USHGA Hang Gliding February 1988 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

• MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

' , . . . -------i\ '

NAME-----.,.,:c-:-----,~.,..------(Please Print)

ADDRESS-------------~ CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ STATE _ _ _ _ _ __ Z I P - - - - PHONE (

SEX (M)(F)

0 NEW MEMBER

BIRTH DATE

O RENEW/USHGA # _ _ _ _ __

FULL MEMBER

FAMILY MEMBER

ANNUAL DUES: $39.00 ($42.00 foreign). This accords me full membership in the United States Hang Gliding Assn., Inc., 12 issues of Hang Gliding magazine, effective with current issue, liability and property damage insurance, and voting privileges. I need not be a rated pilot to be a member.

ANNUAL DUES: $19.50 for each family Member, who resides in my household. Each will receive all Full Member privileges EXCEPT a subscription to Hang Gliding magazine. NAME_~-----~----~~ D NEW MEMBER D RENEW/USHGA # _ __

SUBSCRIPTION ONLY - - - - - -

STUDENT MEMBER - - - - - -

D $29.00 SUBSCRIPTION ($32.00 foreign) for one year. D $53.00 SUBSCRIPTION ($59.00 foreign) for two years.

3-MONTH DUES: $10.00. Full member privileges, three issues of Hang Gliding magazine, liability and property damage insurance. I need not be a rated pilot to be a member.

Enclose check or money order for dues as indicated to the right. International checks must be drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars. Charge payments are subject to $2.00 bank service charge.

D FULL MEMBER ($39.00, $42.00 foreign) D FAMILY MEMBER($) ($19.50 each) D STUDENT MEMBER ($10.00) D SUBSCRIPTION, one year ($29.00, $32.00 foreign)

D SUBSCRIPTION, two years ($53.00, $59.00 foreign) Charge my D MasterCard

DVISA

Charge Card Service Charge Total

Card No. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ex. Date _ _ __

Signature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

P.O Box 500, Pearblossom, California 93553

(805) 944.5333

Revised 6/86

Volume 18

CONTENTS

Issue No. 2

(USPS 017-970-20)

Features 22 Aerobatic Practice

Columns 3 Viewpoint

by Ken deRussy Keo addresses the safety issue.

29 Hang Driving - The Finer Art

/Jy Russ Locke

12 USHGA President Looking back on 'g"/ and a.head to '88.

/Jy Linda Hildreth A humorous and informative dissertation on

crewing.

18 Milestones

32 Cable Failure

by Susan Bowyer Developing confidence and a sense of independence.

anicle and photos by Matt Gillis Matt has conducted an interesting research project on hang glider flying wires. Some surprising results.

Departments

38 Pine Mountain or Bust (or Both) by Russ Locke A hang gliding misadventure. Page 22

Page 32 COVER: Nick Caci soars Mount Holyoke at

Skinner State Park, Mass. Photo by Beth Fratoni. CENTERSPREAD: Larry Tudor in his HPil at Lone Peak near Draper, Utah. Photo by Larry Tudor. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS: The material presented here is published as part of an information dissemination service for USHGA members. The USHGA makes no warranties or representations and assumes no liability concerning the validity of any advice, opinion or recommendation expressed in the material. All individuals relying upon the material do so at their own risk.

4 Airmail 8 Ratings and Appointments 10 Update 11 Calendar of Events 14 Competition Corner 21 Accident Reports 42 Classified Advertising 48 Stolen Wings 48 Index To Advertisers

Gil Dodgen, Editor/An Director Janie Dodgen, Production David Pounds, Design Consultant Leroy Grannis, Bettina Gray, John Heiney, Staffl'hotographers Erik Fair, Staff Writer Harry Martin, Illustrator

Office Staff Cindy Brickner, Executive Director Joyce Isles, Ratings Mary O'Konski, Member Services Lynne Parton, Member Services USHGA Officers: Russ Locke, President

Dick Heckman, Vice President Bob Collins, Secretary Dan Johnson, Treasurer

Executive Committee: Russ Locke

Dick Heckman Bob Collins Dan Johnson Cindy Brickner REGION I: Jeff Bennett, Ken Godwin. REGION 2: Russ Locke, Jay Busby. REGION 3: Steve Hawxhurst, Walt Dodge. REGION 4: Jim Zeiset, Bob Buxton. REGION 5: Mike King. REGION 6: Stave Michalik. REGION 7: Bruce Case, John Woiwode. REGION 8: Robert Collins. REGION 9: William Richards, Jeff Sims. REGION 10: Rick Jacob, Dick Heckman. REGION II: Warren Richardson. REGION 12: Pete Fournia, Paul Rikert. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Dan Johnson, Rob Kells, Dennis Pagen, Vic Powell, Eliuibeth Sharp. EXOFFICIO DIRECTOR: Everett Langworthy. HONORARY DIRECTORS: Bill Bennnett, Mark Bennett, Joe Bulger, Eric Pair, Bettina Gray, Doug Hildreth, Gregg Lawless, Mike Meier, Rich Pfeiffer, Bob Thompson. The United States Hang Gliding Association Inc. is a division of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) which is the official representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAl), of the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FA! meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision of FAI-related hang gliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. HANG GLIDING magazine is published for hang gliding sport enthusiasts to create further interest in the sport, by a means of open communication and to advance hang gliding methods and safety. Contributions are welcome. Anyone is invited to contribute articles, photos, and illustrations concerning hang gliding activities. If the material is to be returned, a stamped, self-addressed return envelope must be enclosed. Notiflcati_on must be

made of submission to other hang gliding publications. HANG GLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the materiaJ or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING magazine (USPS 0!7-970) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc., whose mailing address is: P.O. Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553; telephone (805) 944-S333. Second-class postage is paid at Pearblossom, Calif. The typesetting is provided by 1st Impression Typesetting Service, Buena Park, Calif. The USHGA is a membercontrolled educational and scientific organization dedicated to exploring all facets of ultralight flight. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for full membership are $39.00 per year ($42.00 for foreign addresses); subscription rates are $29.00 for one year, $53.00 for two years, S/7.00 for three 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: UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING ASSOCIATION, P.O. BOX 500, PEARBWSSOM, CA 93553.

FEBRUARY 1988

VOLUME 18, lSSl!E No. 2

VIEWPOINT

How Safe Are You? by Ken deRussy l•m sure many of you are stunned, as I was, by the mid-year accident review published in Hang Gliding. How can it be that we are looking at something on the order of a 300% increase in fatal accidents this year over last? How is it possible that our years-long trend toward better safety and fewer fatalities has been dramatically reversed? What has happened to our rosey future painted in scores of articles in the national print media in recent years? In our effort to convince the non-hang gliding world that things are better now, we brainwashed ourselves into believing that most of the problem was equipment-related. So, of course, since all those "devil machines" are gone now, everything is "safe." In fact, design-related accidents have always trailed far behind poor flying technique as the leading cause of accidents. Dennis l"agen's analysis of hang gliding safety compared to general aviation (published in Hang Gliding a couple of years ago) showed a graph that seemed to suggest an end to fatal accidents. Until that time we had done well, improving technique, training and equipment. We began to coast and enjoy our success. As a group we turned our attention to soaring and aerobatic skills, assuming that safety skills, once achieved, would continue like a perpetual motion machine. Authors ten and twenty years hence will laugh in historical retrospective at the low level of mastery of basic skills that we have accepted proudly (though maybe ignorantly). We have chosen to emulate and aspire to greater soaring skills and ignore safety skills to the extent that our national and international competitions have removed almost entirely any measure of the very skills that define our sport - foot launching and foot landing a wing. This increase in fatal accidents is something I forecast two years ago in one of my newsletter editorials. The solution to this problem is essentially the same now as I suggested then. I see dark days ahead unless we redirect our attention to three main areas. Basic launch and landing skills practice must be increased. We know from our studies that 70-75 % of all injuries are launch or landing related. This is not at all surprising when you consider that we spend 99. 9 % of our airtime at speeds of 18 mph to 55 mph, and less

than .I% at speeds of O mph to 18 mph. You cannot maintain proficiency at any skill that you do not practice. No matter how many hours you spend at 18 mph plus, few pilots maintain proficiency at launching and landing without regular visits to a training hill. At least once every 60 days you should visit your training hill and local instructor for the latest in basic technique. You will not find it in the mountains no matter how many miles you fly. Even general aviation pilots will "shoot" a half dozen touch and go's whenever they have not flown frequently. The difference for us is the physical labor required to achieve the same practice. Tough work, no doubt, but if you don't do it, you simply are not maintaining your proficiency. The second area you might call "systems review." Most of you perform a regular preflight check before each flight. Some of you may actually have a regular equipment maintenance program. (For some of you regular maintenance simply means selling your old equipment to new guys and telling them how great it flies.) Very few pilots regularly review each and every detail of each of their systems. Our data base is very small due to the small number of participants. We have only one regular means of communicating our collective experience - Hang Gliding magazine. Unlike the hundreds of agencies that study millions of miles driven in cars, we have a difficult time identifying trends. Improper practices may persist for years compromising our safety. You should examine everything you do and everything you think about flying. It is certain that you will find · some long-practiced habits that can be improved on. The last area is your perspective of how experienced you are. Until recently obtaining an "Advanced" rating required only 25 hours. Someone with only 25 hours of automobile driving experience is generally not even permitted to operate a car unless accompanied by a licensed driver. Fewer than 10% of all hang glider pilots have over 1,000 hours airtime. Most commercial pilots with only 1,000 hours are lucky to be employed as a pilot possibly earning only $1,000 per month. Most 200hour hang glider pilots wouldn't consider trusting their car to a kid with only 200 hours

AIRMAIL experience driving. When you leave the training hill you have not mastered hang gliding. The only thing you have done is to leave the only environment in the sport where there is someone who works full time studying and teaching the art of safe hang gliding. After the training hill, critiques usually only come after the accident. We can only reverse our decline in safety with a new approach and a higher level of commitment to mastery of our art. See you at the training hill!

SAFETY INPUT Dear Editor, Thanks for Doug Gordon's interesting and informative safety article in December's mag. As comments were requested, I felt obliged to humbly provide a few. Most accidents that I have witnessed (that number being higher than desireable) are a result of more than one error, usually in a snowball effect. Several of these might have been prevented if the pilot had kept his cool and been able to recover from the initial mistake. I routinely break many of these rules, but am aware of the increased risks involved, and attempt to compensate by being more conservative in other areas. When I do get into a hairy situation, my rule #1 is don't panic. Stabilize one axis at a time, usually pitch first (Doug's Rule #C). 1) Rule #Al (no-wind/crosswind launch). My initial reaction to this rule was one of surprise, as I presumed these skills to be expected of intermediate pilots. A check of Part 104 (pilot proficiency system) proved me wrong, as this is not a task required for ratings. I feel strongly that both the author and Part 104 are in error, and that no-wind and crosswind launches should be well practiced on a training hill. Only then will you possess the ability and confidence to pull off a launch at a mountain thermal site, where you may start into five mph straight, then unexpectedly find yourself launching into no wind or crosswind. 2) Rule #A2. Your last sentence implies that you start your takeoff run before you commit yourself. This is a sure recipe for a crash. 3) Rule #A6. During a wire-assist launch, the primary concern is having your wireman do exactly what you say when you say. I have found that wuffos can be better at this than some experienced pilots, who want to do what they think is right. 4) Rule #B4. Once again, you advise avoiding potentially hazardous situations, when

I feel that one should also practice skills to enable one to more safely handle those situations. I recommend pilots practice landing near "fake" obstructions (bamboo poles and ribbon) at their home site to prepare them for the RLF (restricted landing field) special skill signoff and, more importantly, emergency landing fields. I once had to choose between eating big rocks and landing in a small turnout on a twisting mountain road, and had the confidence to do it only because of such practice. 5) Rule #C (stalls). Ideally, an accomplished pilot should be able to recognize and correct for a stall before even being consciously aware of it, as an automatic reflex. This is possible only through practice, hopefully done in smooth air with plenty of altitude. 6) Rule #02. During preflight checks, touching each item as you look at it will improve your eyesight 100 %. 7) Rule #Q3. Why do you only caution novice pilots not to launch if they are feeling apprehensive? Most of us are in this sport for fun, so unless one is feeling good about flying today, we always need drivers and wire assists. 8) New proposed Rule #Q4. One additional significant emotional factor affecting safety is one's mental attitude about the sport of flying. The go-for-it style of the would-be hang gods (whose quests for macho points are idolized monthly in this periodical) should not be emulated. I try to encourage an attitude that promotes a balance between recreational fun and safety, because it is hard to have too much of one without a fair amount of the other. 9) Novice Safety Rule #5. Increasing airspeed in turbulence usually increases the effects of turbulence, causing the increasingly panicked pilot to further increase airspeed in a classic snowball scenario. 10) New proposed General Rule #8. None of us is perfect, or too good to learn from fellow pilots. We should all encourage critiques of our flying by others, and return the favor to them. I would always rather risk verbally bruising someone's ego than splint his broken arm; and I try not to be too proud to listen to what others might have to say to me. Colin Perry Palo Alto, CA

A CANADIAN WELCOME Dear Editor, After reading the "Mystery Pilot" letter in November's issue I rushed out to inspect the

. cover of the new Pink Floyd album to see if it was my smiling face piloting the glider in question. But, alas, it was not. It appears to be a weight-shift motorized ultralight. I did appear though in the Pink Floyd rock video "Learning to Fly," piloting my white and gold Wills Wing 167 Eurosport. The terrain where the video was shot is only a 45-minute drive west of Calgary, Alberta (host city to the 1988 Winter Olympics). If you like what you saw in the video come on up and fly with us. Just a coupie of hours' drive further west is the site of Randy Haney's 199.75-mile world record flight and just south of that is the site that hosted the 1986 American Cup - all in the great Canadian Rockies. And if you need a break from mountain flying we now have an ATOL truck towing system working the prairies. Greg DeWolf delivered our system and we were very impressed. Currently our club (The Alberta Hang Gliding Association) is charging $100 ($75 U.S. approximately, what a deal!) for lessons and $10/tow for recreational tows if you've already had lessons. We would also be interested in getting together with other towing groups for fun tow meets. Also, the infamous Cochrane Hill is good for many 100+ flights, especially in the spring. I am always glad to help out a visiting pilot. You can call me at (403) 286-19820. James Swansburg Director, Alberta Hang Gliding Association #73 - 1J Silver Springs Drive N.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3B 4N3

KEEP OUR COVERS CLEAN Dear Editor, This letter is to congratulate you on the clean cover photo on the Nov. "ifl issue of Hang Gliding. I couldn't believe it when I saw John Heiney's smiling face, upside down, without the stupid name tag heavily glued to the cover of the magazine. I've tried many, many times to steam the labels off, without very good results. All USHGA cover photos deserve to be seen in full. Luckily we have elections so we can see what our cover photo really should look like. I've been subscribing to Hang Gliding since it was called Ground Skimmer. I also subscribe to Suifer magazine. Lately they have been delivering their magazine with a protective plastic cover. Hang Gliding only has a

HANG GLIDING

AIRMAIL few good photos in each issue, so please don't ruin "our" cover photos. Bob Carter Truckee, CA The extra cover for the November issue (with the ballot and questionnaire) cost $760.80, which would add about $9,000 to the cost of printing the magazine each year. That's about a buck and a quarter per member per year. Would it be worth it to you? Let us know.-&l.

Because of conditions the glider started to fly and my helmet was hung up on the pin. After pulling up on the downtubes I was able to free it and continue the flight. I think anyone using this type of carabiner should be aware of this potential problem and mount the pin away from the pilot. Paul Phillips Lake Elsinore, CA

INSTRUMENTATION COMMENTS GLIDER INSPECTION Dear Editor, As of last count 18 pilots died in 1987. More structural failures, and airframe failures during aerobatics, are contributing to this extraordinary increase. Not coincidentally, more than before we see gliders with four or more years use in the air; many are involved in this increase in accidents. Most of us believe that our gliders are in proper and safe condition. However, if we fail to perform annual inspections, including removing the sail and knowing what exactly to look for in fatigued airframes and hardware, then we are only fooling ourselves. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that annual or semiannual airworthiness inspections should be required of gliders flying from regulated sites. USHGA needs to form a body of engineer-type inspectors (much like current observers) to certify or otherwise approve our gliders. It is unfortunate that this would bring another layer of regulation to the sport, and would be a costly burden on those who can least afford glider certification. But "aging gliders" is a new and dangerous situation that must be addressed before it kills more pilots and damages the sport. Grant Hoag Oakland, CA

HUNG UP

Dear Editor, Recently I purchased a new harness and installed a quick release carabiner, the type offered by thermal of Northridge, CA. I have flown with this type of carabiner for years without incident. Recently, as I picked the glider up to launch, the locking pin caught the back of my helmet. FEBRUARY 1988

Dear Editor, I would like to respond to Dennis Pagen's comments on my article Instrumentation for Hang Gliders. As Dennis correctly points out, the original MacCready theory made no provisions for adjusting flight speed based upon head or tailwinds, but instead simply computed an optimal airspeed based upon the rate of sink encountered in flight. However, as soon as movable MacCready rings became available (to adjust for different expected therma! strengths en route) the potential to adjust for head and tailwinds became apparent. True, simply adjusting the ring to compensate for winds aloft is not quite accurate; one should also adjust the scales to account for the changed performance at different airspeeds, but as a first-order approximation this works better than nothing. Headwinds, in particular, greatly affect the optimal airspeed, for obvious reasons: Flying a hang glider at its best sink airspeed in a 25 mph headwind means that the groundspeed is negative! Any attempt to use lift and airspeed optimally to cover distance should take head and tailwind into account. For example, using the polar from my article (which is based, by the way, upon data recorded for the Comet 2 by Helmut Denz), the optimal airspeed for a 10 mph headwind is about 4.75 mph higher than for a 10 mph tailwind. Winds like these are quite commonly encountered, and a 5 mph difference in opti mal airspeed can significantly affect crosscountry performance. By comparison, the optimal airspeed while flying in 200 ft./min. sink is about 5.6 mph greater than the optimal airspeed for flying in air rising at 200 ft./min. (ignoring for the moment the expected thermal strengths and the immediate need to gain altitude). Clearly the effect of head and tailwinds on the optimal airspeed is comparable to that of rising and falling air. Unfortunately, as Dennis points out, getting a good estimate of head or tailwinds while in flight is difficult, as is measuring the airspeed of the glider, due to interference effects.

However, even a 20 % error in estimating relative wind will typically produce an error of only 3% to 5% in the optimal airpseed. Concerning airspeed sensor errors: Al; long as the airspeed sensor is consistent, integrated with the speed-to-fly computer, and calibrated for a given glider type, the resulting commantled airspeed will still be valid. The instrument will simply command ·an airspeed of 25 mph, say, and you will fly at an indicated airspeed of 25 mph, even though your actual airspeed might be 30 mph. Dennis' comments regarding TE compensated varios are only too true. I have never flown a hang glider with a vario which was fully compensated; like Dennis I have learned to fly more by feel, and to ignore some of the gyrations of my vario. This only points out the need for better instruments! One final point: Like Dennis I prefer hang gliding to sailplanes because of the open exposure to the sky and the lack of complexity. That is precisely why I've been developing an audio speed-to-fly variometer which fully integrates all the separate instruments into one signal: one kind of tone tells you to speed up, another to slow down, silence means you're flying close to the optimal airspeed. With a best glide of 11 to 1, and the limited speed potential of today's gliders, this is useful primarily for XC on strong days, or for cruising between lift, but we won't be at 11 to 1 forever. The Germans are test flying the Flair, an 18 to 1 foot-launchable rigid wing folding into a package roughly the same size as a ragwing. Others here in the States and elsewhere will not be far behind. Dr. Heiner Biesel Salt Lake City, UT

SPORf VERSUS VISION Dear Editor, I've just finished reading your pilot report on the Vision MK IV. You stated that, "The Sport is about as stiff as I'll put up with," when in truth you should have said that your Sport is as stiff as you would tolerate. Readers should realize that no two gliders fly the same. The camber of the battens, batten tension, sail tension, sail stretch and slight irregularities in manufacturing can make wings a bit different. The Sport has a higher aspect ratio and a tighter sail than the Vision. That, combined with the foot larger span, would make more differences. My Sport has the race cloth and has been tightened up a bit. It turns very well.

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE

CHOOSE A SENSOR 8-MODEL • The standard model with one half rib per side is the right choice for new Hang Ill pilots, ladies, small people and occasional flyers. • The 3/4 Race Sensor. On target for weekend pilots who want unsurpassed performance, top-rated stability, and handling that's second to none. • The Full Race Sensor. For serious stack-toppers, XC drivers, speedburners and everyday pilots who like to fly at a variety of speeds, in a variety of modes and circumstances. One glider, in three models, to beat the rest. • Sink Rate • Glide Ratio • Usable Speed Range • Handling • Strength & Stability • and Good Looks

THE ULTIMATE GLIDERS FOR FLIGHT

Dealer

Inquiries Welcomed

•

SEEDWINGS

5760 Thornwood Dr. Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (805) 967-4848

Catalog, Dealer List and Specificationi Sheets available.

Pilot Larry Lorance

HEREAT LAST First Class Quality Shirts Full Color Designs

AIRMAIL I only use my feet in turns if I want faster or high-bank turns. Since the Sport will outperform the Vision with the same wing loading, you are talking about two gliders that are very much in the same market, aimed at the intermediate class pilot. The Sport's top end edge will make it a better cross-country glider. The planform of the MK IV is an Eclipse with the keel strap missing and internal keel tube. The Sport is a simple version of the HP II planform. The sport is a super landing wing and does not drop the nose. If you think that the MK IV has a sink rate close to the Sensor B and HP, man are you misinformed. I soar a lot in wonder wind conditions and sink rates can't be fudged there. Bet you don't trade your Sport for a MK IV either. Remember, a wing is only as good as the pilot below it. I've seen ragged-out singlesurface wings thermal to five grand over while HP !Is struggle for a ten-minute flight. Skill, luck and timing are great factors also. With nearly 17 years on this subject, I make no bones about it. I know what flies good and handles well. I've flown over 50 types of wings - several rigid ones as well. You folks send me some to report on and I'll fly them and do a real report. I'm not pro Wills Wing, nor do I make money doing this, so I may be flying a new wing next season if I can get one that is easy to set up, handles well and will out-perform a Sport. A1J of now, it does not exist! On another subject: It used to be that a glider like the Comet was a hot ship. It was for top-notch pilots. As pilots' skills improved new designs took its place, and in some cases the Comet was relegated to trainer status. A minor mistake on a mellow single-surface glider may be a serious crash on a Comet or Vision. I wish pilots would lighten up on peer pressure about what others fly. I don't try to keep up with the Joneses; some of them are six feet under. Manufacturers put a sticker on the keel which describes certain operational limits. Flying hang gliders right side up is enough of a rush! You can make a name for yourself by looping, but it may be on a tombstone.

that's worth. You're right: No two gliders are alike. However, when I bought my Sport (spring of '86) I flew three different gliders and they all handled about the same. Obviously I like the Sport or I wouldn't have bought one, but I think that some newer pilots may have been misled into thinking that it handles like the single-surface glider on which they learned. It doesn't.-Ed.

,,,.,... ~ ~ ' ....... ,....~-':-,.::· .

.. ' \.,

' .~-.:_'lo..:.: •f..,/ ~ ....

CLOUD BASE

~fJIJ/lMg ~lub

WOMEN'S WORLD TEAM Dear Editor, Hang Gliding is, reportedly, a family publication. This quality may be particularly helpful in addressing a difficulty being faced as the USHGA organizes its first women's world team, The method of utilizing the Nats as the qualifier for the team was put in place as a timely response to the need to develop an organizational structure, secure funding through sponsorships, and to allow adequate time for training and team building. The selection of future teams may involve a very different process. Suggestions on how to better facilitate this effort are welcome. The greatest criticism of the plan has to do with the early timing of the event. Some of the most "go-for-it sky gals" are out of the competition for a number of reasons ranging from not being able to leave work to not being able to walk. However, the most creative and unarguable reason for non-participation (which comes from several sources - i.e., more than two - so no one take this personally) has to do with pregnancy. And you gents think you have problems! It was truly impossible to give more advanced notice of the meet. Apologies to those who might have made other plans. We really want to hold this meet. Sky bros and significant others help us out. No more surprises. Ladies ... don't leave lift! Again, your ideas are welcome. Good thoughts. Good winds. See y'all in Chattanooga.

DESIGN #1

REAL PILOTS ELY

HANG GLIDERS DESIGN #2 DESIGN #1 Short Sleeve T-Shirt

Long Sleeve T·Shirt Sweatshirt

DESIGN #2 Short Sleeve T-Shirt Long Sleeve T-Shirt Swea\shirt

ffiE

PRICE $12.00

TOTAL

$16.00 $20.00

PRICE $12.00

TOTAL

$16.00 $20.00

---

SUBTOTAL

California Residents Add 6%

Tommy Thompson Westfield, NC As I mentioned in the article, I wish there were some way to accurately judge glider perfonnance, but so far no one has convinced me that there is. The flying story I told is true; I had no trouble keeping up with the gliders mentioned. lou can decide for yourself what

Jan Siskind 3 Ivanhoe Road Worcester, MA 01602

Postage

$2.50

TOTAL _ __ Ship to: Name· _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Hang Gliding welcomes letters to the editor. Try to make your letter concise, and please submit it typewritten and double-spaced. If typing is not possible, please print double-spaced. -Ed.

Address:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Mai! Orders To: AERIAL TEASE 8 CAMINO VERDE SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103 Visa or Mastercard accepted

.z:]

Visa Number _ _ _ _ Expira!ion Date _ __ Mastercard Number _ _ _ _ Expiration Dale _ __

FEBRUARY 1988

RATINGS AND APPOINTMENTS BEGINNER RATINGS NAME; CITY, STATE; INSTRUCTOR Region I Lori Lawson; Bellevue, WA; Tom Johns Region 2 Dan Arnold; San Mateo, CA; Achim Hageman - Greg Dayog; Santa Clara, CA; Chris Crescioli - Simon Desai; Mountain View, CA; Rob Engorn - John Faucett; Cupertino, CA; Rob Engorn - Elizabeth Gottlieb; San Francisco, CA; Rob Engorn Sharon Jokela; San Francisco, CA; Jeff Mott - Geoffrey Mitchell; Los Gatos, CA; Pat Denevan - Don Olufs; Fulton, CA; Jeff Mott - Frank Proctor; Carmel, CA; Chris Crescioli - Chris Thompson; Larkspur, CA; Jeff Mott - Dana Tom; Menlo Park, CA; Rob Engorn - Michael Wirth; San Jose, CA; Fred Hutchinson Region 3 Kandace Datema; Santa Barbara, CA; Ken de Russy Region 4 James Pringle; Littleton, CO; George Greer - Carlene Smith; Fountain Hills, AZ; William Holmes - Paula Smith; Fountain Hills, AZ; William Holmes Region 5 Christopher Wills; Twin Falls, ID; Mike King Region 6 Steven Kline; Overland Park, KS; Robert Black - Bruce Lewis; N. Little Rock, AR; Lawrence Haney Region 7 Brian Brochtrup; Madison, WI; Brad Kushner - Bryan Campbell; West Lafayette, IN; Rob Kreske - Robert Hinkle; West Lafayette, IN; Rob Kreske - Thomas Wiencek; Bolingbrook, IL; Roger Coxon Rob Williams; Seymour, IN; Buzz Chalmers Region 8 John Atwood; Medford, MA; T.C. Searle Liz Bertang; New Britain, CT; Rob Bicknell - Anselmo Delgado; Waterford, CT; Jeff Nicolay - Gregory Fish; Fairfield, CT; Alegra Davidson - Wolf Ginandes; Framingham, MA; T.C. Searle - Jonathan Hexner; Cambridge, MA; Buzz Chalmers Scott Steadman; Bristol, CT; Jeff Nicolay Region 9 J, Michael Johnson; Linville, VA; Chris Thompson

Region IO Robert Brown; Lutz, FL; Buzz Chalmers Cheryl Coxon; Nags Head, NC; Rob Engorn - Terry Kidd; Madison, AL; Buzz Chalmers - Charles Patterson; La Grange, GA; Buzz Chalmers NOVICE RATINGS NAME; CITY, STATE; OBSERVER Region I Robert Hill; Seattle, WA; Kamron Blevins Richard Johnson; Tacoma, WA; Kamron Blevins Region 2 Begzad Behnia; Hayward, CA; Dan Murphy - Randy Burton; San Jose, CA; Rob Engom - Sean Collins; Sunnyvale, CA; Fred Hutchinson - Al Crowell; San Francisco, CA; Jeff Mott - Randall Hamilton; Mountain View, CA; Jim Woodward - Bill Henley; San Jose, CA; Dan Murphy - John Kulik; Reno, NV; Ray Leonard - Samuel Linton; Stanford, CA; Dan Murphy Richard Martin; San Jose, CA; Dan Murphy - Mike Mc Cluskey; Mountain View, CA; Fred Hutchinson - William Nagel; Reno, NV; Ray Leonard -- Richard Palmon; Fremont, CA; Rob Engom - Ray Rauen; San Francisco, CA; Jeff Greenbaum Region 3 Gary Bjerke; Taft, CA; Perry Judd Michael Brown; Santa Ynez, CA; Achim Hageman - Marcos Castro; Temecula, CA; Paul Bums - Robert Cobb; San Bernardino, CA; Debbi Renshaw - Alexander Farrar; Santa Barbara, CA; Ken de Russy - Mike Kolls; Santa Barbara, CA; Ken de Russy Wilfrid Lorenzini; Pasadena, CA; Joe Greblo - Ronald Monroe; Huntington Beach, CA; Dan Skadal - Jeff Rohrbacker; Santa Barbara, CA; Ken de Russy - Matt Spinelli; Sylmar, CA; Dino Dinaso - Ray Watford; Etiwanda, CA; Debbi Renshaw Region 4 Keith Evert; Mesa, AZ; Doug Gordon Dennis Haley; Durango, CO; Dave Rodriguez - Marlon Logston; Mesa, AZ; William Holmes - Scott Sindelar; Phoenix, AZ; Bill Holmes - Phil Thompson; Windsor, CO; Bob Faris Region 7 Charlie Ansbach; Bloomington, IL; Jeff Greenbaum - Jeff Sturm; Indianapolis, IN; William Henry Region 8 Paul Donahue; Warren, RI, Jeff Nicolay John Heden; Nashua, NH; Jeff Nicolay Joey Holt; Chelsea, MA; Jeff Nicolay

Region 9 Ron Camic; Frankfort, KY; Dave Curry David Collins; Gaithersburg, MD; John Middleton - Daniel Iaquinto; Philadelphia, PA; William Umstattd - John Johnson; Virginia Beach, VA; William Henry - Larry Roberts; Ashland, VA; Chris Thompson George Stohrer; Bowie, MD; John Middleton - Rich Weber; Olmstead Falls, OH; Mike DelSignore - Grant Wolfe; Walnutport, PA; Chris Thompson Region IO Robert Bass; Leesburg, FL; Matt Taber Michael Bishop; Madison, AL; Matt Taber - David Carpenter; Morrow, GA; Dave Curry - David Herman; Raleigh, NC; George Reeves - Randy Johnson; Ringgold, GA; Matt Taber - Michael Jost; Decatur, AL; Matt Taber - Fred Keith; Mt. Pleasant, SC; Matt Taber - George Knoblock; Perry, FL; Dave Curry - Jim Leathers; Norcross, GA; Dave Curry - John Letourneau; Atlanta, GA; Dave Curry - Charles Love; Roswell, GA; Matt Taber - Montgomery Monta; Rutherford, NC; Jake Alspaugh Allan Toole; Jonesboro, GA; Dave Curry Bill Von Ohlen; Dania, FL; Matt Taber Robert Walton; Castle Hayne, NC; George Reeves - Randy Johnson; Ringgold, GA, Matt Taber - Barbara Weidemann; Largo, FL; Matt Taber - Thomas Woolf; Ormond Beach, FL; Buzz Chalmers Region 11 James Leger; Hurst, TX; Gary Scheer Richard Torina; Springtown, TX; Rob Bachman Region 12 Dale Bauer; Collingswood, NJ; William Umstattd - Timothy Beauchamp; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Charles Carriere; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Brett Hall; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Kenneth Reinis; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Martha Reinis; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Robert Robb; APO, NY; Gary Elhart - Cpt. Brent Spencer; APO, NY; Gary Elhart

INTERMEDIATE RATINGS NAME; CITY, STATE; OBSERVER Region I Robert C. Johnson; Seattle, WA; Dave Lindberg - Mark Ostby; Kennewick, WA; Larry Strom Region 2 Tracy Baker; Los Gatos, CA; Dan Murphy - Andy Boyer; Santa Rosa, CA; Jeff Mott Allin Du Bue, II; Las Vegas, NV; Rob McKenzie - Ed Fields; Los Gatos, CA; Dan Murphy - Thomas Palmer; Suisun, CA; Ken

HANG GLIDING

RATINGS AND APPOINTMENTS Baier - Robin Ramsey; Berkeley, CA; Karen Schenk - Jim Schinnerer; Santa Clara, CA; Jeff Walker - Mark Sherburne; San Francisco, CA; Charlie Whitehill - Robert Simmons; Los Altos, CA; Jim Woodward Steven Wertheimer; San Francisco, CA; Rick Canham Region 3 Wayne Beaman; Yucaipa, CA; Debbi Renshaw - Mark Mallett; Los Alamitos, CA; Rob McKenzie - Dour Millasich; San Deigo, CA; William Henry - William Sharp; Garden Grove, CA; John Ryan - Bob Scott; Montrose, CA; Dave Bowen - Bryan Yute; Le Mesa, CA; John Ryan Region 4 Craig Bradley; Lakewood, CO; Richard Annis - Jerry Dalen; Glendale, AZ; Bill Holmes - Tony Fausto; Ogden, UT; Mark Curtis - Gardner Middleton; Snowmass Village, CO; Jim Shaw - John Murphy; Castle AFB, AZ; Dave Bowen - Craig Pirazzi; Telluride, CO, Luigi Chiarani - Dan Turner; Manitou Springs, CO; Dave Rodriguez

Region 3 Joseph Haagen; Honolulu, HI; Lani Akiona - Robert Laukka; Thousand Oaks, CA; Ted Boyse - Carolyn Mashy; Tujunga, CA; Greg DeWolf - Joseph Szalai; Los Angeles, CA; Ted Boyse Region 7 Craig Carlson; Traverse City, MI; Bill Fifer - Otto Von Rosen; Dearborn, MI; Norm Le snow Region 8 Colette Carson; Concord, MA; Robert Collins

Region 12 Jeff Johnson; Wellsburg, NY; Robert Murphy - Thomas Wise; Oakland, NJ; Scott Wise

ADVANCED RATINGS NAME; CITY, STATE; OBSERVER Region 2 Thomas Balk; Cambria, CA; Matt Gillis Lee Burghardt; Mtn. View, CA; Russell Douglas - Bill Hartwick; Morrow Bay, CA; Perry Judd - Roy Lautamo; Placerville, CA; Jack Anderson

Foreign Anthony Klemm; Victoria, Australia; Foreign Equivalent

By popular demand.

"The Right Stuff" returns ... now in

Region 8 William Brown; Sudbury, MA; Paul Voight - Timothy Cosentino; Newington, CT; Jeff Nicolay

Region 10 Jeff Fisher; Huntsville, AL; Duane Ridenhour - James Glover; Mableton, GA; Buzz Chalmers - Brent Montgomery; Madison, AL; Duane Ridenhour - Skipper Smith; Winter Haven, FL; Walt Nielson

Region 12 Erik Eklund; New York City, NY; Paul Voight - Peter List; Edison, NJ; Kevin O'Brien

Region 9 Kevin Fleet; Chesapeake, VA; Lawrence Battaile - Lee Morris; Willow Grove, PA; Cliff Carlton - Wayne Smith; East Berlin, PA; Pete Osborn

Region 7 David Driscoll; W. Lafayette, IN; Mike King

Region 9 Steven Conner; Midlothian, VA; Richard Cobb - James Prahl; Mardela Springs, MD; Buzz Chalmers - Dan Tourgee; Riestertown, MD; Fred Permenter - Craig Williamson; Charlottesville, VA; Roger Ritenour

Region 10 Jim Ozier; Bishop, GA; Phil Harper Duane Ridenhour; Union Grove, AL; Earl Chambers - Paul Thornbury; Trenton, GA; Buzz Chalmers

book form! Improve your skills: proper launch techniques • proper landings • forced or crash landings • angle of attack control • prone transitions • glider repair • pre-soaring and beginning soaring skills • first altitude flights Learn unique aspects of the sport: the term "wuffo" • USH3A-approved wind direction signal • Doo Dah Days • what's cool, what's uncool • pear people • intermediate syndrome • advanced syndrome

Hang Gliding According to Pfeiffer: Skills For the Advancing PIiot The most comprehensive guide yet for expanding your knowledge and skills. With 244 richly i Ilustrated pages, loads of true stories, and complete subject index. You'll learn: • Soaring Principles • Competition Flying • Cross-Country Flying • Equipment • Speed-to-Fly Calculations

Please send: Jlmount _ _ _ RIG-IT STLFF For New Hang Glider Pilots at $7.95 each ____ Hang Gliding Acccording to Pfeiffer at $9.95 each Shipping/handling: Surface mail $1 first book, $.25 each additional. Airmail $2.50 first book, $1 each additional in North J>.merica, $6 each elsewhere. Sales tax: Please add 6% sales tax when shipment is to a California address. Total enclosed: Mail w/ check payable in U.S. dollars to: Publitec, P.O. Box 4342, Laguna Beach CA 92652. Name Street City State/Zip ... Dealer inquiries invited - 714/497-6100 " '

FEBRUARY 1988

UPDATE DIRECTOR ELECTION RESULTS The results of the November director elections are final. However, for several regions we cannot yet announce the new regional directors. Where members had a choice of well-qualified and interested candidates, the decisions were split. Either candidates did not receive a majority of votes cast, or were tied. Therefore runoff elections are being held in January for Regions Two, Ten and Eleven. Regions who do have new directors are as follows: Region Two reelected Russ Locke for another term. The second seat is still contested in runoff between Connie Bowen, Ken Brown and Dudley Mead. One-third of the region voted on the first ballot. Region Three elected Bill Bennett and Gregg Lawless for the two open seats, with 28 % of the members voting. Region Four reelected Jim Zeiset with 20 % voting. Region Five had a strong participation, 33 % voted to reelect Mike King. Region Six elected Ron Kenney as a new director with 25 % participation. Regions Seven and Eight did not have a seat to replace in this election. Region Nine elected Pete Lehmann, over a strong mail-in ballot for Gaston Servant; 26% voted. Region Ten was evenly split over Rick Jacob and Matt Tuber - they have a runoff. Region Eleven saw the closest three-way race. Carl Boddie and David Broyles will runoff there. Region Twelve had the lightest return at 14 %, reelecting Pete Fournia. As members, offer your thanks to those individuals who stepped forward as candidates for office. It is their dedication to helping the sport that makes USHGA a strong organization. I'd wager their names remain prominent in planning and activities in the coming years. -CB.

MOUNTAIN WINGS MOVES After 6-1/2 years Mountain Wings of Kerhonkson, NY has moved to a 2,400

sq. ft. store front in the middle of Ellenville, NY. Ellenville has been the Mecca of hang gliding in the Northeast since the sport began in 1970. The local site is known for its spectacular flights and was the site of the 1980 Nationals. Mountain Wings offers instruction on five different training hills and the new facility offers: demo gliders from most manufacturers, used gliders, accessories, repair facility and a large stock of tubing. Thndem training is also offered. Greg Black, owner, is a Master-rated pilot with 13 years experience and is an Advanced Instructor and Observer. Contact: Mountain Wings, 150 Canal St., Ellenville, NY (914) 647-3377/626-5555.

1981 CAN-AM RESULTS Here are the results of the recent Canada/U.S. meet held last fall at Silver Lake park off the Mount Baker Highway. The Canadians beat the Yanks 61,124 to 47,719. This year's meet is scheduled for the Labor Day weekend. Place, Pilot 1) Mike Harrington (Canada) 2) Randy Desnoyers (Canada) 3) Herman Bosman (Canada) 4) Dale Layher (Canada) 5) Pete Griffith (Canada) 6) Scott Rutledge (U.S.) 7) Frank Spear (Canada) 8) Dan Keen (Canada) 9) Mike Daily (U.S.) 10) George Borradaile (Canada)

MEDIA MENTION A recent issue of the Carson City, Nevada Sunday paper featured hang gliding as its cover story in the ''Lifestyles'' insert. The story included a brief interview with Carson City instructor Ray Leonard, of High Sierra Sports, and featured lots of photos of flying activity at Slide Mountain.

OOPS The January issue of Hang Gliding included a few goofs: In Mike Meier's article on HP II testing the second complete sentence in the third column on page 30, which begins "The testing data indicate ... " should have read: "The testing data indicate that at the maximum speed attained of 69 mph, the glider pulled a total resultant load of l, 780 lbs. , which represents 6. 8 Gs at the maximum pilot weight of 250 lbs. Using the derived equation to project the load for the failure speed of 71 mph, we get a total resultant load of 1,882 lbs., which represents 7.2 Gs at the maximum pilot weight of 250 lbs." The American Windwright Z-1 is available with optional 7075 1/2-battens, not 1/2" battens as stated. The sail area of that glider is 159.18 sq. ft., giving an aspect ratio of 7.44.

GIRLS BRS SAFETY NOTICE Ballistic Recovery Systems, which manufactures parachute recovery systems, has notified us of a potential corrosion problem with the activating handle. Corrosion may prevent the handle from being pulled, and BRS advises that as part of every preflight the handle be twisted back and forth to be sure it is free. For more information contact: BRS (612) 457-7491.

Girls Just Wanna ... Have More Fun in '88! The third annual Women's Fun Fly-In/Demo Daze will take place at Ed Levin Park in Milpitas, CA on May 21 and 22. Representatives from Wills Wing, Delta Wing, Pacific Airwave and American Windwright will have their new designs available for everyone to demo. USHGA membership and appropriate rating required. Bring the chicken and barbecue sauce because the Wings of Rogallo club picnic

HANG GLIDING

UPDATE will be held Saturday afternoon at the Sandy Wool Lake area, next to the LZ. Plans are in process to raise money at this event for the Women's World Team. Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$! Contact: Lynda Nelson, 1863 Dalton Drive, Milpitas, CA 93035.

U.P. INTERNATIONAL AXIS

U.P. International of Elsinore, California introduces their new flagship hang glider, the Axis. The glider is a highperformance class ship and features: variable geometry with luff line compensator, race cloth, 7ITT5 ribs and king post hang system. The company's staff includes: Bob Schutte, well-known sailmaker and designer of a series of successful highperformance gliders that he manufactured for seven years in New Zealand; J.C. Brown, renowned pilot and glider designer; and Mitch McAleer, former Wills Wing sailmaker and celebrated aerobatic pilot. Contact: U.P. International, 560-4 Birch St., Lake Elsinore, CA 92330 (714) 674-7005. Dealer inquiries are invited.

COSMOS TOW TRIKE ADVISORY Drive shaft failures have occurred on at least 20 % of the original hollow-shaft style reductions on two-place Cosmos tow trikes imported by Skylines. The reductions have been totally redesigned to a stronger configuration and replacements are available directly through U.S.A. La Mouette. Shaft failure results in the shaft breaking in the rear bearing. The main reduc-

FEBRUARY 1988

tion pulley and prop fall off striking the keel of the trike, possibly detaching the landing gear cable and pieces of the prop may go through the sail. Notice submitted by Marty Eiler, USHGA aero-tow instructor.

SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS ANNOUNCES NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER Sport Aviation Publications, publishers of hang gliding books used in many schools announces a new phone number for business and personal calls: (814) 383-2569 which replaces our old number (814) 234-1967. Please note the appropriate change in your records. Their mailing address for business purposes remains the same: P.O. Box 601, State College, PA 16804. However, personal mail to Dennis Pagen should be sent to: RD2, Box 355P, Bellefonte, PA 16823. The best time to call to talk to a real person is after 6:00 P.M. although they are willing to take orders anytime.

Calendar Feb. 20-27, 1988: Stanwell Park Lawrence Hargrave Competition. Invitational meet following the world meet. Contact: K.ieran Tupsell, 19 Stanwell Ave., Stanwell Park, 2509 NSW Australia tel. 042 94 2645.

February 27: Parachute clinic at Glenview Naval Base, Illinois. March: Region 7 cross-country seminar. May 27-30: Cross-Country Tow Pilots Assn. XC tournament. Contact: Martin Bunner, Glide Path, 1600 Carmel Blvd., Zion, IL 60099 (312) 746-1944.

March 7: Dealer Assn. meeting at Torrey Pines, CA. Contact: Pat (408) 262-1055 or Bill (213) 787-6600.

April 8·10: Basic Instructor Ce11ification Program, Milpitas, CA. Contact: Mission Soaring Center (408) 262-1055.

April 16-24, 1988: 1988 U.S. Hang Gliding Nationals, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Contact: Rick Jacob (615) 238-5568.

April 16•24, 1988: Women's World Team Qualifier, Chattanooga, TN. Contact: Jan Siskind (617) 753-1568.

May 21·22: Girls Wanna Have Fun fly-in/demo daze at Ed Levin Park, near Milpitas, CA. Contact: Lynda Nelson, 1863 Dalton Dr., Milpitas, CA 95035.

NEW MEMBERS SUBMITTED BY BUSINESSES FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER

June 27.July 10: European Paragliding Cham-

Windsports International .................. 17 Mission Soaring Center ................... 15 Lookout Mountain Flight Park . . .. 7 Hang Glider Emporium . . ... 7 Kitty Hawk Kites East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Hang Flight Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Hawaiian Airsports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sky Sails of Arizona. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Hang Gliding Center of San Diego . . . . . . 3 Sequatchie Valley Soaring .................. 2 Santa Barbara Hang Gliding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Morningside Hang Gliding .................. 2

Sept. 9·18: Masters of Hang Gliding. Pilots'

The following schools have submitted one new member: Kitty Hawk Kites West, High Adventure, Fly America, Front Range Hang Gliders, Nova-Air, Arizona Windsports, Windrider, Sail Wings of Arkansas, Hang Gliders West.

pionship, St. Hilaire, France. Contact: Catherine Schmider, Le Chalet, 38720 St. Hilaire du Touvet, France. meeting Sept. 8. Contact: Catherine Morton, Grandfather Mt., U.S. 221 and The Parkway, Linville, NC 28646 (704) 733-2013.

KITTY HAWK WEST

Feb. 20-21 Basic Instructor Certification Clinic, Feb. 22·23 Tandem 1\vo Certification Clinic, April 29-May 1 Monterey Bay Steeple Chase, May 21·23 Mountain Flying Clinic, May 28·29 Beach Soaring Clinic, June 4 XC Clinic, June 5 Chute Clinic, June 11·19 Owens Valley SC Flying Tour. Contact: Kitty Hawk Kites West, P.O. Box 828, Marina, CA 93933 (408) 384-2622.

USHGA PRESIDENT

looking Back On '87 And Ahead To '88 by Russ Locke Nineteen eighty-seven was a pivotal year for the USHGA. We turned the comer on several issues and hopefully identified other issues well enough to be able to solve them in 1988. Following are some of my thoughts about this year and some guesses about the near future. Safety: Most of us are aware that 1987 was not a good year. However, until Doug Hildreth collects all the data, we can only make educated guesses about what exactly happened. As of the end of the year we had 18 recorded deaths in this country. That number alone says a great deal. I believe that we have been working up to chis for several yars. We have done a good job of publicizing how safe the sport has become and that may be part of the problem. It appears to me that we have more people flying closer to the edge of the safety envelope than any time in the recent past. We're not alone in that regard since the rest of the aviation industry appears to be working through some similar safety issues. The answer may not be in any specific program, but may just be understanding the implications of our personal decisions. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to stretch out a cross-country flight one more landing area or decide to fly even though conditions are a little stronger than we would like. It just means that we should understand the risks involved when we make those decisions. I believe if we just went that far,; there would be fewer of us finding ourselves in no-win situations. Drugs: The subject of drugs and alcohol abuse is being debated in all corners of our society. At some point, we as an association would have had to deal with the subject even if our approach was to publicly decide it wasn't an issue around hang gliders. There was a fair

amount of discussion generated in 1987 about this subject and from an organizational standpoint, I'm sure that there still remains some disagreement as to what happened and what should or should not have happened. But from my perspective we reached agreement on a position that most of us can live with. In a nutshell, no one has any business operating a hang glider in any personal state of impairment (drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, etc.). The penalty for jeopardizing someone else's flying privileges by immature behavior is the adjustment of the offender's rating. So we didn't change or add anything to the established USHGA processes, we just reinforced the processes already in place. Where this will go in the future is anyone's guess, but I'm quite sure that we aren't finished with this issue. Olympics: We made some progress but we also moved into a political arena where progress tends to be slow. The Europeans who don't have quite as much bureaucracy to deal with have made some progress with the International Olympic Committee. The best we'll be able to do in the near future is leverage off of their successes. Competition: 1987 saw continuance of a growing trend of more pilots becoming interested in competition. Similarly, the top spots in the ranking system saw several new faces. Howard Osterlund has been moving up in the rankings steadily the last few years, but I doubt if very many people could have predicted that he would win this year's Nationals at a site that he hadn't flown before. A few years ago Joe Bostik was just coming out from behind the Iron Curtain. In addition to being the 1987 National Competition Points Champion, Joe put icing on the cake with a 228-mile cross-country flight

which remains the longest hang gliding flight to date. Similarly, the U.S. World Team sent to compete in the World Championships in Australia contained several new faces in addition to Bruce Case, Rich Pfeiffer and Rick Rawlings who have competed on past teams. Larry Tudor and Jim Lee have made their mark in cross-country flying in addition to Jim being last year's U.S. Co-National Champion. Jim and Larry join Howard, Joe and Ted Boyse as first time members of the Team. Finances: There will be a better financial report in a later issue (after we assess our year-end figures!), but in a nutshell, we actually got ahead of our bills in 1987. Our financial net worth is approaching zero at a quicker rate than we expected. If we do things right, 1988 will be the first year in some time where we will be able to spend money to save money. In other words, we are finally starting to manage the future of our business and moving out of the "trying to fix problems as they pop up mode." Insurance: The insurance industry has not loosened up as much as we had hoped. Our insurance costs have remained high, but affordable. We are currently working on the package for 1988, but our expectations are about the same. We have been researching the possibility of self insuring and sometime within 1988 we should be able to present some options to the membership. Office Operation: We made several changes to the office operation this past year including moving its location. Some of those changes are already paying dividends such as membership cards which are being completely computer generated, saving a couple of personhours of typing each day. However, there are other operational issues that we haven't improved as many of us had hoped. Our financial reporting system, while understandable, is still too cumbersome, inventory and merchandise flow systems still have some problems and our computers are a long ways from being as efficient as they could be. Cleaning up these issues is a major challenge for us in 1988.

HANG GLIDING

USHGA PRESIDENT In general 1987 was a quiet year. In most places, the general public has accepted us as a reasonable avocation. With the exception of the office operations and insurance, our challenges for the near future aren't as well defined as in the past. Pilot apathy in some parts of the country will lose some sites. Air-toground and air-to-air communication remains an unsolved situation that presents a potential nagging problem if we don't come up with some acceptable legal solutions. There is a lot of potential for finding ways to self-finance our regional and national competitions as well as the U.S. World Team. More public lands are becoming available to us as flying sites, but acquiring those lands will require more sophistication on our part. All in all, 1988 holds a lot of promise for us, but for the most part it will take some individual effort to effect the change. In most areas, there are a few individuals who bring about positive change and growth. You can do your part by making sure that those dedicated few know that their efforts are appreciated.• (continued from page 40)

(Pine Mountain) mountain. Maybe there is something to these snide comments about California pilots? We discussed heading to Mt. Bachelor a few miles to the west and renting some ski equipment, but we settled for killing time going to the movies in Bend and watched Eddie Murphy tear up Beverly Hills. Monday brought more bad weather, and with only one good round under our belts the decision was made to continue the contest next weekend. It was acknowledged that most of the pilots, including us, would not be able to return. We made the long drive back and it took me a couple of days to get caught up on my sleep. In fact, I was just getting back to normal when Dick called Thursday night and asked if I was ready to go. I was even more surprised when my wife commented that we had everything under control (we were in the middle of negotiating the purchase of a house), and there was nothing in particular on the agenda for the weekend. If I wanted to go, I might as well

FEBRUARY 1988

go. I packed up and left from work Friday afternoon. It rained almost all the way to Pine Mountain. We continually commented that the weather was looking better, but we all new better. Saturday morning arose with about 20 pilots back at the hill and the weather looking as bad as the day before. The storm fronts had a southerly flow to them so we decided to spend the day scouting the canyon northeast of launch which would likely be the call when we could fly. Sunday morning looked flyable, however it was blowing strong (25 to 35 mph) on launch. We figured it would be a ridge soaring race with distance in the five to ten mile range at best. The task we expected was called and a couple ofus punched off. Boy were we surprised, there were strong thermals in the middle of these gusts, but the drift was significant. The trick was to fly out in front of the hill, find a thermal and hopefully gain at least 500 feet as you were blown back past launch. Dick, Shannon, Jeff and a local pilot, Joe Evans, successfully completed this maneuver and the last I saw of them they were climbing and drifting downwind. I couldn't seem to get high enough over launch, and wasn't comfortable going over the back with what I had, so I was finally forced around the front and over the Junkyard with about 500 feet AGL. There were plenty of thermals coming through, but I kept flying out the front of them trying to gain enough altitude to avoid the poorer landing areas. I wasn't gaining any altitude or getting any distance. It became obvious that I had to do something different, so I decided to drift with the thermal. It turned out to be a new experience. I was circling slowly in zero lift/sink, but my ground track was amazing. I covered almost 10 miles at 500 feet AGL before I finally managed to lose the thermal. I set the glider down in the brush and hiked back towards launch a mile or so to the upper end of Fox Butte Road. I couldn't believe my eyes, breaking down were Dick and Shannon. Jeff was up the road a little ways. They were all in a hurry to get back up the hill since there was time for another flight (relaunches were allowed). Once we loaded up we had to go back and find my glider, which turned into more of a problem than I had anticipated. I finally decided that I had

too much money wrapped up in a four-wheel drive to let the lack of roads complicate my search. We found the glider. My apologies to the deer, antelope and lone badger whose day we disrupted along the way. As we started cross country to a road in order to get back to launch, Dick discovered he didn't have his CB, so we detoured back to the area where he landed and commenced an allhands search. After about fiveminutes u was looking hopeless, when Martha asked Dick if he left it turned on? "No!" Dick replied, "I would never do that." Out of the comer of my eye, I saw her reach inside the truck and grab the mike. I jumped about three feet in the air when the bush next to me barked, "Break, one, two, three." Now I know how Moses felt. So much for not leaving the radio on; sometimes two wrongs come out alright after all. We got back to launch to discover that Joe Evans was reported down some 55 miles up the valley. Conditions had mellowed a bit and this time we all penetrated forward from launch, found a thermal and circled up over the back. I ran out of luck (talent?) over the flats and touched down some 18 miles northeast of launch. Dick made it about 50 miles, Shannon was out around 65 miles and Joe put the hat on everyone by following his 55-mile llight with a flight of about 75 miles. He could have gone farther, but he didn't need to to win the day. We were all impressed. The decision was made to hang around on Monday and try to run an official third round. Monday wasn't particularly soarable. It ended up with everyone scratching over the back trying to extend glides as far as possible. The longest flight was 20 miles to Brothers. Appropriately enough it was the meet organizer, Robin Ritter, who won the day with that flight. The meet finished with Dick Cassetta in first place followed by Joe Evans, and a tie for third between Jeff Huey and Shannon Raby. It couldn't have been any better; these four definitely out-flew the rest ofus on that final weekend. The trophies and champagne were passed out and everyone split for home. I don't know if I'll be flying in Region One's regional championships next year. However, I do know that I'll make a special effort to attend any meet put on by the Oregon fliers at Pine Mountain.•

COMPE'FITION CORNER

The 1988 U.S. Nationals Chattanooga, Tennessee, April 16-24 by Rick Jacob

Start saving your money folks, 'cause the '88 Nats are gonna be in the Chattanooga area and if you miss this one you're going to be sorry. Not only will this contest decide the 1988 National Champion, it will also be the qualifying event for the selection of the 1989 Women's World Team. For the first time in hang gliding history there will be a Women's National Champion crowned. If the above-mentioned items didn't catch your attention, maybe the fact that the Tennessee Tree Toppers and the Tennessee Valley Hang Gliding Association have teamed up to put on a bang-up event, will. Now folks, we're talking about some of the same pilots who brought you the last National Fly-In, as well as the home of the "Leisure Class." We're also talking about some of the best flying the East has to offer, and all this is offered to competitors during the peak season in Tennessee. Contest dates are April 16-24, 1988. This contest will be cross-country oriented, with open distance, out-andreturn and triangle tasks used to separate the men from the boys, or should we say "the boys from the girls," or maybe the "winners from the losers." Oh well, in any case, the winners in the National, International, and Women's classes will be the 1988 National Champions in each class. So sports fans, you need to know a few details so you can plan accordingly for next spring. At the last Board of Directors meeting in Boston the Sporting Class met its

demise. But don't give up yet, 'cause the newly-created National Class has risen to take its place. 1\venty pilots must register in this class for it to happen in '88. The International Class has taken the place of the World Class. Competition will be a bit stiffer in this class, as any pilot who has competed in an international event must enter this class. There are forty slots alloted for this class. The Women's Class is now a reality. You must be a woman to compete in this class. There are ten slots available to qualified pilots. As this is a National Championship, there are only two foreign slots alloted. Somewhat restricted sites make this necessary. Pilots must fly in a Regional Qualifier in order to qualify for the Nationals, unless: 1) He/she finished in one of top five places in either class in the previous Nationals. 2) He/she was forced to miss his/her regionals due to participation on the World Team at the FAI World Championships. 3) He/she finished in the top 10% of the field in any class in the most recently held FAI World Championship. The only other way you can register to compete in the Nationals is to be preregistered as quickly as possible for alternate slots. Any slots not filled by pilots who qualified in their Regional Qualifier will be filled by pilots who register for these "alternate slots." These slots will be filled on a "first-come,

first-serve" basis, with the postmark on the envelope containing a deposit of $150.00 (refundable), being the qualifier. The total entry fee for this year's Nationals is $275.00. This is a bit less than last year, but still, in order to pull off a quality event it is necessary to make numerous site improvements. These improvements will allow multiple launches at some sites. Also, road improvements will be required so that all sites will have two-wheel drive access. Additional information and registration information can be obtained from: Rick Jacob 9625 Vine Street Ooltewah, TN 37363 (615)-238-5568

MONTANA CROSS COUNTRY CHALLENGE by Roger Lockwood

This was the second year for the Montana Cross Country Challenge (MCCC) lind the summer of 1987 saw a long-standing record broken: Carlin Onstad smashed Berney Hallin's old record of 86 miles by 69 miles. Carlin, flying a Moyes GTR, launched at 11:57 A.M. and flew 155.3 miles from the lower launch of the South Hill located in the Highwood mountain range. The range is approximately 30 miles east of Great Falls with the launch at 1,000 feet AGL. Carlin's flight was on May 9. The Highwoods sit on the edge of the beginning of the Great Basin, so all the best cross-country is over flatland, mostly cattle and wheat country. Carlin's flight, which lasted 5 hours and 11 minutes, ended 25 miles west of Jordan, Montana. At one point in his flight he had to decide whether to go on into territory with virtually no population or land at a ranch. He chose to land, spiralling down form an altitude of 5,000' AGL, with four or five hours of daylight remaining. This flight represents about one-third the width of the state.

HANG GLIDING

COMPETITION CORNER

Second place went to Robbie Brohaugh, flying a C-2. Robbie flew 90 miles from the same launch on May 3. He landed at Grass Range. Third place in the contest was taken by veteran pilot Mike Davis of Torah, who was the only entry from the west side of the Divide to turn a distance. He flew the gnarly Blackfoot Canyon, starting from the Mt. Sentinal launch site, for 24.5 miles. This canyon is steep with few landing sites. Mike as flying a Magic ill Racer. Our fourth place winner was Philip Olson of Great Falls. Philip just started flying last year and squeaked out an 8 1/2-mile flight. After launch he immediately gained 5,000 feet, turned around and landed, giving him the honor. Eighteen pilots entered this year's challenge and I really would like to thank everyone for the support. Several other flights over 50 miles were made by people in or out of the challenge throughout the year. I would also like to thank the following companies for donating prizes: Pacific Airwave, Hall Brothers, Maybee Sail Works, Bill Bennett, Glendiver Gliders, Moyes, Horse Prairie Hilton and Dennis Pagen. Anyone wishing to know more about flying the state of Montana can write or call: Roger Lockwood, Box 112, Glendive, MT 59330 (406) 365-5537.

REGION 10 QUALIFIER by John Lnwton

The Region 10 qualifier was held at Clinch mountain near Knoxville, Tennessee October 10-13. Clinch is a long narrow ridge which runs from about 10 miles northeast of Knoxville well into Virginia. It boasts two launches, one facing northwest the other southeast, with a common setup area. The site has passibly the best XC potential in the East with similar ridges on both sides which stretch for hundreds of miles. Clinch is

FEBRUARY 1988

being considered as a possible alternate site for the 1988 Nationals to be held in Chattanooga this April. The Meet Director, or "Meet Head," as he was commonly referred to was Frank "Tip" Rogers. Having decided not to fly in this meet for lack of a competitive glider, it was interesting for me to see what goes on from the chase crew perspective. "Tip" had this task down to a science, with all pilots calling a local store and giving their whereabouts to the storekeeper, who then relayed the information to the drivers. The result was all pilots getting back to the LZ in plenty of time to join in in the evening's festivities. The first day of competition conditions were light, with most pilots sinking out early, but most of them returned for a second flight. Christel Achmus went the farthest with 32 miles, with the rest of the field going between 7 and 15 miles. Day two saw very light conditions early, with several pilots making that crucial decision and launching too early. Clinch has a relatively short turnaround time which gave those who sunk out an opportunity get back up and try again. Around 2:30 PM Doug Lawton launched and worked what seemed to be a tiny thermal to around 2,500' over, and the launch rush began. Within minutes two dozen gliders were in the air and heading down the valley. Open distance to the northeast was the task, and since the drift was light everyone decided to follow the ridge. Later in the day the mountain began to converge which made for several 35+ mile flights on a very marginal day. After all pilots were retreived, Mike Eberhardt, Phil Harper and Chris Starbuck threw a major face stuffage party for everyone in the southeast LZ. On day three the conditions were prefrontal with light northwesterly winds which made ridge soaring possible but not easy. Chris Pyle, who was gracious enough to be the meet's wind dummy, launched around 11:30 and was barely maintaining. Needless to say this didn't create a lot of excitement among the pilots. Tip had put an ad in the University of Tennessee newspaper for drivers,

and just as I was getting acquainted with one of the respondents (a cute brunette named Naomi) I was asked by the "Meat Head" to wind dummy. By the time I got my Attack Duck set up conditions had improved but were still real light. I launched and after half an hour of scratching I finally got above. Conditions began improving but the cloud front of an approaching cold front was getting very close so people began launching. The task was open distance to the northeast and as the wind picked up so did the number of pilots in the air. Dave Thomson was the first to leave. This proved to be a very good decision since he went 65 miles on what turned out to be an overcast day. The majority of the field went around 35 miles with Jake Alsplaugh going 55 miles. All pilots were retrieved without much hassle, and many said they thought Tip would make an excellent meet director for the Nationals. By Monday the front had stalled over Clinch and at least five pilots were happy - those pilots in the top five places. The meet was called at 1:00 PM and the party commenced at Tip's house with the awards being given out by Bruce Hawk. Anyone interested in flying Clinch may contact Hawk Airsports, P.O. Box 9056, Knoxville, TN 37940-0056 (615) 523-8531. Expect excellent XC days, long flights, and friendly people. • Region 10 Qualifier -- Results Total Distance Place 1) 2) 3) 4)

5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

10) 11)

12) 13) 14) 15) 15)

Pilot Christel Achmus Doug Lawton Mark "Curly" Dunn Greg Bal\ Doug Hileman Steve Lee Phil Harper Jake Alsplaugh Al Pernell Dave Thomson Mike Eberhardt Greg Wojnowski Chris Smith Rick Jacob Ben Degarris Jerry Dodgen

(Miles) Glider 216.19 Solar Wings Ace 187.71 HP II Racer 185.38 GTR Racer

173.35 172.7 165.9 155.24 142.8 138.2 131.3 131.1 130.3 114.0 73.5 51.15 51.15

HP II Racer Sport Full Race Sport HP II Racer HP II Racer Sensor 510 B Sensor 510 B HP II Racer Sport HP II Racer Full Race Sport Sport Magic IV Racer

COMPETITION CORNER THE 1987 SNAKE RIVER X-C CHALLENGE

The competition this year saw some truly remarkable flying; 100-mile flights were made from five different Idaho sites and four pilots bettered their personal bests by flying close to the magic 100-mile mark. We explored a lot of new country and managed to share this "down wind" experience with other pilots at our wingtips. Paul Allen had the strongest showing of the season when he flew 140 miles from King Mountain into the middle of Yellowstone Park. He knew not where he was until, on final approach, he smelled the sulfer, saw the dozens of tourists, and chased some elk from the clearing. Other notable flights for Paul included: 133 miles from Quake Hill near Challis; 112 miles to Wyoming from Sumaria; and 107 miles from Big Southern Butte. Ken Cavanaugh fulfilled his longsought dream of flying triple digits. He captured the Idaho State record at 114 miles until Paul landed a half hour later in Yellowstone. Ken also joined Paul on a flight that approached 100 miles, later in the year, from Quake Hill, just north of Bora on the Lost River Range. Frank Gillette had quite a year. He really showed his stuff at the King Mountain meet where he dominated the competition through the first two rounds before getting bumped to second place again. Luckily for the rest of the local pilots Frank didn't really get his act rolling until he discovered the possibilities of his own Mt. Harrison late in the season. It wasn't until late August that the potential was realized and Frank started calling in 60, 88, and then a 100-mile flight from his hill. He even recorded a 40-mile flight in mid October! On the last day of the King Mountain meet everyone was already celebrating Frank's victory when the startling news came in that Eiji Yakoda was airborne over Driggs. Eiji won the meet on that day with a flight of 94 miles on a day

when twenty of Idaho's best could barely get out of the valley. A later flight of 95 miles proved his victory was no fluke. Chris Kastner and Ken Schreck both had flights of about 70 miles from King Mountain during the meet. Ken later bettered this mark while flying 72 miles with Frank from Mt. Harrison. Dave Kriner bettered last year's 50-miler with a slightly longer effort, this time from King Mountain on the same day the new state record was recorded. He's flying very well this year on a newer model Comet. In the Amateur Class there were four entrants. All have had excellent flights this year. Mike Smith flew 31 miles uprange during the King Mt. meet to place first. From the same site Terry Wild, Rick Morrison, and Jay Balas later flew together for an extended period before landing near Pass Creek to establish several personal bests. Terry

later took second place from Big Southern Butte with a flight of 20 miles.

RESULTS Open Class Place

Pilot

Glider

Location

Distance

I) 2)

6) 7)

Paul Allen Ken Cavanaugh Frank Gillette Eiji Yakoda Ken Schreck Chris Kastner Dave Kriner

Sport Mystic Sport X'cel Duck Sensor Comet

King Mt. King Mt. Mt. Harrison King Mt. Mt. Harrison King Mt. King Mt.

140 miles 114 miles 100 miles 95 miles 72 miles 'ill miles 55 miles

Place

Pilot

Glider

Location

Distance

I) 2) 3)

Mike Smith Terry Wtlde Rick Morrison Jay Balas

HP Sport Comet Sport

King Mt. Big So. Butte King Mt. King Mt.

31 miles 20 miles 18 miles 13 miles

3) 4)

Amateur Class

WINTER HANG GLIDER FL YING TlP 0 (!)

tl 0

() (J

e, ~

O 0

()

l;:i

(;

0 Cl ~

<;)

()

"' C, ~

()

() C)

"1l 0'tiDD

I.I

D u t )

& I

(l I)

• l;:i

I .., (I

"' ...,, b

LAND BEf:ORE TH1= WfND SOCk IS COVERE..D E?'( SNOW.

HANG GLIDING

l'he author at Walt's Point, in the Owen's Dale

' I counted on the gu:mance and suppmt that Dale has me and I wanted to cross with him. Dale found a thermal that boosted him to make the to Bald but I missed it. So, I radioed Dale to go around ahead; I would turn back and the familiar old for the rest of the Back at launch I found thermal that blasted me up over feet, than I'd ever even feet heard of anyone there before. Down and to the east I saw an immense white wall in Fur·· ther back was the eastern escarpment of 18

like snr1w-,:'.annect waves. I that a better pilot at my altitude would think about flying east. But I flew to Bald and back. I flew around Valley for hours. Later that week flew across that with much less altitude. Just as I had left the of the mountain I'd now I was willing to venture far from my familiar landing area. When I could find no more lift was reconciled to from the LZ, I was A thermal had formed under us, and after the bird shot above me and disaptteai0ed, I got to make it back. I got to far away, to with one of the best, and to land in the too. as my summer What I was

~~,,n~''"'·""'' was a new kind of

a kind which i11de1oer1dence from the familiar old mmmtain, the familiar old landing area and most importantly, from the constant l!u1uu111,;c of other And I was rewarded in turn with new mc1ep,em:1er1ce. Incieo,enc:ien,ce, of course, from the limita·1:m1urnJ11~ 011 the but also from many limitations in I learned to count 011 in the air. In late Dale and I made a I was of the m<1t~per1<1ence I

HANG GLIDING

from the launch site as you So much for the old familiar Ianarea! The is framed by three mvumaw ranges. Mount is the but all An average miles away from the is the 395, and between The tension feel there is the desire to stay in aware mouut1ins to find the need, if that lift proves elusive, to close to a road. I'm to assert mdep,mdenc:e from an established

"what the heck" and the canyon with what altitude I had. the heck," said to nr"N""'"' I flew north on the range. After crosstwo or three I met Lone Pine Set out farther east than the rest of instead '""l''"'"U of

had touched down next to her truck. I resolved to assert my from Joan, too, on my next flight. The next I headed north up over Lone Pinc Peak, past Whitney Portal and on into new At the southernmost of Mount Williamson the the self-confidence I'd summer came on strong. I climbed to 13,000 feet, the I'd ever been. With all this I I could afford to on one or two and catch up with my fast friends. two, and on the northern I'd sunk so low the looked parto get nervous. and I called

for me, Joan was in town gct-

nrr"m"'""" for tbe gang and couldn't

and

to be! I are southeast and within a half hour I

FrmRUARY 1988

hear my distress call. I found lift while for her and got back up At Onion I was rewarded a redwoods and lakes. Ahead, I could see, the range moved further from the And I could that the flows of when I drove for other me nice road snaked out of

Onion ed the desert into town. If I followed that road out and landed now I would exceed my greatest ex1:rectations of my year. I had not only survived tbe Owens but I had fallen in love with it I had flown three times as far as I had ever flown before. But if I landed now I would risk a bunch of who had heard stories of Owens flights "You didn't fly miles?" I understood a new definition indle!Jj!ndlem~e from high over Onion Road. I should answer only to meet new with enuninhibited by accounts of what others had done, would do, or wanted me to do. Of all the lessons in inct,epcnde:nce I'd had the this one touched me most ed east to follow the road to town. I landed in a little clear spot in the saia:eb:rush. It was so hot on the fainted. I the bottle of water I'd flown with. It was cold as ice from its in the mountains. I had landed in the most beautiful of four towns nestled in the Owens between miles from my takeoff as luck would have it, was 1nc1c:penctem:e. Ill

ACCIDENT REPORTS

Landing Approach and Aerobatics Pilot Rating: Intermediate Experience: 3 years Glider: Sensor

Pilot Rating: Advanced Experience: 11 years Glider: Doesn't matter

Event: Pilot made last tum onto final at 40 feet. Kicked out of harness as he rolled out of the turn. Pulled in for wind gradient, but too little too late. Glider sank rapidly to the ground. Attempted flare was ineffective; glider flew into the ground.

Event: Experienced aerobatic pilot did final loop at 500 feet. At the end of the loop the glider stalled, tailslid, tumbled and broke, and began a slow stable spin upside down at about 300 feet. Pilot attempted to throw chute but it did not open. Slowly mapleleafed to the ground.

Injuries: Broken wrist.

Injuries: Broken ankle. Pilot Rating: Advanced Experience: 4 years Glider: ProAir Dawn 162 Event: 140-pound pilot on final approach. Mild turbulence caused one wing to drop. Pilot attempted to correct but glider dove into the ground (stall vs. too light wing loading). Injuries: Dislocated elbow. Pilot Rating: Intermediate Experience: 7 years, 350 flights Glider: Airwave Magic Event: Setup too high, overshot landing area. As pilot was preparing to flare, one wing stalled, glider turned crosswind and slammed to the ground.

Analysis: There have been a significant number of aerobatically-induced accidents this year. There is no make or model predominance. Usually there is a stall near the

Landings continue to be a problem. Set up your approach with plenty of margin for error or condition change . .. Don't do more than one thing at a time." 11

Injuries: Broken arm. Analysis: Landings continue to be a problem. Set up your approach with plenty of margin for error or condition change. Make that last tum with plenty of altitude for a smooth straight-in final. Go upright with plenty of altitude. Don't do more than one thing at a time. (Tum, go upright and pass through the gradient.) Expect the gradient to try to stall you. Land straight into the wind. Carrying sufficient speed between 50 and 2 feet of altitude is the real key. Flare timing and flare authority are of course important, but it is what happens before the flare that breaks bodies. KEEP THE SPEED UP ON FINAL.

FEBRUARY 1988

top of the maneuver, with tailslide and tumble. Most gliders are breaking, but not all. Most pilots have been able to deploy their chutes, but again, not all. Some of the gliders have slowly spun in. We are extremely fortunate that we have had only one aerobatically-related fatality this year ('87). Obviously aerobatics should be done with enough altitude to recover/deploy should something go wrong. Inexperienced aerobatic pilots need to interact with the experts before trying that first loop. I still believe that ejectable parachute systems are mandatory for aerobatics (in addition to the usual hand-thrown chute). BE VERY WARY OF AEROBATICS.

American Red Cross 21

NOTE: The opinions and ideas presented in this article are those of the author only, and do not necessarily represent the position of the USHGA or this publication.

am not nonnally a wishy-washy individual, but for several years I have vacillated over the decision to write this article. What finally prompted me to do so was the recent flurry of accidents and near misses experienced by aerobatic pilots. At the 1984 Nationals I joined about fifty other pilots as a spectator at a prolonged horror show. A Japanese pilot, trying his first "wingover," stalled and tumbled his glider. We watched as he pitched over and over more than ten revolutions - until finally his parachute ejected by itself due to centrifugal force. The parachute bridle wrapped up in the tumbling glider, but the canopy opened in stages and awarded him a trip to the hospital instead of the morgue. The irony of the situation is that this pilot had been asking everyone he knew how to do "wingovers" for days before his fateful attempt. Our collective response was either, "You don't want to do 'wingovers' if you're serious about competition," or, "Go ask Rob Kells." Rob was presenting seminars on aerobatics at the time - very good ones, I might add. In these seminars he made everyone aware of the dangers of aerobatics and pointed out many things most pilots had not previously considered. He did not actually teach neophyte pilots how to perform wingovers, so I'm sure he didn't tell our Japanese friend anything that would get him into such an awful predicament. The point is that a certain number of pilots want to learn to do "wingovers" despite all our warnings to the contrary. A certain number of pilots are bold enough to try to teach themselves. After watching our tumbling Japanese, I resolved to tell those pilots who inquired to me personally, who displayed certain skills and who exhibited maturity, some of the techniques for learning simple aerobatics in a safe, gradual manner. However, I recently witnessed two 22

FIGURE!.

separate incidents in which pilots stalled their gliders in wingover attempts with less than 400 feet ground clearance. A polite inquiry as to what they were doing elicited the same response: They were trying to learn wingovers on their own since no one would teach them. I imagine it happens all the time - pilots jeopardizing their lives in their early wingover attempts. For this reason I believe it is time to present some basic guidelines for learning aerobatics.

THE LITTLE GOOD AND BIG BAD Before we go any further, please allow me to present my background and philosophy concerning aerobatics. I first started performing extracurricular aerial activity by doing spins in a standard in late 1974. I progressed to whip stalls (see below) because I had heard they were the hot item out west.

My progress was hampered in the summer of 1975 when a gust turned a whip stall into a tuck and plummet. This was before parachutes were normal gear, so all I could do was to spread out on the sail and hope to hit the trees below. I hit the parking lot. My subsequent role as an invalid left me plenty of time to contemplate the stupidity of my actions and a realization that this sport I loved could actually kill me if I didn't slow down. My next experience with aerobatics began after the 1976 Nationals at Dog Mountain. By that time "wingovers" had become all the rage, as practiced most notably by Bob Wills (as in Wills Wing). A few words about lazyeights (see below) and climbing turns from Dean Thnji was all I needed. Yes, once again folks, I was off experimenting on my own, but this time I knew a little more about the dangers and took a gradual approach. HANG GLIDING

Since that time I have performed unknown hundreds of "wingovers." I have not yet come close to stalling in one, but I maintain constant vigilance to prevent such a dire occurrence. I have not performed "wingovers" past about 130° (a 90° "wingover" is one with the wings perpendicular to the horizon, a 130° "wingover" is one 40° past this) and generally I limit myself to 90° due to altitude considerations. My philosophy concerning aerobatics is simple: I do them because they are fun. However, I limit myself to smooth conditions and mellow "wingovers" and I took years to build up my judgement and skill. To those contemplating experimenting with aerobatics, I can say this: You will be exposing yourself to a much greater chance of dying or suffering severe injuries if you decide to proceed. If I knew what I know now when I started, I probably would not be doing "wingovers" today. The most dangerous phases are when learning aerobatics as a beginner (no matter how long you've been flying) and when trying to extend your limits. Despite all our caveats, there is one positive safety aspect to performing aerobatics. An experienced aerobatic pilot is less distraught when his or her glider gets knocked into unusual attitudes by turbulence or a mistake. This aids in cool thinking, and long practice produces the correct responses. Besides the dangers of loss of control, tumbling, breaking, parachute failure and slamming into the ground, other drawbacks include ruining your glider and spreading a blase attitude. If you perform aerobatics on your glider you stretch the sail and reduce performance. It's a fact of life. As we told our hapless Japanese pilot, if you're serious about competition or cross-country flying, don't do aerobatics. I personally do not perfonn aerobatics on a glider with which I expect to compete. How about attitude? Every time we get radical in front of a group of pilots we turn heads and induce others to share in the glory. Without the support of a club that can explain to new pilots the dangers of aerobatics, we may be influencing others to "go for it" long before they are ready. There are whole areas of the country where a reckless attitude is endemic. In places like this, you are adding to the problem by performing aerobatics. We are our brothers' keepers because in this sport everyone learns and takes cues from everyone else. Pilots who perform aerobatics are perceived to be expert pilots by those less experienced, but unfortunateFEBRUARY

1988

ly this perception is sometimes wrong and results in the transference of unsafe attitudes.

PREPARING TO PERFORM The first thing you should do is to read and reread John Heiney's excellent article on aerobatics in the last issue of this magazine. John speaks with a voice of authority, having experienced plenty of aerobatic vicissitudes, including accidents and championships. Listen to what he says about dangers and preparation. The second thing you should do is obtain a portable mirror, sit in a comfortable chair and hold the mirror eight inches in front of your face. Look at that person peering back at you and ask yourself in all candor why you want to perform aerobatics. Be sure he or she answers honestly with no mendacity, equivocation or prevarication. If the emphasis is on "perform," then that person probably should not attempt aerobatics. The point is, ego is a big part of our sport and showing off can make you dead, because swelling pride obscures judgement. If you find yourself dreaming of wowing the crowd with your aerial prowess, then you should consider waiting until you acquire more maturity. For little cost you can have the words LOOK AT ME! imprinted on your sail which will probably garner you just as much attention and spare your life. The third thing you should do is to experience all the flying modes of which your glider is capable, short of more serious aerobatics. This includes steep-banked turns, slipping turns, spirals (a coordinated diving turn which results from a continuous slip), dives and stalls (not whip stalls). The reason

you must practice all these maneuvers is to become totally familiar with your glider's controls in all flying configurations. Here is a brief rundown on each maneuver: 1) STEEP TURNS. This will get you used to pulling Gs due to centrifugal force. Work up to coordinated multiple 360s and watch out for vertigo. 2) SLIPPING TURNS. Enter these by initiating a turn without pushing out after the glider banks. Start gradually (shallow banks) with plenty of altitude (1,000 feet or more). Stop the slip by leveling the wings and bleeding off speed carefully (see dive). 3) SPIRALS. If you continue to hold a slip, your glider will enter a spiral due to its yaw stability. This diving, coordinated turn increases G loading rapidly, so level the wings with a roll control input and bleed off speed carefully. 4) DIVES. Dive your glider by pulling in on the bar. If you hold this position your glider's stability will make it pull up eventually. If you let the bar out during this climbout you will stall and possibly tuck. Thus, you must start with very shallow dives. End them by slowing up gradually. Next, try dives with a bit more pull-in. Eventually your glider will pull up itself at which point you must pull in more to prevent a severe stall. Once the glider slows its climb and starts to dive again, you ease the bar out to resume normal flying speed. One or more oscillations may occur before you can stabilize your speed. CAUTION: You can only dive so steep-

F/GURJ::: 2..

BASIC WANGS

ly before your glider climbs out so strongly, due to its natural stability, that you cannot stop it from stalling at a very nose-high attitude, no matter how much you pull in. Only a roll control (that produces a "wingover") will prevent such a dangerous stall (sometimes). Dives should be practiced with great care using the gradual approach. 5) STALLS. The proper way to produce a stall is to fly at a minimum sink speed for ten seconds, then push out slowly. Practice recoveries by easing the control bar back to chest position after the stall break occurs. If you jerk the bar back when the glider naturally wants to rotate nose downward, you can increase the rotation and endanger your life. A stall produced by slowing down too fast when you are flying faster than minimum sink speed is a whip stall and can kill you.

WHAT IS A WANG? Now we arrive at the hard part: defining our terms. We chose to define aerobatics as flying a glider so that the placarded limits are intentionally exceeded. With this broad definition, we see that some of the practices in the above section are aerobatics. We are in more trouble when we try to define a "wingover." You may have noticed the quotation marks around the word wingover. That's because a hang glider really can-

not perform a true wingover. To see what I mean, look at figure 1. Here we see a sailplane performing a wingover. It begins with a dive followed by a climbout, a yaw around one wing to another dive, then a level-out. Since we have no direct yaw control on our gliders (we don't have a rudder), we cannot perform such a feat. When a hang glider pilot attempts to do a wingover in the manner described, he ends up producing a hammerhead stall as shown in figure 2. Once the glider is climbing vertically we can effect yaw control, but by then the glider is slowing rapidly and is very close to a stall. If you or a pilot you observe are performing such maneuvers, put a stop to such practices immediately! This is a very dangerous maneuver which will eventually result in a severe outcome, as exemplified by the fate of our Japanese friend. What the pilots are doing wrong in the above maneuver (assuming they are trying to continue enjoying a life of flying) is initiating roll control too late. The properly performed maneuver appears as in figure 3. This is a pitching and rolling maneuver. Since it is not a tme wingover, the terms rollover, climbover and wang were invented. To avoid further confusion (which is perhaps why some pilots perform hammerhead stalls) we will refer to the maneuver we are trying to analyze - the one you see aerobatic pilots perform - as a wang.

Essentially, a wang is a climbing tum. The added G loading due to centrifugal force during the pullout from a dive allows you to produce slightly faster roll control although the roll control forces are much greater. Your body's trajectory during the climbout is ballistic in nature, while your glider continually pulls away from you even when you are no longer directly below it, just as it does in a tum. The secret to a properly performed wang is to produce the right amount of roll before the speed slows at the top of the climb. There is more roll required (a steeper wang) for a greater entry speed. To learn wangs, start with gentle climbing turns. Pull on a little speed, ease the bar out and roll into a tum. You must practice hundreds of these until you fully anticipate your glider's reaction. Do these one at a time. Linking them builds up too much speed and changes your orientation. Work up to a 45 ° bank angle climbing tum as shown in figure 4. Do this in both directions. CAUTION: Although this maneuver sounds simple, I am in no way suggesting that it be tried by beginner or novice pilots. In fact, unless you refuse to listen to common sense and insist on trying aerobatics, there is no reason to practice the above maneuvers. Even at this stage of the game you can make a deadly mistake. Be sure to maintain a minimum of 1,500 feet ground clearance throughout all this practice. The next step is to create linked climbing turns in a figure eight pattern known as lazyeights (see figure 5). The reason you perform a figure eight (which requires reversing turns) is to maintain your heading. If you turn the same way every time you produce a multi-lobed figure. After hundreds oflazy eights you are ready for a change of pattern and a little more speed. When producing steeper wangs, it is better to do them continuously in the same direction to preserve roll momentum. This can help prevent a stall that can occur if not enough roll is produced. If you get behind on roll control, your glider's natural yaw stability will not rotate the nose downward before you lose too much speed. Now you may be ready to try steeper wangs. To do this you must gain more speed by pulling in on the bar in level flight mode. Increase the amount and sharpness of the pull-in until you gain the desired speed. Here are the essential controls (refer to figure 3): 1) Pull in at A to initiate the dive. The glider will begin to pull out on its own at B HANG GLIDING

while you hold your bar position. Do not push out here! 2) When you are past the level point and beginning to climb, ease the bar out (to about chin or eye position) while at the same time producing a roll input (point C). You will feel a strong G force from point B to D. 3) The roll input is given almost totally at C while pitch control is fed gradually from C to D. These controls are held while the glider does its stuff, climbing and rolling to E. At E, a little more pitch out may be eased into the bar if airspeed is still way above stall. By F, you should begin to roll out of the bank (move to the high side) and bring the bar back to neutral pitch, about chest position. The pitch control should be completed by G while the roll control continues until the wings are level. The dangers and mistakes many pilots encounter are applying too little or too late roll input or pushing out too soon or too much. Remember, every glider has a characteristic roll and pitch response that requires a specific amount of roll and pitch control to produce a proper and safe wang. If you effect too much roll control or too little pitch control, you will simply enter a slip and then a spiral. Once you do steeper wangs one at a time, the next step is to link them (going the same way). This will require you to maintain your orientation and will provide you with much greater entry speed (maybe too much!) as you exit each wang with a dive. Again, proceed with caution and link only two at a time, then three, etc. SETTING L™ITS There are limits which we all must set, according to our own experience, practice time, equipment and natural abilities (like spatial judgement, eye-hand coordination, equilibrium maintenance, strength, etc.). FEBRUARY 1988

Personally, I do not do loops and probably never will. Spins can be performed on certain hang gliders, but they have resulted in very bizarre (yes, that's the correct word) reactions on the part of the glider and stretch a glider more than would be expected. Whip stalls are performed only by the ignorant (definition: unknowing). Performing whip stalls is the surest way to invite severe in-

"I have provided this guideline because so many pilots are risking their lives trying to learn aerobatics through trial and error. Even with the information given, you will be risking your life unnecessarily." jury, short of flying into the ground in another aircraft. Any aircraft can tuck as a result of a whip stall. There are better ways to gain speed for a maneuver. One limit that we all should consider is that in many parts of the country (east of the Rockies?) we cannot readily gain enough altitude to learn aerobatics safely unless we are climbing in thermals. Everyone should

know by now that aerobatics and thermal turbulence don't mix. As a point of clarity, let me point out that a 180 ° wang is not the same as a loop. The former requires lots of speed and lots of roll. The latter requires speed but no roll at all. The former is more forgiving of mistakes. A number of times I have been among a group of pilots who witnessed a near 180° wang and thought they witnessed a loop. The problem is that they spread the word that pilot X is looping, so others are induced to try this more dangerous maneuver. The number of pilots who are performing true loops is less than ten in this country, and quite a few of them are flying special gliders (reinforced sails, extra battens, stronger crossbars, stiffer leading edges, etc.). One more word of caution: If you ever find yourself in any strange attitude or configuration at any undesireable airspeed, the best thing you can do in general is to immediately move strongly to one side of the control bar with the bar at chest position for pitch (unless, of course, you are in a dive in which case you should center on the bar at chest position). Be sure to wear a parachute at all times. In conclusion, let me reiterate that I do not condone anyone learning to perform aerobatics. I have provided this guideline because so many pilots are risking their lives trying to learn aerobatics through trial and error. Even with the information given, you will be experimenting and risking your life unnecessarily. I would suggest that competition and cross-country flying are aspects of hang gliding that offer personal rewards much greater than aerobatic flying. Living to enjoy another pristine flying day is much more important than impressing the fans in the landing zone.•

WILLS WING FOR 1988 Leading The Field . HPII 170 Full Race

$3150

For the serious, most highly skilled and most experienced pilots, the HPII Full Race is the top performing glider on the market. It is the only glider in production that has ever been flown more than 200 miles, and it is the choice of six of the eight 1988 U.S. World Team pilots.

Sport 150/167 Sport American 167

$2950 $2650

The most popular glider on the market in 1987, the Sport I Sport American promises to repeat in 1988 as the first choice among quality conscious soaring and cross country pilots seeking true high performance without compromise.

Skyhawk 168 I 188

$1995

A favorite for years among recreational pilots from beginner through the advanced soaring stage, the Skyhawk continues to offer the most relaxed, enjoyable flying you can find at a very affordable price. ALL MODELS ABOVE ARE HGMA CERTIFIED

1208 H East Walnut . Santa Ana. CA

Sport 150 Photo by Eric Raymond

(714) 547-1344

Telex 67 8668

Most of us learn to be hang drivers out of necessity and by exposure. Somehow that seems to demean the task and there is a more responsible approach which will make the job more fun. Tammy Lynn Douglas' article in Hang Gliding (June, 1986) discussed some of the care and feeding necessary by pilots to maintain happy and contented drivers, as well as some excellent tips on successful cross-country retrieving. Tammy's Hang Driver Proficiency Rating should be supported by all of us:

Hang Driver I: Going out to sites with the pilot (spectator).

Hang Driver II: Paved roads (long or short). Hang Driver ill: Short dirt roads and longer roads that have been graded.

Hang Driver IV: Slate rock, extremely windy, long, steep dirt roads.

Hang Driver V: All of above including XC without losing any of the pilots. If a driver is going to be successful at support and retrieval she (no sexual slur intended against male drivers, but the vast majority of drivers are female) will need to \earn about the following: 1) Terms and setup of a glider: It is impressive if a pilot asks for a nose cone and you hand it to him without the traditional "What's that?" It is also helpful when one needs to help break down a glider in a hurry so you can get to dinner at your mom's. 2) Gear bag and tool box: Encourage your pilot to have all the gear and tools in one or two containers so you can find the widget he needs when you are performing the all important duty of Go-For ("Gopher"). The most important tool in the pilot's chest is the duct tape. This roll of wide grey tape is used to mend, repair, attach, or seal just about everything. It is the chewing gum of the 80's. 3) Communication: Pilots need some means of communicating with the driver usually the CB or FM radio (learn how to operate it). Establish a telephone message point (where someone will be home) if you lose communication contact and are unable to find each other. (Make sure the pilot has some change in his pocket, too.) What does the driver need for herself? I have found the following very valuable and won't leave home without them: I) Hat. 2) Sunscreen. 3) Jacket (even if it's 100 degrees outside). 4) Shoes (not thongs). 5) Jeans (if wearing shorts). FEBRUARY

1988

Hang Driving The Finer Art by Linda Hildreth 6) Money (he'll forget his). 7) Something to do (reading/writing/games) for those hours of waiting for the wind to blow up the hill. 8) Keys to the rig with a knife on the ring. 9) Compass. 10) Map of the area to be flown (learn to read it too). II) Drink and food (ice chest).

12) 2-5 gallons of water. 13) First aid kit. 14) Toilet paper.

LAUNCH The driver can do several things to assure a safe launch. Demand a hang check from any pilot who launches while you're there. To assist with a hang check hold the nose

level and firmly, and while the pilot hangs look to see that all his straps are even and symmetrical. Also, look at the glider for wires in usual position and battens secured. Demand to see the leg straps on cocoons and pod harnesses. This way the pilot will not fall out of his harness. Rarely does a pilot take time to teach a driver how to wire or nose assist his launch. Usually what happens is some on-the-job training which is incomplete and very risky at best. There are some things to know ahead of time. Both nose and wire assist are needed in stronger conditions. Learn the behavior of the wind (see below) so you can anticipate the moves of the pilot and the activity of the glider. Holding a side wire when the pilot is close to launch means allowing the wire to move freely between your fingers (shaping your fingers like a circle). The pilot will need feedback from you about which wey the wire is pulling: up, down, or neutral; so talk to him. He may also tell you to move the wing up, down, forward, back, or to hang on tight. Nose wire assist is quite similar. Holding both nose wires, following the pilot's directions, and providing feedback remain the same. The difference is in the command "Clear!" which means, "Release the wire. I'm going now." At that point you have two to three seconds to get out of the way. All the way out of the way. Before nose assisting determine where you want to go. Remember that your body must be low enough for the control bar, flying wires and pilot to fly over. This can mean face down on the ground. Get your pilot to go over these launch assist things with you while waiting for the wind to improve, not on launch.

WIND Oh, the wind. It is caroled and blamed for all great flights and all the sled runs. Wind is reasonably understandable and there are some books out on micrometeorology that make sense of it. Dennis Pagen's book Flying Conditions: Micrometeorology for Pilots is short (100 pages) and full of pictures and illustrations. It is a great start. Then just standing on launch and looking at the trees, bushes, lake, ocean white caps, clouds and feeling the wind and its rhythm is practical. When the pilots are talking about stuff like thermals, or ridge lift, remember to ask your pilot in the privacy of your luxury tent what it's all about. You won't be able to stop him talking. The most frequent question seems to be, 30

"Where is it (wind) coming from?" The simplist way to answer is "from the road to the trees," or "up the front." Then no one is confused about north, south, east and west. Wind socks are very useful in the landing zone (LZ), but if there is no sock or you don't have time to put it out, face the wind, bend over at the hips and put your arms back like a glider. This position is easily seen from the air. You may catch some flack from the guys behind you but your pilot will land safely. The next question seems to be, "How fast is it (wind) blowing?" This takes practice or a wind meter. You can learn by questioning the pilot periodically about how strong he feels the wind is then. Without the wind meter it takes some time to practice interpreting the different speeds. No need to be extremely accurate either. Say it's 5, 10, or 15 - that's close enough. SAFETY Hang gliding is a sport not without its risks, so there are some accidents. It is usually the driver who is the first one there, and knowing what to do can help reduce injuries and save lives. First and foremost, stabilize the glider if the pilot is still hooked in. Put the nose or tail on the ground, pointing into the wind. This may mean carefully turning the glider. Otherwise, the glider may blow around, dragging the pilot everywhere, making injuries worse. Second, UNHOOK! UNHOOK! the pilot. Carabiners are the metal oval connector between the harness and the glider and they often have a nut to untwist. Often the pilot is in such a position that there is too much tension on the straps to unhook him. So cut the hang strap, not the harness strap. The hang strap is very inexpensive and is the one above the carabiner attached to the glider. Some pilots carry a small hook knife; this driver has a knife on her key ring. Third, leam first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from the American Red Cross or American Heart Association. It is just plain useful in an everyday life situation. Fourth, some ONE must be in charge of the accident scene until an ambulance arrives. Either take charge or appoint someone. If you are in charge send someone (call him by name) to get an ambulance by telephone or CB, and send someone else to the major road junction to direct the ambulance.

FIRST AID There are some injuries typically associated with hang gliding: heat stroke, concussion and broken bones primarily. Heat stroke is an avoidable but usually unforeseen occurrence affecting drivers, pilots and "wuffos" (spectators). People who get heat stroke are: children who go off, play in the hot sun and don't get anything to drink; pilots who won't drink because they will have to urinate and cut their flight short; and rescuers who work hard in the heat and ignore their symptoms. Obviously, drinking liquids before going out to the site helps greatly to prevent heat stroke. Drinking liquids while waiting for the wind to change is as essential. So is shade. Some of the symptoms of heat stroke are: dizziness, headache, faintness, flushed dry skin and stopping sweating. If you think someone has heat stroke get them to drink and get them very wet all over (especially head, groin and armpits). This condition is life-threatening since the body core temperature can get to 110 degrees. Get the person to the hospital promptly. Concussion occurs when the pilot blows a launch or landing and hits his head. Concussion means the pilot has bruised his brain and blacked out even for a minute. If the pilot us unconscious when you arrive assume he has broken his neck. Check his breathing, check his pulse and check for bleeding. (This is why we should know First Aid/CPR.) If he is dazed he won't want to stay down, but firmly encourage him to sit or lie down for a little while. It is very difficult to do, because the pilot will be embarrassed and his ego will be dented. Again, get the pilot to the hospital. Broken bones are the most common of all hang gliding injuries. If the limb is obviously distorted, create a splint out of something firm. If there is bleeding cover the wound with a dressing or clean piece of clothing; apply pressure for five minutes without looking before splinting. And get the pilot to the hospital. Deciding about using an ambulance or private car depends upon the location of the accident. If you decide to transport the pilot yourself try to have someone else go with you. It's difficult to help the injured person and drive at the same time. Hang gliding is great fun for the pilots, and the drivers can make it enjoyable for themselves with a little planning and discovery. Some of the most incredible scenery can be seen from the driver's seat.• HANG GLJDING

M'I f1RH EY.fU,le.Nc.€ \tJIT)I fL'l\NC,. W,\5 WHEN ! WA~ A !Me'{, MV Mo/fl ToL'P MF THAT 0/.J TIIE

t-\osr E.1/E:(?SONE. YEARNS 10 fl.~ 1 AN!l ! WAS NO

S.XC.E..PT10N.

S0/1'1€ Lvl-lERI:

Wit~ TO CAJ.1FoRN IA, 1\le: AIR.t.11.JU, f)JcoVNfU(I> ENC,,/NE 'J>P-o0L.EMS ANJ> "Tlte'i I\At> T[) 'TliR.OW ~'JlflH o!lE..'S 1L1<...&AC,.E OIIT of TRE PLAN£ TO MAKE 1T OVE9, SoM~ MOUNTAINS. )VT THAT "PoE5/J T' C6LINT CAl/SE J 1)o11'r 'R~ME MeER. 1HAT ~VER. HAPffNl/16:

. 1 ~ .. ~kio·"'.J,

WH~,IJ ! f1rJA1..L'{ C.AMf.

.. ~

1Ht"l Oil~ 5 uMME.R W~tl€: l\eA})/N 6 '.BAc.K WEST, ..

io G-R1f5 WIT~ 'R.£AL1i'i 1 soot\! RfAt.lZED TMr

.! fA55ED if\ROUG-11 '{os£ Mirr

NAT L i'ARK

1"\\~11.E W/\S i')\l'i '61G- (RiY,,.IJ) cf 'l'~OPI..E $r4tJl> II.JG- Tt!ER.( w,r~ 1H~IR. NM.S \JP 1,J TIIE A1P... •• , , 13EFoRf 8 PJti J

J.E'A\l.Ji!NG- 10 fl'( Wov.L.'t, REMAIN A '}ReAM fo~

&~:¥~11 f.l'.)

A LONG- TIM€ 10 COME.

, _ _ , .- /'-" ' :~>r~~1~~e,JF

?ff_J&x/r~

J>E-TER/'f11NED NoT TO 11v\1JSFoRM

INT<> A l.EMMIN~ l WT /flY ~EAD 'PoW/J.

Bur HUMAN NATtJR£ ffiE.YAIJ.eD, AND ! l..O-Oli<f P Up 'Ttl SE.£ oNE oF i~E GRANDEST Sl&Hn ! HAP EVER SE.EN

1T WA~ TIN~

AT F1RST .•. A ~ncK AC,1111<5T 1~E SK.'{ ANP

MoONTAINS.

I oNE AfT~ AMOTil£R THE.'{ LAN!)i;'[) 61J 111e tJAm't' FLooR..

l DtD~/r KNoW rr iltEN, Bl.IT :t WAS l'RoBABL.'< THf Ft&GE$1 Wuffo 1llAT DAY.

1987 Mark on side on his 165 UP Since he was less than 200' off the his I'"''""""'";; ment was unsuccessful.'"""'""·" encounter with tcrra firma that made him bounce three when he he is still alive thank God. Mark is the owner of the which was years old and had over 400 hours of airtime on it. It had of environbeen wide ments: cold Montana winters, coastal salt air and Owen's abuse. After an accident there is of about the relative our sport. Then some conclusion about the causes based on kn,owledlgc uu,uumj;\ factors. learned that will We reached a This has resulted in many flown than when the were often

pc;,,1v,""'au,,<0 gap between older and newer

decreased. on to their old

pilots have or used

and refinement in us great confidence u111u1urn1au::iy this has also e,v111p1a,,1;,u1,y about the durability of eq1upme,nt. The incredible have shown in the air does not mean they Bad will stand the abuses of the transport, and exposure to the elements are the causes of wear and environment has its abusive influence on coastal areas induce salt cor""''rQ,,M sail cables.

It would be difficult to do a controlled on all the wear factors that shorten the safe life of a However, certain tests can be done and some idea of the components. Accidents and equipment failure often do that not receive the attention in do in other forms of aviation. We arc to ass1umpt1cm

which states: is the mother of all screw-ups." The only way this sport will continue to grow is if pilots continue to refine their ability to evaluate errors and the

ty of "'''"""'""'· Since Mark is a local

and friend, and since I fly Comet 2 as well, I decided to take a closer look at the cause of the acci-· dent. Rather than just write his accident off as a case of in the maintenance of his I chose to try to answer the "When should the cables have been

HANG GLIDING

OBSERVATION UNDER nm MICROSCOPE Observation nnder the electron mi,:rm,c011e of the of failure on Mark's cable indicated that the cable was weakened to failure. I wanted to get an idea of how many strands and wires* were the wing just to failure. Observation of the failure at the nico end indicated that fewer than 20 wires had ductile fractnres from tensile loads. The other wires aDt>eared to have brittle fractures or had failed for other reasons. to 2,000X on am,eared to be brittle fractures did not clear resolution to determine what the state of the metal was. The ductile fractures had a texture at 2,000X #1) from the last bits of metal apa1t. More extensive SP<:Cmrien would have been necessary to the resolution at powers to determine if corrosion stress, or other factors, were reimoillstble for the failure of the other wires, although corrosion could be seen on some uf the broken wire ends. I suspect corrosion was one of the since salt could be seen the inside the nico sleeve next to the cable. Several of the wires appeared to have salt on them also. There was also indication of cracks on some of the wires observed under the SEM electron microPhoto #2 (500X) shows a dannag,M wire (crescent smooth area) where corrosion worked its way in (dark area). The white material is some non-metallic substance (like salt). At 200X (photo #3) several of the wires had smmr,efl··Ott that were characteristic taper and surface that appears on wires that are apart was not present, or present, on 60 % of the wires.

OPPOSITE SIDE CAIJLE Ins1r,ec1tion of the side cable at the same Iocatiun as the cable which failed in indicated that it also was weakened. No broken wires were visible upon surface ins1,ec1tion after the sheath However, when the helic11lh -w,nm1d strands of the cable to in·· spect t.he inner wires, four wires im1nef:lia1ely 1

steel cable is made up of of 7 wires each. Although it is clear what is mcnnlc hvthc tcm, 'wires' in general discussion of hang glider corr,ponents, when discussing cables themselves it is importanl to «mninology to avoid confusion.

FEBRUARY 1988

TOP: Photo #1. Mark's failed wire, SEM 2,000X. Ductile fracture sh1Jwiin11: characteristic texture where fast bits of metal on. CENTER: #2. SEM 500X, same wire corrosion (dark to dama111:ed White is non-metallic substam:e salt). BOTTOM: #3. SEM wires. off fractures. The wire at the top (half #2. center is the wire in

~~p '";1'"~-r-

-----

4A +cc VJ" ~~~

l,.l!i

~~-..

::. :!)• s:1"" ,.._

~--

--- ,__. -·

;;t..~+:~

NN ~ - -.c __ ~ w ~-....."""-j...,::,(v:J) sl~ ~ ---

">-

J:.

•'fc.-

~,-

St~2»Js 111 N/tO ,S;,l#J:

Ytt•

i r/ P

<_ --

snapped. The cable did not appear to have any broken wires until twisted and more closely inspected. This inspired me to test load this opposite side cable and my old Comet 2 cables as well, to see what the breaking strength was. While I was at it I rounded up some other old cables.

CABLE TESTS Tensile load tests were done to determine the strength of old side flying cables on four hang gliders of various ages, treatment and apparent condition. Side flying cables were selected because these are the major loadbearing cables, and it was a lower side cable that failed on Mark's glider. Cables from my 34

'":> -

185 Comet 2, Mark's 165 Comet and two 177 Harriers were used in the test: 1) The wires on Mark's C2 were 4.5 years old and had over 400 hours and an equal number of flights. The plastic sheath that covers the crossbar junction nico end showed signs of fatigue cracking from the sharp bend it is forced to make out of the sail. 2) The 185 Comet (2A & B) was four years old and had about 250 hours and 150 flights. Only the last 130 hours and 75 flights were spent in a coastal environment. There were no signs of corrosion or frayed wires on close inspection. 3) One of the Harriers (3A & B) had been well-maintained and had fewer than 40

hours and 100 flights on it. The cables and nicos looked corrosion free. 4) Harrier cables 4A & B were looking ugly. The glider had been landed in the ocean and then the cables were stored outside in a foggy coastal environment for two years under pine needles. (I thought for sure I'd hear the sound of rice crispies when I loaded up these babies.) The eyebolts that attached to the control bar were coated with rust and the nicos inside the plastic heat shrink were coated with blue copper oxides. Other than the ultimate fate of being demolished in the surf, the glider had been passed on so many times that its history was unknown. Since the testing machine had a limit on the length of cable that could be tested, 12 11 long end sections with the thimbles (and tang for top sections) were utilized. This made four samples for each glider (see table), except for Mark's, which had three to be tested. The cut end of each sample was fitted with a thimble and a single nico, pressed with a nicopress tool from an aircraft maintenance hanger. These portions were selected because these were assumed to be the weakest points on the cables, and it allowed for the representation of the types of failures expected: ductile failure of the cable (cf), and nico slippage (ns). Influence of corrosion stress and fatigue, brittle fractures, etc., were also best represented by the cable ends. Preliminary testing by wrapping the mid-section of the cable (2B top) around a mandrel and the tang end in vice jaws induced failure at the wrap on the mandrel. Although this occurred at 980 pounds, there was a bending moment and probably some crushing that contributed to the failure; these would not occur under normal flight loads. It was then clear that the cable would need to be swaged with a nico and thimble identical to the method used in hang glider manufacture. (Beach's Law: "No two identical parts are alike.") This seemed to be the best way to simulate flight loads and provide ample strength of the cable where it attached to the testing machine. Load testing was done with an Instron Load Tester at the Cal Poly State University Metallurgy Department. Tension was applied at a steady rate of 5 cm/min. and sensed by a load cell. Data were recorded and tensile test diagrams were produced on an analog scroll graph: the scroll travel being the abscissa (a measure of time or cable extensibility), and the stress in pounds, the ordinate (see fig. #1). HANG GLIDING

LOWER SIDE WIRE CABLE TEST DATA: COMET 2 & HARRIER Test No. 1 Glider Make & Model

Failure Type

Failure Load Obs.)*"'* No. 1 No.5 No. 6 No. 7

Sample No.*

& Location*"'

165 Comet 2 (Mark's)

lA top* lA bottom 1B top 1B bottom

cf ON ns NN cf ON ns NN

- In Flight Failure 980 940 430 290 160 990

185 Comet 2 (my old wires)

2A top 2A bottom 2B top 2B bottom

ns NN

960

ns NN

1,040

177 Harrier (good shape)

3A top 3A bottom 3B top 3B bottom

ns NN ns NN ns NN ns NN

910 920 910 950

177 Harrier (corroded)

4A top 4A bottom 4B top 4B bottom

ns NN

950

ns NN

980

MEAN

960

*A and B refer to right and left wires respectively; top and bottom refer to top and bottom segments of the lower side wires. **Type: ns - nico slippage; cf - cable strand failure Location: NN - new nicopress fitting (made up for test); ON - original nicopress fitting; MS - mid span of the cable sample ( > 1 cm. from nico) ***The sequence no. 1 through no. 7 refers to the order of strands failing: four strands would fail initially leaving three remaining; no. 1 represents the initial failure load.

CABLE TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Test #1 All of the nicos slipped except Mark's opposite wire (lB top only). This cable failed at the old nico fitting at greater than 910 lbs. The mean test load for initial failure was 960 lbs. Failure of the samples due to slipping made me wonder if the samples were nicopressed properly. The tool was used and nicos checked the day before by the airport mechanic, and the mean of 960 was above the 920 lb. rating for one nico fitting. However, the Harrier cables had single nicos FEBRUARY

1988

and none of them slipped. A likely explanation would be that they were pressed on with more force. This indicates that the nico swaging by hang glider manufacturers is done closer to the test strength of the stainless steel cable than that of general aviation. Another possibility is that impurities on the stainless steel cable lessened the static friction or holding power of the nico. The tool was held closed for several seconds after pressing the nico to allow for "cold flowing" of the metal. However, when I presented the concept of cold flow in metals to a metallurgy professor, he said that there is no flowing of the metal after the tool is seated. At the temperature of the metal at

which it is pressed, all of the metal takes shape as the force is applied. The rule of holding the tool closed for several seconds was probably devised as a means of getting workers to acknowledge that the nicopress tool is fully seated for each pressing. In production situations time is money, and carelessness could creep in if there weren't a pause at that point in the procedure.

Test #2 It was assumed prior to test #1 that failure would occur at the old nico fittings (there goes Wethern's Law again). Although the thimble had deformed from stretching, no slippage or broken wires were evident at the old nicos (ON) or mid-span (MS) after either test. Since my intent was to get the cable to fail at the old fitting, I decided to try to regrip some of the cables using vice jaws. (It's much more interesting to watch cables snap than slip out of the nico sleeve.) Sample 4B became the initial guinea pig. I tried to grip the nico lightly, however this resulted in slippage. On the first few samples of test #2 the vice jaws were cranked until no slippage occurred. I was hoping to grip the nico with minimum cable deformation. This tightness of the vice jaws was approximated for the remainder of the samples (about as tight as I could get). Since it was apparent part way through the first test that the cables were slipping before failure at the old nico (ON) or mid-span (MS), I decided to save the bottom sections of 2A, 2B, 4A and 4B, so that I could grip the nico with the cable still intact. I hoped there would be less deformation of the cable where it exited the nico compared with prefailed cables (ns NN), when I cranked on the vice jaws. It was expected that there would be a weakening of the cable where the vice jaws gripped even though it was on the nico. Flattening of the cable by the vice jaws would cause the strands to go out of the stable hexagonal configuration creating uneven loading. Crushing of the wires would also likely occur. I was hoping the cables would hold until the older section failed ... they didn't. The new nicos were still the weakest points. All of the failures in the second test occurred at greater than 870 lbs. The mean load for initial breaking strength was 940 lbs. This is below the rated minimum breaking strength of 1,000 lbs. for 7 x 7, 3/32 11 stainless steel cable (Brimm & Boggess, 1950). However, the cables were breaking 35

Glider Make & Model

165 Comet

No.

lA bottom

177 Harrier

I?ailure & Location cf ON cfNN

Failure Load No. 1

870

420

cfNN cfNN cf NN cfNN

940 1,080

4A top

cfNN cfNN cf NN cf NN

930 920 960 920

at similar loads to what the nicos were at. The pattern was similar of test it2. The pat·· in most of the tern went from the initial break of the first four strands, to the three rernaimr1g strands bre:aking in succession, or from three to one strand. had failure all at once at the same initial load as 2A. However, this was the third time this samhad been loaded to greater than 900 lbs. The strands could have been stretched more, all of them close to failure. went to two strauds and then to one. With some of the the showed of individual wires on the last strand at increments of about 20 each. A~ the cable strands failed there was a temporary release of tension on the load cell from extension of the helical wind of the re-

Failure

940

2A top 2A bottom 2B 2B bottom

MEAN

900

940

cf NN

4A bottom 4B top 4B bottom

No.6

410 430 400

1B top 1B bottom

tested

No.

950

290

160

290

160

280

150

290 280

130 70 120

460 380 430

No. 7

280 280

150 140

300

940 to 1.uµ;cu1c1. Mark said he ex-

pmvi011s flight (unfor-inv,estigation of the cause wasn't that this was an initial breakdown of the cont1g11ra1tmn tra11ste:rm1g the load to the three rernai.ni11g strands. the number of strands I counted under the m1,;;ro,scc,pe that had been the last to fail, it that

which were weakened prior to failure. Of the many chronic factors that decrease the life of is probably from kinking or chronic bending, beyond the allowable bendradius for and diameter of cable, will eventually take its toll. Awareness of corrosive conditions is im-portant. Corrosion will aggravate weakness from such things as cracks. The surface area can allow for entrance of moisture and salt as well as microbes which can accelerate corrosive processes several hundred times. As is seen in photo #1, there are corrosion products on the surface of several of the broken wire ends. Some of this could have occurred after the wires but it is there neve1theless. Once salt gets on the surface of the metal it will not leave time the metal cools below the dewpoint a concentrated salt solution develops which promotes eleetn)IVsis and thus corrosion. And you don't have to live near the ocean to get salt on your componcnt5. Desert soils can be loaded with them, valley bottom land. A could accumulate salts iu the desert, be transported to a moist environment and cxrieri.cm:e some of the same corrosive cfflown in coastal conditions. focts as a Although corrosion is an important factor, c011s1<1ermg the result~ from the load tests on the Harrier wires (4A & B), corrosion will probably take it5 toll long after has rendered wires unsafe. Since gliders are to abuses of the ground more than other aircraft, recording setup and breakdown conditions

in load on the tensile test unsufficient load to break successive strands. The failure of the cable from seven to three strands is the next stable in cross section, from to a in cross section. As the first four strands broke there was an extension of fhe helical of cable strands to failure of the last three. situation where there is

til the load tester

HANG GLIDING

DEL1A WIN&

Accessories in your flight log might help to monitor glider life. Also, record whether you felt rushed or not. Comet 2s had a plastic sheath wired to the thimble on the crossbar junction cable end. If tangs on the ends of cables are covered with a plastic sheath this should not be wired in place so that the sheath can be slipped off and the cable end closely inspected. Comet 2 cables are forced to make a 180° bend because of the Never Kink gismo. By pushing the wire back into the sail a wider loop can be made, relieving stress at the nico. Care should be taken when the wing is unfolded to make sure the cable smoothly exits the hole in the bottom of the sail (see photo #4). This sharp bend problem can be aggravated as the glider is set up, packed away in the glider bag and transported on bumpy roads.

dividual pilot to ascertain the airworthiness of his aircraft, undoubtedly much is left to assumption. ("It flew fine last time, it should fly fine today.") Consider all the assumptions we make regarding our equipment and keep in mind what old Wethern had to say. Leave yourself a margin for error, because one assumption you can always rely on is acceleration due to the force of gravity.•

I would like to thank Dr. Leonesio, Dr. Murray and Dr. Forgeng of the Metallurgy Department at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo for their assistance. References: Brimm, D.J., Boggess, H.B. 1950. Aircraft Maintenance. 2nd ed., Pitman Pub. Corp.

N.Y.

'}1ny working metal part on a hang glider is going to experience fatigue. . . This will occur in direct proportion to the number of times a glider is set up, broken down and transported."

CONCLUSION Any working metal part on a hang glider is going to experience fatigue over time. Under normal unabusive conditions (excluding bad landings, etc.) this will occur in direct proportion to the number of times a glider is set up, broken down and transported. Cables may experience a lot of bending at these times. Sharp bends around the nicos, and especially jerking on the cables when bent, can cause incremental invisible fatigue. The individual wires of the last strand in the tensile test diagram were failing in increments of 20 lbs. Fatigue will also take its toll, a little bit at a time. If the manufacturers' replacement schedules for side wires were even remotely followed, cable failures would become a thing of the past. The implication of the studies of Grant and Verne Rule, and myself, and what others have indicated over the past year regarding the life of flying wires, is summed up well in Schmidt's Law: "If you fiddle with a thing long enough, it will break." In this selfregulated sport, where it is left up to the inFEBRUARY 1988

Buchholdt, H.A. 1985. An Introduction to Cable Roof Structures. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. Gassner, E., W. Schultz. 1969. Fatigue Design Procedures. Pergammon Press, N .Y. Pagen, D. 1987. Wire Wisdom. Hang Gliding, 17 (1): 36-3 8. Shaw, G. 1986. Beyond the Cover Bag. Hang Gliding, 16(11):9-12. Rule, G., V. Rule. 1986. Safe working life of Hang Glider Flying Wires. Hang Gliding, 16(10): 14-16. Rule, V. 1987. Flying Wire Update. Hang Gliding, 17(5):3.

FINGER FAIRINGS

• Alway,.s there when you need them • Warm, com/ortable, durable, slide easily across control bar • Ins/ant bare hand dexterity tor launch, CB, .::hute, camera • Quality construction, 1/A -in. neoprene, nylon inside and out • Available in red or black S, M, or L only $32.50 dealer inquk;es invifed

THE AIRWORKS

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

Albuquerque,

AIRSTREAM HARNESS The low drag profile harness

iealures • Adjuslable C.G • Faired parachute & ballast container • Ad1uslable toot stirrup. • Custom sizes to lit all pilots. • Large choJCe ot colors ._......__......._ _ ___. • Price .$340 ROMER HELMET Made by German manufacturer with over 125 yrs. ot experience. it was designed lo provide a lighl weight helmet that gives maximum pro/ection • DOT approved • Exe. temporal prolection • $pecial ear openings. • Made ot polycarbonate • Available in Y. 0. White. • Price S 75 1.,..._ _......~ - - - 1 HIGH ENERGY SPORTS "BUS" PARACHUTE High qualily chute designed to withstand highspeed openings • Built to TSO standards • All seams rernforced • V tabs at each line attachment • Type XVIII bridle rated at 6000 lbs. • Deployment Bag w1cont. ..__ _ _ _ _ ___, • Price. .$395 BULLET BALLISTIC RECOVERY SYSTEM The bullet is a ballistically (spring) deployed chute that is easily attached lo any glider. II virtually eliminates any chance of chute entanglement. • Fast deployment time • 18 gore chute. • 20 4' canopy •• Price Total system wl. 3 3S545 kg .._...__ _ _ _ _ __ DELTA WING TRAINING WHEELS. A must tor all beginner and novice level pilots no more sudden stops with these high impact. urethane landrng wheels Prevents iniuries to hands. etc Less chance of damaging your glider with a hard landing • Lifetime guarantee. • Dealers inquire about additional vol. disc • Price $40 INSTRUMENTS Ball 620H Vano/Audio . . $280.00 Ball 651 Vano/Audio-Altimeter w/10 ft. steps. .$495.00 Ball 652 Vario/Aud10-t0 tt. Altimeter-Airspeed . S590.00 Retrofit Airspeed to Model 651 .$130.00 Ball 670 Airspeed. 2.25 inch. 70 mph . $125.00 Ball M-20 Wrist mounted Audio/Vario .$200.00 Ball M-20 wlearphone jack. .$250.00 Litek VE 12 wnst mounted ... $169.00 Litek VE 12 vi/earphone jack .$179.00 $169.00 Lilek VE 7 . . .$198.00 Litek VE 35 ... $295.oo· Roberts Vario & All .. $ 21.50 Hall Windmeler . MISC. MATERIALS & SUPPLIES Delta wing T shirts .. S 8.50 Goll shirts . . . .... S 12.50 Streamline tubing-\" x 21/, .. X .058 wall . . . S 7.50/h. lnstabushings-11/2", 1'.e". Pl<·. 1'/e" .. S 2.00 Order 100. . .S 1.00 lnstabush insert tor •;,· boll . . S .20 Delta Wing stocks all Progressive Aircratt parts & accessories. See your Delta Wing dealer nearest you or con/acl:

DELTA WING

::~ 4:~vs,

CA 91408 818/787,6600 Telex 65,1425

•:.,.~· . ' ! ,,, ,

DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

fow of us Northern Californians had decided to travel to compete in their regionals. The attraction site had heard but none of us had flown Pine Mountain. 'The mr,et was to be cross country fonnat with

won! made arrangements to up north of Sacramento on to stop on the way at Chris BaJllin.ger·'s house his new Racer come in. I should have guessahead of me when I spent two traffic 011 the made it to Chris' house and up the how time you think that the worst is behind you, life reaches out and your attitude. spent about minutes to find another onramp back onto the without any success. J saw poJlice:mim mu! asked him for directions. co1nplica1ted, but to follow them and I rolled up to the last stop the on-ramp about to my left. up, the turned green and 38

de1;ig11at,:d left tum lane as I was accustomed to. I was as Miller puts it "roller in a Buffalo herd." The rear fender brand new red Bronco reached out and bit the nose off of small Isuzu that got too close. Another hour this mess out. I hooked up with Dick and we were on our way to that our troubles were behind us. We into the east about 6:00 AM on Thursrnu1t1m11~. We had decided to get two in at the site before the be:ginnir1g of the contest. As we looked across the desert didn't any mountains to launch from. We found out later more of the specifics of the site. The launch is 6,100' MSL and the area is about 4,500' MSL We were told that the area was desolate, but we weren't for the town of Millican to be one with a out front that said "Town For estate Sale." The nearest miles away at a town caJled Brothers. We had been told that there no water, but that the club puton the meet was 1mng1mg 0011a-oott1es and water into a makeshift carnp~;ro1~nd down low on the mountain.

We drove looked at the camp area and prciceedc)d to the top of the mountain where operates an obseroh,,..r·vllt,mv was a State ri::ie•il"r"l'I\ c,1m1pgr,our1d with outhouses. It looked better than the other carnp1in£ so we decided to our tents. Dick and I had both crawled into to get a few hours of We got up about 11:00 AM and went lookfor the launch area. We found a hill west with a few telltales on it and prc>ce,edc~ to set up was no one else around). After up and on launch for a while, to assess the con·· ditions, a few other showed up and informed us that we were on the main launch. Dick wired me off and I discovered very 50 to 100 up, small but workable thermals out in front. I scr.itched around for about half an hour yo-yo and was finally able to get about 1500 1 above takeoff. I started to fly south to catch the main mist. In a matter and flew into some of minutes the mist got heavier and turned to rain, then to sleet and snow. I was trouble ABOVE: Russ launches his Vision from Pine Mountain. Photo by Martha

HANG GLIDING

sun glasses, which wasn't too surprising since the arms of my black flight suit were completely white with snow. Geez! I turned around and headed back to launch. My 1,500' was gone by the time I got there and I continued on under launch heading out to the valley hoping to make the main landing area referred to as the "Junkyard." (More on that later.) I hit a couple of light bumps that extended my glide enough so that I was sure I would make the area, but would probably be on final when I got there. I was about 50 to 100 feet over the ground when I got there and as I was setting up for a landing approach a strong bullet thermal hit one wing and the glider turned 90 degrees. Before I could make any kind of adjustment I caught another one straight on the nose and pitched up almost into a stall. I let the glider continue around with the vario singing. Just when I was starting to feel like maybe I was going to get back up, I flew out the back side. Maybe it was the close proximity to the ground, but I honestly felt the glider was going over onto its back. It didn't, but it's about as scared as I have ever been. By this time I was back to about 50 feet over the ground getting ready to go to the down tubes when another bullet hit me on the nose. I turned the glider to see if I could stay in this one, but kept my speed up just in case. This time I didn't fall out and as I gained more altitude over the ground I slowed the glider down but held it into a tight turn. The vario pegged and I flattened out my tum. As I was passing 9,000' MSL, Dick's voice came over the CB. He wanted me to let him know as soon as I was on the ground and he would send someone to get me. He couldn't have timed it any better since my ego was in full bloom at this point. (I had made the mental transition from "how terrible the conditions are" to "what a good pilot I am.") I excitedly explained to him that it was tacky of him to have assumed that a pilot with my obviously superior skills (I left out the lucky part) would be anywhere near the ground and that if he looked high out over the valley, I was the black speck. The thermal topped out at about 9800' MSL and I pointed the nose east towards Brothers. The euphoria was short lived as I hit 800' to 1,500' down most of the way out and landed next to the highway about 16 miles from launch. I waited for about two hours for a retrieval since some of the other pilots told our inexperienced driver that Dick and I headed west instead of east. I spent the next few hours looking for Dick. His CB was FEBRUARY

1988

on the fritz and none of the other pilots had left the mountain to go XC so no one had any idea which way he went. Jim Woodward and Shannon Raby showed up, and after setting up camp next to Dick and me joined the search. Dick finally showed up around midnight. He had been in the air until almost dark scratching his way to Brothers, some 20 miles from launch. That night it rained lightly, the temperature dropped below freezing, my air mattress developed a leak putting me directly on the cold ground, and I was too tired to care. Friday looked like a better day. Larry Smith had rolled in and set up camp with Dick and me. Other pilots were starting to show up in the pilot's campground down below but we decided to stay where we were. We got on launch early and I punched off about 10:00. It was soarable, but the combination of a weak launch and some trouble getting into my boot left me about 800' to 900 ' below launch before I hit anything to work. I scratched around but eventually landed in the "Junkyard." The landing area is so called because of the consistent turbulence experienced low to the ground along with a slight downhill in the normal landing approach. It's not dangerous, just disconcerting. As I sat in the landing area it looked as though conditions were getting better and better, but after watching me, most of the other pilots decided to wait a little longer. I got back to launch, set up and was ready to go by 1:00. The chicken hearts occupying launch allowed me to test the air again. This time it was better, and as I was approaching 1,000' over I watched several of the other pilots punch off. Dick and Shannon went by me like missiles and headed east. They decided to head out over the flats instead of staying south on the ridge line as Dick had done the day before. The results were the same as I encountered. They hit steady sink and landed in almost the same spot I landed Thursday. In the meantime I went into yoyo mode and alternated between 500 ' below launch to 1,000' above. Throughout the meet the conditions around launch would prove to be exasperating for many pilots. Anyway, I ended up back over the "Junkyard" at about 100' to 200' AGL. Conditions were similiar to the day before as I tried for about fifteen of twenty minutes to pull off another save. I made about a dozen 360's, each one consisting of a strong pitch up as the bullet of rising air hit the glider, and a severe nose down as I fell out the other side. The net was

that after fifteen to twenty minutes I was still 100' to 200' over the landing area. Furthermore, it was becoming obvious to me that I was flirting with disaster at this altitude, so I pulled the bar in and landed. As I was breaking down, Mike King rolled up and said, "Hi, hurry up and break down and we'll go up for another flight." Normally, after flights like this, I would be ready to join the camp party (or start one if one wasn't in progress), but I was beginning to feel stirrings inside like I haven't felt since I was a Hang II. You remember, that drive to get as much airtime as possible. Sooooo, I loaded up and went back to launch with Mike, where it was now blowing 30+ mph. But did I use a little good sense and not set up? Nooooo! It was ridge soarable, but that was all. After about fifteen minutes of this foolishness (it was turbulent), I flew over to the Junkyard and executed a nice Funston no-step landing. Saturday morning opened to what looked like some really good conditions with 59 pilots registered in the meet including topranked pilots such as Howard Osterlund, Kevin Bye, Rich Sauer, Lee Fisher, Jeff Huey, Sergio Magistri, Kenny Brown and many others. There was also a strong contingent of Canadian pilots led by Randy Haney. Launch was predictably crowded and everyone was raring to go, but the Meet Director (Mike King) hadn't called the task yet. Finally Shannon Raby had enough and was dying (poor choice of words) to try out Cassetta's back-up Magic (his Streak hadn't served him so well the day before). So he picked up his glider and faced into the crosswind. Mike noticed this and hollered down, "Is that guy in the contest?" I said, "Yes, where should I tell him to go?" (I had already told Shannon I would radio the task to him.) Mike, using his supreme intelligence, realized that if Shannon went straight up, as the conditions indicated he would, Mike would have an air-full of gliders awaiting a task. He shouted down "Bums" (which was on the main highway, 95 miles southeast of launch). Shannon heard that, as as he started his run hollered back, "Where should I go when I get to Bums?" Mike shouted back "Boise" and the meet was on. It was quite cross at launch and many pilots, including myself, were quite concerned about it. I walked around the mountain with the glider in an attempt to get a little straighter into the wind. I wasn't successful except that I did find a steeper and easier section to run off. Launch was clean but as 39

was cli1mbing above launch my vario was silent. took me a few seconds to discover that, the weeds, had knocked the Litek. decision time. Do crank it in, land and without a vario? relaunch or do I try to some of the left over from before decided, "Who needs a to crank up to the top of vario?" I the stack and headed southeast down the

became obvious that I was

tie. Off to my left I saw a .....,- ,, .. ~~· all these power lines and famous Fox Butte road. I got over the lines, but without the vario I was battle as in, 'Tm not as a as think am at times." I flew back to Fox Butte mad and landed. I hooked in and walked down the road since I knew there was another less than half mile from me. As I tnmed the bend I saw Martha (Jeff's better halt) on a who was none other than Connie Bowen, so at least was among friends ones to The decision to without vario turnout to be one since lirnnch con::!i,, tions were cantankerous and ended up, not once but twice, in Included in that group were some of the aforementioned Connie and would end up tied for after the first Loaded up in Martha's van, we rolled down 20 the who made it away from the Shannon ended up about 50 miles down the mad and It would be in love with Dick's for IOth Dick was about 62 miles out for 7th Jeff of miles further for 6th and Howard Osterlund would end up in 4th were RanAll these and Rich Sauer. At about 90 miles decided to land out Rich and firnt nl~,.... would

crews t11e onooi11te of the road, was none other then Kevin Ranand Rich would end up the second. dawned with conditions 40

and the storms pre:ct1c:tect Weather Service were in. Mike called the same task, but people weren't so anxious to launch. It WdS not thcr· but it looked as though it might be pn:rrro,nt:llli. Dick, Shannon, a COU·· of others walked up on top of the moun· tain. It was a bit of a hike, but the launch was better and not crowded. In fact, he was Sturtevant remarked at how to that any had made the hike up

there, let alone some California pilots. We exiilained to hlm the difference between Nor· them and Southern California pilots. (We on· ly wear on launch, they fly in them.) I'm not sure he believed us, but he couldn't argue that we were there. about a dozen pilot~ launched and our worst foars were realized, the ta! conditions weren't as No one was able to get and the minute left the sank out. One by one

the air was hell out of everyone 500 ' under launch and a crosswind, no-step landing on a very steep hill. Conditions started to look worse, but optimistically we on top of the hill set up. As we watched this massive storm front a few miles west oflaunch Dick said, "Look, up. It's not to get here. it's It may be flyable pretty soon." Fifteen minutes later we were huddled under our in our harnesses for warmth in a full· blizzard. It was and our mirth was this ed by a CB conversation we were lis1teming to between two wives down on the main the other, huslaunch. One was band just moved his in under the trees. He thinks he's to t1y as soon as this snowstorm passes. This mentality is not one of the things I love about him." Our amusement quickly when to sag. we noticed that our sails were A mental calculation brought the realization that the two to fuur inches of solid snow on top of the amount'! to more than the were probably cteiagr1ect for. We set the snow off the sails and when it stopped snowing we folded up. We were the last ones off the (continued on page 13)

HANG GLIDING

Attention Wills Wing Pilots If you own a Wills Wing glider we urge you to send us a large, self-addressed envelope with your glider model and size written on it. In return, we will send you a copy of each service advisory which has been issued for your glider since it was manufactured. This will allow you to check and make sure that your glider is being maintained in an airworthy condition.

ATOL 's Lone Star Launch reduces truck towing crew to one •.. driver. • Totally pilot controlled launch • Smooth, one finger launch • No communication hassefs • Simple conversion to glider rack Send S2.00 for

Send your self-addressed envelope to: Wills Wing, Inc. 1208 H. East Walnut Santa Ana, CA 92701 And don't forget to write your glider model and size on the envelope. Thank You Wills Wing, Inc.

20 l 3 68th Street Lubbock, TX 794 I 2

SO I 82nd Street Lubbock, TX 79404

The Hall Airspeed Indicator A precision Instrument for the serious pilot. Rugged, dependable and easy to read. Airspeed Indicator ................... $21.50 Long Bracket.. . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . 6.50 Foreign & C.O.D. Orders add $2.00

MODEL 651 VARIO/AUDIO/ DIGITAL ALTIMETER $495

MODEL 652 VARJO/AUDJO DIGITAL ALTIMETER/ AIRSPEED $590

Airspeed Indicator with Long Bracke1

Control Bar Protectors 5" diameter ABS plastic wheels. Specify 1" or 1-1/8" control bar. Wheels - $20.00/palr. Foreign & C.O.D. Orders add $2.00

Hall Brothers

Control Ber Protectors

P.O. Box n1-H, Morgan, UT 84050 MasterCard I Visa I COD Call our toll free 24 hour computer order line. Touch tone phone only. 1-800-444-0017. When the computer asks for a mailbox number, immediately push 4768. Then place your order. Or call (801) 828-3232.

S~steli Vario I Altimeter MODEL M20 WRIST VARIO $200

STREAMLINED TUBE ADAPTER

Available from hang glider manufacturers and dealers

0·15,000 FT Altimeter

UP-Audio

Dual Batteries

SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, INC. P.O. Box 585 Seymour, TN 37865 Chris Pyle

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 to them to inspect.

ECLIPSE 185-Excellent, blue, rainbow, white. $1250. Buying HP. (602) 683-2002.

Rogallos

WANTED-Used Wills Wing Sport, also Culver vario. (619) 789-6433, ask for Ed.

SPORT 165-Red L.B., rainbow D.S. Pretty glider with low hours! $1950. (408) 433-1000 ext. 1560 days; (408) 395-3964 evenings.

DESERT HANG GLIDERS USHGA Certlned School. Supine spedalists., 4319 W. Larkspur, Glendale, AZ 85304 (602) 439-0789, 938-9550.

STREAK 160-green & white, good condition, 100 hours. $500 O.B.O. (818) 336-1555.

ARKANSAS

STREAK 180-Rainbow both surfaces. Excellent condition, low hours. $600 O.B.O. (206) 228-4312.

ATLAS 16-exellent condition. Fifteen hours. Bought new Sept. 1986. Red and white. $850 O.B.0. Call Wesley Hollingsworth, (800) 633-6260, ext. 5330.

WANTED-Used hang gliding equipment. Gliders, instruments, harnesses and parachutes. San Francisco Windsports, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116 (415) 753-8828.

COMET C-2 165-Yellow/white. Fabulous intermediate glider! $750. (408) 433-1000 ext. 1560 days; (408) 395-3964 eves.

THE HANG GLIDING CENTER 167 Sport, full race ...................... (2) new 167 Sport American . ... . . . . . . . . . ........ (3) used Vision Mark IV-17 ....................... (2) riew 166 Magic, full race ...................... $2600 HP-2 full race ........................... $2200 165 Comet 2 .............................. $700 185 Comet 2 ............................. $850 We carry many more gliders, harnesses and parachutes. Give us a call at (619) 450-9008.

COMET C-2 185-0range with yellow. Very good condition. Low flying hours, recently tuned. $800. (714) 785-9423. COMET C-2B 165-1985, regular sail cloth. Pacific blue with rainbow. Best offer. (315) 455-6326. 165 LITE DREAM, blue and white. Good condition. $850. (213) 839-6955 evenings. 185 LITE DREAM-One year old, low hours. $1200. (714) 628-7312. GEMINI 134-low airtime, almost new. Blue L.E., spectrum, white T.E. Great beginner glider. Call (213) 726-2443. HARRIER 177-Very clean sail, reinforced batten pockets, white with red leading edge and gold strips on right wing. Speed bar. Flys grea. $550. (619) 341-7349. HP-I-clean sail, safe-edge down tubes, speedbar. Winter price. $900. (801) 254-6141. MAGIC IV 166 FR-1987, full race, perfect condition. $1750. MAGIC IV 133-1987, V.G. & speedbar, excellent condition. Handles awesomely! $1700. (206) 535-0973. MYSTIC SPECIAL 155-July centerspread, March cover, November cover. Winner of Telluride, excellent performer. Excellent condition, extra strong airframe. Kingpost hang point, extra ribs, custom easy tip batten tensioners. Kevlar T.E. cord. XC bag included, streamlined control bar, speed bar with built-in camera button, VG, camera zippers. $1600. Call John, early morning/late evenings, (714) 361-0169.

New Dream 240 ......................... $2300 Delta XCel 160 .......................... $2900 Demo Dream 205 ......................... $1880 Demo Dream 145 ......................... $1800 Used Comet 185 OVR ...................... $700 Used Comet 2 165 ......................... $800 New Bell helmets .......................... $95 New 20, 22-gore chutes .................... $300 We ship anywhere. Golden Sky Sails, Inc. (303) 278-9566. UP OVER New Mexico. Wills Sport 167 (7075) ..................... $1500 Sensor 510B ............................. $1500 Demon 175 .............................. $1000 Wills HP ................................ $1500 (505} 292-0647.

Ultralight Powered Flight ULTRALIGHT 1984 JET WING-440 Kawasaki trike, 14 hours. Demon wing, parachute. Like new, sold new for $5200. $2900 O.B.O. Camarillo, California. (805) 484-0793.

Paragliders BRAND NEW 7, 9, 11 cell Paragliders. $1250 each. (303) 278-9566.

Schools and Dealers

PRO DAWN 175-Excellent condition, make offer. (501) 224-2186. RAVEN 209, excellent shape. $620 OBO. (303) 278-9566. 229 RAVENS-two in stock. Excellent shape, rigged for tandem, multi-colored. Sequatchie Valley Soaring, (61:i) 949-2301. SEAGULL 10.5-Great shape, spare down tubes. $400 O.B.O. I can't fly anymore, have to sell. Call Paul, (716) 627-2640. SENSOR 510B VG, 3/4 RACE, mint, $1800. Also 160A VG model, excellent, $900. Both sweet handling gliders. (612) 735-9130.

ALABAMA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK-See our ad under Tennessee. (404) 398-3541. ARIZONA ARIZONA WINDSPORTS-Largest Hang Gliding center in the southwest. Certified Instruction utilizing the world's first man-made trainer hill. INEXPENSIVE prices on lessons and equipment. Dealer for Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, Delta Wing, Seedwings, Moyes, High Energy, Ball and Seagull classic parts. 1114 W. Cornell Drive, Tempe, AZ 852&3 (602) 897-7121.

OZARK MOUNTAIN HANG GLIDERS-Sales, service and instruction. Dealer for Wills Wing, Moyes, Eric Raymond harnesses. 8 Blue Jay Way, Conway, AR 72032. (501) 327-0698. SAIL WINGS HANG GLIDING-Certified instruction. Authorized agent for Pacific Airwave, CG 1000. 1601 N. Shackleford #131-4, Little Rock, AR 72211. (501) 224-2186. CALIFORNIA BRIGHT STAR HANG GLIDERS- Sales - service - restorations. All major brands represented. Santa Rosa, CA (707) 576-7627. CHANDELLE HANG GLIDING CENTERUSHGA certified school. "The best damn hang gliding shop In the world!' Dealers for Wills Wing, Pacific Airwave, Delta Wing, Moyes, Seedwings and High Energy. Five minutes from Fort Funston. 488 Manor Plaza, Pacifica, CA 94044. (415) 359-6800. HANG FLIGHT SYSTEMS-USHGA Certified training program featuring the combined talents of Dan Skadal, Erik Fair, and Rob McKenzie. We sell and service all major brands of gliders and accessories. New and used. Sport, Skyhawk, HP II. Demos 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 Wills Wing, Delta Wing, and UP gliders plus complete accessory line including harnesses, helmets, varios, and spare parts. Located minutes from US 101 and flying sites. 613 N. Milpas, Santa Barbara, California 93103 (805) 965-3733. HANG GLIDERS WEST-ULTRALIGHT FLIGHT CENTER. New and used gliders. SINCE 1973, CERTIFIED, FREE BROCHURE! 20-A Pameron, Ignacio, CA 94947. (415) 883-3494. DEALER FOR EAGLE, XL and FALCON ULTRALIGHTS! THE HANG GLIDING CENTER-Located in beautiful San Diego. USHGA certified instruction, equipment rentals, local flying tours. Spend your winter vacation flying with us. We proudly offer Wills Wing, Pacific Windcraft, High Energy, Ball and we need your used equipment. 4206-K Sorrento Valley Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121. (619) 450-9008. MISSION SOARING CENTER-Serving the flying community since 1973. Complete lesson program with special attention to quality take-off and landing skills. All major brands of gliders, parachutes and instruments sold. Sail repair and air frame service available. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035 (408) 262-1055. SAN FRANCISCO WINDSPORTS-Gliders and equipment, sales and rentals. Private and group instruction by USHGA certified instructors. Local site information and glider rental. 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) 753-8828.

HANG GLIDING

Four good reasons to hook into a

DREA HANGI - first flight! From the very first time your LITE DREAM lifts your feet off the ground. you'll be amazed at how responsive and easy to fly she is. You'll know it's the beginning of a lasting, exciting relationship.

As you 5 ow accustomed to your LITE DREAM, you'll notice how quickly your flying skills improve You'll delight at how the LITE DREAM is maneuverable as he is forgiving as you advance rapidly through the learning stages.

c.-, :ii; oward higher altitudes, your LITE DREAM still amazes. performing with grace and ease. As you perfect your talents, the UTE DREAM is ready to · ::cept new challenges, even aerobatics!

HANGW , .,. -a ::;_ pilots choose to renew the learning cycle by introducing newcomers to hang gliding with a thrill,ng tandem flight. The easy handling 220 LITE DREAM (the ONLY glider HGMA certified to 400 lbs. hook in weight), maximizes the excitement and safety of tandem flying. I\

THE LITE DREAM'~~ ~~ ;.. AN ENDURING CLASSIC AT EVERY LEVEL

FAR & ABOVE, AMERICAS #1 CHOICE FOR TRAINING BY USHGA CERTIRED HANG GLIDING INSTRUCTORS & SCHOOLS

LIGHTWEIGHT LONG-LASTING VALUE HANDLES LIKE A DREAM P.O. Box 483, \Ian Nuys, CA 91408 • (818) 787-6600

CLASSIFil;D ADVERTISING SANTA BARBARA HANG GLIDING CENTER-Certified instruction, glider and equipment sale. 29 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 962-8999. WINDGYPSY. USHGA certified school. Offering tandem instruction, daily, year-round. Only full service facility in Lake Elsinore. New and used gliders and equipment from Delta Wing, Moyes and Wills Wing. Demos available. 33041 Walls, Lake Elsinore, 92330. Call Paul Burns, (714) 678-5418. WINDSPORTS INTL.-Since 1974. Largest and most complete HANG GLIDING center in Southern California. Large inventory of new and used gliders including Sports and Lite Dreams. Accelerated training program features Tandem instruction and minimizes course time. 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406 (818) 988-0m.

GEORGIA

NEW MEXICO

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK-See our ad under Tennessee. (404) 398-3541.

UP OVER NEW MEXICO, INC. - Instruction, sales, service. Sandia Mountain guides. Wills, Seedwings, Pacific Airwave, Delta, Moyes. Albuquerque, NM (505) 292-0647.

HAWAII MAUI SOARING SUPPLIES-Certified Instructors. Sales, service and rentals. R.R. 2, Box 780, Kula, HI 96790. (808) 878-1271. TRADEWINDS HANG GLIDING, dual instruction, rentals, equipment. (808) 396-8557. IDAHO TREASURE VALLEY HANG GLIDERS-USHGA certified instruction, complete service. Featuring Pacific Airwave. ll7l6 Fairview, Boise, 83704. (208) 376-7914. ILLINOIS

COLORADO GOLDEN SKY SAILS-USHGA Certified School, dealer all brands. Lowest prices on new gliders. Bell helmets in stock. (303) 278-9566.

BLACKHAWK POD HARNESS Only $319 including shipping

Your hang gliding success company. Representative for Wills Wing, Delta Wing, Seedwings, Moyes and Pacific Airwave. State of the art training with mobile flight simulator and dual instruction. Let a USHGA CF! lead you to your flight success. 1600 Carmel, Zion, IL 60099. (312) 746-1944. MICHIGAN

Aerodynamic; extremely comforta'ole; superb workmanship; light weight; warm; back pack carrying case; glove, parachute, ballast, & glider bag storage compartment;; opening & closing lines;

veicro override; 2 sizes. In stock or custom made in 3 weeks. t.lanufactured in New Zealand for:

Sliver Wings Inc/John Middleton 6032 N. 20th Street A,llng\on, \Jnginia 22205 (703) 533-1965 Dealer inqurr;es welcorred. Also Knee Hanger Harnesses availabfe.

PRO HANG GLIDERS-Since 1978. Michigan's only USHGA Certified school. Beginner - Advanced lessons by Examiner, Observer, Instructor Norm Lesnow. Specialist in basic towing, or the new revolutionary concept of step towing. 2500' tows available on the incredible Yarnall Skyhook. Dealer Wills, Delta, Manta. Service, accessories. Call (313) 399-9433 or write 569 W. Annabelle, Hazel Park, MI 48030. NEVADA

NEW YORK FLY HIGH HANG GLIDING, INC.-Serving N.Y. City/Albany, Jersey, Connecticut areas. (On Ellenville Mtn.) Area's exclusive Wills Wing dealer/specialist. Also carry all other major brands, accessories. Certified Instruction. 10 years experience. Quick repairs. Areas most IN· EXPENSIVE prices. ATOL truck towing! Contact: Paul Voight, RD 2, Box 561, Pine Bush, NY 12566, (914) 744-3317. MOUNTAIN WINGS, INC.-New York's oldest and largest hang gliding center. 6 miles from Ellenville. Five different training hills. Exclusive dealers for Seedwings, Delta Wing, and Pacific Airwave with demos in stock. Area's only Sensor specialist. Repairs done on, and parts in stock for all major brands. The most complete line of accessories in stock at all times. Many new and used gliders. UPS mail orders, VISA, MasterCard and Discover credit cards accepted. Greg Black, 150 Canal St., Ellenville, NY. (914) 647-3377/626-5555. SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK INC.-Central New York's Hang Gliding Center. Certified instruction, sales & service for all major manufacturers. Training hill O - 160', jeep rides, 600' NW soarable ridge, camping. RD 2, Box 432, Cooperstown, NY 13326. (315) 866-6153.

THERMAL UP, INC.-Most complete hang gliding shop in area. Located on top of Ellenville Mountain. USHGA Certified Instructor and Observer. Concentrating on hang gliding instruction with emphasis on launching and landing techniques. Dealer for all major brands. Offering expert sales and service with lowest price in area. Large mail order inventory. Tom Aguero, P.O. Box 347, Cragsmoor, NY 12420. (914) 647-3489.

HIGH SIERRA SPORTS, INC.-dealers for Delta Wing, Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing. Complete training including tandem, USHGA certified instruction and ratings. 2303 N. Carson St., Carson City, NV 89701. (702) 885-1891.

i- ~S~;; ~~;;;;.~-A~;E-;.;.;,;; ~;D-;; ;~;~- - - ~:1: ;1:: ::)-------------------. I 40 cents per word, $4.00 minimum. I (phone numbers - 2 words, P.O. Box - 1 word) I Photos - $11.00 I Deadline, 20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the I issue in which you want your ad (i.e. March 20, for the May issue). I Boldface or caps 55¢ per word extra. (Does not include first few words I which are automatically caps). Special layouts or tabs $22 per column I inch. I Prepayment required unless account established.

Please enter my classified ad as follows:

Rogallos Schools and Dealers Emergency Chutes Ultralight Powered Flight

Parts & Accessories Rigid Wings Business & Employment Opportunllies Publications & Organizations Miscellaneous

Begin with _____ 19 _____ issue and run for _ _ _ __ consecutive issue(s). My check _ _ _ money order _ _ _ is enclosed in the amount of

$ _____________________

I I I I I Phone N u m b e r : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I Number of words: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @ .40 = I P.O. BOX 500, PEARBLOSSOM, CA 93553 I (805) 944.5333 I

·--------------------------------------------------------

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING NORTH CAROLINA KITTY HAWK KITES, INC.-P.O. Box 340, Nags Head, NC 27959. 919-441-4124. Learn to fly over soft sand dunes just south of the site where the Wright Brothers learned to fly. Beginning and Advanced packages; complete inventory of new gliders, accessories and parts. Windsurfing sales and instruction also available. SAURA1DWN KITES-Winston Salem, (919) 922-1942. Hang Gliding School w/certified instructor; dealer of Seedwings, Wills Wing, Pacific Airwave & Delta; new and used equipment. OHIO NORTH COAST HANG GLIDING-Certified Instruction. New & used gliders. Specializing in Pacific Airwave gliders. Mike Del Signore, 1916 W. 75th St., Cleveland, OH 44102 (216) 631-1144. PENNSYLVANIA

advanced instruction, 9173 Falcon Cr., Sandy, Utah 84092 (801) 943-1005. WASATCH WINGS, INC.-USHGA certified hang gliding school, dealers for Wills Wing and Pacific Airwave. Flight operations at Point of the Mountain. 6 Sunwood Lane, Sandy, UT 84092. (801) 571-4000. VIRGINIA SILVER WINGS INC.-Certified instruction & equipment sales. N. VA. (703) 533-1965.

BRAND NEW-20 or 22 gore parachutes. Ship anywhere. $300. (303) 278-9566.

Parts & Accessories LITEK VE-10 variometer with quick clamp. Factory inspected. $100. (318) 981-8372. WANTED: VARIO, used, in good condition. Call Tom, (415) 283-4569 eves.

WASIDNG1DN AIRFLAY'N PRO SHOP & Hang Gliding School. The largest full time, full service hang gliding shop in Washington. All major brands sold and serviced. 800 Mercer, Seattle, WA 98109. (206) 467-8644.

International Dealers JAPAN

SKY SAILS LTD. Hang Gliding School. USHGA certified instructors. 1630 Lincoln Ave., Williamsport, PA 17701. (717) 326-6686 or 322-8866. TENNESSEE HAWK AIRSPORTS-Hang gliding equipment. USHGA certified hang gliding instruction. Come fly Clinch Mountain the longest ridge in the United States. Distributor for the Portable Windsok. The indicator chosen and used for Everest 86'. 2325 Sutherland Ave., Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 (615) 523-8531. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK-Our specialties: your first mountain flights, mountain and thermal soaring, certified training (package plans, group rates, USHGA ratings), glider rentals, camping, local site information. New and used gliders (all major brands), equipment, accessories, parts, repair services. We buy used gliders and equipment! USHGA Novice pilots can fly 1,340' Lcokout Mountain and soar 12-mile ridge (distance record, 130.9 miles; altitude gain, 10,400') Send $1. (refundable with any purchase) for brochure, rates, directions, accommodations information. Route 2, Box 215-H, Dept. HG, Rising Fawn, GA 30738. Twenty minutes from Chattanooga, Tennessee. (404) 398-3541.

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY SOARING SUPPLIESDealers for all major brands. Small training classes so you can learn to fly easily. Come fly over 100 miles of ridges and enjoy challenging thermals. Lccated next to the TTT Hensons Gap site. For personal service you can trust call Valley Soaring, Rt. 2, Box 210, Dunlap, TN 37327 (615) 949-3384, (615) 949-2301. UTAH FLY UTAH WITH

QUICK RELEASE CARABINER-Breaking 10,000 lbs. $24. 95. Extra 5/16 ball lock pin $10. DEALERS WANTED. Thermal, 19431-41 Business Center Dr., Northridge, CA 91324. Distributor major brands hang gliders (Airwave, Magic), instruments, parachutes. Tokyo 03/447/5560, Yugawara 0465/63/0173, Kurumayama Hang School 0266/68/2724 (April - November). 2-19-63 Doi, Yugawaramachi, Kanagawaken, Japan 141. FAX 0465 636641. SWITZERLAND SWISS ALP HANG GLIDING SAFARI-On vacation in North America until February 1988. Ron Hurst, P.O. Box 270, CH-8401, Winterthur, Switzerland.

Elllergency Parachutes ALL BRANDS - Bought, sold, and repacked. Inspection and repack $20.00 - Kevlar, nylon, s/s, bridles installed and replaced. S.F. Windsports, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116 (415) 753-8828,

THE PARAGLIDING MANUAL: by B. DUBUIS and P. GILLIGAN

PRIMO AIR MITTS-standard with shiny Lycra exterior. $28.50 per pair. Plush or terrycloth interior, $35 per pair. Shipping $2.00 per pair. Mitts in stock for fast delivery. 8 Blue Jay Way, Conway, AR 72032 (501) 327-0698.

Over 80 pages and 75 illustrations. The first and most complete flying manual for the PARAGLIDER pilot. $19.95 US + $1.50 postage and handling.

IMPORTABEC and SOUTH WIND HANG GLIDING SCHOOL Delta Wing Products, certified beginner and

FEBRUARY 1988

P.O. BOX 2055 Mariaville, Que JOL 1JO CANADA

AERODYNAMIC HELMETS, designer signed. $72 postpaid (USA) or call for UPS collect. Jack Lambie, 306 Riverdale, Orange, CA 92665. (714) 998-9538.

EUROPEAN THERMAL TOURS Adventure & Comraderie In The Alps The 1987 European Thermal Tours expeditions adventured their way through three countries and 16 major sites, including Mt. Blanc, Europe's highest mountain.

We Build Our Harnesses & Parachutes to the toughest standards we can find ... our own! /

Ccntinuous Webbing sewn with Five Cord Thread

MARK CHIRICO will conduct hang gliding tours through the French and Swiss Alps again in June/July 1988. Package Includes: Round trip airfare (from N.Y.), lodging, transportation, FM radios, thermal snoopers. guide, gliders & parapentes (waiting for you there) and EXTRAORDINARY EUROPEAN AIRTIME. CONTACT: Ron White 10 Power Street • Spencer, MA 01562 (617) 885-6073 Rob McKenzie 4231 Sepulveda Dr. • San Bemardino, CA 92404 (714) 883-8488 Tuclc8r Battle 5430 Carolina Place NW • Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 96EH699

VENT CAP COVERING APEX HOLE

High Energy Sports Parachute

'h'' TUBULAR NYLON REINFORCEMENT

• High Drag Benefits • Low Volume • Faster Openings • Quicker Openings • Slower Descent Rates • Reduced Risk of Apex Line Entanglement

-Adjustable Padded Leg Straps

Folds into full size Gear Bag with Adjustable Back Straps

FLAT CIRCULAR SOLID GORE CONST.

Heavily Padded Shoulders

,,...,..-- safety Back Strap Faired Glove Box with ....--i Parachute Container __.-- ..

IF YOU WANT YOUR PARACHUTE TO HAVE ••

Hidden Glider Bag Storage

CORDOURA~ Reinforced Boot

AT APEX

• Adds strength to area of greatest stress during opening shock

ALL SEAMS REINFORCED WITH TYPE Ill WEBBING • Necessary for strength in the event of a high speed opening

• Helps to distribute opening shock load • Important in the event of a high speed opening

400 LB . TUBULAR NYLON SUSPENSION LINES • Stretch characteristics help redu ce opening shock load on canopy, harness, and pilot

TYPE XVIII BRIDLE

• Sewn with 5 cord thread • Strength rated at 6000 lbs.

Two Week Delivery

* * * *

OPTIONS: Ya", V.', or 1" Foam Racing Boot No Foam Steel Carabir,er THERMA/RN Insulation Radio Holder Ballast Boot Stash Pouch Extra Pockets Higgins Hinge Fly Flap Chevron Stripes You Name It ' Two Week Delivery

* *

FLY WITH THE BEST SYSTEM AVAILABLE ... FLY WITH

2'¥~ 2236 W. 2nd Street • Santa Ana, CA 92703

(714) 972-8186

DROP TESTS TO FAA C23B TSO STANDARDS COMFORT PACK DEPLOYMENT BAG • Safety locks • Protective side line cover • UV resistant material

, , , THEN YOU WANT A HIGH ENERGY SPORTS PARACHUTE! For complete information on all High Energy Sports Products, contact your local High Energy Sports Dealer or:

-2236 W. 2nd St. • Santa Ana, CA 92703 (714) 972-8186

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING HARNESS! Fits 5'9" co 6'2". Cocoon harness, 18 mo. old, turns into backpack. Only $150. Blackhawk Pod harness w/glove, ballast and glider bag storage. Backpack carrying case. Less than one year old! Only $220. Satisfaction or money back. (619) 286-5604, evenings.

Publications & Organizations

Business & Employment Opportunities Experienced USHGA Certified Instructors needed NOW! Lots of students ... not enough instructors. Send resume to: Mission Soaring Center, lll6 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035. INSTRUCTORS WANTED-Exciting career opportunities for the right people. Will train if qualified. Work at what you enjoy most: live and fly on beautiful Lookout Mountain (Chattanooga area). Call us. Lookout Mountain Flight Park (404) 398-3541. LIVE, WORK AND FLY in beautiful upstate N.Y. Just minutes from Ellenville Mtn. Certified instructors needed badly, will train. Apartment overlooking river also available above shop in exchange for work. Lots of students, not enough instructors. April-Dec. Full time also available. Call Greg at Mountain Wings, (914) 626-5555 or send resume.

soaring flight. Full membership $35. Info kit with sample copy $3. SSA, P.O. Box E, Hobbs, NM 88241. MANBIRDS: Now really affordable! Authentic history of Hang Gliding. Over 100 photos and input from Hang Gliding's greats. Inside look at heydey of sport. By professional writer Maralys Wills, and first U.S. Champion, Chris Wills, M.D. Only $7.95 plus $1.00 shipping. 5 or more, $4.95 plus $1.00 each. Write "Manbirds," 1811 Beverly Glen Dr., Santa Ana, CA 92705. Also, Hang Gliding romance "Soar and Surrender" $3.95 shi11_J)ed.

RUBBER DOLLARS UNIQUE NEW X-C LOG BOOK, 64 pages, pocket size, special X-C format, including large comment section, site log, summary with hi/low and averages of time, distance and speed. $4 postage paid. SEND: Arizone Mfg., 303 Sharpe Rd., Anacortes, WA 98221.

Ninety-eight per cent of all member checks clear the bank when deposited. The other two per cent cost USHGA time and money to handle till clearing payment. Therefore, a $5.00 service charge will be assessed on all returned checks.

BINDERS FOR HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE. Brown vinyl with wire centerfold spines to allow library reference organization of your issues. Keeps up to 16 issues tidy and handy. Only $9.00 from USHGA, P.O. Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553. SOARING-Monthly magazine of the Soaring Society of America, Inc. Covers all aspects of

IMPROVE YOUR FL YING! Learn the secrets of the pros from hang gliding's most widely read author.

Hang Gliding Books by Dennis Pagen • HANG GLIDING FL YING SKlLLS-DETAI LS ON: BEG INNING FLIGHT • INTERMEDIATE SKILLS * AERODYNAMICS * GLIDER DESIGN • GLIDER REPAIR * SELECTING EQUIPMENT* THERMALING * MORE. $6.95 •FLYING CONDITIONS-THE-ROAD MAP TO THE SKY-DETAILS ON: GENERAL WEATHER* TURBULENCE* ROTORS * WIND SHADOW * SEA BREEZES * WIND GRADIENT * RIDGE LIFT *THERMALS• MORE. $6.95 • HANG GLIDING TECHNIQUES THE LATEST BOOK FROM SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS For lhe novice lo advanced piiot, this book continues the learning !hat began with Flying Skills. • Learn about thermal soaring - A full 31 pages on thermal techniques will have you soaring like an ace. • Learn about speeds to fly - the key to efficient flying whether in competition or cross-country. • Learn about cross-country flying - How to fly further with safety. Also.· Perfecting turns • Handling turbulence • Flying at altitude • Using ridge lift • Design concepts • Parachutes • Performance tuning • Cardinal speeds • Harness adjustment • Competition and much more'

- - - - - - - - ALSO AVAILABLE.__ _ _ _ _ __ POWERED ULTRALIGHT FLYING Powered Ultralight Flying will answer your questions and Improve your flying. This book is written for beginners to advanced pilots with over 125 photos and drawings to clearly illustrate even the more complex subjects. All our books are written from an ultralight pilot's point of view 50 you get the facts you need, not rehashed information from general aviation.

FEBRUARY 1988

• POWERED ULTRALIGHT TRAINING COURSE This is the only training course written by an ultralight instructor. Eleven lessons and eleven related groundschools (twenty-two chapters) make this an ideal text for self-teaching and training schools. Learn to fly safely in a carefully designed step,by·step manner. This manual is used by safety conscious schools internationally.

r--------------------*

* DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED* *

JSEND CHECK OR CASH TO·

SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS Dennis Pagen I Dept. G, P.O. Box Bn1 I State Coilege, PA. 16801 :Please rush me the books listed below: J

I QUANTITY I J

l :

O O

Flying Conditions ($6.95) Hang Gliding Flying Skills ($6.95) O Hang Gliding Techniques ($6.95) Powered Ultralight Flying ($11.95) QPowered Ultralight Training Course ($9.95)

I Save 10% · order lwo or more books! I Savo · all five books for only $35.95! Total amount for all books$ _ _ _ __ 1.25 1 P~~ge and Hanc1lii1_g__

I Overseas airmail ii desired ($4.00/book) _ __ __________ I SEND TO (Please Printj: j TOTAL ENCLOSED

lNAME - - - - - - - - - - - :ADDRESS I CITY, STATE COUNTRY/ ZIP

CLASSIF~ED ADVERTISING Videos & Films

SAILMAKING SUPPLIES & hardware. All fabric types. Massachusetts Motorized, P.O. Box 542-G, Cotuit, MA 02635. (413) 736-2426. CRYSTAL AJR SPORT MITTEL at Raccoon Mountain; Bunkhouse, private rustic rooms, regular & waterbeds, video in-room movies, private jacuzzi room, pool, sky gear gifts, fliers work program. FFI 4328 Cummings Hwy., Chattanooga, TN 37409. (615) 821- 2546. Chuck & Shari Toth. PATCHES & DECALS - USHGA sew-on emblems 3" dia. Full color - $1. Decals, JV," dia. Inside or outside application. 25C each. P.O. Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553.

TELLURIDE! Videotape of the annual fly-in at one of the most spectacular flying sites anywhere, with comprehensive coverage of the 1987 aerobatic competition. Professionally shot and edited. One hour long, VHS. $35 plus $3 First Class postage. California residents add state tax. Robert Reiter, 1539 63rd Street, Emeryville, CA 94608. (415) 655-0615

TEE-SHIRTS with USHGA emblem $8.00 including postage and handling. Californians add 6% tax. Men's sizes in BLUE and TAN - S, M, L, XL. Limited supply of ORANGE, sizes S, XL. USHGA, P.O. Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553. (805) 944-5333. The rate for classified advertising is 40C per word (or group of characters). Minimum charge, $4.00. A fee of $11.00 is charged for each photograph or logo. Bold face or caps 55C per word extra. Underline words to be bold. Special layouts of tabs $22.00 per column inch. AD DEADLINES - All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing IV, 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, P.O. Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553. (805) 944-5333.

Stolen Wings 1987 TELLURIDE Hang Gliding and World Aerobatics VHS video for sale. Exciting and colorful, plenty of thrills, chills and WHACKS! Also shows two chute deployments. Send $35 to Paul's Video, Box 1662, Telluride, CO 81435. (303) 728-3217. FRESH FROM AUSTRALIA. 1988 World Hang Gliding Championships. Two hour VHS video for sale, Send $40 to Paul's Video, Box 1662, Telluride, CO 81435. (303) 728-3217.

Miscellaneous THEY'RE BACK! AJR BRUSHED WINGED THERMAL SHIRTS, at Sky Gear Gift Shop. Cost $49.95 in gorgeous blue multicolors. M, L, & XL. Add $3.00 postage. Hand painted especially for you by Suzie Burke. Crystal Air sports Motel, 4328 Cummings Hwy., Chattanooga, TN 37419. TOWING SYSTEMS, build your own for under $500. For info - Fine Line, Bruce, (602) 581-2286. 7350 E. Jenon Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. COLLECIOR BOXES for Hang Gliding Magazine. Blue vinyl, heavy duty, with clear label inserts on spine. Holds up to two years issues. Only $9.75 from USHGA, Box 500, Pearblossom, CA 93553.

FOUND: UP glider bag at Rainbow Ridge, Nevada, north of Reno. Mid-December. Call to identify. (916) 587-1967. FOUND: Glider near Colorado River in So. California this December. Call USHGA to identify and claim. (805) 944-5333. EQUIPMENT: Black Keller Pod harness, High Energy tan colored parachute, Roberts Britain variometer, helmet. WHERE AND WHEN: broke into truck at Waddell Creek, Santa Cruz, CA. Saturday, October 17, 1987. CONTACT: Martin Ortegon, 1314 Copper Peak Lane, San Jose, CA 95120. TYPE: WILLS WING HP-1-1/2. Pacific blue L. E. & top front surface, undersurface spectrum and white main body. Speed bar, hand fairings. WHERE AND WHEN: Torrey Pines, CA, in May from the cartop. CONTACT: Dave Weise, (619) 942-2174 home, (619) 442-0984 work. EQUIPMENT: New stirrup harness. Black with yellow, orange, gold, red stripe on parachute panel. Also white Bell helmet. Stolen from fence post in LZ off Broadway in Boulder, CO, August Tl. CONTACT: Dennis Stevens, (303) 449-0774 work, 444-7624 home.

TYPE: HP-2 full race. SAIL: All white with red and yellow under surface. Bag color WW kahki with flag. Serial #13083. Faired down tubes. WHERE AND WHEN: Salida, CO June Tl, 1987 in ditch at roadside following XC flight. CONTACT: Ken Grubbs, 17325 Rimrock Dr., Golden, CO 80401 (303) m-7770. TYPE: Vision Eclipse 19, white TE, red LE and underside. In dark green glider bag with international orange bag tips. Serial #VEL 5495. Name on card in base tube. WHERE AND WHEN: Woodstock, VA, on June 28. Taken from hike-in spot. Seen on maroon van speeding away. CONTACT: Danny Dobbins, 1057 West Road, Chesapeake, VA 23323. (804) 485-5386. STOLEN WINGS are listed as a service to USHGA members. There is no charge for this service and lost and found wings or equipment may be called in to the office for immediate inclusion in Hang Gliding magazine. Please do call to cancel the listing when gliders are recovered. Periodically, this listing will be purged.

Index To Advertisers Aerial Tease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 AirTech ............................ IBC Airworks ............................. 37 ATOL .............................. .41 Ball Varios ......................... .41 C Bennett Delta Wing Gliders ............. 37, 43, 46, BC European Thermal Tours ................ 46 Hall Brothers ......................... 41 High Energy .......................... 46 Importabec ........................... 45 Lookout Mt .......................... IBC Pacific Airwave ....................... 17 Pagen Books .......................... 47 Publitec .............................. 9 Seedwings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Silver Wings .......................... 44 Systems Tech ........................ .41 UP International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 USHGA ......................... 20, IFC Wills Wing ........................ 28, 41

HANG GLIDING

AIR TECH ELECTRONICS Advanced Air Technology USA Achlm Hageman 29 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 962-8999

NEWS FLASH ... Is hang gliding a hot news item in your local paper? Please send clippings of stories, photos or articles to the Public Relations Committee through the USHGA office. We want to see your name, your club or your site mentioned in print!

USHGA - Public Relations P.O. Box 500 I Pearblossom, CA 93553

DON'T MISS THE LATEST ISSUE BY FAILING TO NOTIFY USHGA OF YOUR CHANGE OF ADDRESS! NAME

HEADLINES ... Have you made any lately? USHGA would like to see your name in print. Please send clippings of any local news articles or magazine stories on hang gliding to the office. The Public Relations Committee needs clippings to assess our image and catalog favorable writers on our sport. Good or bad, we need your news articles. Send to:

USHGA - Public Relations P.O. Box 500 I Pearblossom, CA 93553

USHGA#_~~-

OLD ADDRESS - - - - - - - - - - - - CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ STATE _ _ ZIP _ __ NEW ADDRESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ STATE _ _ ZIP _ __ LAST ISSUE RECEIVED - - - - - - - - - (Please allow four weeks for Processing)

Notify USHGA Early! Please Note: You must notify your post office that you will pay forwarding postage on your second class mail or you may miss an issue.

Expect nothing less than the extraordinary from Delta Wing's XCEL, the exceptional new glider designed to expand your XC horizons. Exalt in extreme high performance, exhilirating speed, exquisite handling and exclusive features. Experience the excitement of XCEL with a demo expedition today! The exemplary XCEL will exceed your expectations. You'll wonder how you ever existed without one! 140 Sail Area rn.2J

Span (n.J Nose Angle Aspect Ratio Ribs/side (upper) Ribs/side (lower) Glider Weight (lbs.) Pilot Weight Range (lbs.)

c o

M I N G

160

180