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

APRIL 1984 $2.00

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P.0.Box 66306, Los Angeles, California 90066 USHGA Item #4

Revised 9181

(213) 390-3065

Volume 14

CONTENTS

Issue No. 4

(USPS 017-970)

Columns

Features

38 The Right Stuff

10 Glider Showcase Delta Wing Dream

by Erik Fair Our recent survey indicates that pilots want to know more about flying sites across the nation. In the near future we will institute a site survey series in this magazine. In the meantime help Erik kick off the USHGA Site Catalog.

article and photos by Harry Martin Recognize that name? This month our cartoonist-in-residence takes a ride on Uncle Bill's new fun-to-fly glider.

14 Hang Gliding Interviews - Steve Hawxhurst

44 Medicina Avibus by Fred Leonard, M.D. This month Dr. Fred discusses physical fitness and hang gliding.

article and photos by Erik Fair Erik chats with our association President and the office staff.

Departments

18 SUPINE - A Lost (Almost) Art

4 Airmail 7 Update

by Bob Thompson Bob claims that feet first is superior in almost every way. He's pretty convincing, and has the hang gliding records to back up his claims!

8 Calendar

9 Consumer Advisory 42 Ratings and Appointments 48 Classified Advertising 51 Stolen Wings 51 USHGA Certified Schools 51 Index to Advertisers

24 Hang Gliding With Video article and photos by Tom Sanders New light-weight compact video equipment enables you to take a friend for a ride without a harness.

34 1983 Accident Review by USHGA Accident Review Chairman Doug Hildreth Doug addresses this unpleasanj but important subject. All things considered, our sport is safer than ever.

Page24

COVER: Ron Hurst flies his "Fun" over the town of Flims, in the Swiss Alps. Ron is an American who has been living in Zurich for ten years, and makes his living leading hang gliding safaris in the Alps. Photo by Eric Raymond. 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 HGMA standards. Copyright © United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc. 1984. All rights reserved to Hang Gliding Magazine and individual contributors.

APRIL 1984

Gil Dodgen, Editor Janie Dodgen, Associate Editor, Prod11ction David Pounds, Design Cons11!ta111 Leroy Grannis, Bettina Gray Staff Photographers

Erik F11ir, Staff Writer Harry Martin, Rod Stafford, lllustrators Gretchen Niver, East Coast Correspondent

Office Staff:Carol Velderrain, Manager Amy Gray, Ratings Mary Marks, Membership USHGA Officers: Steve Hawxhurst, Presidelll Dick Heckman, Vice President Hardy Snyman, Secretary Gary Hodges, Treasurer

Executive Committee: Steve Hawxhurst Dick Heckman Hardy Snyman G11ry Hodges USHGA Regional Directors: REGION I: Doug Hildreth, T. Michael Boyle. REGION 2: Russ Locke. Gsry Hodges. REGION J: Steve Hawxhurst. Bettina Gray. REGION 4: Jim Zeist. Bob Thompson. REGION 5: Mike King. REGION 6: Ted Gilmore. REGION 7: Dean Batman. REGIONS: Charles LaVersa. REGION 9: William Richards. Vic Ayers. REGION 10: Dan Johnson. Steve Coan. REGION 11: Hardy Snyman. REGION 12: Ken Zachara. Paul Rikcrt. 1984 DIRECTORSAT-LAROE: Dennis Pagcn, Dick Heckman, Elizabeth Sharp. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR: (With Vote) NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION Everett Langworthy. HONORARY DIRECTORS (Without Vote) elected to 12/3\/84: Bill Bennett, Hugh Morton,Vic Powell, lVlike Meier. The Uniled Stales Hang Gliding Association Inc., is a division of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) which is the official U.S. representative of the Federation Acronautique Internationale (F Al). 1he world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FA\ Meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision of PAI-related hang gliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. HANG GLIDING magazine is published for hang gliding sport enthusiasts lo create furlhcr interest in the sport, by a means of open communication and to a<lvance hang gliding methods and safety. Con· tributions are welcome. Anyone is invited to contribute articles, photos, and Hlustrations concerning_ hang gliding activities. If the material is to be returned, a stamped, self-addressed return envelope must be enclosed. Notification must be made of sub· miss.ion to other hang gliding publications. HANG GLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit con· Lributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not a'is1:1me responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING magazine is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc. whose mailing address is P.O. Box 66306, Los Angeles, Calif. 90066 and whose offices are located at 11423 Washington lllvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90066; telephone (213) 390-3065. Second-class postage is paid at Los Angeles, Calif. HANG GLlDING magazine is printed by Sinclair Printing and Lithographers. The typesetting is proYided by lst tmpression Type~etting Service, Buena Park, Calif. Color Separations are 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 night. 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): subscription rates are $22.50 for one year, $40.00 for two years, $57 .SO for trlree years. Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name~ USHGA membership number. previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO; USHOA, P.O. flOX 66306, LOS ANGELES, CA 90066.

MARCHI984

weather. If we all in as ac· tive members, the sport of hang will grow in and

Editor,

members within the USHGA, and I fear, within the com·· whole. times l have mentioned to that ! believe the way to tum this trend around is to on the newsstands. It commitment of smnc bucks and several months to prove but I am certain that that is the way to go. John Charles 91006

Dalton book stores month.

different is the

to the and it looks like a real hassle to unscrew the hose c:very time you want to

''River

concern with the

have done that

awesome sport. William Nichter Yorktown NY

Editor,

is the best ever If it got this with we should go for small pay cut another 100"/o and then no one could top our Glad to sec yon and out of

MEMBEIUUIIP Dear

I have been USHGA member for the past five months and a II for as Since receiv .. my first issue of I've grown very concerned as to the dilemma the now faces. I've been commercial years and have dreamed of for at least that upstate New York resident, the and far the nicest site is Mt. .Ellenville. What a shame it would be to lose so many around the country due to uc;,,uurn1s new and/or the lack present member renewals. I will recruit as many This new as ble. l have at least four new prospects one of them my sister who her own kite. and wait

Thanks a lot,

think. --Ed.

Editor,

the

least one company that advertises in makes a and as your pilot likes to "tinker" with stuff in his spare time there are a lot of homebuilt out there also. Since I am as in .. (a word for as the next pilot, I homebuilt that one of the other

with and a homebuilt bracket to hold the whole The that I

tube with the part of the Scot· climate, and wound the hook part around my downtube. put my on, all I have to do is open the tube on the put it around my downtube, and squeeze it shut with hand pressure. I can hear the OV thermal " but this turns out not to be the case. You can stuck on it wave a downtube with in this manner around all and you cannot shake it loose. As a matter of fact, it a pretty effort to pry the tube open when you want to take the radio off the downtube!

HANG GLIDING

AIRMAIL If anybody is interested, I can probably find out who actually supplies this stuff in the open market. Write or call me if you're interested, and let's hope 1984 gives us more excuse to use CB's than 1983 did! "Seismic" Sam Netherly Bldg. 230-lF-02 3M Center St. Paul, Minn. 55144 (612) 736-0168

LANDING VS. CRASHING Dear Editor, It's July 4th weekend. You're in the mountains still thermalling three hours after launch. Absolutely glorious. The lift starts to fade and suddenly your euphoria is broken by the reality, "I've got to land this thing. These new gliders aren't any fun at all." Sound familiar? It was my life story until about six months ago. And because I couldn't land properly I wasn't confident in myself or my glider and that put a big damper on performance. When you were flying an old "ragwing" taking those first hops on the training hill your instructor kept yelling "push out" as you neared the ground. You complied with a straight forward push on the downtubes resulting in a nice flare and a stalled wing. If you had a wind it was a soft vertical touch down. If there was no wind you could run off the excess speed. No problem. Now you are flying a state-of-the-art wing. You come in to land (heart rate at about 1,100 beats per minute) and "push out" for all you're worth, nose in and trash another $40.00 worth of downtubes. This just isn't any fun at all. When you push out to flare you increase your angle of attack to where your glider will stall nicely. Where the problem lies is that the hang point is in front of you, the glider stalls (stops flying) with somewhere in the area of 17 mph forward speed and when your feet touch the ground they can't catch up with the glider.

Try this method for a change. As you come in to land pull the downtubes in until the base tube touches your knees and hold until you are about three feet off the ground. Let the bar go neutral: no pull, no push. Let the speed bleed off until the bar feels mushy and then, with your hands on the downtubes at about shoulder height, PUSH UP. Push your hands and the control bar straight up. This puts the hang point behind you and the complete bottom surface of your glider flush into the relative wind and stops your forward motion, now. As for climbing out to a stall and a long fall, there isn't a glider built that can climb with an angle of attack of about 90 degrees at that slow, mushy airspeed. What you will have is a complete stop, a three-foot tailslide and you and your glider will be on the ground, ego, downtubes and body intact. The important part of the technique is that when you "push up" you hold the control bar up until all motion stops and you are on the ground. If you release too early the nose will fall, although nowhere nearly as dramatically as it used to. Remember, this technique is for no wind and super light wind landings. Varying conditions will demand different techniques. I would like to thank my friends Jeff, Keith, Less, Bruce and Randy for all their help. James Manning Lompoc, CA

FUN COMPETITION Dear Editor, Just wanted to congratulate you and Rob Kells. You for putting in the article on the 6th Annual 94 Rock Free Spirit Hang Gliding Festival, and Rob for taking the time to write it. It is exactly the kind of grass roots effort that is needed for this kind of competition to involve people in the sport. A small group of spectators can more easily im-

agine themselves learning to fly and getting involved in the sport. They can get closer to the gliders, they can get closer to the pilots and even talk to pilots and be close to the landing area. It makes it all the more exciting for them. I hope that we see many more of this type of competition taking place in the next few years. I think it will involve new people in the sport. I would also like to remind you that the 12th Annual Hang Gliding Spectacular, the oldest continuously running hang gliding competition, is taking place May 11th, 12th and 13th. As you will recall, the event started in 1973 and has always been dedicated to fun. It takes place on Jockey's Ridge, the highest sand dune on the east coast. It's one event that you will want to attend this year. John Harris, President Kitty Hawk Kites, Inc.

iKLT,,~.!t~ ~

TOW LAUNCH

There are several ways to get your glider up to launch altitude. You can walk it up, drive it up, fly it up with an engine and tow it up with a car or boat. Flatland pilots have an even narrower choice: engines or tow.

Manned KITING by Dan Poynter is all about tow launched hang gliding. In fact, it is the only book on this special aspect of the sport. You will learn how to get to altitude with a proven step by step program which takes you from taxi practice, to lift off, to climb, release and free flight. All the necessary equipment is described in detail with photos and sources. You can expand your flying experience by sending for this fun, easy to read book now, just $4.95 (includes shipping in the U.S.; foreign add $I; Californians add 30~ sales tax) to:

Para Publishing Books By Dan Poynter P.O. Box 4232-G Santa Barbara, CA 93103 USA Tel: (805) 968-7277

Send/or FREE brochure

APRIL 1984

WINS AUS1'RALIAN NA1 IONALS 1

CONGRA1VS JOHN PENDRY Need another reason to join the wave ?

,ss2... [uropean Championships • • • 1st

1983...

Owens Valley • • • 1st, 4th U.S. Nationals ••• 2nd British Open • • • 1st, 2nd, Jrd Italian Nationals • . • 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th Scondanovian Cup • • • 1st, 4th

98040-1153 NOTE TI-IIS ... ONLY $100 DOWN delivers your new MAGIC Ill to your nearest MAGIC dealer

UPDATE TOW MEET CANCELLED The world's first (actually it is the second since Finland already had one), tow launched cross country hang gliding meet, tentatively scheduled for July of '84, has been cancelled for this year. Scheduling conflicts with the European championships and the Los Angeles Olympics has forced this event to be postponed. The proposed SSA (Soaring Society of America) TET (total elapsed time) format and scoring system has been accepted for use, however, by the Southern California league meet coordinators. Use of this format will provide excellent preparation for the world's first tow launched XC meet. Anyone interested in this format, please contact High Energy Sports, 2236 W. 2nd Street, Santa Ana, CA 92703 (714) 972-8186. BIRD MEN OF KILAMANJARO The Moyes film "Birdmen of Kilamanjaro" is arguably the most inspiring footage avilable on the subject of flying hang gliders. A chronicle of Bill and Steve Moyes' successful assault on Africa's Mt. Kilamanjaro the film is, of course, thoroughly entertaining and highly dramatic. What sets it above all the rest, however, is its graceful portrayal of the essential allure of hang gliding. This feature length, professionally produced movie is one every hang glider pilot should see. Come to Hang Flight Systems on Tuesday, 4/27/84 at 7:30 PM and we will show you a truly remarkable film. Call (714) 542-7444 for more information. RIGID WING ENTHUSIASTS NEWSLETTER If you have ever flown, are flying, or have dreamed of flying a rigid wing hang glider you will want to read the Rigid Wing Reader newsletter. Learn who's doing what and where in the Mitchell Wing movement. Read about the latest composite wing construction techniques that are now being utilized

APRIL 1984

by rigid wing builders. Experience the world of three-axis controlled hang gliding and read about those die-hard Icarus and Easy Riser pilots. Submissions for inclusion in the Rigid Wing Reader about flying and building of rigid wing hang gliders are welcome. For subscription information contact: Rigid Wing Reader, 27670 S. John Montgomery Dr., San Pedro, CA 90732, (213) 514-3065. NEW HEADSET

Midwest Motor Glider Supplies-announces availability of the new Mark V C.B. headset designed especially for use with the popular Radio Shack 5-watt six and forty channel C.B. radio. The headset is supplied with plug in jacks installed for this radio and no modifications or special wiring is required. A push-to-talk switch and coil cord are standard. The headset will attach to any over-the-ear helmet by drilling a single hole. The attached headset will quickly disconnect from the helmet by means of a ball joint or will flip out for easy hemet removal. Price for the headset is $125. Also offered is a complete line of Skyting hardware for the hang glider enthusiast. A free Skyting catalog is available upon request from Midwest Motor Glider Supplies, 2638 Roberts, Waukegan, Illinois 60087 (312) 244-0529 after 6:00 PM CST.

OWENS VALLEY XC CHAMPIONSHIPS The Cross Country Pilots Association will sponsor the 1984 Owens Valley Cross Country World Championships. The event will be held June 30 to July 11, 1984 and the tasks will be out-and-return racing to one specific goal. An open distance task is reserved for July 11. The scoring system will be the Total Elapsed Time (TET) system devised by Bill Feldbaumer in which the fastest pilot overall wins. Eligibility will be determined by cross country soaring accomplishments, national and international competition performance, and the recommendations of national organizations. Final selection is limited to 40 pilots. Entry fee is $250. Membership in the Cross Country Pilots Association will be required of all contestants. This event is sanctioned by the USHGA. Contact: Cross Country Pilots Association, c/o Competition Coordinator, P.O. Box 458, Independence, CA 93526, USA.

STREAK IMPROVEMENTS A low drag, seamless, extruded, aluminum kingpost is just one of the new features to appear on the 1984 model Streak. Other features include: newly designed, electro polished, stainless steel hardware which is used at the nose wire and also at the rear overhead wire tensioner. A new control bar apex fitting now allows the wing to be fully set up while lying flat on the ground (a must in high winds or desert, dust-devilish conditions). 1984 Streak owners will have the option of having their glider fitted with all new, low drag, streamlined, seamless, aluminum control bar uprights. High-performance, low-stretch surfcote cloth is available in shades of raspberry, pacific blue, yellow, white or green. Spectrum and rainbow cloths are also available. These options are available at extra cost.

UPDATE MARINA BEACH STEEPLE CHASE 1984 This year the Steeple Chase will be held April 27-29. Competition events wilt'include target landings and a 12-mile cross country dune race. Other events scheduled are hot air balloons, balloon/hang glider drops, ultralights, air towing, aerobatic exhibition, biplane aerobatics, windsurfing exhibition, champagne toast and a cook-out. Minimum prize purse will be $1,000. Contact Kitty Hawk Kites West, (408) 384-2622. DELTA WING TUNING CLINIC

Delta Wing is pleased to extend an invitation to all members of the hang gliding community to attend an educational and entertaining program scheduled for April 25. This program will be presented at the Delta Wing factory located at 13620 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA. Starting time is 7 PM. The April 25 program will focus on maintenance and tuning of hang gliders. Official factory representatives from Wills Wing, U.P. and Delta Wing will be guiding owners through the recommended maintenance and tuning procedures on their gliders. Beer and munchies will be for sale. The profits will be donated to the 1985 USHGA World Team Fund. For further information contact Delta Wing at (818) 787-6600. HANG GLIDING TRIVIA NIGHT Hang Flight Systems, the leader in obscure, meaningless knowledge and useless information proudly announces Hang Gliding Trivia Night to be held on Friday, May 4th at 7:30 PM. Using the tried and true Monty Hall Game Show format, HFS will gather together one hyperactive host (Scott Weiner), a bevy of buxom hostesses, eight four-person teams composed of jumping, clapping fools, and a dazzling array of lights, buzzers and prizes. Teams will field trivia questons compiled by the likes of Jack Lambie, George Dyer, Bob Trampenau, Dr.

Chris Wills, Gil Dodgen, and even Uncle Bill himself. This program will have Betty Moyer Magic infused throughout so come join us on 5/4/84 and let's all get obscure! Call (714) 542-7444 or (714) 972-8186 for information. Admission $1.00, proceeds to '85 World Team. WILLS WING ENTERS BOARDSAlLING MARKET Wills Wing, Inc., one of the world's oldest and largest manufacturers of hang gliders and related equipment, has entered the boardsailing market with a line of high performance sails and accessories. Guy Lindburg, top pro on the 1983 California Surfsailors Tour, has been consulting with Wills Wing. With

Guy's help, Wills Wing is applying their wide ranging knowledge of sail aerodynamics and fabrication techniques to the design of high performance boardsailing sails. Also working with Wills Wing's new boardsailing division are sail designer Martin Padilla, Don Dusatko of Neoproducts, and well known action sports photographer Leroy Grannis. Wills Wing is currently offering sails in stock and custom colors in 56, 63, and 71 square-foot sizes. All sails are high aspect and fully battened, and are designed to fit the Ampro 15 foot mast utilizing various sized extensions. The 56, 63, and 71 foot sails use booms of 5'6", 6' and 6'6" respectively. Standard features include Dimension "Tri Ply" Mylar leech panels and Leno Mesh mast socks for easy water

Calendar 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 Ill and IV rating tasks and advanced technique instruction. Contact: Kitty Hawk Kites West, PO Box 828, Marina, CA 93933 (408) 384-2622.

MAY 19-21. Vedder Mt. Hang Gliding Competition, Yarrow, BC. Hang IV. Prizes and trophies. Send SASE to: Vancouver Fraser Valley HG Club, 203-1065 Pacific St., Vancouver, BC Canada V6E-1S9 (604) 685-0890.

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.

MAY 26-JUNE 3. Tyrolean Hang Gliding World Masters, Kossen, Austria. Contact: Austrian Kiting Club, A-6345 Kossen, Tyrol, AUSTRIA phone 05375/6559.

MAY 3-6. Fon Funston Air Races world invitational hang gliding championships. Contact Walt Nielsen at SF Windsports (415) 731-7766.

MAY WEEKENDS. Sixth Annual Hammondsport XC Classic. Trophies. Preregistration $3. Contact: Jeff Ingersoll, 128 Richmond Ave., Lancaster, NY 14086.

MAY 12-13. Benefit fly-in for Alberton Senior Citizens Center. Plateau Peak near Missoula, Montana. Contact: Roger Lockwood (408) 549-3229 or lke Foster (408) 721-2248.

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.

JUNE 22-24. 12th Annual Cochrane Meet. Trophies, chute seminar, three days XC flying. Contact: Willi Muller, 5-1303-44th Ave. NE, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2E 6L5 (403) 250-2343.

JUNE 30-JUL Y 11. Owens Valley XC World Championships. Out-and-return racing and open distance. Contact: XC Pilot's Association, P.O. Box 458, Independence, CA 93526. JULY 13-15. Region I Regionals. Chelan Butte, Washington. Contact: (206) 823-5913. SEPT. 1-3. Seventh Annual 94 ROCK/Free Spirit Flight HG Festival. Draht Hill, Elmira, NY. $1,000 purse. Team and open classes, beginner to advanced, demos, camping. Contact: Free Spirit, P.O. Box 13, Elmira, NY 14902. SEPT. 10-16. Telluride Hang Gliding Festival, 150 pilots. Send SASE to: Telluride Air Force, Box 456, Telluride, CO 81435 (303) 728-4759. SEPTEMBER l4-16: California Balloon Festival, Visalia, CA. Contact: Balloon Festival, PO Box 4516, Visalia, CA 93278 (209) 625-2784.

HANG GLIDING

UPDATE 3rd of a Series

starts. All sails feature a two ply leech, and extensive reinforcement of the foot, clew, and tack. Sails in additional sizes are under development. Manufacturer's suggested retail prices for the three sizes currently available are $260, $280 and $300. For further information contact: Wills Wing, Inc., 1208 H. East Walnut, Santaana, CA 92701 (714) 547-1344. Dealers invited.

both stock and custom components can be ordered in virtually all materials. Contact: Manta Products, 1647 E. 14th St., Oakland, CA 94606, (415) 536-1500.

CONSUMER ADVISORY PARA CHUTE ADVISORY

MANTA HARDWARE

Manta Products has expanded their product line of injection-moulded components, according to Marketing Director, Bill Armour. This expansion comes in two areas where a need is perceived: custom part fabrication in short runs and wider material availability at lower cost to the manufacturer. An innovative mould-making technique, recently developed at Manta, reduces mould costs by as much as 75%, putting custom-moulded parts within the reach of even small manufacturers. Lower tooling costs mean relatively small "runs" are feasible, allowing the manufacturer to have components custom made to exact optimized design considerations, with minimum cash outlay. Starting with a full range of stock saddles, standoffs, tube connectors and other standard parts, this new technique will allow manufacturer savings reaching into the 15-20% range. Projected savings for custom parts will be even greater. In addition to the usual polycarbonate (Lexan) and nylon materials,

APRIL 1984

It has come to our attention that in an attempt to copy the parachute safety lock system developed by Rich Pfeiffer, at least one harness manufacturer has made the system a potential death trap. By using straight cotter pins instead of the appropriately sized curved pins, parachute deployment may not be possible. The parachute safety lock system is a simple system by which elastic is threaded through the top velcro of the parachute container "button hole style" and then secured with curved pins. The curved pins are attached to the parachute deployment bag handle. By pulling the handle the curved pins release and the parachute deploys in the normal fashion. If you pull open the velcro without releasing the pins, the parachute will not fall out accidentally. The problems are these: Curved pins allow the handle to be pulled in any direction, straight pins do not! A single pin cannot separate and disconnect, a cotter pin can. An in-flight parachute deployment is hard enough without having to pull the parachute deployment handle in the right direction. We think that the parachute safety lock system is an excellent safety addition and should come standard on all harnesses. We also know that using the correct size of curved pin and attaching the pins to the parachute deployment bag handle in the proper manner could make the difference between a safe deployment and pulling frantically at the handle as you hit the ground.

Betty Moyer High Energy Sports

CRYSTAL AIR SPORTS

10th NO. 1 - Crystal is centrally located to the finest flying in the eastern USA. NO. 2 - Crystal stocks all the winningestgliders ... the Wills Wing Attack Duck: the Delta Wing Streak; and now, the Aiiwave Magic Ill. NO. 3 - Crystal maintains a full line of accessories. NO. 4 - Crystal offers nearby Motel, Flyer's Bunkhouse, and Pool facilites (at the Ciystal Alr Sport Motel) that is run by and caters to pilots ... including in·house hang gliding movies. NO. 5 - Crystal is the leader in the Aero Towing movement ... 2·Seat Cosmos tug on·hand, NOW! NO. 6 - Crystal is the home of the full environment "Simulator," where you can introduce your friends and loved ones to the thrill of hang gliding ... SAFELY! NO. 7 - Crystal is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 1984. For all those years, Ciystal has been a leading innovator in delivering flight and gear to pilots and student pilots. Don't you want to fly with a leader? Call TOM today! Phone 615/825-1995, or write Rt 4, Cummings Hwy.,

Chattanooga, TN 37409 9

to those cartoons that each month in Hang magazine? Did the cartoonist run out of ink and paper? No, actually have taken time off to pursue other art and time. Rest assured, I'm ,liln,rlciin" on some new ideas which will appear in future issues. In the meantime been asked the editor to evaluate the Delta Dream for the Glider Showcase series featured in this

UP The Delta Dream is extremely easy to set up. There is a breakdown control bar which stays with the One clevis pin and are needed to construct the eontrol bar. the

front ing the tang to a "new wire catch, which

Bennett ana

I'm only myself

pounds and most wanted to seemed to be a little on the large and heavy side. This is Delta new entry in the category, the Delta Dream; made available for this evalua· tion courtesy of Intema· tional of Van Nuys, near where live. JO

HANG GLIDING

in the sail. I found that half the ribs had black while the other half were white; this makes should they get mixed from a nn:vi<ms breakdown. The ribs are held in with nylon cord pulled back with a small blue knob which is with thumb and t01·e1Jnger To my there are no washout tubes, but there are ball-swivel co111sii;tin1g of nylon to allow for easy twist of the sail while under tension. Two steel cable luff lines are at· tachcd to the of the have flexible rear reflex. Set-up was ac<:ornpllsl1ed in about five minutes.

aU1ton1rnt.ically as the are spread and then secures to the keel hy means of a and bolt held are inserted in center rib remains

Hutten uttar/m1ent detail.

APRIL 1984

CH ARAC'fERISTICS Due to the conditions, elected to the Dream from Mount Wilson Pasadena, California, which offers about a one-to-one at launch. The Dream has static balance and its light weight (about 50 pounds) made handling easy. Small take note; I particularly like the small control bar. Since I am a mere 5'4'', I appreciate a bar that can be lifted more than a foot from the ground, all,c,wmg me a strong run without fri,r.nino on the base tube. Launch was easy and within seconds I

found a thermal which allowed me an altitude of 1,500 feet. While in the thermal I found that at various bank angles the tracked in the turns very well. I did not feel the sensation that some wants to in or get should you get too close to the the thermal. The handling was comfortable, for whose crossbar is locked in place to the keel. I to get close to a Comet and a Streak in thermals to compare climb rates. At to wingtip I noticed little difference except that on occasion was able to slow down a little better to take full of the core, turn inside and climb just a little faster than the other As the other left the thermals, I chased after them to compare sink rates. the Dream is not as fast as a Streak or a Comet it has a very good sink rate and had a better L/D than I had The roll rate is very compared to the double surface the closest I can compare it to now is the Seahawk. r picked Next I tried stalling the up a little speed, then pushed the bar out to get the nose of the up close to 90 °. The glider hung motionless for a second, then dropped through as exup a little speed and

Control bar/cross bar junction.

where this would make an cellcnt trainer, and the student skills could be to pushi:ng out on the bar. nr,•ec,,r,, mcrease steadily pushed no question that the to tell what

fort. the day

ex1Jec:tec1, not slow Seahawk, definitely no1 fast douhle surfaced glider. Nearing the ground I encountered little sink; then found myself bepushed out than I wanted (due correcte:d for this with

out about not too bad con· sidleri:ng the conditions at the time. time it so much that I don't think five to ten more hours on it would change my of its characteristics one hit. l felt very comfortable and confident throu.gh<)Ut the entire night. l felt very much in tune with the Dream.

the advanced pilot with the of floating crossbar for faster roll rate. I can sec

of foam which a clean aero·· dynamic shape to the wing. The ribs and control bar arc each stowed in their own bags and additional for the con· trol bar and keel arc to proteci the sail from abrasion. One about the Dream is that it's frame with a new sail, but a crnmplet,ely wing from the ground up, aimed at back into fun UJJlllllUH, iS

such as myself. At the time of this (March '84) the owner's· manual is in the uu'""·'IS• and the Delta Dream is certified with an addendum to the certification in progress. Ill

GLIDING

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FUGHT

\JSHGA President Steve Hawxhursl.

Hawxhurst has been a USHGA two years and was elected the association at the 10/83

noted the in income we were inclined to attribute it to the loss of as the EAA and AOP A programs Almost too late we

the Prez, what are you gonna do about it? SH: A1 our October Board of Directors we received financial statement that covered the first six months of 1983. Bad news. Even worse news was my after the that the then \ '-"clVlJ\;i

and commercial work. Now that he's the President your association, let's hear what he has to say.

you

as the facthe lJSHGA at this time'/ (As if we didn't know.) The is and has been financial. Due to an system which the association has outgrown we failed to ""'r""'"" slide in were 14

December Carol Velderrain found a number of cuts which could be of which cut in pay by our and a reduction in the size of our office in L.A. The most recent and rnost drastic action which l have taken was the postponement of our Board of Directors You can defend that move later 011.

now don't you tell us how the USHGA is structured. is of any national or interest association. The country is divided into 12 and those areas are elected directors. ()f . . ficers, Prez, etc., arc elected by the directors from among their ranks. The ekcted directors also elect four who vote and we also directors at have some honorary directors who don't vote but make a lot of very useful noise. We have an office staff who you'll be somewhere in this interview and of course our Gil

HG: How does the USHGA operate in and in Sll: The board of directors meets twice a call the year to deal with what you matters. The routine is to go over what should have been done (old and then break up into the various committees to deal with new programs and other work that needs to be done. There are about a dozen committees to deal with all of the sport and association and among the most are and HANG GLIDING

systems, instructor certification, etc.) Insurance and so on. After about two a11;u,111s, the committees present their reports and recommendations to the full board. This results in the same arguments gone over again and the final result is list of "action items" directed to either the office staff, directors or the various officers. The rest of the year the association's business is run the office staff on dav-to--ctav basis and any decision they not in to make get referred to me or, ii' it's matter of to the executive committee which is made up of the four officers. That's the [n the system works after a fashion but has some inherent weaknesses our membership may not be aware of. Such as'? 'I'o me the most obvious can result from what I call the "volunteer 1murntv;e mcnt1'm1.ic emr:,101,1ee" situation. Our office staff has been very ably mamaged for many years by Carol Vclderrain but it is, after all, a staff whose is to programs and not create them. on the strength of the directors and officers they get or end up at sea without a We've had directors and officers and some that weren't so Part of the problem is that they're often elected on the basis of their skills or and not for their management I'm not that's wrong il's as it should be but it can create frustrations for the members or the office staff when it comes to done. A recent survey conducted oninrtat!y by Bright Star Gliders and re-

CAROL

pe1r1e1t1ccic1 "Leaae1·lltl11p voids'! with.inac·· like that puts tive officers. A the whole association in a kind of vague limbo and forces the office staff to act on behalf of lea,clership, With a ummc1a1

as· drastic now. im:re:ase in renewals

little ways back

many USHGA members feel disconnectalienated, or otherwise removed from the USHGA. Do you feel that "member alienation" is a nnJbl.em In of what I've mentioned Star survey isn't sm:-nrisi1ag. The more I travel around and talk to the more I notice what l think are some basic misconceptions about what the is, seem to envision this bureaucracy in some Parthenon-size offices that's doing a type with them and their sport. As you can it's not. APRIL 1984

course, the years. Do you .h,we to the mem111ersmr,·t CV: Yes. rne,me,ssai~e We wo111d:n•t ye,trs I've never fo1r11,c,ttem told me when 1 was hired. What's that?

He for

as1,oc:tat1011 ." l 've never

times.and bad. Talk about bad times! How the current situation .stack up other times you've seen? The. situation now ls bad but not the

HANG GLIDING

got three very nice hard working women here who have paperwork piled up around them as far as the eye can The fact that they continue to slug it never ceases to amaze me. We also don't have massive Wasliin.gtcm lobby of hammerlock on the We've got guys like Dennis Dick Heckman, and Vic Powell who fight the good because they deeply about our sport. They get paid lots for that, right? serious Erik, just like you and I getting rich in the hang glider business! No, they get paid nothing for their efforts. In fact it costs them! another ·misconception: Some of our membership seems to think that a director is a deal. Jn fact that how we sometimes get those directors I mentioned. They run for election thinking it's contest and discover to their shock and consternation that it's whole bunch of work. Rob Kells and I once sat clown and figured out that to do decent job director could look forward to 500 bucks a year out of his pocket and a a week of his time. Often the reward is that everybody hates you. Well you know one of Murphy's laws: "No deed goes unpunished. But hey, you're on a roll; ! Well, now that I'm in full defensive mode let me make one more point and then I'll stop the tirade. If you look at the structure of the organization as I've outlined it, you can see that it's the directors who work on the programs and problems. So if those guys are the means for change how come none of the membership votes'? We got fifty percent complainers and only twenty percent vott~rs wrong there! Beyond that discovered that a lot of pilots don't let the director, know what their are so the directors end up pretty much shooting from the hip policy. Per· when it comes to haps we all suffer from the "write your congressman" syndrome knowing that in that case it won't do much good. The point is that in an organization the size of ours it can do some good. The "disconnected, alienated and removed from the USHGA" statement gives me some odd feelings. Like I want to shout,

APRIL 1984

dummies, you are the USHGA and those director guys are just guys like you who have 1he same problems and concerns." So it sounds like you agree that "n1er1nb1~rship alienation" is a pn)blem hut you'd like the membership to take some of the credit for the lem through apathy and/or inaction. Exactly.

Do you have any ideas as to how to improve the situation? There arc ways to improve the situation, and I've been trying some of them out. It's true that the directors have often mislaid the means of communication or as far as what we're up to. Those three-day-long winded arguments I mentioned which we call director's usually give a good hearing to all sides of a question but the me:mlJerst11p doesn't get to witness the struggle. Once a decision is made it just tends to appear as an imperial edict

rather than reasoned solution. sporting class in last year's nationals good example. We've always had fairly large contingent of people who feel that a hard core chieken--out-of-a-thermal" type contest is less than fun. Some feel that we should the cmmJ1~t1·· tion aU,ogc:th(:r and have national. fly.in with an "Oshkosh" atmosphere. sporting class was an attempt to provide something for both sides of this issue but because the reasons for it weren't plained very well a lot of people saw it a bunch of elitists and a contest for ond class" pilots. What I'm saying here is that we need to work on communication more, both directors-to-mem hers and vice versa. Personally, I've taken the time recently to attend club meetings of the chapters in my region that are out of the San Diego area and I'm encouraging my fellow directors to do the same. Also I've long advocated expanding the number of people actively involved in making decisions. I think the way to do this is for each director to appoint subcommittees within his or her for the major aspects of the sport: eompeti· tion from all the active cmnneution pilots within a safety and from all the certified schools and so on. The cnrrent major priority however is with your next question which is: (conlinued on page 31 i

Steve and Carol disnrns USHCA business.

A Lost (Aln1ost) Art by Bob Thompson

the early days of hang gliding the pilot hung by his armpits (thus the term hang gliding), and swiveled the lower torso for control. After a time someone worked out a seat arrangement, and then came a primitive form of the prone harness which allowed the pilot to fly like Superman, laying down. Back in those days most harnesses were quite basic and uncomfortable after a short while, and, often times, not very stu-rdy. Flights were generally low and slow, and comfort and real safety weren't really major considerations. Just flying was a major accomplishment. Harness pressure points abounded, and some prone harnesses were known to raise the pitch of a male voice after as few as five minutes of air time. Sitting in an early seated harness took about an hour to get tiresome on the rump, but other problems were present. With only one seat belt, the harness could slip up past your butt, providing a real "hang" gliding experience, with the belt against your throat and seat jamming your head from the rear. Additionally, some of the early seated harnesses had no back strap. I once watched a stu18

dent training with another instructor let go of the base tube, fall over backward, slip down upside down, and fall out at about 15 feet AGL, doing a layout triple-flip. That's all quite humorous to reminisce about now, but the student was pretty excited about it at the time. Also, with some early seated harnesses the straps raked the helmet or ears on both launch and landing, but the evolution of a spreader bar took care of that. Kinda makes you wonder where someone ever came up with the term "good ol' days!" Thankfully, harnesses have progressed with time, and we are all a lot better off today. The cocoon and bulletman have provided a quantum leap in pilot comfort and safety for prone pilots, and, similarly, the seated harness has evolved into supine - only to almost be lost in obscurity. The prone harness, it seems, has been catapulted into the limelight, leaving supine in the dust, something comparable to what happened to soaring after the Wrights harnessed the engine to a propeller. Well, not quite. Although a definite minority, supine pilots are still out there, which is

not a well known fact. And there is still a strong prejudice factor noted when supine pilots show up in many areas. After I won the 1981 Arizona XC contest Mike Meier was astounded to learn that I had done it supine, commenting "I didn't think you c_ould fly crosscountry supine." At the '82 Wills Wing Dealer Seminar Ken DeRussy admitted that he didn't think anyone flew in other than prone harnesses anymore. Larry Tudor commented during the making of a television program that he never saw a bird flying seated, so he doesn't fly that way, either. Virtually everywhere the supine pilot goes he (or she) is subjected to comments like ''When are you rea{ly going to learn to fly?", "Are you just a beginner?", "Still flyin' backwards, huh?", etc., etc. Most hang glider pilots think of supine as (I) a beginner's way of flying, (2) old fashioned, (3) seated-1973 vintage, (4) not macho, (5) having too much drag, and (6) difficult to launch and land. The general public and most of the flying hang gliding community have been brainwashed into the idea that prone is the only way to fly a hang glider. HANG GLIDING

test pilot in supine Flexi If at Point Fermin, ABOVF: Farly p,lider with Montgomery meet. by Bob ·n,,,m,,,,,J0/ir1 Hamelin mukes a low pass in gooa supinr form. Photo Williams.

APRJL 1984

of what the tem:lem~y for thr1oui;:h my introduction, and nr,"lh,,hiv freaked out a lot the how to do it and its act·varttai~es. First you need the wires for your Because of the difference in the prn,itic:mof the and differences in relative of the control bar by and manufacturers, various the base tube must be moved rearward inches to allow for proper control the For older such series, etc., the three-inch or so difference is small that can set up for prone, although this is still not the set-up. The newer, double surface another cup of tea, however, that the control bar tube be as much inches rearward. For these, a change of lower becomes for the pilot. Talk to the manufacturer about this; they should be able to come with the wires or the dimensions for you. rely on their measurements some arc not well-

and will wire clei;ig11ed by "educated guess." can be ordered from for UP does, and have sold several. And, I can say for a fact that every one of their supine that I have flown has nicely. I'm sure that wo1rkir1g for them bit. Rob Kells has assured me that the new Skyhawk ordered with "combination like used to be found on the SST's, etc. Bill Bennett says that his products can be ordered from the with wires, also. For some like the 165 165CH, and 164 Gemini the front and rear wires are changed and the sidt! wires stay the same. For others, like the 185 Comet, 135 and others, all six wires need to be And for still others, like the Duck, all lower wires must be ch:am:ed and also the location of where the control bar bracket mounts to the keel. Some Wills' gliders to switch the entire control bar asi;en1bly to UP bar and bracket, which cancels the need to change the bracket location m1 Ducks a move not the Wills folks (an upDuck?). However, once in the hands of the any are po:,s1tile, and the variety is limitless. I have seen and flown this combination

the idea inand it works terests anyone out there, contact me, not Wills for this one!) One short note on wire If there is anyone left out there with combination wires, get them changed PRONTO. There have been a number of flying wire failures on these. I almost had one back in 1979 but was the disaster thanks to Bill Bennett. 2) A bar. UP calls it bar. Prone pilots, who for years that such base tubes were unsafe, are them in substantial numbers, 1,airticulatrlv in Europe and in the Owens Valley, calling them bars." H's interesting how something can be looked down upon until a "new" use can be found for it. a strong belly bar is essential for supine It allows the pilot to have a better static balance of the glider before launch, better control launch and in flight, incxten,dm1g the upper range. of the bar that is bent forward also makes a handy to some turns, which allows for an easier, yet stronger, grip by the pilot. A few yers back I flew a British-built Cvclcme for a while which came to me set up for prone only, and it had extra tuning wires from the control bar to the tips. Rather than the wires, I tried another which worked fine but rec1ui1red finesse on I simply added handles, or base tube "exenders, which were removable for transport. Ad·· looked a bit unusual, but they worked very well, me to fly almost any surface with prone wires. The idea became obsolete with the advent of double surface with control bars set for about chin level. This became om·ticula:rlv evident to me when I tried them out with a Cornet 135 set up for prone. Due to its particular geometry, the base tube needs to be moved about 14 inches farther back for The became a Wilt Chamberlin affair, and necessitated a really smokin, run-out on touchdown. 3) A harness. This is the area most for the There HANG GLIDING

are very few supine harnesses available through normal outlets. In fact, most dealerships probably aren't even aware that some are available. A substantial number of supine pilots have had their harnesses custom made, and many of these are quite complex. Of all the different supine harnesses I have been exposed to, only two have really seemed reasonable to me - and both need some slight modification to suit my preferences. I flew with an Eipper supine harness for many years, which I had considerably beefed up by a local parachute rigger. I also had a chest strap added and put a piece of 3/8-inch plywood under the seat. Without the plywood, I broke seats on a weekly basis in strong thermal air. Presently, I am using a harness supplied by UP, designed by Mike Quinn. It is definitely the most comfortable and simplest around. Once again, I've added a piece of 1/4-inch lexan below the seat, to prevent breakage in rough air. With that slight modification, I've logged over l, 700 miles XC in the past few years. On my world record flight in 1982 I was still feeling great and ready to continue after eight hours in the air, which I feel is a real testimonial to the ease and comfort of supine flying. There are only two support straps and one very thin wire going to the foot rest, reducing the drag factor considerably over what is produced by the maze of straps and ropes on many prone harnesses (and some of the complex versions of the supine harness). I still have ideas of my own for what I feel would offer the ultimate in strength, comfort, and simplicity. If there are any harness makers out there who really know their stitching, I'd be interested in getting together with them. 4) Parachute. Where do you position a chute for supine pilots? I've seen lots of ideas: some on the back, some on the sides, and I used to mount it under my seat. the chute underneath, it was easily accessible, padded your butt and lower back in the event of a sitting landing or impact, and was not in the way of anything. I was forced to change, however, as the result of an old suffered in an auto accident 25 years ago. My shoulder had been severely splintered, but had healed and was all APRIL 1984

Deane William'>, Connecticut cn1ss country rccnrd holder (77 + miles) (Hll'f the Pullt'.ll near Hrace J\1t

Photo h.v neune Williams

but forgotten about. Moe Valetta helped me put on a parachute clinic and seminar last year and during a "hands on" session I realized considerable pain in the shoulder while trying to pull the chute out of the container. It took about five seconds to succeed. Realizing that to be unacceptable, we set about to design something workable. The res uh was (I) mounting the parachute on the right side of the harness, about elbow level, and (2) a custom container, being larger, less tightly packed, flatter, and held together with a few tabs of velcro and a safety pin attached to an easily accessible handle. This system seems to be the best for me, anyway. Now that we know the ins and outs of getting the right supine equipment, let's go flying. I) Takeoff. Most people learned seated or supine launches with tight straps, holding the glider up with strength and balance. I used to use this method; it works fine, but requires a lot more physical input from the pilot than most people are to expend. The critical mistake that I have observed with many of these launches was that the pilot tried to get going at the same time as the glider, usually outrunning the glider, and producing a stalled condition. Wrong! In order to take off with tight straps (I) the glider must be perfectly balanced and neutral to the lift, (2) the must lean forward to

get the glider moving first, and then (3) run with the glider in a coordinated fashion. This method has severe problems on windy, wire assisted launches. First of all, the glider is much higher off the ground than prone set-up gliders, Positive and it is already trying to control is an interesting challenge. Secondly, with the glider so high off the ground, the wire man can't hold the nose wires very dose to the nose plate. The nose of the glider is often eight or nine feet off the ground, requiring that the wire man be almost right against the pilot. Great fun. For the last couple of years I have been using a method quite similar to (but still a bit different from) what most prone pilots use, with great success. This has worked well in ail conditons - slope or cliff, no wind to gusty thermals to strong evening glass-off, bare down tubes or with Comet H fairings. Rather than getting into the harness and then hooking in, I do just the opposite: hook the biner to hang loops, check the lock, then get into the harness. It is neat, easy, and strongly reduces the possibility of a free-fall on launch (failure to hook in!). Support straps come up, along the front of the chest, back over the shoulders, with the spreader bar behind the head and the foot-rest bar off to one side. Head is through the triangle and down tubes are wrapped by my arms and held with a good (contmuPd nn p<igt' 4bl 21

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video cassette recorders in at over 20 and were hardly portable by standards. In the last few years the size and of portable VCR's have been reduced and now there are a number of VCR's that arc truly to be in a ballast container and taken airborne ballast if you decide to release it). I would recommend that you select VCR under 10 and will discuss the one that I use which is in lhe five range. There have also been some major im-

provements in the design of video cameras. There are video cameras available today that are as small and light as 35 mm still cameras commonly used by hang glider pilots.

SELECTING YOlrn what video equipment to use can be a difficult decision because there are so many different manufacturers and even a couple of formats to of what decide between. video equipment you decide upon it will also involve a considerable amount of money. The following information HANG GLIDING

VHS ta1w, a VI /,S- 1/i r (20 111in.) taJH' and the standard remote nmtrnl for the JVC VHS-C VCR. Ball for size l'OnJJJurison.

mighl help you avoid some costly selection and if mistakes on you own a VCR and camera J will discuss a few tips that might make your equipment more suited to use while If you don't own a VCR you must first choose what format you want. Tht:re are two primary systems, developed by different rnanufacturers that are not compatible systems. The first video system available to consumers was introduced by Sony. It is referred to as the Betamax system. It uses a video tape Y:," wide and provides excellent Vietor inquality. JVC troduced a system referred to as VHS This system also (Video Home uses a Y:," wide video tape and it also nu11inr'"" excellent The impor-tant thing to know is that you cannot play a Beta tape in a VHS machine or vice versa. Although Beta was introduced first and there arc really uo major quality differences between the Beta and VHS systems it is important to note that over three-quarters of all VCR's sold last year were VHS format VCR's. If a for--mat was ever to be discontinued it is like· ly Beta would be the one. Another factor which seems to be helping the VHS manufacturers is the re·· cent development of the VHS-C format. This is a sub format of the VHS format, The C stands for compact and compati .. blc, This system uses 20-minutc high video tapes that are about the size APRIL 1984

of a pack of cigarettes. Because the tapes are extremely srnall the VCR is also miniature in size. The JVC VHS-C for .. mat video cassette recorder only five pounds with the battery. The tapes can also be played in full format VHS machines by the use of an ingenious cassette. I have tested the JVC VHS-C video cassette recorder cxten .. (referred to as the HR-C3). Besides many gliding flights with this VCR I have also n:1adc over 700 skydives using this portable VCR and it has worked perfectly. This VCR fits nicely in my ballast container but if

your harness is not built with one you mount the VCR on the con .. could trol bar with a simple bracket. The of placing the VCR in a ballast container is the difficulty in changin1g tapes, but it is possible. The JVC HR-C3 also comes equipped with a very compact remote control that attaches with velcro or <luct-t.aric to my control bar, providing me with full control of the VCR at my fingertips. The cord is more than long enough to route the downtube and back to the harness the wire The most useful purpose of the remote control is in "pausing" the VCR. By the "pause" button you will l) slop 2) conserve tape 3) avoid over and similar shots being over. The 20°mlnute tape length of the VI-l.S-C format may seem too short but l have found that by pausing the VCR l can avoid a boring tape with the same shot over and over. By doing this the 20-minutc tape will also last through a long flight. The edits made by pausing on and off the VCR arc also made clean and look very professional. It is however, not recommended to use the pause mode for long periods of time on any VCR because although (conlinU('d on pagl' 28)

CFNTf:RSPREAD: Tom Sunders above takeoff at I.alee l:'/sinore, C!l l'l,oto {,y the m1lhor.

JVC / IliC-3 1,ideo casse/le recorder, remote cont ml and 20 n,innfe tape.

(continued from page 25)

the tape is not moving, the video heads are still moving which will eventually damage the tape and/or clog the video heads (since the heads are using the same section of video tape over and over while in the pause mode). I use the pause mode for short intervals of a minute or less. There is also a slick way to ''pause'' recording for long periods, however. By pushing the record-lock button on the VCR or on the remote control and then pushing the power off button, you will keep the tape loaded in the record mode, yet the heads will not rotate. When you want to continue recording you simply push the power on button and the tape is right where you left the last "take." This also provides really nice cuts, conserves battery power as well and will also make your hang gliding tape that much more fun to view without distracting glitches between shots, common to many VCR's. I would also suggest that you make a dub off the original video tape. Video tape deteriorates slightly each time it is played. By making a dub of the original you can preserve the original indefinitely. Play your copy until it starts to play poorly (probably over 100 times). You can then make another dub that will look good again. The JVC HR-C3 has audio and video output jacks to make duplicating easy. By using another VCR you can transfer the original to either a full-format VHS tape or by using a blank VHS-C and the adapter tape you can make your dupe another VHS-C tape. Any VCR weighing under ten pounds should work nicely but I prefer using the smallest available as long as I'm pleased with the quality. I would suggest the JVC (HR-C3) VHS-C video cassette recorder as perfect to take with you on your next flight. A video camera perfect for hang gliding must be small, rugged, accept very wide angle lenses, and ideally not be damaged by pointing it at the sun. There are many video cameras that are small enough to mount on a hang glider similar to a 35mm still camera. There are also many video cameras that are rugged enough to survive any landing you survive, but there is only one type of video camera that fulfills the third and fourth requirements. 28

Most video cameras do not have the capability of interchanging the lens to a very wide angle lens and any video camera that uses a tube (vidicon, saticon, nevicon tube, etc.) will be damaged severely if pointed at the sun for even a few seconds. I would suggest a solid state video camera (no tubes) that also uses a "C" mount for attaching lenses. The Hitachi MOS camera is extremely small, very rugged (it is made mostly of circuit board and doesn't use a video pick-up tube, adding to its rugged qualities). It also uses a "C" mount for attaching lenses. The letters MOS stand for metal oxide semi-conductor which is the technical name for the silicon "chips" that pick up the video information instead of using a tube. A "C" mount is a very common lens attachment for movie cameras and allows you to put on lenses of virtually any angle

"With a helmet-mounted camera it is possible to get some really dramatic airto-air shots of your friends." you want. I use an extremely wide lens such as a 3.5mm or 5.7mm lens. It is also best to use a lens designed for a video camera rather than a lens designed for a movie camera because it will be less expensive and you won't be sacrificing quality. If you already own a video camera and it doesn't have a "C" mount or some other method of interchanging the lens you can usually purchase a wide angle lens adapter that will screw onto your present lens making it more effective when mounted on your hang glider. If your video camera uses a tube (most do) be very careful not to point the camera at the sun while flying. You will also need an extension cable for the cable connecting the camera to the VCR. These are available at most fine video stores that carry accessories. A very rugged, effective and easy-touse clamp for attaching your camera to your glider is manufactured by Bogen. They have a few to choose between and are available at most fine camera stores.

I try to mount my cameras where they are least likely to be damaged by a less than perfect landing. The wing tips are a very risky place to mount a camera. Using a Bogen clamp it is easy to clamp onto the leading edge, staying inward of the tips. Sometimes you will just have to take a chance with your equipment to get certain perspectives, such as hoseclamping a curved piece of tubing onto the keel so you can have the camera mounted out in front of the hang glider looking in at the control bar. (Don't drop the nose on landing.) Always counterbalance your camera. Another way to video tape while hang gliding is to mount the video camera on your helmet. My skydiving helmet is especially suited for this since it also has a sight mounted on it to make framing accurate. It is possible to get some real dramatic air-to-air shots of your friends when using a helmet-mounted camera. The ring sights used by skydiving freefall cameramen are advertised in Parachute magazine and allow you to know what the video camera is centered on. To align the sight just have someone look through the video camera's viewfinder while you are wearing the helmetmounted camera. Adjust the 360-degree swivel clamp that comes with the sight so that the center of the sight matches what the video camera is centered on. I do not use a wide angle lens when shooting hang gliding air-to-air because most objects will appear too small unless they are dangerously close. Try to avoid a telephoto lens as well because that will magnify any unsteadiness in your camera work and it will be very difficult to have your sight aligned so perfectly as to be effective. Use a lens of about normal power, a 12mm is about right on a video camera. Note: 12mm on a video camera is not a wide angle lens such as a 12mm on a still camera. Using video equipment is the best way to learn what works best for you. You will see your mistakes as soon as you play the video. Video is fun and easy, even while hang gliding with the new portable and rugged equipment available today. The tapes will really come in handy when you need an air fix and it's unflyable. Remember, the sky's not the limit with video or hang gliding anymore!• HANG GLIDING

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(continued from page 17)

HG: No wonder you're the Prez! You anticipate so good! What's the current status of the financial crisis? Are we going to make it into springtime without having to take drastic measures or what? SH: I'm glad you asked that. The financial situation is still pretty grim but I think we are finally turning the corner. That was the main reason for the somewhat drastic action of postponing the spring director's meeting. HG: Oh good! Here's the part where you explain your first controversial decision! SH: Right. Ordinarily the Association pays about fifty percent of the airfares for the directors to attend a meeting and additionally we pay the expenses for Carol and Gil to attend. As of February the cost cutting we had done had slowed the straight in dive we were having to the point that it looked like we might just get saved. The expense of a meeting would have, in my opinion, endangered that save. Of course some people are quite unhappy as they feel there are issues that need to be addressed by the board right away. But meeting this month and going out of business next month was not my idea of having fun. HG: The USHGA Prez position sounds like a whole lot or work and, as you've pointed out, there is no pay and perhaps lots of raps in the head. What motivates you to take on this job at such a critical time? Are you a glutton for punishment or what? SH: Probably you could infer that by the fact that I attempt to make a living flying and not very often selling hang gliders. I hope that I'm doing this to provide an imperfect example of the

points I was making in my earlier tirade - the idea that any one of us can get involved and make a difference. I sort of slid into first directorship and then this job because in trying to run Torrey Pines I found I was having a frustrating time dealing with some aspects of the "system." Having to tell a pilot who had been flying ten years that he had to bag it when it was straight in at 20 knots because he didn't have all his forms filled out in triplicate was not a good way to get popular. We were also having some insurance problems with the city of San Diego and phone calls to the USHGA insurance agent were getting me some pretty vague and inadequate answers. Getting elected was no problem since, as I've pointed out, it only takes you and about ten friends. Most of my work as Region 3 director has been to address the problems I faced in the early days at Torrey. I decided as head of the insurance committee that if we weren't getting good ·response from our insurance agent we should get another one (we did). I also found there were a lot of people calling me from around the country asking for advice based on what I had done at Torrey. I usually promised to send them copies of the materials and presentations I had used but after a few dozen trips to the Xerox store I got tired of it and decided to write what became the Site Information Manual, a portion of which was so dazzling it made it into the famous and revered "Right Stuff" column. HG: Yeah, but my question was why did you want to become ... SH: The truth is I have no real explanation for becoming Prez and I'm some-

what uncomfortable with the fact that I agreed to it blindly when the association is in somewhat of a crisis. Like why can't I be Prez for some easy ''business-asusual" years? HG: Too late now, bunky. You're stuck with it! Since you've taken on the job of helping to make sure that we have a future, what are your perceptions and hopes for that self-same future? SH: I hope we pull it off. In my brighter moments I think we can. The key operative word in that last statement is "WE.'' WE are a small group of people - what governments and so forth like to call a "special interest group." They're right, but that shouldn't scare us. The important thing now is that we realize the facts and hang together. I've been occasionally defensive about the USHGA in this interview and I'll continue to be so. I've done some work and I know of a lot of others who have put in amazing efforts on behalf of our sport. That doesn't mean that we can't stand some improvement. However, in order to improve, we're going to need continuous input, both positive and negative from our membership. We are, in my view, a small but very special group of people. We share some magic, a unique way of looking at the world that most eyes will never see. If we work together we can whip any problems, FAA or anybody else who wants to take us on. We're more powerful than a locomotive. Plus, we already know that we can leap tall buildings with a single bound! HG: Hey, that's a pretty inspirational conclusion! Thanks, Prez! SH: Thanks, Erik . •

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There were two blues in the afternoon sky. One, a brilliant azure, formed a great fathomless vault overhead. The other, paler yet striking with a distant wash of clouds, huddled over the ragged line of the horizon. Across this subtle pallette came an airborne figure. It held a glide then slowly arced into a graceful turn, climbing, climbing almost out of sight before it again came surging through the sky. Several minutes passed before this solitary flyer could be recognized for what it was - a magnificent golden eagle. This great bird is perhaps the most beautiful of all the North American soaring birds. The golden sheen of feathers caught the glint of the sun and flashed with each lazy revolution. There was no hurry, for in its flawless talons it held a fat rabbit cargo - spoils of a successful hunt. Its direction was home on a highway of thermals. The flight was effortless with barely a flap of wing or a whistle of feather. It covered mile after mile until its piercing vision spied its destination high on a Rocky Mountain crag. The eagle pulled in its wings to descend to the nest where mate and offspring awaited. With a swoop and a well-timed pass, it dropped the rabbit with one extended foot, then wheeled around for a final approach to land. As it came in low and fast, its big wings twisted up and slowed it just above the rock ledge. A split second later the tail spread up and out as the graceful bird flared for landing. With outstretched legs the eagle touched down like a ballet dancer. But before the legs bore the massive bird's 32

full weight, the wings stalled, the eagle tripped and slammed hard on its nose amid a cloud of dust, feathers and assorted debris. The eagle let out a squawk which if translated would be unprintable, then slowly got up and rubbed his bruised beak. "Oh, well, it was a great flight anyway," he mused as he limped over to his nest. You couldn't tell this by the rest of the flock, however, as they fought to surpress their snickers. All they could remember was the landing. Does this sound familiar? How many times have you come in for a landing in front of a group of wuffs and put on a display of virtuoso pounding with busted downtubes as a booby prize. As ridiculous as it is for us to imagine a magestic eagle blowing a landing, it is even more ridiculous for reasoning pilots to continue to fly without perfecting their landing skills. Let's get personal. If you have less than a perfect landing in one out of every ten flights then I'm talking directly to you. You can improve and you must improve. According to USHGA statistics, the greatest number of accidents now occur on landing. This should not and does not have to be the case. I will not buy such excuses as "modern gliders are hard to land" or "we fly the air, not the ground." The fact is, there are some pilots who land well every time while flying high strung gliders. So can you if you take the time to practice the principles outlined below. The first key to consistent landing ability is practice. I know a pilot who measures the caliber of his landings by

how light his noseplate hits the ground. He's a weekend flyer and takes several long flights a month. That means several landings spaced out over four weeks with bad habits reinforced on each outing. This pilot is an expert and distains the thought of returning to the training hill to practice landings (carry a 70 pound glider up a hill?-not me!). So he flies cross-country and leaves his imprint on random fields around the county. I know another pilot who had a flare problem - his was non-existent. He did go back to the training hill one afternoon. It took him about three flights to overcome his mental block and a few more to perfect his timing, but now he lands with grace. My point is that if you are blowing landings, you probably have some bad habits that are being reinforced each time you attempt to land. If so, I implore you to get back to the training hill for a few practice flights. You '11 be surprised at how quickly you turn things around. Before we proceed, let's define a perfect landing so we know our target. A perfect landing is a gentle touchdown with no steps in a wind over a few miles per hour and one or two steps in calm conditions. The glider should remain in a wings-level, nose-high attitude from the start of flare until the glider settles on the pilot's shoulders. No extraneous contortions or heroics allowed. From this definition it should be apparent that even if you are five feet two inches tall with size 14 shoes, bow-legged with one foot on backwards, you should be landing well. It's all a matter of HANG GLIDING

technique. I practice landing on one foot at times to continually sharpen my skills. Here are the five points to practice for you to perfect your landing skills. 1. CONCENTRATION

AND CONSISTENCY We have already mentioned the need for taking a few flights, one right after the other. This is to develop an ability to relax and concentrate on each aspect of the landing procedure. Use only a wideopen landing field in a gentle wind so that you build your confidence - a big factor. If I could cite one specific item that is the key to good landings I would say concentrating all the way to touchdown. By consistency we mean using the same approach pattern, descent speed, stand-up point, arm position and flare action each time (given gentle conditions). This policy develops some automatic responses - good habits so you can pay more attention to other details like varying conditions, obstructions and spot landing later. It is important to perfect the basics first before you add variations. 2. CORRECT AIRSPEED Now we must be a little vague, for the correct airspeed depends on wing loading. However, once you find the correct airspeed for landing your glider it should be the same every time (in smooth conditions). In general, most pilots I watch with landing problems come in too slow. Either they stall due to wind gradient or turbuence, or they have no kinetic energy left when it's time to flare. In most cases I use a downwind, base and final landing approach. I may slip my last turn slightly (for small landing fields surrounded by obstructions (or pull in on my final, carrying plenty of speed (better than best glide) through the gradient right down to the deck. In light conditions, I begin paying off (letting the bar out) five feet or so above the ground. I gradually slow down as I descend until I am just above stall speed one to three feet off the ground. With one last check of airspeed (am I as slow as possible without stalling?) I go for the flare. The secret is to carry good airspeed all the way to the ground, check your descent by slowing, then flare just before stall. APRIL 1984

3. BODY AND HAND POSITION This is another big factor. From the beginning I suggest you have another pilot watch you as you come in to land to let you know how you look (you will probably be too busy). Don't stand up too soon to put your hands on the uprights. Let the glider stabilize on final approach but also stand up in time for the glider to restabilize before it's time to flare. Fifteen to twenty feet up should be a good stand-up height. In the standing position, the hands should hold the downtubes at about shoulder height. Too low and you will not have enough push out length; too high and you will have to use great force in flare and roll control. Your body should be angled slightly forward and your feet back as shown in the accompanying figure. If you put your feet/legs forward at any time during the landing procedure except at the point of touchdown, your body will swing back essentially shortening your arms and preventing a full flare. Make sure your harness leg straps are as tight as possible or you will be too low for a full flare.

4. PROPER FLARE The proper flare in most cases is a full arm stretched push out and up. The idea is to stall the entire glider all at once so your forward motion is halted. As the stalled wing begins to descend your feet touch and you alight lightly. If you have paid off speed properly and are progressing almost parallel to the ground as indicated in 3., all you have to do is stop your forward speed to land perfectly. If you have an angle of descent, your legs must cushion the vertical motion, but you still can make this gentle with a welltimed vigorous flare. Remember, a full flare is needed in all light wind conditions. You should rise slightly and your legs should fall in below you. If you make the mistake of flaring too soon, don't attempt to pull the nose down below six feet. Hold the bar out and cushion the shock with your legs (a last moment additional push may help here). If you continue making the mistake of flaring too early, be sure to head back to the training hill. Again, once you begin the flare below six feet, hold the bar out until the glider settles. (continued on page 4.3)

PR..()PE/Z.

HE:IGHI AND

PCJS rnoN

FOIZ FLARE

1983 Accident Review

by USHGA Accident Review Chairman Doug Hildreth

Pilots don't like to read accident reviews (psychiatrists call this ego defense mechanism denial), so I will begin with the summary. The number of accident reports submitted is down significantly. Midair collisions are up and pilots are hitting things on their landing approach. Everything else is about the same. (Please see the statistical summaries in the tables.) The Gathering of Statistics: The accident statistics form is the key to our information. There were only 53 reported free-flying accidents in 1983, a significant drop over previous years. Twentyfour student accident reports were filed. All USHGA pilots received a questionnaire attached to their Regional Director ballot and 140 answered the accident statistic portion of that questionnaire. This gave us more numbers to anlayze, but the depth and detail of the questionnaire is extremely limited and the official reports are much more comprehensive. I sincerely appreciate those of you who answered the questionnaire, but next year I would appreciate an accident report form. Towing: Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I think that towing is great. I am not out to give towing a bad name and I know that it will grow and prosper. Nonetheless, at this moment, the "towing movement" is slightly removed from the free-flying contingency, and I receive very few towing reports. I hope that this will change as towing matures, as the USHGA supports towing, and as the tow pilot and foot-launch pilot intermingle. I am impressed that the increase in legitimate towing activity over the past

year has occurred without fatality. There were three towing deaths and those reports were extremely sketchy. As best as I can tell, all three were inexperienced pilots automobile towing and were "on the fringes." In free-flying, tandem and tow, there have always been "fringe pilots" who are out of the mainstream and who ignore standard information and recommendation. Although we must count these three as towing fatalities, they do not represent state-of-the-art towing activity. There has also been concern expressed that if a pilot tows to a thousand feet, releases, flies a hundred miles and crashes on landing, it should not be categorized as a towing accident, since the towing had nothing to do with the accident. On the other hand, I do not think that it really belongs in the footlaunch category either. Maybe crashes on launch should be categorized either in foot-launch or tow and, once the pilot has launched/released, then the third category be established. It sounds pretty complicated to me, but give me your input. EDITORIAL OPINIONS, PERSONAL PREJUDICES, AND SERMONS Midair Collisions: Midair collisons and near misses are going to increase. The most important factor in their prevention is "defensive driving." When going down the freeway, the awareness of the distribution of vehicles in front of you, behind you, who is in your blind spot, who is coming toward you and could cross the median into your lane, what the shoulder is like in case you have to ditch and the general "sixth sense" about your environment and how you use that to drive defensively, is not an inborn instinct. Knowing how many gliders are in the air with you and where they are is a learned skill. It takes practice and requires continued conscious thought. The fact that two midairs occurred at regional competitions emphasizes that anything that distracts that conscious thought process increases the risk. Assume that the other diver-driver does not see you. (Several reports indicate: "I think he sees me," "I am sure he sees me," "He must see me," "Oh my God, he does not see me.") Since our current gliders are slower in roll, the quickest avoidance tactic involves pitch. Both pilots are diving to HANG GLIDING

avoid collisions, simply accelerating the speed at which they occur. Always clear your turns. Follow the rules of the road (air). If you have a ''brushing'' midair at high altitude, it is reasonable to wait a few milliseconds to see if the glider is still fliable before you throw your chute. If you are low or the collision involves any significant impact, throw it now. Flying Into Things: More pilots are flying into things. I still believe "concentration results in gravitation," and you must concentrate on where you want to go and "ignore" obstacles. I was impressed with the number who hit trees with their wingtips as they were approaching small landing areas in their high-performance gliders. These seem to be attempts to get well below tree level at the extreme downwind edge of a small landing field. Whether these are misjudgements of glider span and distance, low-level turbulence, and/or wind gradient, failure of the double-surface ships to roll quickly or a combination, I cannot be certain, but there appears to be a definite increase in this scenario. These gliders need big landing areas. Failure to Hook In: I doubt if the eight reported cases represent a real increase over previous years, but rather an increase in reporting (USHGA question-

naire). Hook-in/hang-check, hookin/step-through, hook-in/lift-glider. We gotta stop this! Aerobatics and Structural Failures: Aerobatics do not seem to be as big a problem as I thought that they would be (three reported accidents) and even in severe turbulence and tumbling, structural failure is rare. Strong weather, new glider, new sites, and problems on launching and landing, as well as in-flight stalls, continue to take their toll (I do not see much improvement in these categories). Drugs/ Alcohol: Although I am pretty naive and the pristine wilderness of Oregon is relatively "clean," I am impressed that with rare exceptions, drugs and alcohol are not contributing to hang gliding accidents. Parachutes: Ninety-three percent of the pilots are wearing parachutes. There were eight successful deployment reports. There were three accidental deployments without serious injury. Lastly, let me emphasize the geat importance of, and my appreciation for each accident report which is sent in. I would strongly encourage (even beg) you to report your accidents. Even if they are minor, even if no injury occurs, even if there is a near miss, and even if you are a

famous pilot, please report them as soon as they occur and do not worry about duplication. I can assure you that if you don't do it, no one will. I am simply collecting and presenting accident data. It is up to all of us to recognize problem areas and to incorporate and disseminate information so the chance of accident and injury is decreased. HANG GLIDING FATALITIES Year

Free-Flying

1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983

40 32 38 24 23 30 22 16 11

Towing

5 1

1984 PARA CHUTE

93 percent of pilots wear parachutes. 8 successful deployments. 3 accidental deployments. 2 unsuccessful deployments.

1983 FOOT-LAUNCH FATALITIES Date

Name

Age

Experience

01-20-83

Larkin, James

03-22-83

Farmer, Don

Location

Glider

Advanced

Torrey Pines, CA

Moyes Maxi

Head, multiple

Flew into cliff.

Inter med.

Pacifica, CA

Wills Wing Harrier

Drowned

Flying down coast from Funston. Forced to land on small beach, overshot and landed in surf. Recently purchased hook knife was at home.

Kittiyama, Tom

lntermed.

Dunlap, CA

Wills Wing Duck

Head

Regional competition, midair collision, parachute thrown, but too low-dove into rocks. Died instantly.

06-25-83

Rogers, Yelton

Limited

Greely Hill, CA

07-04-73

Palmtag, Thomas

Beginner

Marina State Park, CA

Flight Designs

Head

Relatively inexperienced pilot with recently acquired two-year old glider who launched, turned to fly down the ridge, kept turning back into the hill. Head injury - lived ten days.

07-20-83

Hocknell, Neil

Advanced

Owens Valley, CA

Ultralight Products Comet 185

Massive

Several pilots launched from Gunter, flew toward White Mountain Peak, were caught in Venturi of Canyon. Winds picked up. All forced down with rough landing. Pilot flying supine, glider probably slammed into the ground.

APRIL 1984

Injuries

Cause

Inexperienced-self taught. Unknown pilot came and flew Hang IV site, dove into canyon shortly after launch.

07-28-83

Ostrower, Mark

Advanced

Sandia, NM

Ultralight Products Comet

Head

Good pilot approaching landing area when wind shifted on approach. Pilot began low turn to land into the wind watching the sock, stalled in the turn and crashed.

08-30-83

Gorton, John

Advanced

Claremont, NH

Sky Sports Peregrine

Neck and chest

High winds. Pilot launched and flew to landing area. Approach was too high. Observers expected him to overshoot and land safely, but he turned, stalled, and dove in down wind.

10-30-83

Ankney, Rick

Advanced

Louiston, ID

Ultralight Products Comet 2

Quadriplegia/ pneumonia

Good pilot. Chose to fly to small landing area on college campus. On approach, wing tip hit tree and dropped straight in. Lived six weeks with quadriplegia before dying of pneumonia.

12-21-83

Schmidt, Robert

Beginner

Nanakuli, Hawaii

Ultralight Products Gemini

Right chest, ruptured liver, internal hemorrhage.

Relatively inexperienced pilots flying in frontal passage conditions. Pilot launched, flew straight toward the beach and on approach appeared to be landing short, probably stalled and crashed onto rocks on beach. Died in surgery.

1983 TOWING FATALITIES Date

Experience

Location

Injuries

Glider

Cause

Name

Age

05-17-83

Guessford, Dennis

Adams, NY

Unknown

Auto towing.

06-15-83

Gayler, Johnnie

Vigo Park, TX

Unknown

Chest, head, pelvis, brain death.

Auto towing.

09-83

Morgan, Mark

Kane, PA

Unknown

Auto towing.

1983 HANG GLIDING INJURIES Fatalities Head/Face Neck Chest Abdomen Pelvis Shoulder Arm Forearm Leg Back Paralysis Drown

10 4 3 I I

Accident Reports

Student Reports

USHGA Questionnaire

Total

5 2 5 2 2

4 5 2

3 8

7 6

13 5 3 8 40

15 12 2

1983 HANG GLIDING ACCIDENT CAUSES Fatalities Crash on launch Crash on landing Infligh t stall Flew into something Adverse weather New glider New site Failure to hook in Midair collision Aerobatics Flew into ground/cliff Landed in surf

1 3

Accident Reports

Student Reports

USHGA Questionnaire

7 2 11

42 36 11 25 17 13 12

7 4 5 6

5 2 3

3 4 3

Total 59 48

2630 24

13 12 8

7 6 4

USHGA ACCIDENT STATISTICS FORM (Please complete and forward to USHGA, P.O. Box 66306, Los Angeles, CA 90066)

Pilot's Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Date of Accident _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Time _ _ __

Pilot's Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Site of Accident

Phone ' - - - ' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Age _ _

USHGA Member

Nearest City and State

0 Yes

Hang Rating _ __

O No

Experience of Pi lot _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Student _ __ Months

Years

No. of Flights

Hrs. Airtime

G l i d e r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Harness _ _ _ _ _ __ Prone 0

D Free Fly

D Tow

D Tandem

D Helmet

D Parachute Worn

Supine C

D Attempt to Deploy

INJURIES D Fatal

D Head

D Nonfatal

D Face

Paralyzed:

Hospitalized Overnight? D Neck

Neck DownD

D Chest

D Abdomen

Waist Down D

D Pelvis

D Yes

D Arms

D No

D Legs

Minor Cuts and Bruises D

Other _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Describe flight, accident and apparent causes. (Include winds and weather, structural failure, emotional state of pilot, drugs or alcohol used, your opinion of cause and suggestion for prevention.) Please include sketch or diagram. Use reverse side as needed.

Jamage to Glider

Reporter's Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Zip _ _ _ __

Date of Report _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Phone-'----__,__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

THE RIGHT STUFF

Prelude To A Site Catalog by Erik Fair

One of the strongest messages to emerge from the surveys returned so far is that pilots from all over the nation want to know more about the nation's flying sites. Apparently, a fair percentage of us ''hang glider'' types have a strong urge to do our thing all over the place. Moreover, many of us are mightily frustrated by the lack of good information on how to locate, investigate, and safely fly the outasite, far away mountains, hills and cliffs that we dream about as we slog through the earthbound portion of our lives. It's pretty clear that a USHGA flying site catalog is something that each and every USHGA member would value quite highly - assuming, of course, that his (her) own personal secret, "highly sensitive," not-to-beshared-with-the-masses, holy temple of a flying site was left the hell out of it. And therein, I fear, lies the rub. Or, if you're not into Shakespeare, dat's why we don't got no flyin' site catalog tuhday! The sad fact is that many of our flying sites are precariously held, or are in some way sensitive to overuse. Naturally, locals who precariously holcl such sites are likely to view visiting pilots with the same terrified eye that farmers tend to cast toward an approaching black cloud of locusts. Just as naturally, visiting pilots (who know damn good and well they are being mistaken for locusts) are likely to view concerned locals with the same sort of fixed gaze that is normally reserved for cops who ticket 60 on the Interstate. 38

length before they actually go ''eyeball to eyeball" with airtime and/or site preservation at stake. 4. To provide, by way of example, information on the "totally awesome" Crestline, CA flying site.

End result? Kind of an empty stalemate and no consarned USHGA site catalog! Which brings us to the purposes of this article which are: 1. To briefly discuss sources of information for and responsibilities of "visitor pilots." 2. To convince responsible "locals" that it is to their advantage to make available to the USHGA Membership all pertinent information about their flying sites. 3. To propose the compilation of a USHGA site catalog, which will be composed of brief site fact sheets. The goal of each fact sheet is to get both visitors and locals on the same wave

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR THE VISITOR PILOT Until such time as the USHGA Site Catalog is compiled and available, touring pilots should utilize the following information sources. I. The USHGA main office in L.A.: These friendly folks can provide you with referrals to USHGA Regional Directors, USHGA Chapters (Local Clubs), and a list of Local Schools/Dealers in whatever area of the country you 're planning to visit. You can also get lists of local Examiners, Observers, and Instructors for the low, low cost of two cents per name. Please make your contact with the office at least two weeks before you need the information so they don't have to drop everything to help you. 2. Your own local USHGA officials: Directors, Examiners, Observers, Instructors: They may or may not be able to help you learn what you want to know about the area you want to visit but the odds are overwhelming that they'll be willing to help in any way they can. 3. Your Local School/Dealer: Contact the person or outfit you bought your last round of equipment from and ask if he has any friends, acquaintances, or colleagues in the area you're planning to visit. Anyone who wants HANG GLIDING

THE RIGHT STUFF your future business will almost certainly go a little bit out of his way to serve you. VISITING PILOT RESPONSIBILITIES Now that you are armed with the names, addresses, and telephone numbers that you need, it is your responsibility to make contact with appropriate locals before you show up expecting to fly. You can write or call in advance or, if you inadvertently stumble across a site in your travels, you can root up a local and offer to drive one round for him in exchange for an informational tour of his site. The information you need to obtain is outlined in the site catalog form sheet that appears with this column. As you can see the descriptive information (about the flying site itself) is very basic, and does not include subjects like preferred flight routes, glide slope to the LZ, location of resident thermals, etc. All that stuff is better learned, in person, on site where gestural communication is king. The descriptive information, in short, is only designed to give you a clue as to whether or not you'd enjoy the site, assuming you're qualified to fly it. The remainder of the form is devoted to site requirements as defined formally by local regulating bodies, or as practiced informally by local pilots. It is the visiting pilot's responsibility to be aware of and respect the site requirements as they are described to him either on the site catalog form or through personal contact. You may not like having to demonstrate your skills at a training hill before you 're allowed access to "The Big One," but if the locals ask you to do so, odds are they have a reason, and you should respect the requirement without question. The obvious advantage of having all this information available to you beforehand is that you can avoid traveling to sites with requirements that you can't or don't want to satisfy. Not to leave out the positive side of things,

APRIL 1984

once you've scoped out a site that you like and can fly, you can leave on your trip knowing that airtime, not hassles, await you at your destination.

of view, nothing can avert a hassle like having a ready-made screening device which can enable you to heartily welcome qualified pilots and simultaneously warn off unqualified pilots before they appear on your doorstep expecting to fly. A USHGA site catalog, properly used by the membership, would represent just such a screening device. Other points to consider are: The site catalog form allows you to name your own local contacts and to be as specific or as vague as you care to be.

ADV ANT AGES TO LOCALS Locals who are reluctant to contribute information about their flying site to a USHGA site catalog should consider this: The same benefits of prior knowledge that accrue to responsible visitors also accrue to responsible locals. Nobody (with any sense) likes a hassle, and, from a local pilot's point

SITE INFORMATION FORM Site Name, _ Location,

c,,..e..s-fl1ne...________

Su-1 .!f'ef/Jarcf;/lo -~'ci.~Lf=9L:<!iJ~U'3--------

Primary Local Contacts clubs, site lc,cals):

Elevation:

Laum,h

j§__'-/__()_ LZ S.2..'is'O

Directional Orientatio~ of Launch: ---- -S'W --------------

(USHGA c,fficials

and

instructors,

dealers,

!Ji?§_c_1'i~C/J:!..Cj2..Cf.C_/;._=---

Dr g,rn i z at i c,r,, Cc,ntact, __ ..J:l.~"'-7-<f(:.~9.o.__-;,r------Acidress, _L'5.S.:i __lj,~~U~.P--/J'.J;;2_ ____ _ Tel ephc,ne,

_$.i1:;1_&J.!J.f!L..lf'+!2--=t,_Cf:L'1.JHfE2 ..L7.s'i) __$.::Z::_i2__5________ _

Flying Seas,;:,9 -- Assigr, value 0, 1, 2, 3, or .4 (highest), __ ;;i_ _____ _ Spring ____ :-/_____ Surnrner ____LL _____ Fa 11 ___.,3_____ Wi Y"1t er Type of Site: Type of Flying: XC Potential ,

Mt,o ')} __ Hill

Cc,,ustal

Plain

Tr~ i y,.i Yi£!

----

Rid~e ~ - Therrna1 ~ - - Other Gc,c,d

Description of Launch:

Fair

_'::,J___

Nc,r,e

Pc,c,r

-~!7).9_oi_~,.--'1-CtJ#i,LJ__5.fs1p-1Llj--1-ftl!L"2~5:fti,idJ_qf]£__

----------------------------------------------------------------------Des9ri P)' iorL of LZ J -jfl.!:.'l_f.-;-_Oj?_f,D.-rf'!:.-'_~ks/r1,.tf.bAf ________________ _ __ 2'::!..Jflt_Jh..r:i:rlPJL __1:!.CJ:1J(j-J:nt?:f.:_9...<1.'7--~_s.iJ.l:nmt= __________________ _

Site Regulation:

Fc1rrna1 ~ - -

Regulat iY,g Body: -

LresdLn,L S:X,re1.'f G,lj k-:r: ________________________ _

IY'ifc,rrnal

USHGA Skill Level Requirements -- Beg, Mild Cc,nd i 'I;~' Y1s

- - - - - None -----

Nov,

Int,

or Adv,

Jtl~f./__ Modr,rate Cc1r1d it I Y,s ~~'C. StroY'1Q Cc,nd it I Y•S .!J:A.{!_

{ ,v/71: lo.JI/. /,iS/n,cJ?,r S°f<j/1 aif:::)

Skill Level Verification Requirements: USHGA Rat i Y1g ~ - - -

References

Leia Bciok ------

Othe;

(desc.}

Dernc,YJstrat ioY, at TY'.

Hi 11

--------------------------------------

~embershio or Fee ReauireMents: USHGA ~ - - Lc,ca l

C: u b

Arnt

Vehicle/Transportation Requirem~ntsi A,,y Vehicle ~ - -

Rctggeci 2-WD

4-WD

Avail.

at Site

THE RIGHT STUFF The more secure your site, the more specific you can be, up to and including detailed maps of the roads to launch and LZ. The more precarious your site, the more vague you can be up to and including the statement, "EXTREMELY FRAGILE SITE!! Call The Almighty for details!!" Why should you bother with it at all? Becuase if your site is worth flying at all, people will find out about it and come around innocently and ingorantly in search of airtime. Then what you have is the old Locusts vs. Picky Cops showdown that I decribed earlier. In any case, I don't believe there's nearly enough of us "hang gliders" around to warrant any fears of "vast hordes" descending on any particular flying site. We're talking vacations here, not invasions. USHGA SITE CATALOG: THE BEGINNING I seem to be implying throughout this piece that the "overprotectiveness" of locals is likely to impede the compilation of a comprehensive USHGA site catalog. I realize, of course, that there are a good many clubs, groups, and individuals across the nation who will be more than happy to include their sites in a USHGA catalog. In fact, even as you read, there are site catalog forms in the hands of every USHGA chapter, and every active school/dealership that is known to the USHGA. The hope here is that there will be a stunning response to this initial request for site information from across the nation. If such is indeed the case, the compilation of a reasonably comprehensive USHGA site catalog, organized by state, and designed to put visiting pilots in touch with local pilots in a mutually beneficial way, is just around the corner. WHO YOU CALLIN' VISITOR? WHO YOU CALLIN' LOCAL? We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine.

We all live in a tiny yellow submarine, and we're all visitors and locals. Corny but true. Thar ain't many of us, we all love to fly them thar consarned hang gliders, and many of us like to do it all over the place. So whattaya say we get organized for a change, pony up some good old fashioned flying site information, and make a site catalog we can all use and be proud of! Thanks to the many survey respondents who identified flying site information as a pressing need. Send questions, comments, site information, or requests for site forms to: The Right Stuff, c/o Hang Flight Systems, 1202 E. Walnut, Unit M, Santa Ana, CA 92701.

ments will be provided by: a. Steve Hawxhurst on behalf of the USHGA. b. Gil Dodgen on behalf of Hang Gliding magazine. c. Mike Meier on behalf of the HOMA. d. Ken de Russy on behalf of the recently re-activated HODA (Hang Glider Dealers Association). e. Joe Theisman - no, wait Robert Redford on behalf of "The Right Stuff." Anyway, here's a teaser for you in the meantime: Some of the survey results so far have been real surprising, and some haven't been surprising at all. Tune in NEXT month, as they say.•

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY UPDATE

Stand back! We be shiftin' into four wheel drive BLURT mode and takin' off! Membership survey forms from the Fantastic February issue are piling in at the rate of five or six per day. Fifty-five responses were received through the end of February - not bad when you figure that most folks don't even get their mags until near the end of the month. Throw out a pair of ''caustic ranters" and a couple of "glowing ravers" and what you got left is a solid fifty useful documents brimming over with thoughtful comments and helpful suggestions. With any luck at all there will be well over one hundred, and possibly close to two hundred, of you who took the time to shoot off your faces in all those blank spaces. Here's what your feedback is going to generate: I. A general survey results article will appear in the May issue. 2. Specific responses to your com-

HANG GLIDING

SITE INFORMATION FORM Site Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Location:

Elevation: Launch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ LZ _ _ _ _ _ __

Direction Orientation of Launch: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Primary Local Contacts (USHGA officials and instructors, dealers, clubs, site locals: Organization: Contact: Address:

Telephone: Flying Season -

Assign value 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 (highest):

Spring _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Summer _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Fall _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Winter Type of Site: Coastal _ _ _ _ _ Mtn _ _ _ _ _ Hill _ _ _ _ _ Plain _ _ _ _ _ Training Type of Flying: Ridge _ _ _ _ Thermal _ _ _ _ Other _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ XC Potential: Ex _ _ _ _ _ _ Good _ _ _ _ _ _ Fair _ _ _ _ _ _ Poor _ _ _ _ _ _ None _ _ _ _ __ Description of Launch: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Description of LZ: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Site Regulation: Formal _ _ _ _ Informal _ _ _ _ None _ _ __ Regulating Body: USHGA Sklll Level Requirements -

Beg., Nov., Int., or Adv:

Mild Conditions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Moderate Conditions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Strong Conditions _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Sklll Level Verification Requirements: USHGA Rating _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Log Book _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Demonstration at Tr. Hill _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ References _ _ _ _ Other (desc.) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Membership or Fee Requirements: USHGA _ _ _ _ _ _ Local Club _ _ _ _ _ _ Amt _ _ _ _ _ _ Day Use Fee _ _ _ _ _ _ Amt _ _ _ _ __ Vehicle/Transportation Requirements: Any Vehicle _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Rugged 2-WD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4-WD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Avail. at Site _ _ _ _ _ __ Other Info (Site Peculiarities):

* Please attach map if appropriate.

RATINGS AND APPOINTMENTS BEGINNER RA TINGS Name, City, State

Daniel Shaw, Flagstaff, AZ .......... 4 Nathan Waingrow, Phoenix, AZ ..... 4

Bruce Ferretti, E. Bangor, PA ....... 9 David Stevens, Charlottesville, VA ... 9

Brent Crosby, Caldwell, ID .......... 5

Eugene Goodwin, Trafford, AL ..... 10 Charles Osberg, Lakeland, FL ...... 10 Jody Sizemore, Thonotosassa, FL ... 10

Region

Howard Robbins, Walnut Creek, CA.2 Mark Chamberlain, Tempe, AZ ...... 4 Art Davis, Tempe AZ ............... 4 Robert Ellis, Phoenix, AZ ........... 4 David Gardner, Phoenix, AZ ........ 4 Curtis Peterson, Mesa, AZ .......... 4 Ric Tatro, Mesa, AZ ................ 4

Allison Smith, Shawnee, KS ......... 6 Bryan Herne, Bloomingdale, IL ...... 7 Douglas Robb, Chicago, IL .......... 7 Patrick Barry, Quincy, MA .......... 8 Robert Moore, New Britain, CT ...... 8

ADVANCED RATINGS

Dave Armando, Tolland, CT ........ 8 Maurice Barksdale, New Milford, CT. 8 Derick O'Donell, Marlboro, MA ..... 8 Gary Resnick, Norwell, MA ......... 8 Don Stinson, Somerville, MA ........ 8

Edward Kiss, Birmingham, AL ...... 10 Jim Pewitt, Birmingham, AL ....... 10

Richard Ayella, Ellicott City, MD .... 9 John E. Crowder III, Charlottesville, VA ............... 9 Louis Pueschel, Baltimore, MD ...... 9

Richard Armstrong, APO, NY ...... 12 Gregory Michlinski, Clarence, NY ... 12 Harold Reubens, Ransomville, NY ... 12

Martha Delaney, Williamsville, NY .. 12 David Haderer, W. Seneca, NY ..... 12

NOVICE RATINGS Name, City, State

Mike Hendrix, Tyler, TX ........... 11 W. Woodruff, Corpus Cristi, TX .... 11

Ken Wight, Oberweier, W. Germany ..... Foreign

INTERMEDIATE RATINGS Region

Name, City, State

Region

Alan Dotts, Beaverton, OR .......... 1 Tina Jorgensen, Summer, WA ....... 1

Carol Sturtevant, North Bend, WA ... 1 George Sturtevant, North Bend, WA .. 1

Bruce Blaylock, Mountain View, CA, . 2 Mike Dascomb, Santa Ynez, CA ..... 2 Thomas Gill, Cupertino, CA ......... 2 John Lopopolo, FPO San Francisco, CA ........... 2 Phil Moffett, Morro Bay, CA ........ 2 David Mullaney, Fremont, CA ....... 2 Janet Murdock, Oakland, CA ........ 2 Mary Rodigou, San Francisco, CA .... 2 Fred Vachss, Stanford, CA .......... 2

John Aronson, Oakland, CA ........ 2 Garth Beatty, Santa Clara, CA .. , .... 2 Jack Black, Daly City, CA ........... 2 Kurt Luft, Capitola, CA ............ 2 Yosh Matsuda, Sunnyvale, CA ....... 2 Keith Melot, Milpitas, CA ........... 2 W. Page Stegner, Santa Cruz, CA .... 2 Steve Thompson, Penryn, CA ........ 2

Scott Benjamin, San Diego, CA ...... 3 Steve Fent, Santa Barbara, CA ....... 3 Michael Patterson, San Diego, CA .... 3 Michael Pownall, Santa Barbara, CA. 3 Glenn Rogers, Long Beach, CA ...... 3 Scott Sorensen, Arcadia, CA ......... 3 Bob Trautz, Goleta, CA ............. 3 Forrest Wylder, Newport, CA ........ 3

Bill Hanson, Austin, TX ........... 11 Ron Holmes, Round Rock, TX ...... 11 Steve Moon, Ft. Worth, TX ........ 11

Mark Erickson, Pasadena, CA ....... 3 Joe Piano, Ventura, CA ............. 3 Michael Tryon, San Diego, CA ....... 3 Darrell Williams, Kula, HI ........... 3 Randy Weekley, Tuka City, AZ ...... 4

Name, City, State

Region

Steve Allen, Portland, OR ........... 1 Eileen Ryan, Seattle, WA ............ 1 Shannon Raby, Morgan Hill, CA ..... 2 John Reilly, Aptos, CA ............. 2 David Shelton, Marina, CA .......... 2 David Stubbs, San Jose, CA ......... 2 Ken Woolley, Woodland, CA ........ 2 Dennis Angello, Huntington Beach, CA ............ 3 Bill Buchwald, San Diego, CA ....... 3 Gregory Cosner, La Puente, CA ...... 3 Dean Lake, El Cajon, CA ........... 3 Michael Lane, San Diego, CA ........ 3 John Lochner, Santa Barbara, CA .... 3 Bill Maxwell, Highland, CA ......... 3 Patrick Rawlings, Azusa, CA ........ 3 Allan Reaves, El Cajon, CA ......... 3 Kenneth Rogers, Ventura, CA ........ 3 Bob Schwartz, San Deigo, CA ....... 3 Benny Shipman, San Diego, CA ...... 3 John Steele, Bakersfield, CA. , . . . . . . 3 Glen Taylor, Ventura, CA ... , ...... 3 Jeff White, San Diego, CA .......... 3 Gerhard Deffner, Boulder, CO ....... 4 Rick Altig, Boise, ID ............... 5 Kenneth Lynne, Burnsville, MN ...... 7 Bob Stout, Jackson, OH ............ 9 Earl Chambers, Birmingham, AL .... 10 Lynda Nelson, Chattanooga, TN .... 10

Ray Clark, Jerome, ID ............. . 5 Very Ostdiek, Atchison, KS .......... 6

HANG GLIDING

(continued from page 33)

RATINGS AND APPOINTMENTS Rune Borsting, Trondheim, Norway ........ Foreign Dave Ferguson, Niagra Falls, Ont., Canada .. Foreign Erik Hagen, Charlottelund, Norway ...... Foreign Tor Haugnes, Beitstad, Norway ........... Foreign Kurt Opseth, Forde, Norway ... Foreign

BRONZE AW ARDS ISSUED WITH NOVICE RATINGS

John Allen Vincent Collins Dennis Cornett Brent Crosby David Deming Dan Durre John Dykert Richard Guay Max Holguin Michael Jones Paul Lewis Mike Linen Gerd Schaefer Karen Truumaa

Palma Covington, Jr., King, NC .... 10 Tracey Gasperini, Cullowhee, NC ... 10 Steve Wendt, Kill Devil Hills, NC .... 10

Special Observers Name, City, State

Region

R. Duane Henry, Indianapolis, IN .... 7 Mike Hofmann, Indianapolis, IN ..... 7 Mike Spisok, Westville, IL ........... 7 Palma Covington, Jr., King, NC .... 10 Tom Thompson, King, NC ......... 10

Instructors B - Basic A - Advanced *Recertification Name, City, State

Region

B-Tom Crowder, Seattle, WA ..... 1 A-Dale Bowyer, Berkeley, CA ..... 2 A-Sharai Strickland, Santa Rosa, CA .................. 2 B-Bruce Reufer, Flagstaff, AZ ..... 4 *B-Ben Davidson, Winstead, CT .... 8

OFFICIALS Observers Name, City, State

Region

John Cook, Yakima, WA ........... I Darren Fox, Everett, WA ............ 1 Al Gibson, Sumner, WA ............ I Karl Allmendinger, Milpitas, CA ..... 2 Howard Betts, Santa Clara, CA ...... 2 Chris Bolfing, Half Moon Ba, CA .... 2 Mike Giles, San Francisco, CA ....... 2 S.J. "Herb" Hebert, Fremont, CA ... 2 David Seaberg, Redding, CA ......... 2 Luigi Chiarani, Van Nuys, CA ....... 3 David Freund, Lake Elsinore, CA .... 3 Bruce Adams, Scottsdale, AZ ........ 4 Greg Rossell, Draper, UT ........... 4

B-Dick Pfeiff, Little Ferry, NY ... 12 B-Joe Todaro, New Paltz, NY .... 12 B-Frank Turmo, Woodstock, NY .12 B-Jon Wenham, Poughkeepsie, NY .............. 12

• Always there when you need tnem • Warm. comfortable, durable, slide easily across control bar • Instant bare hand dexterity tor launch, CB. chute, camera • Quality construction, 1;.. -in. neoprene,

nylon inside and out • Available in red or black S, M, or L only $32.50 dealer inquiries invited

THE AIRWORKS

3900 Van Buren NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 (505) 884-6851

APRIL 1984

5. SPECIAL CONDITIONS In strong wind and turbulence carry a little extra speed on final to avoid an inadvertent stall. In any appreciable wind, fly closer to the ground before initiating the flare and push out a lesser amount the greater the wind. If any turbulence is present, it is safest to under-flare and take some running steps rather than flare hard and leave yourself vulnerable to an unfriendly gust. When landing downwind (you mean you didn't check beforehand?) again fly the glider to the deck and concentrate on airspeed (not groundspeed). Just before stall you must perform a full vigorous flare to minimize airspeed and thus groundspeed. Yes, run. When landing uphill, carry lots of speed, and flare close to the ground but with a little more airspeed than usual. This will help you parallel the hill's upward incline. Again, a full flare and run is advised. On a downhill landing, come as close to the ground as possible, slow down as much as possible then flare hard and keep the bar out as you run along. The glider should act like a brake and slow you to a stop.

Reread the above guidelines a couple of times. I know you've heard it all before, but repetition is one of the principles of learning. Picture the proper procedures and controls in your mind's eye. Imagine yourself coming in for a perfect landing time after time. Feel the airspeed, the response of the wing and the force of the flare. Easy isn't it? By the way, if you do blow your landing try to remain on your feet and jump through the Gontrol bar to avoid body bashes and bent tubes. Then review your technique. When did you go wrong? Did you flare too soon, too late? Was the flare too wimpy? Was your airspeed too low? Are you going to listen to my advice and get back to the training hill? Remember, those of us who smugly think we can land will be watching you, ready to offer endless advice. However, only you can take the necessary steps to perfect your landings. Myself, I'm sure I'll blow my next ten landings in a row for being so self-righteous. However, that's the sacrifice I have to make to say my piece. I believe a perfect flight can only end with a perfect landing.• 43

MEDICINA AVIBUS

How To Stay Healthy Though Hang Gliding by Fred Leonard, M.D.

get up off the couch. Put down the popcorn, Milk Duds, soda, or beer. Put on that faded pair of gym shorts, or if you prefer, the iridescent purple tights, the pink and black striped leotard, the color-coordinated lavender aerobic dance shoes with the matching headband, wristband, and leg warmers, cover it all with the dry clean only designer warmup suit, find a pen, pencil, or crayon, and get ready to take Dr. Fred's Edifying Exercise Exam. Choose the best answer (remember don't copy from your neighbor as there are no wrong answers, only bad ones):

1. My picture ought to be on the cover of:

a. Runner's World b. Sports Illustrated c. Gourmet d. Hog Farmer's Monthly 2. I can bend over and: a. touch my palms to the floor b. touch my fingertips to the floor c. see the floor d. injure my back 3. I can lift: a. my weight in hang gliders b. half my weight in hang gliders c. my harness d. my variometer if the batteries are removed 4. I can run ______ without getting tired a. many miles b. a mile c. across the room (in a small house) d. a food processor 5. At the training hill, I can easily a. carry my glider up to takeoff b. carry my glider down from takeoff c. fall down on takeoff d. sit in my car and see the takeoff 6. The statement which best describes my level of physical activity is

physically fit? Will you feel better, live longer, fly higher, or be more likely to win the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes? The answers are probably, maybe, maybe, and no. So let's take a look at what physical fitness is, and what it might be able to do for you.

a. I regularly participate in a program of exercise b. I irregularly participate in a program of exercise c. I intend to participate in a program of exercise d. When I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes Alright, time's up. Put down your pencils and pass your papers to the aisle nearest you. For those of you who attached a certified check or money order for $59.95 to your answer sheet, your machine-scored test results and certificate of completion of Dr. Fred's Academy of Physical Fitness and Mercenary Manipulation will be in the mail. For the rest of you cheapskates, here's an idea of how you did. If most of your answers were (a), then you are either in good shape or you lie a lot. If most of your answers were (b), then you're in OK shape. If (c) was your most common response, then you are probably an average sedentary American, and if you got all (d)'s, then you might just want to breathe on a mirror or check your pulse from time to time to see if you're still alive. So what does it matter if you're

THE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER LOOK-ALIKE CONTEST Is it necessary to look like Conan the Barbarian, run marathons, or be an olympic decathlon champion to be physically fit? Fortunately, no. How fit you need to be depends on what you want to do. It requires very different levels and types of fitness to be a competitive gymnast, a triathlon participant, or an office worker who participates in an occasional five or ten kilometer fun run, yet all these people would probably be considered physically fit. What physical fitness is, then, can be viewed in terms of several interrelated components. These include cardiorespiratory endurance (also called aerobic capacity), muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition - the amount of fat you have compared to the amount of your muscle and bone. Different activities require different levels of fitness in each category, but being generally fit bestows benefits which go well beyond just being able to participate in a certain sport or activity. THE DENNIES The bennies (not to be confused with the street drug of the same and various other names) which can accrue from a moderate program of exercise are significant. It is becoming increasingly clear that activity is good for you, and that inactivity, rather than being

HANG GLIDING

II~ -

MEDICINA AVIBUS neither good nor bad, is definitely harmful. In one study, healthy young men were put at enforced bedrest. After just three weeks, measurements of their maximum heart output, lung capacity, and ability to utilize oxygen had declined by 25-30%. Additionally, they showed significant losses of musi cle tissue. These changes were roughly equivalent to the functional losses that might have been expected after about 30 years of aging. It's no surprise, then, that active people generally feel younger than their. years, while more sedentary individuals often feel, look, and act older than their chronological age. What are the benefits of a moderate program of exercise? With respect to body composition, they are a decrease in fat and an increase in muscle. One reason that dieting without exercise rarely works is that without exercise muscle is lost as well as fat. As a result, the dieter often feels tired and weak. With exercise, while fat and weight are lost, muscle mass actually increases resulting in increased strength, endurance, and the ability to participate and enjoy activities that previously would have been impossible or uncomfortably tiring. It's a lot easier to carry your glider up the hill if you don't also have to carry an extra 20 pounds of fat. Further, it appears that not only do you burn more calories while you exercise, but that you actually burn more calories for up to 48 hours after exercise. Regular exercise, then, helps you to burn off fat even while you're resting. Along with increased strength and endurance, appropriate exercise also produces increased flexibility. The combination of increased stength and flexibility provides protection from injury should you attempt to lift your glider incorrectly or should your takeoff or landing be less than perfect. Problems such as back, knee and ankle injuries are much less likely in persons in good physical condition than in those who are out of shape. Physical activity is good for the

APRIL 1984

heart. It can decrease blood cholesterol, decrease blood pressure, decrease the likelihood of having adult onset diabetes, and overall probably decrease the chances of having a heart attack. Further, exercise can increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. As a word of warning, however, while this might seem to decrease your individual susceptibility to hypoxia, standard recommendations for the use of supplemental oxygen should still be followed, as there are many other factors influencing susceptibility which also must be considered. Finally, exercise seems to have other beneficial effects. It can help prevent the loss of bone minerals (osteoporosis) and resulting fractures that are unfortunately common in older women. It can decrease anxiety and depression, and it basically seems to help people feel good. Feeling good (or well as my old English teacher probably would have preferred), after all, is really what being healthy and physically fit are all about. Well, it looks like time's almost up. So take two laps around the track and hit the showers. Next session we'll look at what specific kinds of exercise might be helpful to those individuals whose major athletic pursuits are sitting on mountains while waiting for the winds to change, and jumping off mountains on those rare occasions when they do.•

Para Publishing Books by Dan Poynter Post Office Box 4232-314 Santa Barbara, Ca 93103 Telephone: (805) 968-7277

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(continued from page 21)

Get the glider neutral or just barely lifting, lean forward and run. The glider lifts to the tight strap position quickly and from there the launch is like the prone folks, except you lean back and slide under the bar instead of leaning forward and through the bar. A good grip is continued on the down tubes until the glider is completely under control. Then I transition to the base bar. Once clear of other traffic and I feel it is safe I reach over, get the foot rest, hook it on my shoe and kick back into my aerial easy chair. 2) Flying. The best part. Floating around in my aerial easy chair with arms outstretched allows for the easiest flying possible. All of my body is in a very relaxed, comfortable position. Being below the control bar gives the pilot a better pendulum moment, stabilizing the glider in turbulence and allowing for easier handling. The tall control bars now so popular with the manufacturers are tall for just such reasons - to get the pilot lower. With your head in its natural position several advantages are offered: (1) visibility is great! It is a lot easier to look around, forward, and up. In many gliders, you can lean back and look up, as your head is then behind the trailing edge. The pilot's field of visibility includes the glider, allowing you to see what is happening, often before you feel the input from the control bar. This necessarily allows for a slightly faster reaction time and a knowledge of what the glider is doing, rather than just a feel for what it is doing. (2) Pilot susceptibility to airsickness is reduced. There is a fluid in your inner ear that moves as you do lots of 360's, as you would in thermal flying. Sudden changes in pitch, as is often associated with thermal flying and "going over the falls" disrupts the movement of this fluid, inducing vertigo or airsickness for some people. With the head in its natural position, this problem is less common than with prone (though not non-existent). (3) It is easy to lock the elbows and use the upper torso in turbulent air, resulting in what appears to me to be a more stable flight with less energy expended. I don't seem to tire nearly as quickly as most of my prone friends in turbulent conditions, and I do not consider myself to be overly strong 46

or a banzai fitness buff. (4) For flying reasonably fast between thermals I simply place the base tube under my armpits, fold my arms in front of me, and relax, adjusting for minor bumps and turns with my shoulders and upper body. Two hours of that sure beats two hours with the bar to the knees in a cocoon. With the feet forward and upper body somewhat upright there is a bit more drag created, but I feel this is much less than most folks seem to believe. For years, local pilots have pulled along side, wanting to race. It is usually very close, and I'm rarely beaten. Also, often when we top out of a good thermal, numerous other pilots flying prone will head out XC with me, gliding 10 to 15 miles before finding the next thermal. On these glides rarely are there any differences observed when the other pilots are flying the same kind of glider. It seems to me that, if after flying within 100 yards of half a dozen other good pilots with all gliders ending up together at the same location and altitude, that the difference in drag factors between prone and supine is negligible. What happens if you get upside down or have a massive sail inversion in turbulence while flying supine? Hang on tight. There is a control bar tube between you and the keel. The supine pilot's body can only move up (or down, if you are upside down) a few inches before being stopped as the base bar smacks you in the lap. Sure beats bashing the keel and getting slammed back down the four or five feet a prone pilot would. How about the ultimate (perish the thought!) straight in crash? Lots of debate here. Prone pilots bash the face and break the neck. Some people argue that the shorter harness straps will help keep the pilot from swinging all the way through to the nose plate. Recent local injuries and a fatality seem to question that. Our local fatality was a straight-in impact -· face and forehead severely mashed and no other major problems; arms, legs, back, and internal organs were fine. Now, I don't plan to go out and poke my Comet II straight into the Arizona landscape to prove that having a base tube between the pilot and ground and bashing the feet and legs first is bet-

ter, but it sure seems logical to me. Critics will argue that smacking the ground in the supine position will jam the lower back, resulting in lower body paralysis. No argument here; some sort of pad under the seat (where I used to carry my parachute) seems reasonable for the supine pilot. Personally, I'd hate to bite the earth in any position. Can you tow a supine glider? You bet, if you get the tow rope hook-in point to your harness correct. I recently had the opportunity to participate in an aerotowing clinic put on by Skylines and found that towing a supine pilot (from behind a tug, anyway) appears to be as easy as, or easier than, what is experienced by most prone pilots. We did have to do some experimenting with where to hook onto the supine harness. Attaching to the harness near the spreader bar is the answer. That also makes for a very sure method of activating the release. The glider is picked up in the ususal way, with the control bar on the shoulders and a good arm/hand grip. The spreader bar, however, is placed in front of the pilot's helmet. As the engine revs and the tow line starts to lift, lean forward and try to run. Three steps and you are off. Staying in the sitting position, your feet are ready to go to work if you sink back down a bit, thus wheels do not seem necessary. I never did sink back, but in thermally conditions the need for a couple more steps could occur. Once you get used to putting in half the usual energy for correcting, aero towing, from a supine point of view, seemed quite easy. In fact, once again, I felt that the supine position had an advantage over prone. One last comment: As with prone, a good, strong French Connection is very helpful. The last bastion of sanctity for the prone pilot is aerobatics. Everyone knows you can't do aerobatics flying supine. BALONEY! Just like anything else, it takes a careful approach, practice, and an understanding of the maneuvers, but it can be done. The cover of the February Hang Gliding magazine might have opened a few eyes to that. Aerobatics are not my primary reason for flying; in fact, I feel that gliders get into enough unusual attitudes in strong thermal conditions, and speeds and 0-forces generated during aeroHANG GLIDING

batics normal utility ever, have done enough aeroba1 ics when 6-8,()()0' was easy lo chase drivers were avail, but no that can hold my own in too. don't consider myself to pro at acrobatics, but then I don't nrn1d1,,,Pd them much, either. grief! What's left? How Sit/stand lean back for ext,en,[liu1g down tubes about half the bar bit and

adventurous

to get to go over the rotor, but did into the strong sink air a few miles behind the mountain. With only about of altitude left, an opening in the larger than my was Y cars of contest practice and a strong need allowed me to end up with: (I) the nose of my Comet a ten-foot-tail of brush, (2) on bushes, (3) the about four feet from a strntddlling a

the "'"'"''"• to nm or no to settle, flare all the get the way and continue your run nose and behind you. Lift turns to drag and the settles on your shoulders. Smile the spectators. With tim mph wind or more nn,1"''rlv timed flare, no steps are reumrect. The bar can be strong· nose flare, and battens, and your prn,iti1on, too, but the pn:viou,s!y mentioned method seems easier on the glider and feet to me. The pop method have its Hrn,nolh'

(I) 110

your diver on the contests, and spots. I'll pass on #1, but did need to get into a small spot a few years back on an flight. Thermal lift quit and I got trapped in strong lift over wilderness one of my more

APRIL 1984

pear cactus. It is amazing what you can when you have to. I've tried, suenot to allow myself to have to

into such

spot

Another championed by Deane Williams and John Hamelin, local hot necticut. They narc by gn1lsping "h wires and pushing out. works well and we often land better than prone

include the 1982-83 I•'Al world record for stnlllmtline distance, three years in a row winthe Arizona and my Lilienthal bronze, silver, and double diamond awards in one month, among others. No, I'm not trying to flaunt my achievements; rather, I'm that has not restricted me any. In fact, I feel it has been an ,u1,,1<n1h,,m,1 Other have shown able too. Dave Rodrigm!z supine. Deane Williams holds the New .Jungcrman, m1tn:1rch isn't into but supine simply for the comfort factor. At his age of 69, Jack is most interested in being easy on the old bones and muscles. fills the bill nicely. So what's the point to all this? Am I jumping on a soap box to convert all you prone not! I feel I have as nmeh chance of that as the that on Salt Lake wa.nting to convert to reJuvcmatc the old prone versus seated debates which were so vocal five or ten What I am No, once out to all the new, np students, ners, novices, interested wuffos, etc. that there is another way to fly, and it may have advantages for them. Best of lift to you all, however you may fly!

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. If 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 NATIONWIDE 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: DELTA WING, P .0. Box 483, Van Nuys, CA 91408 (818) 787-6600. Comet 11 185 - Orange L.E., blue lower. Complete with fairings in excellent condition, $1550. Pat (213) 332-3639. Comet 185 OVR - (1982) - UP team colors, (blk, red, white); $1200. (303) 757-4657 (PM). COMET "2 V, ", 165 - Tricked out, special sail cut, myla( te_mpercoat leading edge, sandwich trailing edge & tips, 35 ribs, black & white with beautiful asymetrical rainbow inlays. CLEAN! $1600 includes shipping in continental U.S. Dave Gibson 714-676-9996.

New Manta hang glider for sale, plus new harness and helmet. $900 or best offer. (213) 939-8730.

New Pro-Star. Make offer. Must sell. Call John 743-2245. (619) Pro-Star II 190 - Four hours airtime/$1050. Call (303) 233-2976. Pro-Star II 160 - Brand new, 30 minutes airtime. Blue L.E. rainbow lower surface. $1600. (213) 514-3056. Pterodactyl Pfledgling - Very clean, many extras, includes parachute $3200. (714) 730-4127. Evenings. RA VEN 179 - Good condition with harness and helmet $650. (714) 497-4319. Bob. 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 510 e 183 - Very good condition, low airtime. Excellent handling, must sell. (215) 676-2609. Stratus V 164 -- Bowsprit. Low time, legendary handling. $500. (503) 842-5625. Streak 160 - Low airtime, excellent. Trike ready, will ship. $1300. (516) 826-7138. [982 Streak Streak 160 - Must sell $1000. (703) 943-8453.

BEST OFFERS - 185 Comet OVR, 180 Duck, both excellent condition. Buffalo Skyriders. (505) 821-6842.

Streak 160, Number 205, July 1983. Excellent condition. Red leading edge, white sail, $1400. O.N.O. (213) 282-3853.

COMET 185 - Excellent condition, white with rainbow keel pocket. $1095.00 (319) 236-1296.

LIQUIDATION SPECIALS 1973 LEAF Trike (excellent) !982 Wills Duck l 80 (new) Gemini 184 1982 UP (excellent) !982 UP Gemini 134 (excellent) I 982 Mitchell B-10 50"7o built (New) 1981 LEAF Talon l 85 (good) Fledge IIB (fair) 1980 Manta 1979 Bennett Lazor I 190 (good) Olympus 140 1979 Electra (good) Flyer

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. 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. 160 DUCK 1983 - Black, yellow, white. Flys great. Must sell. $1200 (209) 632-0526. DUCK 160 - Team colors, low airtime, $1275.00 includes shipping. (612) 735-9130. "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. 83 Gemini 134, under an hour airtime, excellent condition. Must sell (301) 926-5032.

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

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No reasonable offer refused. LEAF (303) 632-4959. TRAINING GLIDERS - Due to the recent purchase of a competitor's inventory we have available eight UP AS-90 gliders and two UP Fireflys. $200 each with training harness, helmet and wheels included with each glider. Various sizes. Call Flight Realities (619) 455-6036. 1945 Adams Ave., San Diego, CA 92116. WANTED - Used Hang Gliding Equipment. Gliders, Instruments, Harnesses and Parachutes. HANG GLIDER EQUIPMENT CO., 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94ll6, (415) 731-7766.

ARIZONA ARIZONA WINDSPORTS - Certified instruction utilizing the world's only man-made trainer hill. Skyting instruction in the advanced class. Full service shop: gliders, accessories, parts, repairs. Dealer for Progressive Aircraft and Delta Wing. 5245 W. Kyrene, Unit #4, Tempe, AZ 85283 (602) 897-7121. 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. USHOA certified school. Stocking dealer for Wills Wing, UP, Progressive Aircraft, Pacific Windcraft, Delta Wing. Learn to tly with us! (415) 756-0650. HANG FLIGHT SYSTEMS - Certified instruction 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 from 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. HANG GLIDERS WEST - ULTRALIGHT FLIGHT CENTER - New and used gliders. SINCE 1973, CERTIFIED, FREE BROCHURE! 20-A Pamaron, Ignacio, CA 94947. (415) 883-3494. DEALER FOR EAGLE, XL, & FALCON ULTRALIGHTS! 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 INT. since 1974 (formerly So. Cal. Hang Gliding Schools). Largest and most complete HANG GLIDING center in Southern California. Largest inventory of new and used gliders, ultralites, instruments, parts and accessories. Complete training program by USHGA certified instructors. 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406 (818) 988-01 l l.

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COLORADO FOUR CORNERS HANG GLIDING & ULTRALIGHT AIRCRAFT - since 1974. Major Brands, Sales, Service, Professional Instruction. Box 38, Hesperus, CO 81326. (303) 533-7550. CONNECTICUT AIRWJSE INC., 15 Long Ridge Road, West Redding, CT. 06896, (203) 938-9546. Training programs for beginner to expert by USHOA certified instructor/observer staff. Dealer for all major product lines, featuring Flight Designs, UP, Moyes. CONNECTICUT COSMIC A VIATJON - 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. USHOA Certified Instructor. Been flying since 1975. Call me where to in CONN. HAWAII MAUI SOARING SUPPLIES - Certified Instructors. Sales, service and rentals. R.R. 2, Box 780, Kula, HI 96790 (808) 878-1271. TRADEWINDS HANO GLIDING - USHOA 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 MOTOROLIDER SUPPLIES - New and used gliders, flight accessories, and land towing hardware. 2638 Roberts, Waukegan, IL 60087 (312) 244-0529. MICHIGAN ECO-FLIGHT HANO GLIDERS & WINDSURFING. Certified instruction, sales, service, rentals, repairs. 493 Lake St., Benzonia MI 49616 (616) 882-4039.

SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN HANO GLIDERS Sales and instruction in Ultralights, Free Flight and towing. Dealers for Eagle, UP, Flight Designs, Delta Wing and Soarmaster. 24851 Murray, Mt. Clemens, MI 48045 (313) 791-0614 Since 1975. MINNESOTA NORTHERN SUN, JNC. Dealer for all major non-powered and powered brands. USHOA 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. NEW YORK MONTAINWINGS, INC. - 6 miles from Ellenville. Five training hills, five mountain sites, USHOA certified instruction and towing. We are now the area's only Wills Wing dealer, also Delta Wing, Pacific Windcraft, Seedwings and Manta. Sail, airframe repairs on all makes, R/C equipment. Main St., Kcrhonkson, NY 12446 (914) 626-5555.

BAVARIAN ALP HANO GLIDING EXPERIENCE AND EUROPE'S ONLY GLIDER RENTALS! Fly the German and Austrian Alps at bargain rates! Most makes of American and European gliders available. Kevin O'Brien, P .0. Box 761, Stroudsburg, PA 18360. 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. USHOA certified instruction & demos available. Call us about our Mexico safari. 5508 Parkcrest, Austin, Texas 78731. (512) 451-2505.

WORLDWIDE: A// Safaris include airfare. accommodations. transportation. expert tour guide and a maximum of air· time

NORTH CAROLINA KITTY HAWK KITES, INC., - P.O. Box 340, Nags Head, NC 27959 1-800-334-4777, in NC, 919-441-4124. 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. OREGON EASTERN OREGON ULTRALIGHTS - Certified instruction. Ne,,,, and used. Wills Wing specialists, PO Box 362, Pendleton, OR 97801 (503) 276-2329.

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HELP US ELIMINATE COSTLV POST OFFICE· RETURNS Your USHGA now pays a quarter for every member who moves and doesn't report his or her address to the USHGA in time to make the change on the mailing list for the next issue of HANG GLIDING magazine. The Post Office returns undeliverable magazines to us and charges us 25¢. In the final analysis we are all paying for magazines that never get read. Please remember to let lhe USHGA know immediately when you move. Thank you fo1 vour cooperation.

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APRIL 1984

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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. WINDSPORTS INT. - Help wanted - Hang gliding instructors - Full or part time. Contact Joe Greblo (818) 988-0111 or send resume to: 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406.

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

International Schools & Dealers CHILE CONDOR ANDINO - Certified Instruction. UP, WW,. Bennett dealerships. Fontananrosa 6649, Las Condes, Santiago. Tel. 2296463.

HANG GLIDER oriented persons wanted for the following positions: Office Staff Assemblers Sail Loft Experienced Test Pilot Subsidized housing available, send resumes to Bill Bennett, P.O. Box 483, Van Nuys, CA 91408.

Parts & Accessories

JAPAN

Rigid Wings EASY RISER with box and harness - almost new - excellent condition - must sell - best offer takes her - Ed Mohn, Rt. I, Box 121, Watts, OK 74964.

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, 3Vi" 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 6% 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.

SUN RISE COUNTRY INC

~~!!IE Distributor major brands hang gliders (Airwave Magic), instruments, parachutes and ultralights. Tokyo 03/433/0063, Yugawara 0456/63/0173, Kurumayama Hang School 0266/68/2724 (April -November).

Emergency Parachutes 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.O. Box 483, Van Nuys, CA 91408 (213) 787-6600, telex no. 65-1425. NEW & USED PARACHUTES bought, sold & repacked. HANO GLIDER EQUIPMENT COMPANY, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) 992-6020.

Business Opportunities 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. 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.

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) 731-7766. CAPTURE THE WIND - Functional, attractive designer colorful Seminole Windsock. Quality handcrafted 100% nylon, sturdy swivel hook, ready to hang. Send $29.95 MC/VISA welcome. Capture the Wind, P.O. Box 2786, Durango, CO 81301. Brand new - never been used! WW FlyHte Harness w/chute container (fits 5'8" to 6' I"), $135. - 20 gore "Advanced Air" parachute, $295. Bulletman Harness (fits 5'8" to 6' I"), $225. or less - one hour airtime. John Bautsch (715) 842-4103.

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.

HANG GLIDING CHARM - 14K gold $48.00, Sterling Silver $38.00, plus $2.50 shipping and handling. Golden Glider, 1129 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 I Vi 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.

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 al 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

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 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. II, 1983. CONTACT: Rich Pfeiffer, 2312 W. 2nd St., Santa Ana, CA 92703 (714) 972-8 I 86. TYPE: Gemini 164 #UPG164260M. 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, 1 panel red, 1 panel gold, I panel yellow. 6" letters "U.S. LANCER" on second left panel. CONTACT: 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 l panel of rainbow near each tip. WHERE AND WHEN: Canoga Pk., CA June 14, 1983. CONTACT: Kevin 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.

APRIL 1984

USHGA CERTIFIED SCHOOLS GOLDEN SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING 15912 w. 5th Golden, CO 80401 FREEDOM WINGS, INC. 9235 s. 225th W. Sandy, UT 84070 FREE FLJGHT, INC. 7848 Convoy Ct. San Diego, CA 92I I I KITTY HA WK KITES (East) P.O. Box 340 Nags Head, NC 27959 SPORT FLJGHT 9040.9 Comprint Gaithersburg, MD 20760 HANG GLJDERS WEST 20-A Pamaron Ignacio, CA 94947 WASATCH WINGS, INC. 700 E. !2300 S. Draper, UT 84020 HANG GLIDER EMPORIUM OF SANTA BARBARA 6!3 N. Milpas Santa Barbara, CA 93103 HANG GLIDERS OF CALIFORNIA 2410 Lincoln Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 ROCHESTER HANG GLIDER, INC. 2440 Brickyard Rd. Canandaigua, NY 14424 JERRY NOLAND AND CREW !4!5 Pacinc Mall (P.O. Box 2118-95063) Santa Cruz, CA 95060 MISSION SOARING CENTER 4355 ! Mission Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538 CHANDELLE SAN FRANClSCO 198 Los Banos Daly City, CA 94014 W.W. HANG GLIDING SALES 3083 Woodway Road SE Roanoke, VA 24014

HOLE IN THE SKY, INC. 5835 Main St., Box 368 Fogelsville, PA 18051 (215) 395-8492 FRONT RANGE HANG GLIDERS 824 Maple Ft. Collins, CO 80521 (303) 482-5754 THE HANG GLIDING CENTER 4206-K Sorrento Valley Blvd. San Diego, CA 92121 (6 I9) 450-9008 NORTHWIND HANG GLIDING SCHOOL 8 Strong Ave. Rockville, CT 06066 (203) 875-1964 DESERT HANG GLIDERS 4319 W. Larkspur Glendale, AZ 85304 (602) 938-9550 SKY SAILORS SUPPLY 8266 Hwy. 238 Jacksonville, OR 97530 (503) 899-8064 WINDSPORTS INTERNATIONAL 16145 Victory Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91406 BRIGHT STAR HANG GLIDERS/ FRESH AIR FLIGHT SCHOOL 3715 Santa Rosa Ave. Santa Rosa, CA 95407 (707) 584-7088

Index To Advertisers Airwave Gliders ...... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Airworks ............................ 43

Bill ................................. ll Bennett Delta Wing Gliders ............ BC Crystal Air Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Flight Designs ..................... 12, 13

ULTIMATE HI SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING 13951 Midland Road Poway, CA 92064

Glider Rider .......................... 29

FLIGHT REALITIES 1945 Adams Ave. San Diego, CA 92116 SAN FRANCISCO WINDSPORTS 3620 Wawona San Francisco, CA 94116

Litek ................................ 13

TRADEWINDS HANG GLIDING P.O. Box 543 Kailua, HI 96821 KITTY HA WK KITES WEST P.O. Box 828 138 Reservation Rd.) Marina, CA 93933 THE HANG GLIDING COMPANY 410 Leoni #I Grover City, CA 93433 FREE FLIGHT HANG GLIDING SCHOOL 684 Hao St. Honolulu, HI 96821 AERO-SPORT ULTRALIGHT GLIDERS INC. 898 S. 900 E. _ Salt Lake City, UT 84102 MAUI SOARING SUPPLIES RR #2 Box 780 Kula, HI 96790 EASTERN ULTRALIGHTS 128 Richmond Ave. Lancaster, NY 14086 (716) 681-4951

Hall Brothers ......................... 31 Lookout Mt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Midwest Motor Supply ................. 31 Michael's Supply ................................. 22 Pagen Books ......................... 13 Para Publishing ..................... 5, 45 Santa Barbara HG ................. 29, 49 Seedwings ............................ 23 South Coast Air ....................... 40 Systek ...................... , ........ 22, UP .................................. 2 USHGA ..................... 52, IFC, IBC Whole Air Magazine ................... 45 Wills Wing ........................ 29, 30

Ad Deadlines All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing I Vi months preceding the cover date, i.e. Mar. 20 for the May issue.

oc IJ

PROMOTING HANG GLIDING IN AMERICA FOR OVER 10 YEARS

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