterologist (specialist in intestinal problems) for evaluation and treatment. What are food additives, and should I be concerned about them? Additives are substances which are put in food to enhance flavor, improve appearance, or prevent spoilage. They may be naturally occurring substances (such as citric acid) or be synthetically produced. Some are clearly safe for virtually anyone, some may be safe for

mosl but harmful to others as for persons with or certain medical and the

is In ours is one of the safest and most healthful food supin the world. However, it still may be a good idea to read the label foods. If you when you buy don't an and it bothers you not to know what else. There is

from Consumer

Books.

What is America's number one mltrition Overnutrition. slightly has not been demonstrated to have any health risks,

(more than 20% above your ideal weight) is associated with an increased risk of blood pressure, heart kidney disease, gallbladder disease, and arthritis. The best solution is to avoid excess in the first that includes proper dietary habits and adequate Ifowever, if it's too late for that solution, don't expect to lose in a week or a month what it may have taken years to Further, merely is not the only Most dieters the weight lose, and the more rapidly they lose it, the more are to it. there isn't space here to discuss all the misinformation available required is a program which in life (both

ty) and a return to ideal through decreased caloric intake and increased caloric use. My on who some of the best weight loss advice available? Richard Simmons. His may be flambut his advice is sound. As for the many Doctor-Diet books Stillman, Frank, Scarsdale and others), don't even bother unless you want the reduction to come from your wallet. wellWell, after that documented bit of it's time to move on. Next month we'll talk about exercise and how it relates to your health and your gliding. As for me, I'm to try and decide whether I should run around the block about nine million times so I can have another of that chocolate mousse rum cake.

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING CONSUMER ADVISORY: Used hang gliders always should be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigue bent or dented tubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with non .circular holes, and on Rogallos, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges. Ir in doubt, many hang gliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect.

Rogallos Attention: MONEY$$ or trade in value for old, obsolete hang gliding stuff including magazines. Hang Glider Emporium (805) 965-3733. Delta Wing's nallonwide network of dealers can help get you into the air. Alternative financing plans available. For further information and the address of your nearest dealer, contact: DEL TA WING, P.O. Box 483, Van Nuys, CA 91408 (818) 787-6600. Eipper-Formance Antares 190, good condition, flies well, superb handling, $500 (505) 299-4886. Comet II 185 - Orange L.E., blue lower. Complete with fairings in excellent condition, $1550. Pat (213) 332-3639.

Incredible Offer! New Comet 2 165, beautiful. $1795.00 (213) 287-9175. Comet 165 - Gold & white with black L.E. Good condition. Flies ·great! $900. Phone Dan in Maryland at (301) 387-5477 (eve.). Comet 185 OVR - (1982) - UP team colors, (blk, red, white); $1200. (303) 757-4657 (PM).

Demon - 35 hrs. Black LE, dbl. surface and KP; light blue and purple sail. Manufactured on West Coast. $850 or trade for large tandem glider. Will pay shipping. Doug. (503) 672-3662 days. DUCK 160 - 1983. Brand new, beautiful. $1400. (503) 582-2650. Duck 160 - Late '83 excellent condition, only 5 hrs of airtime, rainbow DBL surface, black LE. Large UP cocoon harness. Must sell to pay off legal fees! Will ship. $1500 (303) 469-9010 evenings-weekends.

Moyes Mega 172 - (Pilot weight 130-200). Excellent condition, heavy duty, great glider for beginning and intermediate + pilots. $700 or best. (619) 226-6797. PHOENIX Lazor II 155 - Harness & helmet, $400. Excellent rack for VW Bug $ !00. Duane (415) 563-5773. NEW 160 PRO-STAR II - Must sell $1400/Best offer, Call collect, (602) 779-0670. New Pro-Star. Make offer. Must sell. Call John (619) 743-2245. Pterodactyl Pfledgling - Very clean, many extras, includes parachute $3200. (714) 730-4127. Evenings. RA VEN 209 - Multicolor, low airtime, good condition. $850. Nego. (503) 258-3862 evenings. FOR SALE: RA VEN 179 - Good condition, $450/obo (714) 840-8191 after 5:00 PM. Ask for John. SENSOR 510, 165 - Excellent condition, Orange L.E., Brown - Gold lower surface. $1400. Pat (213) 332-3639. SENSOR 510, 165-BLue/gold, excellent condition; 135 Comet $800; 165 Mega $400; two new complete Colt CB's $150. (801) 254-6141. SENSOR 180 - Excellent, extras $1000. SEagull 10.5 $350. (206) 498-5286. Sensor 510, 180 Excellent condition. $1400. Best offer. (619) 789-3103.

Sensor 510 - 180 $995; Raven 229 $625 Kevin (415) 527-5449. Streak 180. Purple, red, orange, yellow, white $1400. 200X purple, red, orange, yellow. $800. Calvin Morgan, Heavener, OK (918) 653-7539. Stratus 5B - Five of the last double surfaces made. Very low airtime. No reasonable offer refused. (206) 364-4474. WANTED - Used Hang Gliding Equipment. Gliders, Instruments, Harnesses and Parachutes. HANG GLIDER EQUIPMENT CO., 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116, (415) 992-6020.

Schools and Dealers

WW Duck 180, good condition, well cared for, red-white-red, $1200. (505) 299-4886. Duck 180 - Low air time, excellent condition. White, dark blue, emerald green stripe. $1300. Why wait and have to pay $900 more? Greg. (602) 944-9433. "82" GEMINI 134 - Excellent condition, Spectrum Sail, white trailing edge. $1100. (801) 392-6437. Gemini 164 UP cocoon harness w/chute and Ball 651 Vario. $1700. (503) 622-3582. Lancer 190 Sail - Hand painted w /battens, sharp-$200, Flight Designs cocoon harness w/Windhaven chute-$300, Colver vario-$50, MUST SELL! (209) 577-1940. Lazor 195 - Custom sail. Never wrecked. New lower rigging. UP cloud harness. Bennett chute. Everything in good condition. $895. (717) 768-3007.

ARIZONA ARIZONA WINDSPORTS - Certified instruction utilizing the world's only man made trainer hill. Two full-service shops serving the Phoenix Valley. 5245 S. Kyrene, Suite #20, Tempe, AZ 85283 (602) 897-7121. 4015 N. Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85015 (602) 274-7245. DESERT HANG GLIDERS -4319 W. Larkspur, Glendale, AZ 85304 (602) 938-9550. CALIFORNIA BRIGHT STAR HANG GLIDERS - Certified Personal instruction for all levels. Proudly representing Wills Wing, UP, Pacific Windcraft and most major manufacturers. Quality restorations, parts and accessories for Northern California. 3715 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95407. (707) 584-7088.

CHANDELLE SAN FRANCISCO, Hang Gliding Center. USHGA certified school. Stocking dealer for Wills Wing, UP, Progressive Aircraft, Pacific Windcraft, Delta Wing. Learn to fly with us! (415) 756-0650. HANG FLIGHT SYSTEMS - Certified instruclion program, beginning to advanced levels. Featuring Wills Wing and Ultralight Products gliders and accessories. *Duck, Comet, Gemini, Harrier demo flight available to qualified pilots. 1202 E. Walnut Unit M, Santa Ana, CA 92701. (714) 542-7444. HANG GLIDER EMPORIUM - Quality instruction, service and sales since 1974. Full stock of new and used UP and Wills gliders, harnesses, helmets, instruments, accessories and spare parts. Located minutes rrom US IOI and flying sites. 613 N. Milpas, Santa Barbara, California 93103. (805) 965-3733. HANG GLIDERS OF CALIFORNIA, INC. USHGA certified instruction from beginning to expert levels. All brands of gliders, a complete line of instruments & equipment are available! For information or catalog, write of call: Hang Gliders of California, Inc., 2410 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405. (213) 399-5315. MISSION SOARING CENTER - Test fly before you buy. Demos, new & used gliders in stock. All major brands available. At the base of mission ridge in the "Old School." 43551 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. (415) 656-6656. SAN FRANCISCO WINDSPORTS - Gliders & equipment sales & rentals. Private & group instruction by U.S.H.G.A. certified instructors. Local site information and glider rental. 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) 731-7766. WINDSPORTS INTERNATIONAL, INC. since 1974 (formerly So. Cal. Hang Gliding Schools). Largest and most complete HANG GLIDING and POWERED UL TRALITE center irt Southern California. Large inventory of new and used gliders, ultralites, parts and accessories. Complete training program by USHGA certified instructors. 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406 (818) 988-0111. COLORADO FOUR CORNERS HANG GLIDING & ULTRALIGHT AIRCRAFT - since 1974. Major Brands, Sales, Service, Professional Instruction. Box 38, Hesperus, CO 81326. (303) 533-7550. CONNECTICUT AIRWISE INC., 15 Long Ridge Road, West Redding, CT. 06896, (203) 938-9546. Training programs for beginner to expert by USHGA certified instructor/observer staff. Dealer for all major product lines, featuring Flight Designs, UP, Moyes. CONNECTICUT COSMIC AVIATION - 14 Terp Rd., E. Hampton, CT 06424, c/o Bart Blau, Lynda Blau, (203) 267-8980. Hang glider dealer for Wills and UP. Ultralight also available. USHGA Certified Instructor. Been flying since 1975. Call me where to in CONN. HAWAII FREE FLIGHT HANG GLIDING SCHOOL Certified instruction, sales, service and rentals. 684 Hao St., Hon., HI 96821. (808) 373-2549.

Moyes Mega II 190 - Excellent condition 26' Odyssey parachute $1200. OBO (704) 624-2525.

MARCH 1984

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MAUI SOARING SUPPLIES - Certified Instructors. Sales, service and rentals. R.R. 2, Box 780, Kula, HI 96790 (808) 878-1271. TRADEWINDS HANG GLIDING - USHGA Certified School. Rentals, tandems, Wills Wing. Box 543, Kailua, HI 96734 (808) 369-8557. IDAHO TREASURE VALLEY HANG GLIDERS - Service - USHGA Instruction - dealers for all major brands, accessories - site info, ratings - Box 746, Nampa, ID 83651 (208) 465-5593. ILLINOIS MIDWEST MOTORGLIDER SUPPLIES - New and used gliders, flight accessories, and land towing hardware. 2638 Roberts, Waukegan, IL 60087 (312) 244-0529. MICHIGAN ECO-FLIGHT HANG GLIDERS & WINDSURFING. Certified instruction, sales, service, rentals, repairs. 493 Lake St., Benzonia Ml 49616 (616) 882-4039. SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN HANG GLIDERS Sales and instruction in Ultralights, Free Flight and towing. Dealers for Eagle, UP, Flight Designs, Delta Wing and Soarmaster. 24851 Murray, Mt. Clemens, Ml 48045 (313) 791-0614 Since 1975. MINNESOTA NORTHERN SUN, INC. Dealer for all major non-powered and powered brands. USHGA certified instruction. Owners/managers of the Hang Gliding Preserve, soarable ridge with tramway lift. When in the North Country stop by and test our line of gliders and enjoy the sites. 9450 Hudson Blvd., Lake Elmo, MN 55042 (612) 738-8866.

International Schools & Dealers

NORTH CAROLINA KITTY HAWK KITES, INC., - P.O. Box 340, Nags Head, NC 27959 1-800-334-4777, in NC, 9!9-441-4124. Learn to fly over soft sand dunes just' south of the site where the Wright Brothers learned to fly. Beginning & Advanced packages; complete inventory of new gliders, accessories & parts. Ultralight training & sales available as well as windsurfing sales & instruction.

CHILE CONDOR ANDINO - Certified Instruction. UP, WW,. Bennett dealerships. Fontananrosa 6649, Las Condes, Santiago. Tel. 2296463. JAPAN SUNRISE COUNTRY INC. - Distributor Japan: Manta, La Mouette, Delta Wing, Flight Designs, Winter, Litek, Hall Bros., Ball Varios, Altimaster, Quick-N-Easy. 1104 Rekku Shibakoan 2/11/13. Shibakoan Minatoku Tokyo, !05 JAPAN. Tel. 03/433/0062.

OREGON EASTERN OREGON ULTRALIGHTS - Certified instruction. New and used. Wills Wing specialists. 500 SW 11th, Pendleton, Oregon 97801. (503) 276-2329.

Emergency Parachutes

PENNSYLVANIA SKY SAILS LTD Hang Gliding School. USHGA certified instructors. 1630 Lincoln Ave., Williamsport, PA 17701. (717) 326-6686 or 322-8866.

NEW RAPID DEPLOYMENT B.U.S. FLY AWAY CONTAINER SYSTEM is the world's newest, fastest and most reliable system. By the originator of hang gliding parachutes. Bill Bennett Delta Wing Kites & Gliders, Inc., P .0. Box 483, Van Nuys, CA 91408 (213) 787-6600, telex no. 65-1425.

TEXAS AUSTIN AIR SPORTS - The central Texas outlet for those who like to fly. We sell & service hang gliders, ultralights, windsurfers & landsailors. We stock gliders & equipment from U.P., Wills Wing, U.S. Moyes, Bennett & Manta. USHGA certified instruction & demos available. Call us about our Mexico safari. 5508 Parkcrest, Austin, Texas 78731. (512) 451-2505.

NEW & USED PARACHUTES bought, sold & repacked. HANG GLIDER EQUIPMENT COMPANY, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) 992-6020.

Business Opportunities

UTAH

NEVADA

CRYSTAL AIR SPORTS MOTEL Male/Female HELP WANTED: 15 hrs./wk. Exchange for lodging in Original Flyers Bunkhaus. Call or write Chuck or Shari, 4328 Cummings Hwy., Chattanooga, TN 37409 (615) 821-2546. Home of SKY GEAR, Apparel & Accessories. Also, vacationing? Private Rustic Rooms. Waterbeds, Video Movies, Color TV, Pool.

HIGH SIERRA SPORTS, INC. - 1807 N. Carson, Carson City, NV 89701. (702) 885-1891. Northern Nevada's complete hang gliding, windsurfing & ultralight shop. All major brands available. USHGA Certified Instructor, Observer & Region II Examiner. Sales, service, rentals and lessons.

HANG GLIDING INSTRUCTORS needed for seasonal employment in Nags Head, NC. Enjoyable learning experience with good benefits. Must be Hang II and enthusiastic about teaching beginners. If you need your Hang II, we can train you. Contact Steve Wendt, Kitty Hawk Kites, (919) 441-4124.

FLY UTAH WITH

Delta Wing Products, certified instruction, 9173 Falcon Cr. Sandy Utah 84092 (801) 943-1005.

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HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING HANG GLIDING INSTRUCTORS/ COUNSELOR must be USHGA certified, have good rapport with teenagers and basic camping skills. From June 10 to August 19. Salary plus room and board. Call or write: CAMP FRIENDSHIP, P.O. Box 145, Palmyra, VA 22963. KITTY HAWK KITES WEST - HELP WANTED - Instructors for hang gliding and wind surfing, preferably certified. Contact Jim Johns (408) 384-2622 or send resume to: P.O. Box 828, Marina, CA 93933.

Parts & Accessories WANTED: Harness, parachute, helmet, instruments - inexpensive. Send info to: Steve Mitchell, PO Box 4307, Kamuela, HI 96743 (808) 885-6315.

Miscellaneous HANG GLIDING BUCKLES - Photoengraved, solid brass, depicting soaring birds of prey. Exceptional quality. Send for free brochure! Massachusetts Motorized, P.O. Box 542-G, Cotuit, MA 02635. PATCHES & DECALS - USHGA sew-on emblems 3" dia. Full color - $1. Decals, 3'11" dia. Inside or outside application. 25¢ each. Include 15¢ for postage and handling with each order. Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066. TEE-SHIRTS with USHGA emblem $8.00 including postage and handling. Californians add 60/o tax. Men's sizes in BLUE - S, M, L, XL. Limited supply of ORANGE, sizes S, M, X-L. USHGA, P.O. Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

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[}{]~[NI]@ @[LO@~lru [g@(U)O~~[g[Nl)u ©@~[?)m,[Nl)\'7 HANG GLIDER EQUIPMENT COMPANY For all your Hang Gliding needs. We are dealers for all major brands. Write or call for free price list. 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94112, (415) 992-6020. Zia Dynamics - Composite harnesses for serious X-C pilots. Box 723 Taos Ski Valley, NM 87571.

CAPTURE THE WIND - Functional, attractive designer colorful Seminole Windsock. Quality handcrafted 1000/o nylon, sturdy swivel hook, ready to hang. Send $29.95 MC/VISA welcome. Capture the Wind, P.O. Box 2786, Durango, CO 81301.

Publications & Organizations SOARING - Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $28. Info kit with sample copy $3.00. SSA, P.O. Box 66071, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

Movies AOL!, COMET CLONES & POD PEOPLE Award winning film of Owens Valley hang gliding. 60 minutes. $64.95. THE SKY BLUE MOVIE Epic quest for true flight. 100 minutes. $74.95 postpaid. PAL or foreign add $5. Free poster. COD call (619) 878-2255.Rick Masters, P.O. Box 478, Independence, CA 93526.

Rigid Wings FLEDGE 2B-78 - Very good cond. with harness, $750. Bruce (415) 862-2274.

Trike BENNETT TRIKE - Fuji-Robin 32 hp. engine and X-180. Great flying combo. Spare engine, priced to sell - will sell separately. (805) 962-6461 or (805) 962-2588.

MARCH1984

- I go . , Sterling Silver $38.00, plus $2.50 shipping and handling. Golden Glider, I 129 Turnbull Cyn., Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 (818) 333-3300. The rate for classified advertising is 35¢ per word (or group of characters). Minimum charge, $3.00. A fee of $10. is charged for each photograph or logo. Bold face or caps 50~ per word extra. Underline words to be bold. Special layouts or tabs $20.00 per column inch. AD DEADLINES All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing l V, months preceding the cover date, i.e., November 20 for the January issue. Please make checks payable to USHGA: Classified Advertising Dept., HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE, Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

WORLDWIDE: All Safaris include airfare, accommodations. transportation. expert tour guide and a maximum of airtime. Europe 5 countries Hav1aii Makapuu Pt.

California. 0. Val New Zealand Nepal/Kashmir

21 days S1695 8 days S779 14 days, $898 18 days $1995 21 days $3495 20 days S2795

You can't get a better deal! Our experience saves money and gives

you more airlime.

H•A•W•A•l•I FOR INFO PAK SEND $3.00 TO:

SANTA BARBARA HANG GLIDING CENTER 486 Alan Road. Santa Barbara, California 93105 (805) 687-3119

Stolen Wings TYPE: Comet II 165. SAIL: Brown LE, red dlb. surface, gold main body w/small brown star left of center. $200 reward. Contact: Rob Brohaugh, 1703 10th Ave. S., Great Falls, MT 59405 (406) 761-0795 LOST at Elsinore landing area. UP harness, 3-stage ballast container, recessed chute w/ Advanced Air 24' chute. D. brown with "UP" harness. Ball 631 Vario. Bennett helmet, sparkle green. Contact: Willi Muller, Box 4063, Postal Station C, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 5M9. TYPE: High Energy Travelite harnesses. Silver cocoon, black and chrome chevron, experimental 15-foot chutes. UP helmet, vario, radios, altimeter. Also, aqua blue harness with racing boot, white bird with rainbow from wings. Chutes not safe. WHERE AND WHEN: Garage in Orange, CA Nov. 11, 1983. CONTACT: Rich Pfeiffer, 2312 W. 2nd St., Santa Ana, CA 92703 (714) 972-8186. TYPE: Gemini 164 #UPGl64260M. SAIL: Rainbow-red, orange, yellow, green, with blue LE and light blue TE. 3TYPE: Super Lancer 180 #81550. SAIL: Black LE. Center out: royal blue, red, yellow, purple, black. Red Flight Designs bag. WHERE AND WHEN: Knoxville, TN, may 5, 1983. CONTACT: Jim Westcott, Springfield, VA (703) 569-6059. $200 reward, no questions. 3TYPE: '78 Lancer IV. SAIL: Keel out: 2 panels lime green, 2 panels purple, I panel red, I panel gold, I panel yellow. 6" letters "U.S. LANCER" on second left panel. CONT ACT: Bill Stewart (505) 883-8036. Reward. TYPE: UP cocoon harness, Advanced Air chute, Theotek vario, altimeter, Radio Shack 6-channel, helmet, Hall wind meter, all in blue UP harness bag w/"Owens Valley Pilot" patch sewn to lower packet. WHERE AND WHEN: From camper parked at Perkins Restaurant in St. Paul, MN April 24, 1983. CONTACT: John Woiwode, RR #3, Box 255, Annandale, MN 55302 (612) 274-8064. TYPE: UP Gemini 164, light blue w/dk blue LE. Flight Designs Super Lancer 200, yellow w/purple LE, tips and center. US Lancer 190, multi-striped from center out: purple, yellow, orange, red, purple tips. WHERE AND WHEN: From garage at 1342 Henderson Ln., Hayward, CA May 4, 1983. CONTACT: Mike McDonald (415) 782-5119. TYPE: Boom Stratus V. PATTERN: All dk blue except I panel of rainbow near each tip. WHERE AND WHEN: Canoga Pk., CA June 14, 1983. CONTACT: Kevin

CLASSIFIED ADVE~TISING Anderson, 13261 Herrick Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342 (213) 367-3562. Reward. TYPE: Sensor 510 180 #225. PATTERN: Red LE, orange bottom. WHERE AND WHEN: Switch Back Mt., Eagle River, Alaska, June 15, 1983. CONTACT: Bob Adams (907) 694-2763. TYPE: All black Northstar harness for Casper wing (supine). Windhaven chute. CONTACT: John Fetter (619) 420-1706. TYPE: Bright red harness with matching chute. Chute has white lettering "go security," hand embroidered patch on left shoulder patch. Reward. CONTACT: Sue Gale, Box 13, Elmira, NY 14901 (607) 733-9738. TYPE: Harrier 147 #6444. 3SAIL PATTERN: Orange LE, brown dbl. surface, gold and white spanwise, gold keel. WHERE AND WHEN: October 13, 1982, Vernon B.C. CONTACT: Simon Mitchell (604) 357-2400 collect. Reward. TYPE: Duck 180 #10486. WHERE AND WHEN: Feb. 1983, Buffalo Skyriders. SAIL PATTERN: Black LE, spectrum, white TE. CONTACT: Buffalo Skyriders, P .0. Box 4512, Albuquerque, NM 87196 (505) 821-6842. TYPE: Quicksilver MX and Doublequick #10696 and 10875. WHERE AND WHEN: Dayton, OH, Dec. 14, 1981. Probably sold in Chicago area. CONTACT: Gary Meddock, 1334 N. Lutheran Church Rd., Dayton, OH 45427 (513) 854-4973. Reward. TYPE: Comet 165 #1651222. WHERE AND WHEN: Lookout Mt., TN Nov. 7, 1982. SAIL PATTERN: Custom: burgundy LE, black and yellow TE, black tips. Undersurface: burgundy LE, spectrum, yellow TE, left corner has black "UP." Keel pocket black with white "UP." Bag blue with yellow tips. CONTACT: Dave Freeman at Lookout Mt. Flight Park (404) 398-3541. Reward. No questions. TYPE: Comet 135 No. UPCMTl35054. SAIL PATTERN: White body; gold dbl. surface. LE & keel pocket no insignias. WHERE & WHEN: Oct. l l, 1982 lO mi. easl of Mt. Wilson in San Gabriel Cyn. (Azusa) CA Los Angeles area. Thief known to drive brown jeep-type vehicle. Glider has mountings for french connection on keel. CONTACT: Jerry Bard (213) 851-8869. TYPE: Moyes Maxi Mk. III. SAIL PATTERN: Black leading edges, center panels and tips. Assymetrical rainbow pattern (white, gold, orange, red, purple, blue, It. blue, green, yellow). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: Negative deflexor posts missing. Blue bag with 6" tear. TYPE: Bobcat III. SAIL PATTERN: Orange leading edges and tips. Center out: It. blue, gold, green. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: Gold anodized frame. Blue control bar, raked 21" forward. Faded orange and gray two-piece bag. WHERE & WHEN: San Diego, CA September 3, 1982. CONTACT: Torrey Pines, (714) 455-6036 (daytime). Paul Gach (714) 279-5403 (evenings). Reward. TYPE: Gemini #UPG13400M. SAIL PATTERN: Dk blue LE, Pacific blue center, white TE. Tape on LE. WHERE AND WHEN: 6/28/82 W. Jordon Utah, taken from car. CONTACT: Claudia Holbrook (801) 561-1974 or 571-4044.

TYPE: Eipper Flexi III. SAIL PATTERN: White, blue, green, yellow and white. New, or no control bar. Tear in keel pocket. Reward. CONTACT: Will Richardson, Rte. I, Box 167, Trout Dale, VA 24378 (404) 436-8504. TYPE: 172 Moyes Mega. WHERE AND WHEN: March 20, '82, 80 miles north of Flagstaff, AZ (Echo Cliffs area). SAIL PATTERN: Lt. blue, with dk blue lightning bolt on right wing. CONT ACT: Sky Bound Hang Gliders, 10250 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021 (602) 997-9079 TYPE: 1982 177 Harrier II #6744. WHERE AND WHEN: Fountain Hills area, NE of Phoenix, AZ, April 15, 1982. SAIL PATTERN: All white upper sail, blue lower sail, rainbow center panel. CONT ACT: Sky Bound Hang Gliders. TYPE: UP Gemini 184 #UPG184032. SAIL PATTERN: Yellow nose, orange middle, red trailing edge (span-wise cut) with white leading edge and keel pocket. WHERE AND WHEN: Alameda, CA July 2, 1982. CONTACT: David Catlett (415) 521-7633. Reward

Hang Gliding publishes (free of charge) stolengliders and equipment. New listings appear at the head of the column in bold. Type up your submission in our format and send to: USHGA, Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

Index To Advertisers Airworks ............................ 33 Ball ................................. 14 Bennett Delta Wing Gliders ............ BC Crystal Air Sports ..................... 13 Flight Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 42 Glider Rider .......................... 14 Hall Brothers ......................... 36

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Pagen Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Para Publishing ....................... 39 Santa Barbara HG ................. 14, 45 Seedwings ............................ 47

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Ad Deadlines All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing 1 Y, months preceding the cover date, i.e. Mar. 20 for the May issue. Mall to: Box 144 Lookout Mtn., TI'i 37350

HANG GLIDING

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oC 0

PROMOTING HANG GLIDING IN AMERICA FOR OVER 10 YEARS

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