USHGA Hang Gliding September 1991 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

1971

1991

Promoting safe hang gliding for over 20 years! COMMEMORATIVE T-SHIRT $15.00 Bright Colors -100% Cotton Sizes: M, L, XL Send for yours today!

Commemorative 20th Anniversary pins $4.95 each

USHGA 20th Anniversary T • P.O. Box 8300 • Colorado Springs, CO 80933

It's Here! The 1992 USHGA Hang Gliding Calendar

---------------------------------------------· Please rush me _ _ _ 1992 USHGA Hang Gliding Calendar(s) at $9.95 each.

Shipping Charges Quantity Shipping 1-3 $3.50 4-6 $5.00 7-10 $6.00 Shipped by first class or UPS - Canada &Mexico add $.75 per calendar lnterna tional surface add $1.50 per ca lendar International air add $5.00 per calendar

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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

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f .2 y~rs\$9~.bo P:s. ($!16.oo 9t1fac1a &Mexito*)($120.oo fhtfrnationat*) ·.•. >$•·••··• 1 +••••)•••·•••<••••••••••••••••••>•••••·••·••· • ·• ·• ·• • ··JYear.s••·$J47.QO U.s.·••.($i6s.oo•• Olriada····&· ijy}{it6*')($1~0.o0···1111htna.ticmal*). ··.\· $-..- , - - - - 1 .

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(Includes paraglidi~Erati~gs

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and •.6.issues of PARt\GLl[)m(l magazine) $_ _ _ __ $-~-----

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OTHER OPTIONAL MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS: Send me Information ALTERNATE MAGAZINE MAILING SERVICE: (Airmail & 1st Class) VISA CARD INFORMATION: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Send me Information Send me Information PARTICIPANT ACCIDENTm-mFI' OF GLIDER INSURANCE: . . . . . . NAA MEMBERSHIP ($22.00 annual dues includes FAI license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $_ _ _ _ __ **************************************************************************************************************** · CHARGE MY:: --•MasterCard VISA ($2.00 handling fee - ciish/check/M.O. payments excluded)$~---. Credit Card# Exp Date 1· Signature -----** *** **. ** ************ **...... ***** **. **** ******* •• *****•• ****** **. *** ***. *****•• ************************* ****

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INSURANCE INFORMATION The cost of the insurance is included in the full membership fees with the member as additional insured. USHGA provides a Combined Single Limit Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Master Policy in the amount of $1,000,000 per claim which covers all recreational flying. USHGA's insurance is valid ONLY while flying in the U.S., U.S. Properties and CANADA. *Foreign payment< must be in U.S. FUNDS drawn on a U.S. BANK.

USHGA, PO BOX 8300, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80033 (719) 632-8300 FAX (719) 632-6417

(01/91)

(USPS 017-970-20)

Features

Columns 7

19 A History of Early Hang Gliding and USHGA

by Gil Dodgen Reflections on the significance of our "sport."

26 USHGA Reports

hy Vic Powell Former USHGA President and hang gliding pioneer Vic Powell reviews our past.

Page 29

23 Getting

Editor's Corner

President Gregg Lawless looks at where USHGA has been and where we're going on our 20th anniversary. NAA President Mal Gross talks about the availability or flying sites.

-Part Competition Corner

The 1991 Manufacturers League Meet, by Phil Hystek. The 1991 Region 8 Regionals.

bv Jack Lambie

hy Doup, Hildreth

Accident Reports One of hang gliding\ founders talks about the early experiments.

Page 36

A towing fatality, more on hooking in, and a paragliding fatality report from Wills Wing.

67 by Dan Johnson TRX, Moyes aerotug, Rich Pfeiffer and more.

h,· Rodger Hovi The original hang glider pilot.

In· Rod Houser Our sport gets tremendous exposure at this famous aviation gathering.

Page 39 COVER: Boh Wills launches at Sylmar. CA during the l'irsl LI .S. Nationals. I973. Photo hy Clara Gath. CENTER.SPREAD: Fall colors at Lookout Mountain. TN. Photo hy Chris Voith.

hy Briggs Christie First in a series or wild conversations with some old-timers.

DISCLAIVIER Of wARRANTms IN Pl/BUCA TIONS: The 111aterial presented here is published as pan or an inrorrnaLion dissemination service for USI-IGA 111e111hers. The USHGA makes no warranlic~ or rcprc\cntations and assumes no liability con-

cerning the validity or any advice. opinion or rceo111111endation expressed in the material. All individuals relying upon the material do so at their own ri.sk. Copyright (<) IlJlJ I United States Hang Gliding Association. Inc. All rights reserved to /long Gliding and individual contrihutors.

SEl'TEMBER 1991

8 11

17 55 58 65 65

Airmail Update Calendar of Events Ratings Classified Advertising Index to Advertisers Stolen Wings

UP we're devoted to the sport of hang gliding.This votion has driven us to new heights in technology dperfonnance. The graphite frame, custom hard---,.---4--~~--r-: ware, sail design and high-aspect truncated planfonn of the new 1RX are advancing the sport of hang gliding through-T ~~~ffl~ out the world.

AComposite graphite frame is more versatile than alu--+-+-~ minum. Pound for pound graphite islighter and stronger than aluminum. Flex characteristics are controllable byusing and infinite number of weaving techniques. These characteristics make tuning for handling, perfonnance and weight possible which is impossible in Hang Gliders using aluminum airframes.

aerodynamic, strongest, easy to use, high-tech hardware in the world today. We think we've out-<lone ourselves. It costs more, but you get what you pay for. : 3 11ie 1RX sail was designed to expand its useable speed range,reduce unnecessary drag and to provide ahigh lift

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AAlot of the lRX's extra handling occurs at the tip. The '+truncated planfonn is finished with aclear high-impact plastic wing tip, which defines the wing tip vortices, therebyreducing drag. Don'ttake our word for it,take atest flight today and discover the 1RX for yourself.

'1At UP, when we challenged ourselvesto design the ultiLrnate Hang Glider, we had to design and build the most

4054 West 2825 North Mountain Green, Morgan County Airport, Utah 84050 (801) 876-2211 Fax (801) 876-3003

Gil Dodgen, Editor/Art Director John Heiney, Photographer Harry Martin, Illustrator Dennis Pagen, Rodger Keyt, Staff Writers Tim Rinker, Design Consultant

Office Staff Jerry Bruning, Executive Director Greg Huller, Ratings & ICP's Cindy Evans, Member Services PJ More, Special Projects & Compelitions Stu Clark, Insurance & Member Services Jell Elgart, Marketing & Advertising

USHGA Officers and Executive Committee: Gregg Lawless, President Jim Zeiset, Vice President Russ Locke, Secretary Dan Johnson, Treasurer

REGION 1: Gene Matthews. REGION 2: Ken Brown, Russ Locke, Connie Bowen. REGION 3: Bill Bennett, Sandy King, Gregg Lawless. REGION 4: Mark Mocha, Jim Zeiset. REGION 5: Mike King. REGION 6: Ron Kenney. REGION 7: Rod Hauser. REGION 8: Randy Adams. REGION 9: Pete Lehmann, Jeff Sims. REGION 10: Rick Jacobs. REGION11: Carl Boddie. REGION 12: Paul Voight, Paul Rikert. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Dan Johnson, Jan Johnson, Dennis Pagen, Peter Zimmerli, Glen Nicolet. HONORARY DIRECTORS: G.W. Meadows, Tom Kreyche, Mike Meier, Rob Kells, Fred Stockwell, Terry Reynolds.

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 (FA\), of the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the U.S. at FAI meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision of FAl-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, selfaddressed return envelope must be enclosed. Notification 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 material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING editorial offices: 6950 Aragon Circle, Suite 6, Buena Park, CA 90620 (714) 994-3050. HANG GLIDING (USPS017-970) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc., 559 E. Pikes Peak Ave., Suite 101, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903 (719) 632-8300. FAX (719) 632-6417. Second-class postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing o11ices. POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: HANG GLIDING, P.O. BOX 8300, Colorado Springs, co 80933-8300. The USHGA is a member-controlled educational and scientific organization dedicated to exploring all facets of ultralight flight. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for full membership are $49.00 per year (of which $15 goes to the publication of Hang Gliding}, {$55 Canada & Mexico, $60 1oreign); subscription rates only are $35.00 ($40 Canada & Mexico, $50 foreign). Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHGA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. SEPTEMBER 1991

Volume 21, Issue No.9

EDITOR'S CORNER

Hang Gliding Is Not A Sport by Gil Dodgen Author's l!Ote: I do11 't mew1 to slight females in this essay, but llllf'or111n{lfe/y our !angu{lge does not offer a suitable substitute for "m(ln" ll'hen refeJ'J'ing to hum{lnity in general. This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the rebirth of the sport of hang gliding, and it seems like an appropriate opportunity to reflect on what flying hang gliders is re({//_,· all about. I contend that hang gliding is not a "sport" at all. The word seems so shallow as to be completely inappropriate, when one considers that our brand of flying is the final realization of perhaps the most powerful and exciting dream in the history of humanity~a dream so profound and inspiring that our ancestors appear to have been nearly obsessed with it for thousands of years. It all suddenly became clear while reading about Galileo. Galileo was forced to recant his telescopic findings under threat of torture by the Inquisition, and his telescope was labeled an instrument of the devil. Why? Not just because he confinned that the earth was not the center of the universe (which Copernicus had proposed nearly a century before). Galileo· s amplified vision disclosed craters on the 1110011. and the religious doctrine of his clay taught that mountains and valleys were obstacles put in man· s way as punishment for his sinful nature. Therefore, the uninhabited celestial bodies must be perfectly smooth. Now I understood. Gravity was man's enemy. and hills and mountains forced him to struggle against it. In ancient mythologies the gods punished sinners by chaining them to rocks, sending them to the underworld or forcing them to push boulders up hills. The angels and the gods had wings. They were free. They could fly. And so could the birds. The ancients must have looked upon birds with tremendous envy; hawks could soar effortlessly over mountains that took man days of painful effort to cross. If there

were only some way he could build a set of wings, then he could join them. Obsessed visionaries tried and failed-over and over for centuries-but the dream would not die. Finally, in the latter half of the 19th century, science and engineering would triumph, but only briefly. Lilienthal. Chanute and the Wright brothers succeeded in building personal wings, but soon the advent of powered flight distracted the effort from its original intent. The dream of the ancients was not to race across the sky at hundreds of miles per hour with a mega-horsepower engine drowning out the sound of the wind, it was to imitate the flight of soaring birds. Of course sailplanes were always in the background. In the 1940's and 'SO's there was something of a renaissance of interest in primary gliders, and a few like Volmer Jensen built conventional wooden airplane hang gliders. But not until Francis Rogallo invented his wing would the dream finally be fulfilled. Now man could real!_,, fly. He could soar for hours with the hawks that the earthbound ancients had so envied. He could take off and land on his feet, and feel the wind in his face as he flew. No, hang gliding is not a sport. To those who experience it, it is a mythic and personal dream come true. •

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AIRMAIL REALIZING DREAMS Dear Editor, He made and sold hang gliders, but really he was making dreams come true. He did it by offering the magic of anticipation: in waiting for the kite to arrive; in reading the one-page assembly instructions; in putting on the harness for the first time; and in preparing to teach oneself how to fly-all added to the excitement of the sport in the early 70' s. For many people access to the thrill of the flyingest flying was made possible by efforts of Dick Eipper and employees of the firm he headed, Eipper Formance. In the same manner that a person experiences instruction by Ii ving life, his FlexiFlyer kites provided the early participants with access to gifts that the sport offered. In a condensed manner and emotionally heightened atmosphere they learned the importance of attitude, lessons in responsibility, how to cope with loss, and the advantages of fairness. For many of us who were in our 20's or 30's, learning about ourselves under such conditions and in that historic time period was almost always fun, sometimes painful, and added an insightful dimension which provided long-lasting substance to our lives. He was one of hang gliding' s first leaders who understood that the sport needed an organization in order to grow. He was one of an even smaller number who took action to make it happen. Many people have built on the sport's early fmindations-created by people such as Dick-and brought it to where it is today, helping others to realize the dream. I'm glad for the progress, and pleased to hear that through the efforts of Bill Bennett, Dick Eipper has been recognized at the spring meeting of the USHGA Board as one of the sport's early leaders. Vic Powell Annandale, VA

CHARTER MEMBER CERTIFICATE Dear Editor, Received that special certificate you all sent me the other clay. Man, that was like a lightening bolt out of clear blue sky. At first I didn't know what to think. Your letter says that I'm one of only 872 pioneers who's been with USHGA since the l 970's. That kinda

makes me feel like Peter Pan; everyone else grew up and found other things they'd rather do than fly hang gliders. Flying hang gliders has been the very best part of my life. I learned some of life's most valuable lessons through the sport. Waiting for the right wind taught me patience. Thermaling taught me that the biggest key to success is persistence, and competition taught me that the key to success is believing I can do it. With windy cliff launches I learned the value of trusting others. I appreciate the certificate, and am kinda proud to have it. It brought back some memories. You know, I wonder how we survived? There must be some advantages to being blissfully ignorant. I've framed the certificate, and now I've got to find the right place to hang it-somewhere quiet, somewhere where memories aren't too hard to come by. Thanks. Pete Osborne Mt. Joy, PA Dear Editor, Congratulations and happy 20th birthday! It was a privilege and a pleasure to serve the association in the exciting, vibrant, early clays of the sport. While hang gliding can trace its roots back more than a century, the modern sport was (re)born in the early 70's. USHGA (which grew out of the Southern California Hang Glider Association) was there from the beginning to guide, nourish and encourage the safe and steady development of real aviation. Thank you for the Charter Member certificate. It will remind me of the dedicated people who worked so hard to make hang gliding and USHGA what they are today. Dan Poynter Santa Barbara, CA Dan Poynter is a past USHGA Board member, past CJVL President and a lifetime USHGA member. He wrote Hang Gliding in 1973, thejfrst book 011 the sport which went through ten revised editions and 130,000 copies.-Ed.

RECRUITING FEMALE PILOTS Dear Editor, After reading the report on the USHGA

Planning Committee meeting, I was adequately impressed with the amount of work accomplished by the people involved. I agree with most of the assessments of where we are and where we want to go, but one thing caught my eye that I think needs clarification. Is the low percentage of women invalved in the sport necessarily bad? What sort of "fundamental changes in the sport" are proposed to attract females? Any rational person can readily see that the physical demands of hang gliding will naturally attract more men than women, and that there is a difference in abilities and interests of the groups as a whole (propagandists to the contrary). However, if a woman is able and has a desire to fly a hang glider, airplane, rocket ship or whatever, then by all means let her go for it. I don't know of anyone in our organization who would say otherwise. Isn't that enough? Or do we plan to sponsor some sort of liberal political agenda? Are we going to organize efforts to attract more blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc.? Why can't we leave quotas to the government and stick to our stated invitation "to anyone interested in this realm of flight?" Give as much good exposure as we can to the public and those with a real interest will join. I don't want to see our accident rate increase from people who were "recruited" into hang gliding in order to change the natural balance of the organization. Dennis Blanton Liberty, SC

TOO MUCH HEINEY? Dear Editor, I've had it up to my Thermal Snooper with pictures of John Heiney upside clown at Torrey Pines, right side up at Torrey, banking it at Torrey, smiling at Torrey, etc. Gag me with graphite! I can't handle it anymore! Even the calendar has more than one picture of John Heiney. How about one from each region showing different flying sites and different gliders? We need awesome pictures of pilots thermaling next to gnarly cliffs thousands of feet up, or launching from Godawful rock piles with spectacular views. We need stuff to get the blood pumping. If you' re really lacking contributions from other people, maybe it's because "reguHANG GLIDING

AIRMAIL Jar" pilots never see their stuff in the magazine. So come on drivers and pilots, tape that fisheye lens to your favorite disposable Kodak, dangle it from your diver or drag it behind the truck and let's swamp the USHGA with photos and double-spaced lines. Yeah'. Let's make them earn their meals on wheels. Mike Ellsworth Vacaville, CA

John Heiney is a/111ost without question the \\'or/d's greatest hang gliding photographer. I do 111ake an effort to 11se unsolicited shots fro111 11nk1101v11 pilots. Since the beginning of' the year you've seen covers and ce11tersfi·o111 Ja111es Peake, Rod Chin, Leo By11u111, Marc Serota, Bill Sharkey, Gerry Charlebois, Phil Hystek and Fmnk Bema-a/1 unsolicited plwtosji-cn11 "regular" pi/ots.-Ed. OWENS SAFETY Dear Editor, The article by Tom Kreyche titled "Sex, Lies and Duct Tape" that appeared in the July ! issue has several glaring etTors, notably the : issue of clangers and fatalities at the Horseshoe (Walt's Point) launch in the Sierras. As I an Owens pilot for 15 years and Site Monitor at Horseshoe for three, I feel qualified to respond. In the history of the launch there have been two fatalities. The first occurred when a non-local pilot made several errors and possibly assembled his speed rail improperly resuiting in impact with a tree at high speed just off launch. The second was a judgement call by another group of non-local pilots flying in conditions that proved too strong for the site. The fatality occurred when the jet stream dipped clown and ripped through the southern Sierras with 80- to 100-knot westerly winds. The pilot was flying supine and ran into severe turbulence on the lee side of Wonoga peak Uust north of launch). Tom also missed a fatality that occurred in the Whites when a visiting pilot flew straight into the mountain. Details on that fatality arc sketchy. I have to add that there have been more than a few tucks, tumbles, parachute saves and mountain rescues over the years. The Owens is a great place to fly, but deserves a tremendous amount of respect and caution

SEPTEMBER 1991

with regard to weather conditions. These are the horror stories. I have also witnessed thousands of safe flights and national. international, and personal best records broken every summer. Roel Schmidt Lone Pine, CA

CROOKED, TIGHT & LOW Dear Editor, The best thing a tow pilot can have to save himself from a crooked, tight and low situation is a good tow driver and/or observer. As an experienced tow driver and observer I've saved a lot of these situations just by releasing 10-20 lbs. of pressure at that moment. By releasing a little line tension the glider is put into a free-flying mode and the pilot is then able to regain straight flight, at which time the pressure is returned to launch tension and you continue with a successful tow. If the pilot were to release or the observer were to cut the line in this situation (excellent article Oct. '90) the pilot would be in one of the worst possible situations in hang gliding. If you've never towed then learn from an experienced, safe crew, and if you' re a little spooked about the launch then go tanelem first. Candice Smith Mt. Shasta. CA

RESPONSIBLE PILOT RESPONSIBILITIES Dear Editor. Another failure to hook in and the pilot rolls down the hill? A launch in marginal conditions and the pilot ends up with severe road rash and a busted glider? A tow accident with no spotter in the back of the truck'l Three wire crewmen needed because conclitions arc so strong and the pilot gets tumbled an hour later? What these things have in common is not just pilot error but a more insidious menace called spectator indifference. I'm sick and tired of it. Since it is a proven fact that no matter what information is available to all pilots, someone will still do the inexcusable, then I personally think we can't hold the pilot ultimately responsible for his own stupidity.

That accountability now rests with the spectator (wuffos, wives and other pilots). If you see someone moving a glider toward launch it is your responsibility to get in the observant mode. (Mr. Pilot may already have launched himself in his mind.) Look at his hang strap and look his glider over. Check out the conditions. Be sure he's got all the help he needs because he won't tell you he needs it! Don't take it personally if he snaps at you for commenting on the obvious; at the very least, you may give him something to think about. Personally, I'd rather lose a friend because his ego got damaged than lose him to Hilclreth's column. Mike Badley (Mr. Glide) Sacramento, CA

ANOTHER FAREWELL Dear Editor, The San Francisco Bay Area hang gliding community recently lost a brother. Kelly Dearborne was a friend of mine, one of the most likeable, unpretentious men I knew. There are a lot of nice things I could say about Kelly but there's one thing I'll never forget about him. He lived in Haight-Ashbury and I was always impressed by the singleminded focus with which he moved through the junkies there to get to his hang glider. He wasn't judgmental-actually I think he lived there because he identified with their relentless pursuit of freedom-but his expression seemed to say, "You've got your nirvana, I've got mine." And no one or nothing could tell him it could be found anywhere but in the sky. Well Kelly, I hope you've found your unfailing wings and are smiling clown from where the wind's like glass and the ridge runs forever. The sky is an emptier place without you, but I'll be feeling for your wake at Fort Funston because that's your home, and I know you love it too much to ever leave. Gary Hahn Fremont, CA

AIRMAIL EAST COAST FL YING Dear Editor, Thanks for presenting the excellent coverage of the I 99 I East Coast Championships. The organizers of the meet and the folks in the Sequatchie Valley have done a tremendous job encouraging pilots to come fly "the other side of the continent" and to promote hang gliding. It appears that they may have truly earned the title "Hang Gliding Capital of the East." This last point is conceded reluctantly as the honor was conferred without input from pilots north of the Mason-Dixon line. These "damn Yankees" applaud the work and appreciate the energy and enthusiasm of our neighbors to the south. Consider, when venturing East, that there are some great flying experiences over beautiful terrain all along the coast and inland from Maine to Florida, including a place called Ellenville, NY. When you come please bring your USHGA/APA cards, logbook (if Hang II) and your Visa. This Visa represents your Foreign Equivalency rating. Minimum proficiency in English would also be appreciated. With club members hailing from at least 15 countries, Ellenville, NY is certainly "The International Hang Gliding Capital of the Universe." Paul Voight Region 12 (NY, NJ) Jan Johnson Region 13 (The rest of the world)

LAKEVIEW, OREGON FLY-IN Dear Editor, The talk of this small town is still hang gliding. Lakeview, Oregon was host to approximately 300 pilots the week of July 4th. It was a fun-filled week for both participants and residents (who kept their binoculars nearby). The press coverage has been excellent, and we appreciate the cooperation of the pilots with the news media. The Lake County Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the residents, would like to thank all the pilots, their friends and families who came to visit us. We found them to be friendly, courteous people who seemed to enjoy our small town environment. We would also like to thank the Rogue Valley Hang Gliding Association for their help in running the contests and their encouragement, Silent

Flight (Mt. Shasta), the U.S. Forest Service and the ELM, David Hopkins for the fabulous article written about this area and published in the June edition of Hang Gliding, and the USHGA for their cooperation and support. We hope to develop new sites, improve on the established ones, and hopefully make this one of the best flying areas in the United States. Barbara Gover, Director Lake County Chamber of Commerce

TOWING SOLENOID TROUBLE Schematic Diagram of Fail Safe Control Circuit

Dear Editor, Our towing club recently encountered and has now addressed a potentially dangerous situation which can occur when rewinding a tow line. A few weeks ago, while rewinding our tow line, the starter solenoid became stuck in the closed position. The winch operator was unable to stop the rewind motor and the ring attached to the encl of the tow line shattered the windshield of our tow vehicle. Luckily, no one in or near the vehicle was hurt. Subsequent testing of the solenoid produced no failures. As a precaution, rather than just replacing the existing solenoid, we added another solenoid in series with the first (see diagram). In this configuration both solenoids must ''stick" in order to cause this dangerous situation. When you weigh the possible risk to life and equipment against the cost of an extra solenoid, the decision to use a fail-safe circuit becomes a no-brainer. Not only does this modification improve safety for your ground crew, it can also be used in a backup mode should one of your solenoids fail in the open position while in the field. By simply bypassing the failed solenoid, you can temporarily operate the winch in a non-fail-safe mode. Bruce Decker Colorado Springs, CO

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UPDATE BRS ISSUES FULL LIST OF RECALLED ROCKET MOTORS In the August 1991 issue of Hang Gliding (page 19), BRS issued a recall notice on certain rocket motors. After pilots read this notice, contacts were made with dealers as requested by the factory. However, several dealers have recommended that BRS release the serial numbers of affected motors to facilitate pilots checking their own systems. The full list is presented below. If your serial number is not on this list, you are not affected by the recall. BRS serial numbers can be found on a silver "data plate," located near the departure encl of the rocket motor launch tube (the cylinder which houses the silver-looking rocket motor inside). If you have difficulty

BRS Recalled Rocket Motor Serial Numbers 5446 50 51 53 54 69 70 5548 74 95 96 97 5602 03 04 33 34 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 59 60 69 78 79 80 81 82 83 84

85 86 87 88 93 5722 45 46 51 52 54 68 69 71 77 78 79 80 81 84 85 86 87 89 5800 01 02 03 04 21 24 25 26 27

SEPTEMBER 1991

28 29 30 31 32 33 46 54 58 59 60 62 63 64 75 5922 6002 18 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 61 62 63 64 65 66 74 75

76 77 80 81 6107 11 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 54 55 65 76 86 87 90 6208 6635 36 42 45 46

locating the data plate, please contact your dealer for assistance. BRS again requests these calls not be directed to the factory. Numerous replacements have already occurred, and those pilots participating in the recall not only have their minds eased about the reliability of their motor. In addition, their motors have been replaced with new production motors which have a six-year operational life. Old motors have four-year service Ii ves. BRS wishes to remind owners that it is probable that only a dozen of the following numbers represent suspect motors. The entire batch made from a particular shipment of insufficiently-hardened aluminum bar stock is being recalled to provide assurance that all suspect motors are incluclecl. The factory has now tested at least six motors from this batch and found that they operated properly. BRS, Incorporated -August l l, 1991

1991 CIVL REPORT The CIVL (International Hang Gliding Commission) sends us the following news. Successful bids for future championships include: European Paragliding Championships 1992, Yugoslavia (Slovenia); World Paragliding Championships 1993, Switzerland (Verbier); World Women's Hang Gliding Championships l 993, Japan (Nanyo City); World Hang Gliding Championships, Class I and 2 1993: USA (Owens Valley). The International Pilot Rating Carel (IPRC) is in the final stage of production. They should cost pilots the equivalent of $6$8, and will cover hang gliding and paragliding ratings. Holding an IPRC will be voluntary, but will be an advantage for all pilots who travel to fly in other countries. The commission is gathering information on all types of aerobatic and free-style competition, with the aim of producing generally-accepted rules. All interested parties are invited to send relevant information to the President or Secretary. Sporting Code - Section 7: A revised version of Section 7 will be published later this year; all 1991 revisions will take effect from Jan. I, 1992. The 1991 Hang Gliding Diploma is awarded to Andre Milewski (France), for services to the sport, particularly the

development of the PIRS rating scheme. Pepe Lopes Award: A new award is to be inaugurated, to honor the name of this greatly-missed Brazilian pilot and sportsman. The following officers were proposed and elected unopposed: President: Thomas Bossharcl (Switzerland); Vice Presidents: Paul Mollison (Australia), Torben Taustrup (Denmark), Yoshiki Oka (Japan) Secretary: Noel Whittall (Great Britain). Full minutes of the meeting are being circulated to all National Aero Clubs.

WINGS OF ROGALLO SILENT AIRSHOW & FESTIVAL The 7th annual Wings of Rogallo Silent Airshow and festival will take to the air to raise money for the Santa Clara County Special Olympics, Saturday, Sept. 21 at Eel Levin County Park in Milpitas, CA. The show starts at 9:00 AM. The airshow will feature silent air sports including aerobatic hang gliding, paragliding, hot air balloon rides, sailplaning, bungee jumping, skydiving, skysurfing, radio controlled gliders and windsurfing. Clowns, magicians, children's musicians and a kite flying contest will provide entertainment for the kids. Artisans displaying fine crafts and musicians performing jazz, country and bluegrass will exhibit throughout the clay. Wine, beer and soft drinks, as well as a selection of quality food will be available from vendors. Get to the park early for hot air balloon rides. Take Highway 237 east through Milpitas and follow the posted signs. Gates open at 8:00 AM; the show starts at 9:00 AM. Admission is only $8 per car so car-pooling is recommended! Pedestrians, equestrians and cyclists will be admitted free. Bring the whole family for a great clay. Picnicking in the park is encouraged. Don't miss the excitement of this year's Wings of Rogallo Silent Airshow & Festival! Airshow Hotline (prerecorded information): (408) 925-7300, or call Jeff Walker (408) 254-9890 or Roger Watson, Mission Soaring (408) 262-1055.

BRAUNIGER PIil FLIGHT DECK Advanced Air Technology Inc., the exclusive U.S. distributor of Brauniger instruments, is pleased to introduce the new

UPDATE Brauniger PIII Flight Deck. The new unit combines the best features of the already popular LCD 5, PII, and AltoPrint into one 51/2" x 3" x I", RF shielded polycarbonate case. The streamlined PIII has a hang glider ball mount option and paragliding leg strap. Standard features include: two altimeters, LCD analog vario with dual tone ASR, and airspeed indicator. New to the PIII is a memory function which records the highest altitude reached and the corresponding climb rate on the previous four flights. Optional features include FAI-approved internal barograph, stall alarm, clock and stopwatch functions. All Brauniger flight instruments are serviced in the U.S. by Advanced Air Technology Inc. Contact: Advanced Air Technology Inc., 29 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 9310 l (805) 962-8999 FAX (805) 964-3337.

RECORD FLIGHTS ON WILLS WINGS Kari Castle, on July 22, 1991, flew a Wills Wing HP AT 145 210 miles to become the first woman pilot in history to break the 200-mile barrier. Kari will be filing for a women's world open distance record for the flight. On the same day, flying an HP AT 158, Mark Gibson landed a few miles beyond Kari for a 227-mile flight. On July 4th, Jim Lee flew a Wills Wing HP AT 158 to a new triangle world distance record of l 20.4 miles. Jim launched from his own property on Wild Horse Mesa in Colorado, flew 40-mile legs to East Spanish Peak and Blanca Peak, and returned to his starting point to complete the triangle. The record that Jim broke had been set just recently in Europe, also on an HP AT 158. Jim Lee, on a Wills Wing HP AT 158, won five out of six days at the 1991 Telluride League Meet to record a first place finish in the event. Then, two weeks later, Jim led the Wills Wing team of himself, Larry Tudor, Brad Koji, Mark Gibson and Kari Castle to a sweep of six out of six days at the '9 l Dinosaur National Team Championship, with Jim scoring a first place individual finish as well in the meet. Dispelling the notion that easy-to-fly, entry-level gliders can't have high performance, Dan Skadal recently recorded the first flight of more than I 00 miles to be made on a Spectrum, Wills Wing's entry level and recreational soaring glider. The flight was 12

from Horseshoe Meadows to Janie's Ranch, in the Owens Valley.

BIG AIR AT BIG SUR For hang glider and paraglider pilots, Big Sur, CA has come to represent a place to escape from the crowds and relax, flying in big ocean air. When Peter Zimmerli and I discussed the idea of having a meeting/fly-in for the entire membership of the APA, USHGA paraglider pilots, and interested parties, we couldn't imagine a more spectacular or user-friendly site than Harry Harris' hill. (Harry is a restauranteur and landowner at Big Sur who has recently become a paragliding enthusiast.) So I'm delighted to announce the First Annual American Paragliding Festival to be held September 27-29, 1991. The site consists of miles of 3,500-foot mountains facing the ocean with launches at 700, 1,000, 1,200, 2,400, 3,000, and 3,400 feet. Sand Dollar beach, a mile or so south of Harry's, is a crescent-shaped coastal bluff roughly 75 feet high, hundreds of feet long, and soarable through about I 00° of the compass. The Forest Service has printed maps that explain where park property differentiates from private property and where the existing hang glider launches and LZ's are. The terrain at most launches is flat and grassy with steepening drop-offs ideally suited for beginners and up. Mid-day, the mountain meadows let off some fat lazy thermals that wind their way up the canyons allowing hours of soaring with room for hundreds of pi lots. In the landing zones, I 00200 feet from the surfbreak, the wind is cool and steady and landings are easy, with several hundred acres of obstacle-free cow pasture. Sunset flights are dramatic, and the day's flying is relived over a fantastic home-style meal at the Pacific Valley Cafe, located at the LZ. The APA has designed the Festival to have an atmosphere free of competition and politics, and to encourage pilots to meet one another and share ideas, flying tips and folklore. A number of very talented pilots will be on hand to run short clinics for the edification of newcomers, and in general the activities will be centered around aspiring pilots. Ken Baier and John Yates are just a few

of the pilots who have volunteered to run a clinic and the door is open to others who will contribute their expertise. A costume party, bomb drop, spot landing contest and duration event are some of the activities planned. We would like to hear from those of you who have ideas for other fun tasks. A large number of manufacturers, dealers and schools have sponsored the Festival with products and services that will be auctioned off to raise capital for the APA General and Site funds. A $50 minimum donation to the APA is requested for the participants in this three-day event and APA is asking for volunteers for a number of duties during the Festival. Contact: Peter Zimmerli at (718) 6985738 or Scott Gressitt at (619) 632-7762 to make a reservation and receive the Festival Kit which includes information on housing, camping, directions, and an itinerary. - by Scott Gressitt

USHGA FINANCIAL UPDATE -CPA AUDIT February's issue of Hang Gliding magazine stated that the USHGA Board of Directors had authorized funds for a full audit of 1990 USHGA financial activities. Waugh and Associates, P.C. performed their audit and issued their report on April 26, 1991. The audit included examining on a test basis evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Four specific audit recommendations resulted affecting more detailed cost accounting, calendar inventory valuation, equipment inventory recommendations and financial policy written documentation. Two of the recommendations are already in process; the remaining two will be implemented by year end. The Waugh and Associates' report concluded: "In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc. as of December 31, l 990 and the results of its operations and cash flow for the year."

HANG GLIDING

ol' USJTGA and the other air sport organiza-

TEAM

Points 3401 3344 3041 2966

France Switzerland Germany Australia JNDIVIDIJAL Pilot

Brana Lanrranchi J/abicnnc Lemaire Kathleen Francoise Dicliwide Jenny Ganderton Diane Edoelr Birgit Svens 10) Anja Kohlra11sch I I) 13arhara Bachmann 12) Petra Bader 13) Kari Castle 14) Helen Ross Smith 15) M,mucla Schneider

GB Cl! CII FR GB

FR AUS

CH AUS [)

CH D

USA AUS D

Glider K2 HPAT XS XS R11mom Boomcrnng Foi I Combat XS hii I Combat K2 III' AT IIP AT HP AT XS K2

tions affiliated with Ni\J\. There arc a number or benefits to being an associate member of Ni\J\. 1n addition to being a part of' the oldest and most prestigious national aviation organization in the U.S., associate members arc eligible to obtain an Fi\1 crew card for a modest processing fee. As an associatt: member you can obtain the mllboritntivc 400-pngc record hook published t:ach World and U.S. J\ viation and Sp11<·e Records, at a 50% discount, ancl can attend NJ\A meetings, award ceremonies, and other cve:nts. Associate membership di fTcrs from full membership principally in that full members receive n newsletter six times a year and the record book without charge. They also receive commercial carrier life insurance, NJ\J\ crcclcntials and the Ni\;\ lapel pin. When US!IGA reprints its membership cards a statement will be included indicating that you arc also an associate member or NJ\J\.

Contact: NJ\J\, 1815 N. Fort Myer Dr., Suite 700, Arlington, Vi\ 22209-1805.

PARAGLIDING BOOK

U.S. pilots Sarah Bowman (HP AT), Carol (Prol'il), and Alice Engelhardt (HP AT) placed 38th, 45th and 47th

NAA BENEJ<'ITS The NJ\J\ (National Aeronautic Assn.) offers the Federation J\cmnautique Internationale Air Crew card to licensed lots who arc members or the national aero or om'. or the: 80 ,rn:mbcr countries. The i nternat ion al card identi Cies you

aero club ol' the U.S .. During this 90 years, all ol' the aviation greats been individual members or NJ\J\, tht: Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post. Jimmy Doolittle ,md Ycage:r. Now all US! !GA mernbcrs this distinguished list. fn !alt: June, the BOD changed NJ\J\'s to auto111atically "associate" membership status to all individual mcmht.'.rs

Edge publishing announces the release of Touching Cloudhasc, a new hook that includes material suitable l'or the student pilot through basic llight. Contact: Leading The Old Chapel, 13urtcrsctt, Hawes, North Yorkshire, Dl.8 :lPB, England tel. (0969) 66756(1, I 'AX 667788.

DOllBLE 1\/IALFUNCTION

Daedalus Press announces the publication ol' an intriguing-sounding new hook, /)ou/J/c Mo/ji111ctio11. It is a mystery novel set in the world or sport parachuting, and exposes the inevitable consequences or an Amct'ican IL:gal system run amok. Price $19.95 (clothbound), 261 pagt:s. Contact: Daedalus Press, P.O. Box 37.\ Ch,1mhcrshurg, PA 17201-0375 (717) '.l49298lJ.

AEH.OTOWING INTRODUCED BY IN USA TOUR J\ new method of towing hang glidcrs is

with great success in visits by

On hand for the Dragonfly aerotowingseminar at Kitty Hawk Kites' Currituck site were, from left: Phil Proctor (tug pilot:), Bill Moyes, Molly Moyes, John and Jonathan Harris. Moyes and crew have been traveling around the country showing what their Dragonflies can do for hang glider lowing.

Australian Bill Moyes and his crew. The first weekend in August, Moyes rolled in from Tennessee to Head, North Carolina. On hand were 10 anxious pilots awaiting his arrival, ready to be towed behind Lhc specially-designed ultralights which Moyes, Bobby Bailey, Campbcll Bowen and Phil Proctor, along with the help or Phil's brother Frank, flew in the Kitty Hawk Kitcs-sponsore:d clinic. During the threL, days or the seminar, nearly 200 tows were given to pi lots l'rom as far away as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Severn! Killy Hawk Kite, instructors got in on the action, including clinic organizer Roger Coxon, who did 2:l tandcm nights behind the Dragonfly. Coxon said compared to other acrntugs, this one is slower, making it possible lo fly the glider at nmmal trim speed. John Harris, president or Kitty Hawk Kites, was impressed with the sc:minar. "The great thing about this acrotug is it can use a small field for towing up a hang glider, tow it slowly, and slowly so that it comfortable for the hang glider pilot without any modifications to his or her glider." he said. He liked the Dragonfly so much that he wants to acid one 10 the three> trnck towing l'lcct at I<JIK. "As soon as we can work out the details we'll get one," Harris commented. Ile predicted that this method of' lowing is the wave or the future, if insurance questions ancl FAA regulations can be worked rn,t successfully. An advantage of the system is consistt:11tly gelling more altitude. "You're not limited to the length or the runway," Coxon said. At the KHK semi nm, heights or 6,000 13

UPDATE feet were achieved under tow. There's about a 15-minute turnaroud and a shorter tow line to deal with (about 15 feet with the tug, compared to 3,000 for a truck). Launches are fairly easy also, and can be done from a dolly or on foot. One disadvantage which Coxon noted was that the system will require a highly-skilled ultralight pilot, whereas truck towing requires a driver, who can be easily trained. Overall, the Dragonfly is a huge success. Moyes said, "All we're doing is getting a point across. Anyone who sees it and doesn't believe it is not a believer." He added, "How can it fail? It's a lot less risky and it's easier." The machine was designed by Bobby Bailey of Orlando, Florida, and built by Bailey and Campbell Bowen, also of Orlando (and a show pilot for Walt Disney World). Eight Dragonflies exist now, selling at around $16,000 each. A number of options can be built in, with the machines not only in use for towing hang gliders but for agricultural purposes also. "It can land anywhere," Moyes said. "It works. It's fun and it's a chance to get to rising air." Many pilots got up to 45-minute flights at the Currituck County Airport, where KHK conducts one of its towing operations. Over the weekend, Coxon and another KHK tandem pilot, Todd Braden, thermaled at the same time for over 30 minutes, each with a student in tandem. Bailey said he designed the ultralight with high-lift airfoils, and extra large detached control surfaces so the pilot can completely stall the wing and still have airflow over the ailerons. "I hope this catches on," he said. "It makes a huge difference in hang gliding. It's fun, you get to fly more often. It's a bit more expensive but it's quality time." Hang glider pilots attending the seminar were extremely pleased with the flying. Jonny Thompson said, "It's lots of fun. I soared all three days!" KHK's David Glover said, "It's the best thing to happen to hang gliding since the hang loop."

USHGA AWARDS CHARTER MEMBER CERTIFICATES "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." On the occasion of the Twentieth Anniversary of the United States Hang 14

This certificate is i/?JaJ.,Hlti~\i.nd appreciation for yo-ur .support and membership contributions as a

CHARTER MEMBER of the United States Hang Gfiditig Association, Inc. as USHGA ce/el,rates its 20th ANNIVERSARY. April 5, 1991

4~~~~ ~ .,!L~ £)~~om€:,31.:~~ Gliding Association, we've taken the opportunity to examine our membership roles and find that 872 of our first 20,000 members continue to be active in the Association. Listening to June 3, 1991 some of the stories of "the Dear Charter Member: early days" it appears In celebrating the Twen1ie1h Anniversary of the USHGA, 1he Association would like 10 that, in contrast to the present you with a special cenificate. This recognizes you as one of only 872 pioneers who have had a continuing membership in the USHGA since the 1970s. original quote, our pilots The sport of hang gliding has seen many changes over the years, and the USHGA has can have higher aspiraevolved to respond m the needs of its members. As you have been with us since 1he early days of the Association, you provide a sense of history and continuity to the tions and reach longevity organization. in spite of their advenIn recognition of your long-time commitment and membership contributions, the United Slates Hang Gliding As.sociation honors you as one of its Charter ;\kmbers on its tures. Twentie1h Anni\'ersary, Some of the relative We are pleased to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for yuur cominuing support of USHGA. newcomers to the sportthose with IO years or Sincerely, less-might be interested 3M-0_91'-'kW'-tv\., in hearing about times Jan Johnson Chairperson-Awards Executive Director USHGA President when learning to fly was a Committee risky proposition, when glider design was primitive in comparison to today's standards, when female fliers were far fewer in number, and everything (especially and thank you for your support and involvenew equipment) cost a whole lot less. The ment over the years. Good thoughts and good old-timers have much to share. To our veterans of those early times we winds. - by Jan Johnson award a certificate of Charter Membership,

!!1t.!~ 1.::'t~

HANG GLIDING

SPECIFICATIONS Model

143

153

163

Span

31 '

32' 8"

34' 4"

A,R,

6.7

7.0

7.3

Weight

57 lbs

62 lbs

66 lbs

Pilot Wt

125 - 210

150 - 250

175 - 275

VNE

50 mph 50 mph 50 mph HGMA Certified - June 11, 1991

1208 H. East Walnut

Santa Ana

Wills Wing is proud to introduce an entire new line of gliders for the intermediate and advanced soaring pilot, the Wills Wing Super Sports. Derived from the technologically advanced HP AT series, the Super Sports feature the HP AT airfoil, HP AT airframe technology, and a similar, though slightly milder planform. The design focus of the Super Sport project was to combine a very high level of pure performance with the simplicity, light weight, and user friendly handling and landing characteristics featured on the popular Wills Wing Spectrum. The result is a glider of extraordinarily accessible soaring and cross country capabilities that is an absolute joy to fly and to own. Performance and handling characteristics of the Super Sports fit directly in between those of the milder and more forgiving Spectrum and those of the competition class, world record setting HP AT series. Pilots moving up from the Spectrum will find an increased thermal search range due to the expanded speed range and higher UD. Those moving up from the Sport will find superior roll and pitch rnsponse ; effortless, roll neutral thermal tracking, and a noticeable improvement in static balance and ease of landing. All Super Sport Pilots will benefit from all the standard AT features such as faired wingtips and nosecone, full race premium quality sail cloth, 7075 airframes and battens, pilot's choice of sail colors, of streamlined or round control bar legs, and of speedbar or straight basetube, comprehensive owner I service manual, and a superior quality glider protection system featuring a 600 denier UV resistant polyester cover bag and a wide array of protective pads and covers. Finally, as a member of the worldwide family of Wills Wing pilots, the Super Sport owner will enjoy the unmatched level of product and service quality that is only available from Wills Wing , Inc. If you're looking for top of the stack and over the horizon performance in a simple, fun to fly high quality aircraft, see your dealer today about a test flight on the Wills Wing Super Sport.

CA 92701

Phone (714) 547-1344 FAX (714) 547-0972

• • 1991 National Team Meet - Individual 1991 National Team Meet - Team 1991 Telluride League Meet 1991 East Coast Championships 1991 Canadian National Championships 1991 Alberta Championships 1991 B C Championships 1991 Western Canada Championships

1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place

World Record World Record

Women's Open Distance Men's Triangle Distance

Jim Lee Lee, Tudor, Koji, Gibson, Castle Jim Lee Bruce Case Lionel Space Willi Muller Martin Henry George Borradaile

Kari Castle Jim Lee

210 miles 7/22/91 120 miles 7/4/91

HP AT 145 HP AT's HP AT 158 HP AT 158 HP AT 158 HP AT 158 HP AT 158 HP AT 158

HP AT 145 HP AT 158

Questions? Midway through the new 1991 season, amid the usual hype of new models and old promises, the Wills Wing HP AT has quietly compiled a most impressive record of achievement. Kari Castle recently set a world open distance record while becoming the first woman ever to fly more than 200 miles. Jim Lee shattered the Men's World Triangle distance record and won back to back first place honors at Telluride and Dinosaur. The Wills Wing team at Dinosaur won every single day of the six round meet to completely dominate the team competition. And, of course, the HP AT remains the only glider ever to have flown 300 miles. Looking for results? Try a Wills Wing. Got questions? Give us a call.

1208 H. East Walnut • Santa Ana• CA• 92701 • Phone (714) 547 1344 • FAX (714) 547 0972

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative. Please include exact information (event, date, contact name and phone number). Items should be received no later six weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead time for regional and national meets. Until Dec. 1: 199 l Region 9 X-C Contest. All flight data must be received by Dec. 15. Must be Region 9 pilot and current USHGA member. Contact: Tony Smolder (304) 622-4475. Until Dec. 31: East Coast Open X-C Competition. Flight must originate East of Mississippi and be tow or foot launch. Contact: Randy Adams, P.O. Box 369, Claremont, NH 03743 (603) 543-1760.

paragliding and hang gliding. Contact: tel. 0821/59 59 51 FAX 0821/59 43 85.

fee. Contact: Sail Wings (501) 227-4920 or (50 l) 641-1902 shop/launch.

Sept. 22: 2nd Annual Flying Wheels Rollerblade Spectacular. Oct. 19-20: 4th

Oct. 19-26: 1991 Team Challenge, Sequatchie Valley, TN. Teams of 3-5 fly with experienced competition pilots in various X-C tasks. Advanced Hang II and above. Contact: Sequatchie Valley Soaring Supply (615) 949-2301.

Annual Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition. Contact: Kitty Hawk Kites, P.O. Box 1839, 3941 S. Croatan Hwy at Jockey's Ridge, Nags Head, NC 27959 (919) 4414124 FAX (919) 441-7597.

Oct. 23-26: AOPA Expo '91, New Orleans, Sept. 27-29: First Annual American Paragliding Festival, Big Sur, CA. Contact: (619) 632-7762 or APA Headquarters (718) 698-5738.

LA. Exhibits, demos. Contact: Cheri Farha (301) 695-2162.

Oct. 25-27: Tennessee Tree Topper Octoberfest fly-in and party. Contact: Sequatchie Valley Soaring Supply (615) 949-2301.

Sept. 28-29: Kitty Hawk Kites' first Paragliding Spectacular at Currituck County Airport, NC. Contact: Roger Coxon (919) 441-4124.

Nov. 13-Dec. 3: New Zealand hang gliding

Sept. 7-9: 3rd Annual Labor Day Fun Fly-In, Mt. Wings Flight Park, Ellenville, NY. Low-key competition for all skill levels: duration, spot landings, bomb drops, speed runs, trophies, cash & prizes, barbecue, volleyball, live music, RCs, raffle fund-raiser. Contact: Greg Black, Mtn. Wings, 150 Canal St., Ellenville, NY 12428 (914) 647-3377.

Sept. 9-14: Telluride Hang Gliding Festival and World Aerobatic Championships. Send $75 pre-registration to: Telluride Air Force, P.O. Box 456, Telluride, CO 81435. Contact: Hugh Sawyer (303) 7284772. For lodging contact: Central Reservations (800) 525-3455.

Sept. 14-15: Advanced Instructor Seminar. Contact: Rick or Cliff, Sequatchie Valley Soaring Supplies, Rt. 2 Box 75, Dunlap, TN 37327 (615) 949-2301.

Sept. 19-28: Feodocia Senior Cup (ages 40+ ). Contact: Vadim Kakurin, Interaero, ul. Panfilova, 20, 125080 Moscow, USSR Tel. (7.095) 490.1294, FAX (7.095) 943.00.59 or FAX Windsports (818) 9881862. (Mail is slow so FAXing is recommended.)

safari, north & south island. Max 6 pilots. Contact: Santa Barbara HG Center, 29 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 962-8999 FAX (805) 964-3337.

Oct. 11-13: Grand opening, 1991 Hang Glider Heaven. Complete air show, live entertainment, barbecue and concessions. Log cabins for rent on site. Contact: "Tut" Woodruff, P.O. Box 1470, Clayton, GA 30525 (404) 782-9908 or 6218.

Oct. 12-13: Rio Grande Soaring Assn. Columbus Day Fly-In at Dry Canyon, Alamogordo, NM. Laid back, no tasks, no trophies, no fees. Have fun! Contact: Robin Hastings (505) 382-7446.

October 12-13: Fifth Annual Gary Lagrone

The Only Ultralight Good Enough i forHang Glider Pilots

Memorial Fly-In at Point of the Mountain Flight Park, Draper, Utah. Competitions for hang glider and paraglider pilots, outand-return air race, bomb drop, spot landing. Prizes awarded to top three places in each category. Entry $20. All entered pilots receive fly-in T-shirt. All proceeds go to Save the Children. Live band Saturday night, lots of food and drink. Check out our new north side launch ramp. Contact: Valerie Carroll, 11982 South 700 West, Draper, Utah 84020 (801) 572-5869 or FAX (80 l) 2628656.

Glide: 15 to 1 Sink: 250 fpm Span: 40 ft Empty Wt: 254 lbs Built: Ready-To-Fly _j~

~ «;::iL,rgMlQI @t:,~~l~ln World's Only Ultralight Motorglider • Electric Starter• Spoilerons for roll control; dual use cuts glide (15 to 7) • Cantilevered wings, no cables or struts • Car top to flying by one pilot in 20 min • BRS rocket parachute • Rotax 277 - 28 hp, uses 1 gal/hr • Cruises 65 mph • Includes: Airspeed, Tach, Engine Instruments

Oct. 12-14: Bromont, Quebec 199 l Cup. Sept. 21: 7th Annual Silent Air Show, Milpitas, CA. Contact: Roger at Mission Soaring (408) 262-1055.

$2,000 in prizes, 40 pilots max. Contact: Tourisme Bromont (514) 534-2006.

Oct. 18-20: Sky '91. Germany. International Sept. 21-22: Haney's Point Autumn Fly-Out

aerial sports exhibition, including

I [

Please Request Info Pak: HG 265 Echo Lane So. St. Paul MN 55075

at Atkins, AR. Competition. No entry SEPTEMBER 1991

TURN YOUR WORLD AROUND with the Foil Combat series ----------------

Mentioned in the first issue is Richard Miller-former editor of the Soaring Socil'.ty of America's (SSA) maga1.ine - flying his "Bamboo Bultcrfly" Rogal lo from sand dunes at Dockweilcr Slate Park, California on January 16, I %(1, During this period it was not at all certain that the Rogallo had much or a future for low and slow flight. The third " ... Hang gliders arc not very promising .. " because of the speed I imitations or a pi lot's But issue rive or LSOC, October l %8, then edited Robert Wister of Phoenix, Arizona, had an article by Miller describing l:xpcriments he cond11ctcd that led 10 his "Bamboo and flying at Dockwcilcr. Miller would make many contributions lo the sport, including the of this flying machine. Many early lead ers would have thl:ir first nights on a homc·bui11 Butterfly. l'owell, mid "70s. is one of the true pioneers of hang first Tactile Flight Meet, later lo become the Hang annual hang gliding meet I le later became lJSHGA i'r<'sidenl, excn1tivc director of NAA.

·1ise your hand if' as a kid yon jumped off the garage roor in an attc:rnpl to Y call, minc's up too. For some. our attempts to rly lcCt us a litllc shorter than nature intended. Other n little odd. there"s something else than diffen:nt about us too we've always wanted

because in any and in associations the hl,art of the movement is com· 1mmication -most often a publication. While certain individuals ran down hills and ht:cmnc airborne prior to 1967, their activities at that time did1i't have much influence on how the

sport

the

us to re;1li,.1.· that desire. Once a sulTicir.:nt num· her or us got thi: basics down. or making this wondcrl'ul sport 111ore ~arc and avai labll; to others our minds. We rewind the time machine through de tails discussed in other articles in these rrnges, and arrive in California. 1967. We slop 1!1.:rc S11'Tllvllll'R l 991

Control Information that is communicated in a publicathe cover date. In tion March I %7 Emil Riesel of Saratoga, Calil'ornia a ncwslcller, J,01v om! Slow mu/ 0111 of' Conlml (LSOC). Six iss11cs were published.

Low aml Slow The Sl'.C<md publication for !he sport was I.ow anr/Slow, producGd and edited by Joseph Patrick Faust, a 111athenrnt ics major in his junior year al lJCI ,A who lived in Venice, California. Issue number one is dated March Jl)7J. Richard Miller is the author or ils first article. Other authors contributing to the publication were Jack Lambie, Dan Poynter Bruce Carmichael and Congdon, people who would make further contributions to the sport. I <)7 I The sport was growing. By Jack Lambie had sold 1,000 plans for his Loose." Parasailing activity is described in an article by Dan Poynter. One lnmdnxl jumpers hacl gathered at a ski resort in Lake Placid, New York to launch from the hill. Later, Poynter became the first U.S. to the interna· tional hang gliding commission or l-'AJ, lhe CIVI ., sc:rved as committee president, and be· ca111c president of lhe U.S. l\1rachule Associa tion. Milkr, one of the first parlicipanls in the modern era of the sport, and one or its most inf'lucntial communicators, is described in tow and Slow issue five by lcticr writer John I lancock as '\ .. once a great so;iring bird who has been rcincarnalcd as a ni.111, It is as if he's been sent here to lead man into the heavens." Miller, l'ricnd I Joyd I jcl1n (;1t the time SSJ\ cxcculivc director) and Jack I ,amhic pl,111111.:d and condueled the I :nrd a1111i versary cclcbrntion or Ille hirlh of(krman ;1viat ion I .ilicnthal. On I()7 I at a vacant hillside in ( ·apistrano Beach, Cali rornia, and spec talors Police kept a wary eye on the 19

tion. It was courageous action, since the SSA is a hitter with the Fl\/\. Faust's influence on others to hGlp keep hang gliding rrce or heavy handed rederal regulation remains with the sport to this day. /\tone lime his organization was the cs! in the young sport. lt failed to emerge as the ultimate leader ror a of reasons, but one ot'thc most prominent was that the organi,.ation was not s!rncturcd to provide for volunteer input to create and opcrntc programs for the sport's lt was the fatal flaw. /\n organization thal could providc information about tile sport, have programs in which pilots could and offer other things they and meets, would emerge

First nalional tJSHGA hoard meeting, 1975. President Vern Roundtree, left, and i.loyd Lich er,

Everybody had run. Film was posed. It was the first major public gathering or tht: spor1. Issue number six, published in late l 97 l, lists the first accident reports. The first two arc car accidents in California; the crashes killed the Issue l 0, published in late I en l (they weren't mailed on a monthly basis -some months had more than one issue, some fewer) stated that I.ow mu/ Slow had 450 paid subscribers. The issue also has an article and of Dave Kilbourne soaring for minutes in a Bill BennetHlcsigned J6 .. foot Rogallo at Mission near Fremont, C'aJi. f'ornia. It was the first hang gliding rlight in the U.S. issue I 0, pnhlished in l <J72, hrnst had formed the Selt'Soar Association. He would also lay claim to scvcrnl other titles, including the United States Gliding J\ssociation, which he later relinquished to USHC1/\ so thal no conl'lict would arise. l .atcr in I 972 his association would have 2,000 rnemhcrs. Faust published and mailed at lt:ast 20 issues. His contributions to the sport were ma· jor. He provided a means or con11mmication to a large: number or people cager for in format ion, them together as a group, and he was a strong advocate that the Federal /\ vi;ition /\dministration (Fl\/\) 1101 regulate hang ing. l lc was c:loqm:111 and persuasive in his art iclcs, and against the of /\rncric,1's position favoring i"/\/\ rcgula

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Grnmul Skimmer The Southern Calirornia I lang (;]icier /\ssociation (SCIJ(,/\) evolved from the 25 memhGr Peninsula Hang (]lider Club created in December 1971 SCl!(i/\ p11hlishcd its first newsJct. tcr, Uro1111dSki111111er, in May 1972. Bylaws and a membership or I 00 people were listed. President and lXlitor was Dick Eippcr who was also member II l. Joe htust is and many others on the list had an important inrluGncc on the sporL The first two issues were completely mirneo .. graphed. issue j./4 editing chores had been assumed Lloyd Lichcr, who would later he elected President. Issue 1t6, October 1972 con· taincd the p11hlication's first f'ull .. pagc ad, f'rom Bill Bennett Delta Kites. Ile advertised in nearly every issue ror the following 19 years. He had earlier brought with him from Australia a major breakthrough l'or the sporl, the 1riangk control bar. !\ hook could he written about llilr s /\t the close of I <)72 SCI!(,/\ had 520 members. Nineteen scvcnty .. t11rcc proved to he the rirst ycarorphcnorncnal growth. During the month of.Jmw membership doubled from 1,400 to 2,800 as a result or an article in !I rgosy The June issue of Ground Skimrner was the rirs1 to be fully o1Tsc1 printed. The mimeograph was never used again. The July I <)7] issue contains an article by Tom or Massachusclls about the Tac tile Flight Meet held by Vic Powell on the sand dunes at ]lead, North Carolina. Tile event la!er its name to the I Jang (ilicling and became the sport's oldest an .. mrnlly conducted meet. Powell later became USHG;\ President, U.S. delegate lo CJVL, and

Greg Molenaar flying an 18-foot Chandclle in the foothills of Uw Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, 1974,

executive director or the Na!ional Aeronautic Association (Ni\/\). SCHO/\ was things right and offcrpcopk what they wanted. By l 97:1 paid mcn1bership hit 3,600 and was faster than mailing plates could be made. The California orgmli1.a1 ion nalional: 7YYo of' its membership was outside Southern California. The growth rct'kctcd increased ac· tivity in all sections or the nation, such as in New lingland where events were being bl individuals such as Terry Tom Pcghiny, Doug Weeks, Dan Chapman. Mike M,1rkowski, and /\I Mula,.zi Fvery section or the country had a similar group or people:. /\ta membership meeting on December 18, I 97] the organization· s name was officially changed to the United States Hm1g Gliding Association. W. !\. (Bill) /\llcn bccarnccclitororGround Skimmer with the October I 97:l issue, and strngglcd lo get the: publication's cover date 10 accuralely rerlecl when it was mailed. President Lichcr reported that in l,.chruary I 974 lhc Association had rented its l'irst ofTicc, 400 square foct or space on the second l'loor or 11 12 Venice Boulevard, Los California to house, cquipmcn1 and four staff members. In Decc111hcr 197:l several manufaclurGrs met in Westchester, California to sit down together for the first time. /\ proposal was dis· cussed that they ad min istratc a circuit or profcs .. sional hang competitions. No decisions Wl:rc made except to hold a second meeting on

I LINC CI.IDINC:

Chris Wills, right, receives a trophy and becomes the first U.S. National Champion at the Annie Green Springs Nationals in ·1973, His brother Bob Wills, left, placed second and was to become a Photo by Clara Gath. January 18, I 974 in Westchester, where they formed the Hang glider Manufacturers /\sso· ciation (HMA), later lo be changed to HGMA, and elected as president Pelc Brock orUl!rnlight Products. In May 1974 US! IG/\ began offering liahility insurance, $100,000 coverage f'or $8.50 a year. Membership hacl grown to 7,300. On May 16, 1974 the PA/\ issued its /\dvisory Circular on hang gliding. President J,ichcr de· firsl scribed the document as " ... the official recognition of the activity and their pronounct:mcnt to the aviation eomrmmity that for the time being they wert: not wgulating in this area." It would last until 1983 when F/\A issued Part I 01 on ultralight aircrnf't. The July-September 1974 issue, under the editorship or Carol Price, reports membership at I 0,500. The Board of Directms authorized creation of US! !GA chap!Grs. Chapter NJ was the Southern /\rizona l fang rniding /\ssocia· tion, with I 6 members in !he Tucson area led by Richard Jones, president. lJSHGA's l'lyer rating program was derived from the SCHGA Badge system announced in the June 1973 issue. It created a three-step program, Hang I to Hang I II. In an October 1974 article flight director John Lakt: gave credit to Chris Price and Chuck Stahl for their work on the new program. It established rive rating levels, Hang I to Hang V, and an Observer to sign off 011 complelecl dcmons(ra .. SEPTEMBJiR 1991

lions of' flying proficiency. Memhership lrnd climbed to 11,200. On November 18, 1974 the USHGA board changed the organization's bylaws, authorizing Regional Directors elected by members in 11 in the U.S. and one region for members outside the country. It was believed that this would best enable members to have a say in the direction and programs of their association, and more accurately rcf'lect its national status. Elections would he held and the new board would meet in September l 975. USHGJ\ 's first calendar was printed in the December I !)74 issue. Each month was sponsored. Ten different manufacturers were listed. Some generate l'oncl and not-so-rond memorit:s with names such as Pliable Moose, Icarus, Pa .. cific Gull, Sunbird, Bill Bennett Delta Wing, Eippcr Formance, Seagull /\ircraft, and Sailbird. Even as late as 1975 frcc .. spirited entrepreneurs could enter the manufacturing market. The March I 975 issue has a l'ull-pagc ad for "Thunder Chicken Entt:rprises" or /\ngie Modesto, California-···scat included for only $495.00! Can yon imagine crowing to your friends at the local flying site about your new "Thunder Chicken'/" Evidently not many others could either. fl was the company's one and only ad. The /\ssociation's Lilienthal /\ward was announced in lhc Fcbrnary I 975 issue. Pin #I was reserved for Otto Lilienthal. The require .. mt:nt to earn it was an unassisted takeoff and

flight of at least 60 seconds. Rich Grigsby Look over as cditoror Ground Skimm.er, issuing his first edition in June 1975. President Lieber reported that membership declined for the f'irst time, down to 8,000 members, and that l/SIIGA was af'filiating with the Nalional /\cronaulic Association so that hang glider pilots in this nation could have input to the world committee forming in Paris. The committee mt:! on June 2(1-27, 1975. The group, that would become the CIVl ., was officially formed in 1976 and scheduled the first world cup rnce;t to be held in Kc\sscn, Austria on Scptrn1ber 11-25. l ,icher also announced Gleelion results for the new nat.ional board of' dircc .. tors. Two individuals t:lectt:d to the board continue to serve the organization in an official capacity, Gil Dodgen and Dennis Pagen. Gil was elected as director from Region I and since the January J978 issue has been editor of Hang Gliding magazine, Lhe successor to Ground Skim.mer, the name change occurring with the November 1976 issue. Dennis was elected as a dircctor-at .. Jargc and remains in this capacity in 199 I, making him the longest-serving member of' the hoard. The first meeting of the new board was held at Rocky Mountain Marine, in Denver,

Francis M. Rogallo, right, invented the that made modern hang possible. lfogh Morton, left, of Mountain, NC was a big promoter of the sport for many years. Photo by Jim Morion.

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are-·--aclcled a richness to lhe sport and an apprc·· cialion that only a sense or history can provide. If you have access to the early issues of the magazine pick an evening with no disruptions and a hot drink, and let the unbridled enthusiasm or pcopk making discoveries in a new sport sweep over you from the pages. 111111

Ground Skimmer's first editm Bill Allen, right.. Rich left, later became editor and !urned the Association's magazine into a firsl·rale national publicalion, Hang Gliding. Photo by Hugh Morton.

Colorado on Sep1ember 27-28, 1975. It elected Vern Roundtree, a director from Region 1, as president Muell was discussed and actc:d on which set the course for the Association's de· vclopment and the sport's growth, including authorizing the president to write a letter to the National Park Service objecting to its proposed ban or hang gliding in National Parks. The impact of a national organization must have been helpful; the Park Service withdrew its ban. lJSHGA was on a roll. It continues to represent the sport today.

This project took much longer than it should have. I couldn't resist rereading articles in maga· zincs, and wcall ing vividly the run ol'the events and the times that they represented. [twas also heartrending to read about and sec again people who gave their lives to the sport I became aware once more of loss, the vacuum caused by their deaths. lt hurt But the review or what had gone before --how things got to be the way they

POSTSCRIPT: The sport hasn 'l done enough to show appreciation for two people who were instrumental in the creation or hang gliding and our Associa lion: Francis Rogalloancl Lloyd l ,icher. Rogallo because he invented the concept and made it possible for us to fly using the results or his genius, and Lichcr because he brought organi1.alional leadership to the sport al a very crucial and critical lime in its development. Without his expertise and oversight hang gliding as we know it would likely not exist. lt would have been crippled from several different sources had it not been for Lloyd and his devotion to this wildly exciting sport It cost him greatly, personally and economically. Rogallo provided the means, Lieber the organizational leadership. Their work opened up the sport to people around the world. And with the help ol' all those people modem hang gliding and the IJSHGA developed. h.'ar/y issues of' (]round Skimmer and Hang Gliding are still ovoi/11hlc/iwn US! !Gi\. Write

Ji1r a back issue listing---f,,'d.

An Observation Research for this article brought to mind again the many people who have made contributions that helped bring the sport to its current stat11s. This brier history ends in 1075 with the: l'irst meeting or the national board or directors. But there is so much mmc that didn't get into print in this review, and all the dcvelopmc11ts after I975. There arc hundreds of people who voluntccn:d time, clTort and money to the sport during the mid-(JOs to mid-70s. My failing to mention them and their activities is not intended as a slight or a judgement about the value or their contributions. Rather it points to the need for a history that is more comprehensive than can he achieved in one article.

H /\NC c;l.llllNC:

photo by Cary Rumack

by Larry Walsh

this final part oft he series we'll talk to, and about, someone who doesn't exactly get paid to fly, b11t who derives his living almost entirely from the sport or hang gliding. Many or you know him as "Ed." No, that's not his name, but the abbreviation for editor. You guessed it; we' re talking about none other than Gil Dodgen, editor or Ilang Gliding magazine. First we'll talk about the man, and then we'll discuss the magazine and how it goes together each and every month. THE MAN Gil grew up in a rural town called Pullman in the slate or Washington, which is the home or Washington State University. The population or about 30,000 is composed or hair townspeople and half university students. Pullman is located in the eastern part or the state, which, according lo Cil, has more rlying sites than pilots. Gil's first encounter with the sport came in SEPTFMBER '] 99 J

1973 in a student lounge at WSl J, when a friend told him about an article he had seen in the June issue of Argosy magazine. The article described a rn:w sport in which people were flying rootlaunched gliders from hillsides. Gil said he coulcln 't believe it, hut curiosity got the best of him. J,ikc many or us, during his chi ldhoocl Gil had dreams of flying, and built model airplanes and rockets. "To this day, almost every dream I can remember has involved rlying in one form or another," he says. So once he read the article (iii immediately wrote to the Southern Calif'or-nia ]Jang Gliding Association ror more info. (The SCHGJ\ was later to become USHCiA.) l lc recalls that during that month the association doubled its membership from 1,400 to 2,800 as a result or that mticle. The next thing he clid was 10 send away for a Vclderrain standard Rogallo kit. Gil says that gliders were pretty easy to build in those days; you just drilled holes in the tubing, bolted it

together, swaged a few cables and ducHapcd some plastic to it. (He later added a dacron sail.) Then he met another guy who had built a glider from an Eipperkit and, like most people in those days, they proceeded to leach themselves to fly. To give you an idea of the lack of fear in building technique in those days, the guy who built the Eippcrdidn't have a nico press tool, so he just squished the nicos onto the wires in a vise. It makes one wonder how anyone survived those dinosaur days or hang gliding, but you have lo admire and appreciate the early pioneers of our beloved sport, for without them we would still only be dreaming. Arter learning to get the thing sarGly off the ground and back to Mother Earth again, Gil advanced to Steptoe Butte, a 1,000-foot hill with a 360° launch. When the wind was sufficient- 20 to :lO mph--he could soar the standard, but soon tired of the poorperf'orrnancc and moved on to a kit-built Quicksilver, a tailed monoplane hang glider with rudder control. On the subject of soaring Gil comments, "We knew what thermals were but were kind or afraid of them." Little did he know that one day pilots would be doing hundred-milers from his Imme sites. The last glider he built was a Lightning designed by Chris Price, another pioneer in the sport. It was similar to Roy I-laggard's Dragon-· fly, but had a 90° nose angle and more sai I area. The glider was built with the aid of some crude sketches and few phone calls 10 Chris. In 1977 Gil and his wire Janie graduated from school and moved lo Southern California with his "worthless college degrees," as Gil puts ii. You sec, finding the teaching jobs they had hoped ror proved to he an cm ply dream, due lo a saturated job markel. But one must cal, so it was off to work for Wills Wing drilling holes in aluminum tubes ror $3.25 an hour- -not exactly what he had in mind, but it paid the rent. It's probably Gil's versatility that has moved the magazim: in a constant upward direction over the years. After all, !he guy has B.A. and M.J\. degrees in foreign language, and a fivc--ycar Bachelor or Music degree in piano performance. He's a classical concert pianist and has published three albums. On top oftliat, he has written the arlificial intelligence engine for the world's first master-level microcomputcrchcckcrs program. So what was a guy like this doing working for a hang glider manufacturer ror peanuts? The answer is simple: versatility. Where there's a Wills there's a way.

Gil his Vclderrain standard Rogallo io March of 1974. Curious 1,pedators, one of whom was a newspaper accompanied these photos read in part: "Hang as the flyingcsl there is-made its debut on Saturday as scores spectators watched. Gil WSlJ music major, made a short flight down the grade, suspended from his hang glider. Flying the 35-pound, sail· like device, gracefully so,ued an estimated three-fourths mile with a vertical of about 800 feel. If you arc he says, you land on yom two but sometimes it is the eagle. So far, he claims, bumps and bruises have been rare ... The price [of a glider kit] is reportedly in the neighborhood of $300. Photos by Clarence S. Hartzer."

TIIE MAGAZINE While Gil was still working for Wills Wing, Rich Grigsby (I fang Gliding '.1· editor at the time) decided to retire. Chris Price asked crn if' he would consider taking over the position. "Firstof'all," Gil replied, "I don't know the firs1 thing about publishing." But Chris responded, "That's OK. You're smart enough; you'll urc it out." Fortunately for Ciil, his rather-in-law was a newspaper publisher and (1il's wire worked for him during the summers, so she knew the basics of typesetting and pasteup. Gil recalls that the first issue was scary," mainly because he had to learn to put a magazine together litcrnlly on the fly. But with a lilt le help from Rich Grigsby and Mark Allison, the art director at the time, he was able to pull it off, and he's been doing it ever since. Oil calls his work "crcalive and rewarding," and al the end or the month he has some thing physically tangible to show ror his efforts. The reward comes from knowing that there arc I 0,000 people out there enjoying his work and 24

learning something rrom it. Gil says it's hard to say how many hours hl~ puts into the magazine each month, but during the week and a hall' before it goes to press he puls in a hundred hours or so. "It's the nature or the publication husi"" ness, because there's so much work that can'! he done until all the pieces come together," he comments. However, the week at'tcr it goes to press things slow down, and our editor gl:ts a chance to recuperate. llc'll do mop-up work and planning for future issues, since h,:'s always working an issue or two in advance. When asked about negative criticism (Jil says that it used to bother him. But he recognized that sometimes the criticism was valid and he would try to improve in those areas. But the fact of the matter is that, as an editor, no matter what yo11 do or don't do, someone's not going to like it. It just comes with the territory. The other side of the coin is that in the last !'our years or so, Gil says he has received very little criticism. He laughingly admits that it's very gratifying and that he must finally be 11guring it out.

One of the most interesting things lo Gil about publishing !lung Gliding magazine is that it's written by participants. He says that the only people who have anything interesting to say to hang glider pilots arc hang glider pilots. He occasionally receives unsolicited articles rrom professional writers, hut, although they may he well written, the articles arc usually laughable l"o pilots. According to our editor pilots may not ncccssaril y be wri lcrs, but it's his job to take care of that encl or it. Ile is, however, very impressed by the amount oJ' writing and artistic talent he l'inds in the hang gliding community. Although he obviously can't publish everything he receives, Gil encourages anyone with something to say to put it down on paper and send it in. The word "I" is generally a big no-no in journalism. However in this case it must be used. l obviously had to visit Gil's office in order to interview him. I' vc written several articles fort he magazine but until this interview we had only communicated by phone or mail. HANC: GurnNc

ABOVl the Lightning from Butte, sou!h Spokane, WA in March 1976. Snow was no impediment as long as lhe roads were passable. Steptoe is perhaps the world's mos! perfect hang gliding site. l! has a "1,000-fool vcr!ical, a paved rnad that spirals to !he top, unlimited landing areas, and is flyable in any wind direction. 0 ::

ABOVE, RIGHT: Flying the kit-built Qnicksilvcr in 1975. RIGHT: The had a radical planform in its Note the Seagull III's and lV's in the background.

Never having met racc-to-facl\ we were nrntu. ally surprised. (Ji! commented on how you build a mL:ntal image or a person and how that image us1rnlly collapses upon the first personal encrnmtcr. I had this mGntal building with tons of' equipment and rolling olT the presses. That image too was shattered when I walked into CJil's single-room office. His equipment consists or a publishing computer system, a desk to pul it on, two chairs, and a telephone. That's basically it. But don't get the idea that it's c;1sy lo put a quality publication togcthcron time every month of' the year. I watched in wonder and amaze· ment as Oil showed me how he puts "Airmail" together. It takc:s a lot of work and knowledge to manipulate thousands or bits or information and come oul with a first class magazine. Once the editing and design arc complete, the com puter disks arc turned over to the printer where they rind their way into another machine that SEPTEMBER 1991

and finally the finished prodproduces uct. When his day is over and the computer is shut down, Gil rc1urns home 10 his wife Janie rn1cl their two and a half-ycar·old daughter Tracy. Ile may sit down at the piano f'or a while, orjust relax and close his eyes. He might ponder the olcl when hang gliding meant l sled runs in one clay. C,il has over J ,500 nights under his belt, a Hang IV rating and USHCJA number 2J05. Although Gil iclentif'ic:s himself as a casual recreational pilot, he had a taste or competition in the I CJ76 Nationals. Having been in the sport for such a long period of time. he has seen his fair sharG of' accidents. His recollection of the most significant improvcmc111s was in the late 70's, when the use of dcflcxor wires was discontin· ucd, parachutes became commonplace, and the and of gliders became more thorough and sophisticated. IL was al that point tha1

our sporl started becoming safer and safer. And so, Gil has been involved in hang gliding since I 973, and since late l 977 he has been the editor or om mag,v.ine. He had a hand in thG political end of'things as well, as one of the first USHGA regional directors. So he def'i. nitely qualifies as one or the pioneers or hang gliding. He has watched over and nurtured our sport for 18 years. as i1 flowered and bloomed to become what ii is today. He has made rnany friends along thG way and, like most or the old timers, lost a f'cw too. or modern This year, the 20th hang gliding, is perhaps a good time to slop and think --just a f'ew seconds more before we step up to launch--about what we're doing, where we're and when: we came from. Because the real payoff is the experience of' flight, and not Getting Paid To Fly. Ill

USHGA REPORTS

USHGA's TvVentieth Anniversary by USHGA President Gregg Lawless

Wow,

the USHGA has been around for 20 years now. I've personally been actively involved in this sport for over 17 years. And had you told me 17 years ago that I would be President of this Association today, I would have laughed you out of the sky. However, as you all know, things and people change with time. Both this spo1t, and in particular this Association, has seen a lot of change over the last 20 years and I'm sure we'll see similar levels of change over the next 20. When I first got into hang gliding students took one, maybe two clays of instruction and they were "ready" to fly on their own with their own equipment. Personally, I paid $35 for one clay of instruction and within three weeks placed an order for my new glider. It was an Eipper 18' standard that came in kit form. I had to cut and drill all of the tubing, swag the wires and mount the pre-sewn sail onto the frame. Total cost for glider, harness, helmet and lesson was $450. Today, the average student getting into the sport with new equipment can expect to spend in excess of $5,000 for the basics, which will include an extensive training course of approximately 10-15 clays. You can't get kits anymore. Good thing too, because kits were a major contributor to our poor safety record back in "the good ale clays." In the early days of this Association everything was just as basic as those old standards. The "office" was run by a great lady named Carol, from her kitchen table. There were no computers; all membership records were maintained in a index card system, which, by the way, the current office staff still uses as a reference when the need arises. Today we have a professional Executive Director and a staff whose energies are focused on not only serving the needs of the membership in a professional and timely manner, but also ensuring that all of our program guidelines are followed. Anyone

"We've come a long way in the last 20 years, however we are now faced with some tremendous challenges. All of us have the opportunity to participate in the future development of hang gliding over the next two decades, so accept the challenge; it's there for the taking." close to the clay-to-clay operations of the office is aware of the size of this task, especially when you look at the financial and

organizational state the Association was in just three to five years ago. Earlier this year a Planning Committee was established for the purpose of establishing a formal five-year plan for the Association~something I don't believe this Association has ever had. The goal for this plan was to take a look at what the sport of hang gliding is all about, identify what trends could have an impact on the sport in the future and, given the resources, what we would like to achieve over the next five years. With the initial stage of this process completed this Association has taken the first step toward setting the shape of this organization for the next 20 years. We've come a long way in the last 20 years, however we are now faced with some tremendous challenges. All of us have the opportunity to participate in the future development of hang gliding over the next two decades, so accept the challenge; it's there for the taking. As much as I would love to take a shot at predicting where we will be in 20 years, I hesitate to do so because I would rather let each of you envision where you would like to see us. However, I do know that in 20 years I will be able to look at this sport and the Association and feel a great sense of pride over the challenges that have been successfully met. With that I would like to simply say: Fly Safe and and savor your opportunity to soar with the birds. •

Availability of Flying Sites The Most Important Issue Facing Sport Aviation In The Nineties by NAA President Mal Gross

looking at the challenges facing sport aviation in the 90's and beyond, many have suggested that air space restrictions, or perhaps the escalating cost of flying, will be our biggest challenge. Frankly, I believe there is another challenge that potentially will have even more impact-the availability of flying sites.

In thinking about flying sites, poweredplane folks tend to think only about the decreasing number of small airports in and around our major cities. All of us know of more than one airport that is now a shopping center or an apartment complex. We have many other air sport disciplines which tend to be forgotten when pilots talk HANG GLIDING

USHGA REPORTS about the availability of flying sites. I am referring to our fellow ultralight and soaring pilots, the skydivers, the balloonists, the acromodelers, and, of course. hang glider pilots. These air sports do not require airports as such, but they do require space in which to take off and land. Hang glider pilots require access to either public or private land with hills from which to launch. Aeromodelers require flat land from which to fly their aircraft. Skydivers require airports or adjacent areas upon which to land. And balloonists need launching sites and public understanding that they cannot completely control where the winds will take them. Each of these air sport disciplines is experiencing problems at the local community level from those who either view their activities with distrust or who are reluctant to allow use of public lands by sportsmen unless they meet arbitrary bureaucratic require-

Cross Country

ments. This should concern all of us in sport aviation. In recent months NAA has publicly written letters supporting both skydiving and hang gliding operations where local authorities have tried to ban these sports from their airports or public lands. Why have these operations been under attack? As best I can tell, largely because several influential local citizens on airport or park commissions have concluded-based on emotional feelingsthat skydiving and hang gliding activities are not compatible with other operations at the airport or, in the case of hang gliding, the use of public lands. What concerns me-and must concern all of us who cherish our freedom to fly-are the instances where local authorities attempt to ban skydivers or other sportsmen, even though the FAA has concluded that the operations can be conducted safely. I am not a hang glider pilot. but it is easy to recognize that if a local government decides hang

gliders are not welcome today, tomorrow they may conclude that single engine planes with noisy engines should be banned. None of us can be complacent just because we are not personally threatened. The saying, "united we stand but divided we fall,'' is so very true. All of this suggests to me that we must take very seriously the issue of protecting our flying sites. This means that all of us need to stand up and be counted when it comes to local attempts to restrict soaring or hang gliding or any other air sport. It also means that the FAA has to be more vigilant in enforcing the "equal access" provisions of their agreements with local airports. Most of us take for granted that we will continue to be able to exercise our cherished freedom lo fly provided we remain in good health and follow the FARs. But we can only fly if we have flying sites from which to operate. This is the issue which I see as being the biggest challenge of the 90's and beyond.•

\11).. '

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CROSS COUNTRY SEPTEMBER 1991

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"On days when the high performance imports are getting 80% collapses, my wingtips might tuck a bit - always instantly reinflating, all by themselves. 80% collapses - they call this flying? How do they find the core without a whole wing above their head? The 39 Cell Excalibur is a top-of-the-stack glider with 95% of the speed of the leading, high per! ormance import - when the import's inflated. Performance is not the issue - stability is. All this stability and great performance for under $2300 - what a deal!" Seth Foerster

Excalibur!

Hang 4/Class II

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Hu1lh~rflly" after modifications to the sail, being flown by

Photo by George Uvegcs.

l'rom Richard Millcrrcad: ''The l 2]nl :rnnivcrsnry of Otto J ,ilicnthal's birth will he on May l 97 I What can we do to cclc:hralc?" That lcllcr was !he match that starlc,d the !'ire

or modern hang But a bit or hackgrnuncL I 971 a ha! r dozen or us had been fooling around with hang glidl:rs ror lllany years_ I had built my first in I 957 and accomplishc_d some grncdul after takeoff Crom a car tow_ Bruce Carmichael and Richard Miller had made some or doing --stcp:p1111g: oil into sp:1cc and carx1c~-l1ke through the .,ky_ That was pure rantasy_ In the: summer or I ()70, with my middle grade students, dc~;1g11ed and built a large hang at schooL The kids had great adventures being lowed to ringL:rlip height in the playground,

S1Tl'l:Mlll:t,"Jl)()j

The "Hang I.nose" designed by Jack Lambie at the first Southern California Otto Lilienthal mcct-,,··197'1. l'hoto by George Uveges.

Then it was my turn to try to fly. After the hang glidcror 1952, when we needed a car to get the thing lo fly, I had doubts that sclr,launching would be succcssl'ul. We took it out to a long hill. Jil,llow self la11nchcrs Bruce Carmichael, his son Doug and Richard Miller were on hand with writer/photographer Don Dwiggins. I\ small crowd of model flyers and had "I Icy hom:y, hurry back to the cm and get my camera, a gonna git killed.'' Fach person watching seemed to have the same quiz :tical smile that asked, "J\re you kidding'> /\re you really to fly?" rlruce and Richard held each 1ip. We began moving. Six steps and the machine was My nose was even with the front bar. I hung on. My glider, "I lang I .oose," rose quietly and I was lifted off the ground · that most magical moment, when the grc,at we had made carried me. I hung on as my l'cct skimmed and [hen thrust them forward to nose down. I was now l1igh in the air. It was as magnificent as my first solo glider J'lighl when I was 14 years old that same quietness and sudden slow J'loating over the ground that is one's rirst impression or flight. The mass of plastic sheet l'ir structun: and hailing wire sc,ttlt,d to a landing. Ii l'Jew 1 l sold thousands or plans. I still lrnvc a scar

on my lcft palm where I ripped il open on a bolt on the Hang Loose spar, which will f'orcvcr remind me of that first day of flying it in 1970. /\fter Richard's lcltcr I sci up the first hang glider meet on I ,ilicnthal's 12:lrd birthday that day of May I 971, and hang gliding took

off. This was the first cxclnsive gathering of hang gliders, and the incredible publicity spread knowledge that scll'-launched flying was pos, siblc, and happening. The meet atlracted only 14 gliders but it changed the approach of flyers who had been experimenting alone or with a J'cw friends over many decades. Thousands of people wa1ched the flying in person or on the news. I was involved designed a couple more alumimm1--J'rmnt:d gliders, and helped with lhc follow--up John J. Montgomery meet which introduced Vol mer Jensen's and Taras Kiceniuck's high,pcrl'orrnance hang gliders. We had talk,and,show pictures meetings with a hundred enthusiasts. The Cirst commercial hang glider rnanuracturcrs rnme on tht: scene. and hang Magazine writers called gliding becan1c an overwhcl111i11gly time-consuming hobby. In 197'.\ I direc1cd what was now the annual I ,ilienthal mecl but started spending more time bicycling and flying my Fournier motorgl idcr, hut kept close to the sport. While researching this piece I looked al an article I wrote titled 'The Future ol'J Jang (llid ing." It was from a talk I gave at Northrup Institute in January of 1974 al the first llang glider seminar. Lloyd Lieber, USlffiJ\ dent, asked me to think I years ahead and guess what would happen in the sport. I made all

flying wing, affectionately known as the "Conduit Condor",. .:(97"1. Photo by George Uvcgcs.

I iANC CI.IDlN(;

The learns biplane hang glider in silhouette with designer Taras Kicenh1k about to launch"1971. Photo by George [Jvegcs.

kinds of farfctchcd ([ thought) predictions. TV and movies would include hang gliding adventures. That was the first prediction fulfilled. Then I thought it would he possible to make a series of flights spanning the contincn!. That was accomplished in the I 980's. I didn't predict 300 miles within 20 years, however. That was unimaginable in 1974, a time when only a few pilots had even soared. Then I got involved in inventing ancl testing devices to reduce air drag on trucks with Paul MacCready and Peter Lissaman, and made a streamlined fairing for my hike which easily wen\ 35 mph.This fast bike engineering seemed a lot more practical than the human--powered airplane projects some were working on in an allempl to win the Kremer Prize. I proposed to my fellow streamlined hikG enthusiast Dr. Kyle that we create the International lluman-Powcrcd Speed trials. Thus began human-powered vehicle racl:s in 1975. This sport has grown as well, and tlw International Human Powered Vchielc Association is now in its 16th year and is truly international, hut not nearly as popular as hang gliding. A rouncHhe-world-bicyck trip in 75-76 presented a superb opportunity to fly different airplanes and gliders. On the island or Suva in the Pacific I built a Hang Loose and it fkw some 40 limes with many ol'the locals as guest pilots. Thl: native chief, all 6'3" and :mo pounds of Sl,l'TEivlllER "1991

him, came over and walked slowly around the Hang Loose, examining it closely. I tried to explain what it was and what we were doing. "Man fly like bird," I said, as I held my arms out like wings, and pointed at the glider's wings. "I ,ike seagull in sky. Make wings of wood and plastic. Brace with wire. Carry man in air." The

chief stroked his chin and said, "I say, this is a hit different than the Spits l flew in Lhe war, old chap." We stored it in a shed, leaving it lo be discovered by anthropologists. I wonder if it's still there? When T got back lo California I plunged into the new Gossamer Condor project, and count that as another peak experience. Our group won the prize for the first figure--eight, one-mile night by a human-powered aircraft. That was August of 1977, less than a year after the projcet began. The$ I00,000 Kremer prize was shared by me, Paul MacCready and Peter Lissaman. Time out for hui Iding and flying the Wright gliders and airplanes for the TV special "Winds or Kitty Hawk" in 1978, and then hack to the Gossamer Albatross human-powered-· flight-across-the-English Channel project. The pilot on these historic flights was, of course, a hang glider pilot, Bryan Allen. In 1981, with Joe Grcblo and Kris Hartinian, I was doing a demonstrntion or ultralights with Yamaha motors al the third world hang gliding meet in Beppu, Japan. I got a lump in my throat watching the event. It was stirring to sec 21 teams from as many countries in distinctive outfits, hearing a brass hand commemorating the opening ceremonies, and knowing it had a million dollar mganizational budget' It was magnificent that our little sport of hang gliding had so quickly become an international sport of stature.

Dave Cronk airborne in Bob Lovejoy's Quicksilver al Torrance Beach, California-19'71. Photo by George Uveges.

A jib-sailed Rogallo a! the I.ilienl.hal meet.-·1971. Photo by George Uveges.

Volmer JensC'n soaring his Dockweilcr Beach (l'laya dcl early '70s.

HANC: CurnNc

My last hang gliding piece, "The Future of Hang Gliders," a few years ago suggested that gliders would have a streamlined pod for the pilot to sit in. Landings and takeoffs would be made on the pod using towing. The powerless but "trike-like" rig would have better control so a greater span could be used. and a little tail would allow some of the tip washout to be taken out, making for a more efficient wing. I thought a sit-back pod would allow a wider range of pilot physical ability and offer weather and crash protection, in addition to the performance gains. It might meld the soaring pilots with the hang glider flyers. So far nothing has come of it. Oh well. It looks like the variable wing tensioner and detail changes, and the use of the new very light composites, will have been the only changes in the basic Comet-type glider of a decade ago. Now it is the 20th anniversary of hang glicling's modern beginnings. A lot has happened in that time, but it seems to have gone so fast.•

Jack is a //Ian of'111a11y talents. In addition to his a\'iario11 acfre11tllres a11d aerodynamic i111·e11tio11s he has had se1·e11 books a11d 26 maga:i11e articles published i11 the last ten years. He is Cl/rrently l\'Orking on a no\'e/ a11d screen play about seapla11e racers in the 1920 's, and is doing a PBSfi/111 abollt ra1·e11s (ll'hich he raises as a hobby). Jack recently bought u 50/1 sailplane a11d has set a goal of/lying 1,000 kilometers-and losing 25 pollnds. -Ed.

SEPTEMBER 1991

Hang Gliding Pioneer Gains 6,000 Pounds Editor Gil Dodgen is always asking me, "Jack, what do you do? How do you earn a living? What have you done lately?" Gil's questions are hard to answer because I really don't work and get paid. I do projects, have adventures and write things that often, almost magically, pay. But really in the last ten years I've mostly gained weight. Sure I've lost too. Every morning I weigh two pounds less than when I went to bed. That's a total loss of over6,000 pounds since 1979! Unfortunately, each day the weight is back, so I have also gained 6,020 pounds since then. Here is a chronology. In 1979 I flew around a lot in my Fournier RF 4D motorglicler giving talks about the Albatross and Condor Projects. Down three pounds. Researched my "Rocks that Move in the Wind." Crashed my plane on a dry lake in the dese1t. Lost four pounds. Built six weird flying machines for a Pepsi Commercial in 1980. Gained three pounds. The big adventure in 1980 was flying the two-place version of my ship, the Fournier RF 5 Sperber, from my hangar at Chino Airport to Asuncion, Paraguay chasing Condors along the way. It was a monthlong flying adventure I must consider the most memorable experience of the decade. It took a lot of concentration and was very tense crossing the mountains and jungles with pure pilotagc for navigation. Lost 15 pounds. My house mate Edmund Burke and I flew a Cessna Citation jet all around the country for a year, from l 982 to I 983. Gained 13 pounds. Diel a lot ofresearch for Yamaha on ultralights and made two trips to Japan in l 98 I with a !lying team I organized for a demonstration at the World Hang Gliding Championships in Beppu, Japan. Lost three pounds. Made an ancient flying machine for the tower-jumper scene in the IMAX film "On The Wing," and got to go to Carcassone France, then on to the Canne film festival and Italian air museums for six weeks in 1985. Incredible food. Gained 14 pounds. Rebuilt an Ogar motorglider over a year, flew it around a lot, and delivered it up to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1984. Engine quit over the Canadian Rockies so I had a forest airstrip adventure after a 20-milc glide. Got clown to 184 pounds during that project! From '83 to '86 I designed and developed the Aerodyne and Supertour aerodynamic safety helmets for Monarch Helmet Company. The factory is in Mexico. I love Mexican food. And the future? More inventions. Still trying to find out why those rocks move on the desert playas. Would like to see hang gliding expand in a couple of directions including ultralight sailplanes. You know. The usual. Live long enough to be truly immortal. •

by Sunday morning, 2nd, and Molher Nature appears co11fusccl. With l'rcnzil,d haste, she's knilting a cnv.y-quill pattern of cumulus clouds into a chaotic, post-frontal Sun reflects blindingly from the clo11ds' expanding caulil'lower lops, stretched lo their upper limits as ii' she were internally inf'lating them with some colossal air pump. i\t any second it seems they may llmst Crom within like an overblown balloon. i\nd burst they do· -not al their dis-

Smithsonian photos tended, crowns, b11t from thdr dark, intermittent showsodden bottoms ers to moisten the rolling hills below. It is on one ol'thcsc hills we find a hang glider pilot assembling his in preparation for a l'lying. Despite the occasional showers, it's a pro1n. flying clay at a perfect flying site. Wind blows briskly 11p the :JOO-fool incline, which oilers steep takeolls in a variety of directions. i\ carpet or grass, checkerboardcd with

patches of' sort moss, provides a natural buffer to cushion the blows inevitable to a beginning pilot. Bui a novice this pilot is not. Religiously, he, lrns visited this site every Sunday l'or five over ye:irs. During this period he has 2,000 flights. He can righil'ully claim to simuli:meously being the currcnt world's altitude, distance and duration records holder. Such an international sensation is this pilot that he has been popularly christened with the enviable

J IANC: (; f.IDlNC:

pseuclonym, "The Flying Man,'' But perhaps this individual's greatest re(> ognition lies a century in the f'11t11rc. Then an obscure but daring group who share his passion for natural flight will commemorate his accom· plishments by naming a series of pilot achievement awmds aner him. That group will be called the United States Jiang Clliding Association. This f'licr whom they will one day honor is Otto l ,iiienthal. The YL\,lr is 18%. Olio I ,ilicntlwl was born May 24, l 848 in Anklam, Pomerania (whcthcr or not his family owned a small, reddish dog prone lo incessant barking is not recorded). Otto's early Ii re revealed an unusual rascination with birds, especially the numerous storks na· live to his n:gion. By age 13 his desire to fly was evident; he and his brother Uustav constructed a crude set or wooden with which they attempted to join the soaring storks. Although this primitive aviation experiment acco111plished little more than a severe soi ling of the Lilienthal brothers·· knickt:rhockcrs, it did scrvt, to l(:ach Olto that emulating the resi(font storks would involve much more titan a pair or hand-cral'tcd 6-1 /2 fool sl rap··Oll birch veneer I ,ilienthal's subsequent education al BLT lin Technical Academy armed him with a more sophisticated knowledge of and, ancr establishing a successful machine fobrica lion busim:ss, he n:smned flight experiments with rcm:wcd zeal. 1:or inspiration he studied the only masters or f'ligltt available at thal time: birds. their he concluded is I he secret that. "In an arched (cambered) of the art or " lie was ,ilso l'irst lo document the importance air currents to the rtight or birds. In 1889 Lilienthal lishcd a hook titled "Bird Flighl as a Basis lor Aviation," a revolutionary work that would serve as mt inval11able source or information for

installing a motor on it). 18<) I Olto l .ilienthal had achieved worldwide fmnc with his daring a1te111pts at flight. He !tad also learned to wear knee under his knickers. Jr you Iii.er, Lilicntlrnl's resemblance to planrorms or more rrnmdcd, butterf'ly appearance. Since 7075 Lilienthal in flight Nol.c !he action Lo counteract a !um. Lmnchinr; from tlw lop of his storage BOTTOM: The first m;111-1nade hill. SFJ'Tl'MllEll 199 I

aluminum tubing and dacron sailcloth wouldn't be invented until the next century, Lilienthal constructed his gliders of supple splitwillow frames over which an air-tight treated cotton twill fabric was stretched. One observer reported that," ... the cloth was everywhere under such tension that the whole machine rang like a drum when rapped with the knuckles." Sound familiar? Steering control was accomplished through "bodily movements," that we now call weight-shifting. Some Lilienthal gliders featured folding wings for ease of transp011ation and storage. Glide ratios were purported as an optimistic 8/1, but it's probable that figure was inflated by wind conditions extending glides. Lilienthal became the first hang glider dealer, selling several of his units to other aviation experimenters, including William Randolph Hearst. By 1894 Lilienthal was so involved in gliding that he constructed an artificial hill, conical in shape to provide multidirectional takeoffs, and complete with a glider storage building on the top. His avian prowess increased to where he was achieving glides of up to 1,150 feet in distance, and was witnessed on occasion to utilize upward air currents along the face of the hill to soar above takeoff level. Otto said, "No one can realize how substantial the air is until he feels its supporting power beneath him. It is a difficult task to convey to one who has never enjoyed aerial flight. The indefinable pleasure ... experienced in soaring high upin the air, rocking above sunny slopes without jar or noise, accompanied only by the music issuing from the wires of the apparatus, is well worth

the labor given to the task of becoming an expert." Eyewitness descriptions of Otto Lilienthal's 19th century flights are indistinguishable from training hill flights of today. According to newspaperreporter R. W. Wood's account of that rainy August 2nd in 1896, redhaired, bearded Otto Lilienthal positioned himself beneath the glider, grasped the control bar, and " ... faced the wind like an athlete waiting for the starting pistol. Presently the breeze freshened; he took three rapid steps forward and was instantly lifted from the ground, sailing off nearly horizontally from the summit. He went over my head at a terrific pace, at an elevation of about 50 feet, the wind playing wild tunes on the tense cordage of the machine." Then, terrifyingly, "The apparatus tipped sideways as if a sudden gust had got under the left wing. For a moment I could see the top of the aeroplane, and then, with a powerful throw of his legs he brought the machine once more on an even keel, and sailed away below me across the fields at the bottom, kicking at the tops of the haycocks as he passed over them. When within a foot of the ground he threw his legs forward, and notwithstanding it's great velocity the machine stopped instantly, it's front turning up, allowing the wind to strike under the wings, and he dropped lightly to the earth." The reporter was astounded enough to discard his impartiality: "I have seen high dives and parachute jumps from balloons, but I have never witnessed anything that strung the nerves to such a pitch of excitement, or awakened such a feeling of enthusiasm and admiration as the

wild fearless rush of Otto Lilienthal through the air. The spectacle of a man supported on huge white wings, moving high above you at racehorse speed, combined with the weird hum of the wind through the cords of the machine, produces an impression never to be forgotten." Remember, the racehorse to which Wood referred was about the fastest thing imaginable in 1896. Just one week after Wood's account was written, on August 9, 1896, Otto Lilienthal realized the most unfortunate of his numerous hang gliding firsts: after experiencing an inflight stall, he dove into the ground from 40 feet, and died the following day of spinal injuries. He was 48 years old. As if foretelling his own passing, Otto T,iiienthal once predicted that many sacrifices would have to be made to achieve flight. To him the rewards were worth the risks; ''To fly is everything," he said. Thank you Otto. If you could only see us now.• BIBLIOGRAPHY The Road To Kitty Hawk, by Valerie Moo Iman, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, VA., pages 7281. A Dream Of Wings, by Tom D. Crouch, W.W. Norton Co., New York, NY, pages 157-166. The Early Birds, by Arch Whitehouse, Doubleday and Co., Garden City, NY, pages 27-28. The Conquest OJThe Air, by Frank Howard and Bill Gunston, Random House, New York, NY, pages 38-39.

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THE ADVENTURE BEGINS WHEN YOU LAND! 38

HANG GLIDING

by Rod Hauser S.O.S. for help at the booth and for towing produced a very limited response. RC·· gardlcss, we went on with our intended plans anyway, with one million spectators expected al the world's largest fly in in excess of 15,000 airplanes and two hang gliders.

Scott and Ann l .esnet of Iowa and I arrived at SEPTEMBER'] 991

Oshkosh toward Finding and selling up camp, we then proceeded to find our exhibition booth. Upon arriving there we found our Executive Director, Jerry Brnning waiting patiently Cor us. We immediately went to work selting up our simulator. Not having made one before, skepticism was high. Upon anchoring it clown, all were sure it would work, and it did' We

harnessed and hung approximately 700 people throughout the week, young and old alike:. Opening Day July 26 Opening our booth al 9:00 a.m. mc:anl setting everything up at 8:00 a.111. Scott and I deserted /\nn and .Jerry to altc:mpl some towing in Lile ultralight area. Arriving there, we irnmcdiatc:ly started

ncgo1iating rora lime slol. (/\s 11sual, glider towing was put at the hot1om or the list.) The main lowi:r i:losi:d the ultralight area lwice for in heavies (anything an ullrnlighl), f'orelasl four slols to be cancelled that day, including US,

resumed for Saturday's t imcslots, we were and lo our l'irst, wilh a !'om-minute win-, dow I hack lo the and booth, we helped /\1111 and nm thcsimulalor, The booths close at 5:00 p,nL every day,

USHGA Executive Din)ctor Jerry Bruning in the simula!or.

WE Bl ,EW IT!! Our weak link, loo well, railed too emly in the flight. Immediately we tied a nc:w one, hooked up and the release rt:lcased too before Scotl got olT the Our l'our-minulc window was thi,;11 closed, and we had to hack olT, We were lcf't to rclmn to the booth lo help new arrivals Bill and Paul Mayes or llli~ rmis,

The manufacturers showcase in the ul1ralight area was canceled due lo high winds ( I I7')), /\II ullralights were grounded, Arter much newith officials and the help of Dan Johnson, we were allowed to low, Things were from bad to worse, It started to rain, hut on with the show, We were of' (iOO', /\n increase from lhc I' II never Scoll's "low tnlk" on our first low, 'Tm my wife's too small for me, It is now wet ;111d and lhcdowntubcsareso I can't ilup, I glll:ss we should low I" I was laughing so hard I could11 '1 hut we did tow, wilh a crowd or 300-SOO peoplt: in the rain watch~ /\s Scott landed he turned to lhc crowd and , The audience broke into Bill Trombley was ncxl up and ended his J'lighl with a pt.'.rfect landing in front of' the crowd, These were the only two flights allowed But as we were pack for our window that ing up Ihe officials wmmly granted us a third

110

tow with smoke' Scott was our official announcer as Bill towed up, questions were asked regarding our pilot prnl'iciency progrnm and Part I03, Knowthese well, we proccc:dcd to gain lhc respect that we have long deserved as hang glider pilots, Our boolh was quite full, New slalTing Cort he day included Karen I lauser, !LT, kn kins and Susan Quillin, /\t times our staff of' seven was very and talking wilh vcrv interested spcclalors, We were all thrilled to meet Bob Chase, lJSHG/\ //JOI l fc witnessed the three tows and found our booth, Bob told us or many advcn lures including when he was an official at the First Annual Otto I ,itienlhal meet in California, I le round an Icarus Vin an ultralight hangar at Oshkosh this year and believes it to he the original one he saw Taras Kiccniuk fly at the Third Annual 0110 I ,ilienthal Meet in San Diego, Needless lo say, wi1h all lhese people we couldn't close lhe booth 1m1il almost (dlO run, tlrnt Our many thanks lo Bill who unfortunately had to leave for work on Monday,

all through lhc night before, all operations in lhe ultralight area were serubbccL J\t I0:30 a,rn, Bruning had to rel urn to the Imme office, Jerry !here was an asset tons, as many companies only send rcprc scll!ativcs, not their executive directors, We al:;o enjoyed camping with him, Thanks Jerry, for towing on the main nm-

way commencccL After several Jong meetings with vari mis officials we were invited to a pilo1s' meeting at 7:00 p,l!L that We learned of a sailplane thal had been clearance to 3,000' ror a 7:00 a,m, \ow Tuesday mornWe negotiated and re ceived the same, Logistical problems he tween the sailplane aerotow surface and our glider towed had to he worked ouL Upon meeting wilh the sail plane personnel we discovered problem was that had no I ow rnpc ! Wc gra, ciously reeled off 200' or line for them to use, I\ Ci:30 ,Lm, pilots' meeting was called for Tuesday, Dave Chapman of UP was for us at camp, Gliders on car lops attrnct pilots like moths 10 light,

30 Scoll and I arrived minutes l'or the pilots' briefing at (,:30, Skies were mostly elem with light winds, Finally the (]ods were rn1 our side, We were told to make 110 more lhan ]0° bank angle turns and land directly in l'rnnt of the lower, The pressure was on, Scott did a superb job, landing as requested af'lcr releasing f'rom a 1,500' low, When we requested clc:arancc for the tow vG!ticlc from the aclivc; runway the tower responded wilh, "Nice job, it looked grcaL" /\s we proceeded to rclricve Scotl from the crowd, we were rcqm,stcd lo return /'or the I :00 1un show thal afternoon 011 the main rnnway 1 I :00 SHOWTIME! Dave Chapman', as our announcer was apprcciatecL Much lo our we were allowed 59° hank Iurns and were cleared ror smoke by lhc main tower, Smoke is normally restricted to the 4:00-6:00 p,111, show only, Scoll was also cleared to ihcrrnal lo 3,000' if' possible, The tow was Iext hook 011 2300' of' stalic line, He released at I ,:iOO', maneuvered in front of'thc tower and landed whi Jc aircraf't were depart front of thousands of special ors, This hang gliding look a step

J l!\NC: CI.ILJINC:

forward, gaining the respect it has deserved for some time. WOW! After prying Scott from the multitudes we returned to the booth only to find Ann swamped with fans. The simulator had 20-25 people waiting in line the remainder of the day. At camp that night we collapsed and rejoiced over our accomplishments of the clay. This was the first surface tow to 1,500' at Oshkosh ever! Way to go Scott!

Wednesday, July 31 The day dawned with strong winds at 90° cross. We opened m1r booth at 9:00 a.m. sharp as usual, leaving Ann, and proceeded to the main tower. The officials exhibited a strong look of concern upon seeing us arrive. We quickly told them we were scrubbing our flights because of the wind's velocity and direction. They were pleasantly surprised by our decision and congratulated us on our professionalism and knowledge of our abilities. We then proceeded back to the booth to help Ann handle another full day of questions and the simulator. Thursday, August 1 We were greeted with the same weather conditions again and returned to the booth by 9:00, left Ann, and proceeded to the main tower. The officials were not as concerned upon our mTival, and tried to be as helpful as possible to get us in the air. We considered an alternate

tow strip across the main runway and taxiway, but all felt closing both runways would create too big a bottleneck with all the thousands of aircraft trying to depart this last day. We were then invited to return next year for multiple tows and a spot in the daily main show with aerobatics. The meetings for planning this are already scheduled beginning August 17. We would like to extend a warm "thank you" to all who helped and participated in making Oshkosh a success: Bill Trombley of Michigan, Paul Mayes of Illinois, H.T. Jenkins of Wisconsin and Susan Quillin of New Jersey. To Jerry Bruning for his support and help in making this the resounding success it was, and for securing a full line ofUSHGA merchandise available for sale and giveaway. It all helped to educate the public even more. To our manufacturers and schools participating with freebies and literature: Wills Wing, UP and Moyes, Raven Sky Sports and Wings Over Wisconsin (WOW). To Scott and Ann Lesnet of Iowa-how can I thank you enough? I'm sure you had no idea of what you were in for.You did super and I couldn't have done it without you. And to their son Ian, our cameraman, who taped the momentous occasion. Yes, we have it on film! One benefit of our participation at Oshkosh will have already been realized by the time this is printed. Sunday, after our first tow, some

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gentlemen approached our booth requesting our presence at their First Annual Iowa City Air Show, scheduled for August 25. They had no idea Scott and Ann Ii ved very close and they are excited to fulfill the request. Another benefit was meeting hang glider pilots from all over the world (Bolivia, Sweden, Mexico and Canada). Much light was shed on our towing procedures after reviewing their systems. They were very helpful and offered insight into weak links and releases. We are following up on this and hope to bring some valuable information to the fall USHGA board meeting.

*** I'm not sure how you measure success. If its by dollars and cents, we might have done better. But I measure it by the receptiveness of the spectators and the looks on their faces. There was one small boy about seven, who, having seen our I :00 p.m. show on Tuesday, couldn't wait to get to our booth and get in the simulator. His mom said he was wild about flying and just had to see the gentleman who flew. The look on his face as he hung there, flying like be had seen Scott do in the air, was remarkable. He listened intently to Scott as flight technique was explained, and tried it in the simulator. He will be a pilot of the future. All who hung in the simulator were impressed, especially the powered aircraft pilots. We even had EAA and FAA officials trying it out. I feel we accomplished a lot for our sport at Oshkosh '91. That is how I measure success. •

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and photo by and frustration were becoming more evident as fuJJ.suitcd and hook-in pilots ga~.cd repeatedly al the slowly fluttering wind streamers dotting the west Gold Hill launch. The cumies over the San Juan's were only partially responsible for the reduction in natural

Hystek

healing. The moon had inadvertently conspired with the sun to cast a huge, slow-moving shadow across the beautiful mountain scenery that lay before us. J\nd while I'm sure there was chanting and celebration underway in distant places, all we

could do was wait until this rare astrnnomical phenomenon had passed herore heading out to do what we'd all come to do: fly in the 1991 Manuractmcrs J,caguc Meet Sixteen pilots had cast aside warnings or daily overdcvclopmenl, excuses about tight schedules and Jack or WTSS points, to front an ever-confident Nick Kennedy for the initial pilots' hricring. Telluride, nestled quietly al the base of the perennially beautiful San Juan moun tains, was again the location. J\ shortfall in the number of pilots was 1nadc up for in the quality of the participants: Jim I ,cc, Tony Barton, Dave Sharp, the Circcn Team, a contingent or Catirornians and locals, and internationals Dave /\dams (Australia) and Eric Hempstead (Chile). The first attempted day was called due to overdcvclopment and scattcnxl showers. Day one offered the promise of a first round, hut early development created a sense or urgency for an expedient launch. Butjust as the window opened the c'.clipsc started, which kept us on the ground for another hour. Finally the outlook appeared sufficiently bright for the meet to begin in earnest. But the conditions never quite recuperated and only two pi lots completed the mi Jes to the Norwood airstrip. Jim Lee was first and Tony Barton second. Only two other pilots went al least half the distance so the validity was down. Farly development on day two again die. tatcd the need for an early launch. With an easterly now predominating, Norwood was once again chosen as goal. Cloudbasc was again low al 15,000' with half the pilots reaching il over launch while the others had a sinking search down Bear Creek Canyon berore finding their first elevator ride. Those pilots who hung around launch too long round that large mountains, strong sun shine and a moist tropical air mass can combine to change conditions extremely rapidly. Severe turbulence and hail were their reward. Most pilots were well on course dodging isolated showers when a strong northwest wind virtually halted progn:ss, resulting in a mass sinkout. Jim Lee was the only pilot to greet the lonely goal keeper. Day three, and a strong northeast now had us wanting to rename the competition "The Norwood lnvcrtational." Under clearer skies the outlook appeared bright for a good day. Cloudbasc had risen slightly to J 6,000' and most pi lots found theirridc to that altitude out or Bear Creek Canyon. The 3,000' vertical rocky 1-IANC C!.!DJN(;

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COMPETITION CORNER avalanche chute "Temptation" was finally beginning to show its renowned consistency, with smooth 1,500 fpm rides and a continuous gaggle overhead to mark its presence. On course, various routes were chosen, most meeting with more success than on previous days except for mine. An uphill, downwind landing resulted in the only injury of the meet: one blown shoulder. The lesson: Don't allow the pressure of competition to put you in the position of having to take unnecessary risks. Jim Lee once again blitzed the field with the TRX's of Tony Barton and Dave Sharp following. Day four looked good enough to see a north task called for a change. This proved to be frustrating for quite a few pilots as the low cloudbase, lee-side sink and increasing north wind combined to make theSneffels-Iron Mountain ridge virtually insurmountable. Jersey Rossignol would have to get the persistence award for his at least half dozen attempts to cross the ridge before finally joining the numerous other frustrated pilots in Oops Field. Old habits die hard, and day five saw the competitors heading west once again. This time a large blue hole, hemmed on both sides by overdevelopment and strong west winds, combined to keep Y.M., our friendly goalkeeper, lonely once more. Dave Adams did an excellent job of battling to within two miles of goal followed closely by Jersey Rossignol. Jim Lee had to be happy with a shared third with his teammate Eric Hempstead. The persistent lack of goal crossers inspired the task committee to call a slightly different last day-a field l O miles southeast of Norwood. Once again early conditions looked conducive to a good fast day, but once again mountains and moisture combined to change the sky to a darker shade of gray. Sink was widespread and lift was illusive to say the least. Jim Lee and Dave Sharp, who had flown separately all day, met in the last thermal for a blazing finish with Jim doing what he does best by only 1.5 seconds. Third was Tony Barton, who finished the meet with some beautifully executed aerobatics over the goal. Frustration points went to Florida's Robert Kayes who, while within striking distance of goal for the first time, encountered a sudden headwind and slowly disappeared from view while muttering over the radio, "I don't believe it. I don't believe it." And so that was the 1991 Manufacturers League Meet. Sixteen pilots flying seven TRX' s, SEPTEMBER 1991

three XS's, one AT, HPII, Foil, K2, Sensor and GTR combined to show that a positive attitude can go a long way in creating a successful meet. Hopefully the apathy shown by most manufacturers in their conspicuous lack of supp011 won't be repeated next year, and the big skies over Telluride will once again reflect the myriad of colors that belong to a well-patronized competition.•

Expatriate A11stralia11 Phil Hystek is a Bay Area, Cal/fomia pilot 1Pho, although only havingJlownfor a year and a half, is an Advancedrated pilot, Basic Instmctor and Obse1Ter. He began competing this year 011 a Sensor E.~Ed.

1991 REGION 8 REGIONALS WRAP-UP Ti1e 199 l Region 8 Regionals where held at Mt. Ascutney in West Windsor, Vermont over the weekends of June 22-33 and June 29-30. The early summer weather allowed for four days of competition and four rounds were flown. Twenty-eight pilots from all over New England entered the competition which consisted of open distance cross-country and speed-to-goal tasks. The field of competitors included several pilots with national competition experience as well as pilots flying in their first contest. Before the launch window opened for the day's contest, the pilots who had won the previous day's task shared their successful tactics with their fellow competitors. This made our meet a learning experience for all and showed our better pilots to be most gracious toward their lessexperienced opponents. The eventual meet winner, Karl Cameron, flew consistently well throughout the contest and was able to hold off Jeff Burnett in a very close finish. In fact, they both landed in the same field on the last day of competition. The top ten finishers were: Pilot Place Karl Cameron I. 2. Jeff Burnett 3. Randy Adams 4. Jon Szarek 5. John McAward 6. John Arrison Dennis Cavagnaro 7. 8. Tim Donovan 9. Barb Kramer 10. Ken Lochlc

Score 3204 3119 2290 2087 1973 1607 1497 1126 1097 809

USHGA Members "I highly recommend the FAI Air Crew Card - It identifies you not only as a pilot but also as a member of the international aviation community." - Chuck Yeager As a member of USHGA you are eligible to obtain the Air Crew Card. This card is issued by the National Aeronautic Association, the U.S. representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. NAA is the National Aero Club of the U.S. and is the umbrella organization for al I major air sportorgan izations, including USHGA. The FAI photo ID card identifies you as a Iicensed pilot to airport attendants, police and security guards. A number of hotels around the world issue courtesy discounts to national and international air crews. Many NAA members have received substantial discounts by presenting this air crew identification. To be eligible to obtain this FAI card, you must be a USHGA rated pilot. I certify that I am a USHGA rated pilot. A I photocopy of my membership card is I attached. I am also enclosing a passport-size which I have signed on the reverse. I photo Please issue an FAI Air Crew Card, valid for I period indicated. I have enclosed a check for I the appropriate amount made out to NAA. I D 12 months $15 $25 D 24 months I $35 D 36 months I I I Signature I Name (print) I I Address I City Zip State I I Mail to NAA, 1815 N. Fort Myer Drive, I L _ Ste 70~A~ngto'.:_V~ 22209 _ _J

Part I

-• <• •-•

by Briggs Christie

c c < 44

Author's Note: This series of articles definitely needs so111e serious explanation before I let it loose in your brai11. The idea for this was actually prese11ted to me by my friend Steve Brockman, who you'll get to know very well over the 11ext fe11• 111011ths. The concept was si111ple: get together a group of "old dog" pilots whose total years ofha11g gliding equalled 100, fill 'emfidl ofa beer and start asking questions about the golden age offlex-11·ing aircraft. With this 20th A1111iversary Issue the ti111i11g was pe1fect, a11d Sali11as, Califomiaj11st happe11s to have 111a11aged to attract a 1111111ber of the required ca11ines, tha11ks to the prese11ce of Flight Desig11s i11 the late 70's a11d early 80's a11d the emergence of Pacific Wi11dcraft, 110w Pacific Airwave. The Mari11a Beach flyi11g site crew provided so111e bo1111s players and the ga11g was assembled at my home for a barbecue with the tape recorder rnnning. The results speak vol11111es about the early days of our i11credible sport, but I ww!I to i11trod11ce evervonefirst, and tell you where they've arrived since the times and adven/llres you 're about to read abollf. Larry Rey11olds owns a drywall company in Salinas, California and is easily the owner of the most hours of airtime at Marina Beach, and is a regular in the Owens Valley each summer. He competed in the X-C Open back in the clays of the Harrier and the Comet and finished a very respectable I 0th behind such famous names as Larry Tudor and Dick Cassetta. His airtime over 19 years is measured in the thousands of hours. Lee Gardner is a fireplace and stove salesman in Marina and was one of the first hang gliding dealers in the Central California region, selling Free Flight standards. His flying spans 18 years and includes a win at the Monterey Bay Steeplechase and one of the few flights from Cone Peak, a mile-high flight over the Big Sur coast. A test pilot for Pacific Airwave in his spare time, Lee can be found at sites all through Central California. Steve Brockman, another 19-year veteran,

has been in and out of the professional encl of the sport as an instructor for Super Fly Sky Sails in the distant past, owned by Pat Denevan of Mission Soaring Center, as General Manager of Flight Designs in the clays of the Super Lancer and the Demon, and as a test pilot for Pacific Airwave. Aviation is Steve's job, flying charter flights for Air Trails in Salinas. Steve also has a sailplane rating and is part owner of a Lark rnotorglic!er. Jim Joh11s is the owner and manager of Western Hang Gliders in Marina and has been involved in hang gliding instruction for much of his flying career. He was manager of Kitty Hawk Kites in North Carolina in the days when future hang gliding professionals were just getting their wings, people like Matt Taber of Lookout Mountain Flight Park. Jim's perspective is unique in the area, clue to his background in towing and tow kites in his native Florida. Probably the most recognizable of the group is Jean-Michel Bernasconi, originally from Chamonix, a French mountain village famous for its skiing and climbing. Hang gliding has taken Jean-Michel from his high school days to the top of the industry, first with Bill Bennett's Delta Wing Kites, then with Flight Designs and finally with Pacific Windcraft, which he started on a shoestring and turned into one of the most successful companies in the business, Pacific Airwave. I brought this group together over burgers, beans and beer with very little structure as to what I was about to try to do, but I knew them all to be great storytellers, full of tales of fear and loathing and ... well, the result was far better than I could have hoped for. rm very proud to be able to call all of these pilots friends, and their influence on my own flying has been huge and beneficial. I hope that you enjoy this very personal glimpse into the past and learn from it, as I did, to respect those who paved the way for us to be ab le to enjoy the sport of hang gliding under the watchful eye of instructors and on equipment designed by professionals. The burgers are about gone, the beans are getting cool and darkness is falling on Salinas, California as we gather in a cozy living room to swap stories and learn where we've been. Feel free to listen in, but please don't interrupt.

Briggs: What was the first thing you flew and why did you fly it? Lany: It was at Marina Beach. You see, I started out with U-line control models, you HANG GLIDING

know, those little powered planes. A guy that I worked with wanted to do that. Well, then they wanted to get into radio controlled gliders, which was about $300 at that time and it seemed like too much money to put out. I was looking in the back of one of these airplane magazines and there was a picture of a hang glider, a bamboo hang glider, bamboo and plastic: $5 and you get the plans, so I sent off to Texas and got the plans. I went to a carpet store in Salinas and got the bamboo. They had stacks of it and I just selected what was best. Briggs: By what standards? Larn·: Well, stuff that wasn't cracked or yellow or dirty-looking, you know. Briggs: I guess I'm just visualizing you picking through bamboo at a carpet store co bui lei an aircraft' Larry (with a somewhat sheepish smile): Well, I built the thing and took it out to the beach. It was made out of a 16' square piece of plastic. l went out to Marina Beach and ran up and clown the hill, man, no wind, no instruction, no nothing. Nobody taught then. Briggs: Had it occurred to you what you would do if you actually did get off the ground'? Lany (smiling wide with the memory of it): No! (At this point the room erupted in laughter as each member of the evening remembered their own fears and lack of preparation for that first flight. The laughter would continue throughout the evening, which is as it should be.) Larry: ljust had dreams offlying .. .I wanted to fly, you know'J I clreamecl about flying at Sand City where my father used to run the sand plant. I remember I would sleep at night and I could jump off of those sand dLmes, right up where we fly now, and I didn't fall to the beach. I floated to the beach. I'm actually flying there now, which is just incredible to me. Anyway, I took this bamboo thing out there and ran up and down the beach and finally got off the ground. Well, I ran about four times and nothing was happening. I wasn't even looking at the wind on the water. It was clead calm, first thing in the morning. I get back up the hill after the fourth run and notice there's a little breeze coming up. I thought, "This'll make it a little easier to run," and I headed clown the hill and wham!, my feet left the ground and I loo keel clown and was just climbing! Well, I thought I was climbing but the ground was just dropping faster than I was and I was in total shock. This was a hang tube glider and I suddenly realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing! I just SEPTEMBER 1991

immecliately jerked over to the left and piled it right back into the hill. I never got more than six feet high and it just scared the hell out of me. I flew that thing for, oh, I clan' t know, probably three months or more and I think the highest I got was maybe 20 feet. It was held together by radiator hose clamps with a crossbrace in the front and tape. You had to put it together every time you flew it. I remember, I'm flying along out there, hanging in the tubes, and those radiator hose clamps let go, buddy. Sndclenly I'm laying on my back on the beach, thud, and I thought it was gonna come clown on mel I covered up and it actually blew behind me, you know? And that was my first glicler .. .lt was great. Briggs: How about you, Jim 9 Jim: I was water-skiing in 1974. I was doing a lot of water-skiing. I had some friends who were competition skiers and l was getting bored, or more aptly put, jaclecl with it, because l clicln't get very good. I was looking through a skiing magazine and saw a flat kite and was telling my buddy that this looked like it could be a lot of fun. He said that if I got a delta I could fly around, bnt all I could clo with the flat kite was tow it behind a boat. He says, "I know a guy who's got one and I think he might sell it." So he introclucecl me to this guy-his name was Pete Helmich-and what he had was a homemade copy of a delta wing, l 5-1/2 feet. It was made out of inch-and-a-half tubing and a homemade sail, with a chrorne-rnoly control bar and I bought it for $300 and we went back in this river, the Tamoca River, which was, well, it had a lot of alligators. Larrr: Real incentive to stay up! Jim (shaking his head as if he was trying to forget): They took me back there the first clay to learn how to fly this thing and they showed me the tow line. It was 500 feet long and had this white float on it that was all mangled and I asked them what happened. They said that was where a guy was starting to take off one day and this alligator started coming up to him and the alligator came up to the rope, so the pilot released the rope and the boat started towing the float away. To kind of give you a little background, the river was used for"Captain Frank's Jungle Cruise" and Captain Frank used to feed the alligators hot clogs. Well, the alligator mistook the float for a hot dog bun and went after it and chomped down on it' After that they were kidding the pilot, saying that he should have left it hooked up to the glider, took off, and that way the alligator would have slid clown the line and

into the boat and they would have caught it! (The room exploded with laughter at this point and Jim took the opportunity to glance at his wife Diana, who was looking at him with one of those "you've got to be kidding" looks that only a woman can deliver.) So, we made up these signals for tow kiting at that time. Therewasa "speed up,"there was a "slowdown" and then there was a "there's an alligator in the water, get away from itl" (More laughter from the group and tolerant smiles from Diana.) These guys would only take me out to fly if there was absolutely no wind, which almost never happened, so after about a dozen attempts at that, I found a little sane! dune out behind a garbage clump and went out there and started making runs off it. The first year that I flew I used to time my flights and in the first full year my longest flight was four seconds. Larry: I remember when I got the first minute. Briggs: It took a while, I'll bet. Larry (beaming): I was so happy Lee: That glider with the chrome-moly bar, did it have the release cable mounted on the front of it? Ji111: It had one release and a bicycle grip ancl a Schweizer sailplane release mounted to it. Stei,e: A Bennett tow glider? Jim: No, this was homemade. Steve: The Bennett kite l had had 3/4" cbrome-moly square downtubes. Ji 111: This was round galvanized, but it was virtually the same thing. Wehacl a volleyball on the keel for a float and, uh, it did have a kingpost. Briggs (completely amazed at what he's hearing from these supposedly responsible adults): Well that's an advantage! Ji111: Then after that I sold that and got my first real glider, a Pliable Moose. Lee (laughing): "Real" glider. Briggs: Where'd you get started? Lee: Um, I started kind of out of college. I had a buddy who had gone away to the Army. He was a year older than I was, and he was in the Golden Knights. I went from high school to college and he came back from the Golden Knights while I was in college gymnastics. We were working out one day and he said, "Hey, let's go out and you can try skydiving." Of course, I thought ,"Sure, that sounds great! Let's go do it!" I was 18 or 19 years old, you know, no problem. So we went out and die! that and I jumped for about a year and he came LIP- with a great 1

idea. He'd heard about some free hang gliding lessons from this company that had just started out in Sylmar, Free Flight. The idea was you put on a harness and they point you clown a hill and say, "That's where you want to land, right near that spot out there." So we went out and tried it and I, uh, bruised my knee and my elbow and my ego, but I bought one! Shortly thereafter, probably within six months, I moved up here and was teaching. Briggs: Teaching hang gliding? Lee: Within six months, yeah. I had one of the first dealerships up here. Briggs: Selling what? Lee: Free Flight stanclarcls in 1973. Steve: Are you sure it wasn't 1873? Lee: No, that was Manta in 1873! Larry: Yeah, I remember when you moved up here. I remember the clay you came out to Sand City when we were out there flying. If I remember the story right, you were supposed to get a job and send the money back down for Jackie (Lee's wife) to come up here with you, but instead you took the money and bought a glider and Jackie got her own money and came up here! (The whole group, knowing Lee's wonderful family and his dedication to it, really comes apart at this one.) Briggs: How about you, Steve, what was the first experience you had? Steve: Well, you know, I tried building one out of bamboo and plastic, but it was a total failure, so you can't really count that. Larry: Mine flew. Steve: Mine didn't! Lee: You guys built bamboo ones and in the same time period, maybe just shortly thereafter, they must have come out with aluminum. Lany: January, 1972 was when I was flying bamboo. At the encl of '71 was when I saw this stuff. I sent off for plans and built it in early January. Steve: (with a "what a wimpy way to do things" look on his face) Oh, you sent off for plans! I just went for it! I saw a picture and said, "I can do that." Briggs: When did you finally have something that could fly? Steve: Well, I ran into a guy in early '73 named Herman Rice in the San Francisco Bay area and he had a company, uh, True Flight, and he was selling books that showed how to make a glider out of speed rail fittings and actually selling clacron sails. I went out with him one day and basically he said you run down the hill, push out, pull in and push out when you Janel. And so 46

I ran down the hill and pushed out ... (Steve's gestures describe a short and not-too-pretty flight where launch and landing happen entirely too close together.) Briggs: And that was about it, right? Larry: Wasn't that a little school yard where he used to do that? Steve (laughing hard enough to make it hard to get the words out): Yeah, it was a little school yard out in Campbell and you had to stop before you hit the backboard on the basketball court, and if you went off to the right there was the backstop for the baseball diamond' (Now we're all giggling and it takes several minutes to let the silliness, and the image in our minds that brought it on, wind down. Steve is the first to gain at least a little composure.) Well, then I went lo Coyote Hills and flew out there a couple of times, and then went into the Air Force and there was a guy in there with a 15' Bennett tow kite, and he kept lryingto tow it but he broke the leading edge, so he sold it to me. I looked around and there was another guy who was trying to be a Bennett dealer-this was also late '73-and so he ordered me some lubing, but as I was waiting for the tubing to get there I had this glider with a broken leading edge, so I just took the dowel out of the closet and shoved it in the leading edge, taped it up with duct tape and went out to tl1e training hill! (The look on Jean-Michel's face is one of fear, awe and amazement at this point. More than any of us, Jean-Michel, designer of some of the most successful gliders in the world, can't believe what he's hearing.) The training hill was this hill that was cut up through the side of this ridge underneath some power lines. What happened was they had clear-cut this for the power lines to go over and you'd fly parallel to these power lines, underneath them! I took off there, you know, kind of nervous, with 20 billion volts of power above me! I didn't really want to fly under them, so I kind of veered off, or it veered itself off, and I hit this tree on the side of the glider that had been broken and it didn't break again. So I figure "no problem" and head up to the site we had there in Spokane, Washington called High Drive, which was about 600', and just started jumping off. I flew like that for about three months, then we finally got some sleeve material and sleeved it. I must have made 100 flights off that 600' hill with a dowel taped into the leading edge. Briggs: How about you, Jean-Michel? You were in France, right? Jean-Michel: I started flying, uh, right

after World War II. (Larry loses it at that one, making unintelligible comments about JeanMichel being an old fart and the like. These two go back a long way.) No, February of 1972. Actually, I got off the ground in October of the same year; it took me six or seven months to actually get off the ground. It was the same thing, though. I didn't have any instruction and it was just something that I had built myself and I didn't quite know how to go about it. I was 15-1/2 years old ... Lany: It was World War II! Jean-Michel: I was going to school and working as a ski patrol then and this guy named Rudy was there. He became very famous, he was the first hang glider pilot in Franceactually from Hungary origi nall y-ancl had been in America for quite some time. He had been sponsored by Bill Bennett to break a World Altitude Record and lo do that he was going to climb Mont Blanc and it was going to be a 16,000' flight. He had come down a year before just to kind of get the hang of it on one of the very early Bennett standards. Personally. I had never dreamed about flying. I had no intention or vision about flying. I never saw myself in aviation and when I first saw the hang glider, basically what I saw was this crazy American setting up a kite-looking thing on top of this pass immediately over the ski resort where I was working. He set up the thing and he skied off with it and just went right over my head and I just freaked out! I thought it was unbelievable! I mean, I freaked out in a wonderful way. I quit my job that second. I had no idea that a human being could do that! I clipped my skies on and followed him because he, well, those gliders had such poor performance back then that, on the course he flew that clay, which was an amazing flight by those clays' standards, about 2,300' vertical... I'm sony, 2,300meters, about7,000'. He was blown away himself! On the course of that flight, he hacl to land and take off again. What he was basically doing was just following the ski slope and there were moments when his glide angle was inferior to the hill slope, so what you clicl was just take off and you'd see the ground coming, so now you're skiing! You'd be skiing for a quarter mile until the ski slope dropped off again and you' cl be airborne again, following a cut through the trees, and the next thing you know you're below the trees and you'd pass people and you're just skiing down. I saw him and I didn't think "wow, an aircraft," HANG GLIDING

r saw "flying skis." It was just a means to stay airborne longer on skis! r was into hot dogging and was really into "'helicopters" and loops. I was really into getting air on skis and it was just a neat way to stay airborne longer. So the concept that that was going to be an aircraft one day never even remotely occurred to me! Stel'e(with a mischievous grin): And you're still having a hard time with that concept! Jean-Michel (after a sidelong glance at Steve): Well, basically I saw this crazy guy and I followed him to the bottom and measured his glider and went out that night and stole what we used for ski lifts. They're little telescoping poles with springs inside of them and have little white plastic disks on them ... aluminum tubing for my first hang glider! The sail was made out of plastic, but it had real aluminum tubing. Al night I would just sneak out with my little toolbox and unpinch them off the cable. At night they were all resting in a big pile at the bottom of the ski lift. They were perfect, telescoping tubes. very sloppy but they worked. My mom helped me with the sail and ... Briggs (incredulous): You talked your mother into sewing you a hang glider sail? Jean-Michel (with a smile): Well, yeah. It was mostly taped together, but she did a fair bit of sewing. So anyway, my mom helped me with the sail and I basically just started crashing and burning! From February to October of ·72 I never really got off the ground except, well, you skied so fast that by then you' cl push out and you'd stored enough energy to get airborne, but it's not called flight, it's called energy retention! Briggs: Had it occurred to you what exactly you would do if you ever did get off the ground and fly? Jec111-Michel: No, no, not at all. Larrv: Getting off the ground was the thing. Jean-iv!ichel: And the thing is. I remember at night stealing, well, I broke so many tubes it was unbelievable and I would steal more poles and fix it and then go out again the next day. And that's how I got started. Larr\': Steve was talking about some of those flights he made, the early flights. I didn't know anything about llying-nothing-ancl l remember rnnning clown a hill and I'd get airborne, l mean maybe 15' up, and stall and crash. I thought that was it! I honestly didn't know anything else. Briggs: \Vell whatever possessed you to continue to clo it'' SEPTEMBER 1991

Lany (ignoring the question completely): The glider was tail heavy and I didn't realize it. I thought that was the way to clo it. In fact I even had my uncle push on the keel and get me out there. Jean-ivfichel: All the time I got airborne off skis I clicln't know it was possible to footlaunch a hang glider. It never occurred to me that you could be running off. I mean, it was just something not done. Another thing that hadn't occurred tome, although it was starting to make more and more sense, was that you needed any kind of wind direction to fly. The fact is, if it blew very strong down you simply realized that you were skiing a hell of a lot longer, and if the wind really blew strong, sometimes you would ski all the way to the bottom\ After a while I realized that if the wind comes up you're off the ground a lot quicker. The concept of having the wind always in your face wasn't there, even when I was doing professional tandem flying, you know. The fact is that, in the Chamonix valley, typically speaking, as soon as there's any kind of cloud cover the convection phenomenon doesn't happen very often, so you've got to learn to live with the fact that 80% of your flights will be a downwind takeoff. It's just something that, well, you either do it or you don't fiy! You got used to it, you know'? Steve: You know, I always wanted to fly. Always. l mean, when I was five years old, in kindergarten I knew why a wing worked before I knew, hell, how to ride a bicycle. So, when I started flying I understood the concept and for me it was just a way to fly. It was, you know, the idea of taking off into the wind and that kind of stuff made sense. It seemed like the more wind

you had, the better it got. That's what finally convinced me to wear a helmet, was flying off this 600' hill and it was blowing about 30 and every time I'd launch I'd blow back into this tree! After a couple of times there was a guy sitting there with a motorcycle and he said, ''Hey, you want to borrow my helmet'l" Lany (shaking his head): You know, I remember not wearing a helmet for probably the first year and a half or two years and the reason was that you couldn't hear the wind. We wanted to hear our sail because if it stalled we were in real trouble, you know'l Briggs: Now all of these guys around here and of course Jean-Michel in Chamonix had ridges and mountains, but Jim ... Ji111: Hell, we had water. We didn't need a helmet! Briggs: Your first flights were all towlaunchecl. At what point did you finally fly off a peak? Jim: Well, I had never even heard of a "hang glider." All I knew about was tow kites. I knew that you towed 'em up and you released 'em and you would fly back clown. My brother call eel me up one clay from New York and I said, "Hey Jerry, I bought this kite that you tow behind a boat," and he said, "Oh yeah, r got a friend that flies a hang glider." 1 said, '·A hang glider? What's that?" ''These guys, they go out to these cliffs and they run off 'em and they fly clown." And I said, "Over lancl'l!" •

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ACCIDENT REPORTS Pilot: Age: Rating: Experience: Glider: Date: Location: Injuries:

Harold Austin 37 Advanced 23 years, 400 tows Wills Wing Sport 6/9/91 Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Fatal. Massive head, neck, chest, leg

Original Accident Report: Winds 8-12 with some light thermals, varying from straight in to 45° cross from left. Foot launch tow using turn-around pulley, and FM radios for signaling. Very experienced pilot with 400+ logged tow flights. Pilot launched with glider nose angle of attack very high. Immediately after becoming airborne, pilot began hard drift to right that turned into a lockout 90° to the tow line. Pilot stayed on left side of glider and recovered from lockout while climbing to approximately 50 feet. Pilot had installed axle stubs for mounting small wheels that protruded 3-4 inches outside of the control bar cage mounted in the ends of the base bar. The wheels were not in place. While the pilot was on the left side of the control bar, trying to the turn glider from the lockout, the lower bridle that attaches to the pilot's body apparently hooked on top of the axle stub. The bridle, being lodged on top of the axle, caused the pilot's hips to be pulled toward that point by the tow line pressure. The pilot was unable to shift his weight to the right to correct for the left turn. This can be seen on the video by his right arm pulling hard on the right downtube trying to shift his weight to the right. Harold recognized the problem with control and brought his left foot up in attempt to release the bridle line from the axle. No attempt to release from the tow line could be seen on the film. The effect the bridle had on the glider was to cause it to spin counterclockwise and dive into the ground vertically or slightly inverted. The altitude he reached is assumed to be under 75 feet. Larry Flick, driver of the tow vehicle, reported normal tow pressures during the entire flight. A 210lb. safety link was in place for the tow and did not break because the breaking point pressures were apparently not reached. Harold was unconscious when reached. After his breathing stopped, fellow pilots Jack Reed and Marty Pier administered CPR until the ambulance arrived. He was reported to have a

weak pulse when the ambulance departed approximately 25 minutes after the accident.

Comment: There are several factors that contributed to this accident. In watching the film, I noted that first, a small amount of ti me was taken to get a good feel of the wind direction. Second, launching with a high angle of attack has always given the gliders a tendency to side slip and "lock out." This can be avoided and control can be maintained by lowering the nose angle when launching. An area that several pilots are concerned with is the attachment point of the upper bridle line. In reviewing the film of the accident the question was brought up whether the attachment point of the upper bridle line is a factor in the initial nose angle of attack and if in fact the evolution of the gliders has moved that point further back, possibly making them more prone to side-slip lockouts. Many of our members use an additional ring, about a foot forward of the apex attachment. This was originally used to keep the upper bridle line off the pilot's helmet during the tow. This also serves to mechanically lower the nose angle on launch and lessen the tendency to lock out. Lowering the original angle of attack could have essentially stopped the lock-out from happening, but having the bridle catch on the wheel attachments external to the control bar created a spin tlrnt could not be controlled. The total time elapsed from start of tow to impact was approximately 14 seconds. A command to stop the tow was not given until after the filming stopped. The signal man could not see that the line was fouled on the axle. After watching the film at normal speed, I don't believe that the severity of the problem could be recognized in the time that elapsed. In conclusion, l think that complacency played a large roll in Harold's death. I've looked at other video footage of Harold towing and remember quite clearly that he always had a very high nose angle when towing. I also know that other pilots commented to him about the dangers of towing at those angles should a safety link break close to the ground. Good communication between the pilots is essential. When we observe the pilots around us developing bad or potentially dangerous habits we must be quick to point it out and we must be equally willing to accept comments and/or criticism. I

think sometimes when we are around good pilots we assume that they are beyond criticism or that we might not be qualified to critique their performance. We must be willing to accept comments and criticism from any source. Our lives depend on it.

HOOK-IN "I was distracted and hurried to launch. Just plain forgot to hook in. I took two steps, the glider rose up, and I fell clown." "I was in a hurry to get into the glassoff. Ran clown the hill, glider lifted, and I rolled clown about 20 feet. Lots of bumps, scrapes and bruises." "Got distracted at launch. Tole! my wireman I was ready to go. He said, 'Wouldn't you rather hook in first?' Since I always lift my glider to feel the tight straps before I start my run I'm sure I would have caught it. But it shook me up!" At the recent Lakeview Fly-In I helped launch hundreds of gliders-pilots from all over the country. Several things impressed me. Most pilots hook in behind launch. then carry their gliders around obstacles up to launch, in moderately strong winds with thermal cycles, set the glider down, watch the wind, pick up the glider and begin their launch run. I don't like to carry my glider around while hooked in because it could be easily blown over or in some other way cause injury to the pilot. I carry my glider without being hooked in and set it down on launch, have my nose person hold the glider, step back, make a l 0second final visual preflight, step up and hook in as the final event. The problem is that when one walks up to launch assuming he is hooked in and does not check it right before launching, he runs the risk of not being hooked in. After watching the Lakeview launches it is much more clear to me why folks fail to hook in, as someone did at Lakeview. I like hooking in as my final "act." Then, just before starting my run I lift the glider and feel the tight straps, and say in a loud voice "hooked in," wait a few seconds and yell "clear." Not once did I hear anyone say ''hooked in" prior to launching, nor did pilots ask for a hang check. When we asked if they wanted HANG GLIDING

ACCIDENT REPORTS one, some of them looked at us as though they were being asked to perform an unnatural act. I guess it was.

REPORT OF FATAL PARAGLIDING ACCIDENT submitted by Wills Wing Date and Time: July 14, 1991, approximately 12:30 PM. Location: Near Punaluu, Oahu, Hawaii Conditions: Wind 10-1 S mph. No significant turbulence reported. Pilot Experience: Student pilot with seven days flying experience. Pilot had previously demonstrated big ears maneuver and near front collapse using A risers. Alleged to have also had some skydiving experience. Equipment: Wills Wing AT 123 paraglider and Wills Wing paraglider harness. No rf',5erve parachute. Canopy and harness were six months old, canopy had l 5 to 20 hours airtime. Synopsis of Event Pilot was ridge soaring for about 30 minutes following a successful tow launch. One of two eyewitnesses was a hang glider pilot in the air nearby. Another was a hang glider pilot driving on a road upwind of the flying site. Both eyewitnesses report first seeing the paraglider in normal flight. After that, the eyewitness reports are inconclusive and somewhat contradictory, but among that which was reported was the following: 1) A steep-banked, diving spiral turn. 2) A severe oscillation, and collapse of the canopy. 3) The pilot falling into, through or past the canopy from above to underneath. 4) A sudden reinflation of the canopy. 5) The separation of the pilot from the canopy, and the pilot falling to the ground. Facts of Which We are Certain At This Time 1) The pilot separated from the canopy in flight as a result of the failure of all of the lines on the canopy. 2) The risers, harness, large diameter brake lines and brake handles remained with the pilot to impact. 3) The canopy sustained only very minor damage. The harness sustained some significant damage, but was intact and fully attached to the pilot. The risers were intact including the carabiners and rapid links. SEPTEMBER 1991

Results of the Accident Investigation To Date A number of lines have been removed from the canopy and tested. The average failure strength of these lines, if taken as representative of all lines on the canopy, would indicate that the total combined strength of all canopy lines would be 4,482 lbs. This is more than 20 times the maximum recommended pilot weight. (Certification tests which were performed on the 123 required that the canopy be able to support a load of 600 kg, or 1,320 lbs., during both statically and dynamically (suddenly) applied loads. This represents 6.3 G's for a 210-lb. pilot. During these tests the canopy successfully withstood the required dynamic load of 600 kg, and a higher static load of 800 kg. It is not known by Wills Wing al this time what total combined line strength is required to meet the minimum 600 kg certification requirements, but it is believed to be well below the estimated 4,482 lbs. total line strength of the canopy involved in the incident.) Analysis of Possible Accident Scenarios A pilot free falling over a distance of 40 feet, such as from full line extension above the canopy to full line extension below, would achieve a maximum speed of approximately 34.5 mph. If the canopy configuration on reinllation corresponded to a normal one-G flying speed of 15 mph, a maximum resulting aerodynamic load of approximately 5.3 G's would be expected from this event. Based on testing and historical experience, and on the computed estimated total strength of all canopy lines, this scenario would seem to be inadequate, by itself, to explain the failure of all canopy lines. During our investigation of this incident, we have looked at another analytical perspective of the event which does suggest a possible scenario in which, given the assumed total line strength of 4,482 lbs., or indeed even a substantially higher strength, all the lines could have been broken. In this perspective, it is assumed that the canopy has significant mass, by virtue of the mass of the canopy itself, and the mass of the volume of air contained within, and surrounding and ··attached to" or controlled by the canopy. In this analysis, the system is then seen as a system of two masses, connected by an array of lines. The event is seen as the mass of the pilot, falling in free fall past the

essentially stationary floating mass of the canopy and the associated volume of air. When the pilot reaches full line extension below the canopy, his mass has a given downward velocity while the mass of the canopy and associated air volume has zero velocity. Therefore, over a very short period of time, the pilot mass must be decelerated while the canopy mass must be accelerated downward until both masses have the same velocity. The only force available to provide these accelerations is the strength of the lines, and by assuming some maximum line strength we can compute the motions of the two masses and the time interval over which the accelerations take place and the speeds are equalized. We can then also compute the distances traveled by each mass during this interval, and since each mass has a different initial velocity, these distances will be different. Therefore, the lines must be able to stretch elastically without failure by this difference in the distances traveled, otherll'ise the lines ll'ill break. This required amount of stretch can be converted to a percentage of elongation before failure based on the total line lengths, ancl the lines can be tested to determine whether they arc capable of this degree of elongation. (In reality, the required elasticity pertains to the total system, and whatever elasticity is provided by the other components of the system will reduce the amount of stretch required by the lines themselves. However, the essential principle remains in force.) The amount of required stretch depends very much on the value chosen in the calculation for the total mass of the canopy and its associated volume of air, what we might call the .. apparent'" mass of the canopy. This value may be very different in different situations, depending on the configuration of the canopy when the pilot mass reaches full line extension. There are ways to roughly estimate the value of the apparent mass, and a relatively conservative estimation of its possible value along with tests we have clone of the percentage elongation to failure of lines subjected to a shock load have suggested that this mechanism is a possible scenario for what happened in this accident. We are unable, however. at this time to determine whether or not this effect was, in fact, involved in the incident. The calculations and tests clone thus far do indicate that a 49

ACCIDENT REPORTS pilot free falling for a significant distance past a canopy of significant apparent mass (controlling a significant volume of air at the moment of full line extension) may well be able to cause enough load to break simultaneously a complete set of lines with a total combined strength of 6,000 lbs. or more. The investigation of the accident is continuing. Further tests are planned to investigate the actual apparent mass of the canopy in a variety of possible in-flight situations, the minimum total combined line strength required to meet the certification testing requirements and the validity of the current certification testing methods as they relate to possible in-flight situations. The analysis of this accident as an interaction between the mass of the pi lot and the apparent mass of the canopy suggests that a shock-absorbing system of progressive partial failure could be built into the canopy riser system to reduce Lhe probability of such a shock load failure of the lines. Wills Wing is developing such a system, and should

the canopy). Under no circumstances at any time should a pilot ever allow the canopy to pass below the horizon relative to the pilot, or allow the canopy into any attitude or position which would allow the lines to go slack while the pilot develops a high rate of speed relative to the canopy. Pilots must realize that unlike sky diving equipment, no paraglider is designed for the loads incurred during sudden inflation in free fall. 3) Pilots should maintain their equipment carefully, inspect it regularly, and have their canopies factory inspected on a regular basis. Wills Wing will, as of now, strongly recommend that all Wills Wing paragliders be returned to the factory on an annual basis (or every 50 hours, whichever comes first) for an airworthiness inspection. Canopies will be placarded with this recommendation, and will be signed off after inspection by the factory. It will be the factory's recommendation that canopies which are "out of annual" be assumed to be not airworthy, and that they not be flown. •

subsequent testing prove the system to be functional, we will make it available to all pilots of Wills Wing paragliders.

For the present time, Wills Wing makes the followi11g recommendations: l) All pilots flying at any significant altitude should wear a reserve parachute, and should have received training in its deployment. 2) All Wills Wing paragliders are placarded for a maximum pitch angle of 25 degrees, and a maximum bank angle of 45 degrees. These operating limitations should be adhered to. (The only exception to this would be during the deliberate execution of a specific canopy control maneuver, either by a pilot experienced in the maneuver or while under instructor supervision while training in advanced canopy control maneuvers. If performed properly, such maneuvers will not require the pilot to significantly exceed these operating limitations, and will never require or result in the pilot being above the level of

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BEST HOOK IN I 50-1 7 5 LBS HOOK/NWT 130-225 LBS HANG RATING 3 - 4 - 5 7075 T6 L. E. AND RIBS VNE 55 MPH NEGATIVE LOAD 59 MPH

The new high aspect Sensor I 44 features one step rear set-up, large range V G and the cord stays in place, enclosed wing tips and high strength to weight The roll rate is under 2 seconds 45 to 45 with the best handling and the largest flight envelope Sensor made.

The New Sensor 144 .. A great w ing to fly!

• SEEDWINGS

41 Aero Camino, Goleta, CA93 1 17 (805) 968-70 70 • Fax (805) 968-0059

1991 USHGA MERCHANDISE ORDER FORM Ql'r'.

TOTAL

1992 USHGA CALENDAR 12" x 12" full pictorial of the sport you love ................................................................................................. $9.95 "NEW" USHGA Golf Shirt 100% combed cation. Colortully embroidered. Colors: White Red Navy Yellow Jade Black SIZES: Medium Large X-Large XXL (in white & navy only) ........................................................................................................... $21.95 OTHER USHGA CALENDARS SPECIFY YEAR: 1991 1990 1989 1988 More Excellent Photography- collect them all! ....... $3.00 USHGA SCRAMBLE KNIT SWEATER by Nutmeg Mills Embroidered with Mtn. Glider emblem, 100% Cotton, "Natural Color" SPECIFY TYPE: CREW NECK or VEE NECK and SIZE: SMALL MEDIUM LARGE X-LARGE ............................................... $39.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER PULL-OVER JACKET 100% Supplex Colored top with black base. Pouch pockets. SPECIFY COLOR: GREEN YELLOW RED BLUE & SIZE: Small Medium Large ...................................................... $29.95 USHGA LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT 100% Cation "Simplistic" Design SPECIFY COLOR: WHITE or GRAY & SIZE S M L XL .......... $18.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER T-SHIRT White-100% cotton. Our most popular shirt. SPECIFY SIZE: S M L XL .................................... $12.95 USHGA YOUTH MTN. GLIDER T-SHIRT For those up and coming pilots. SPECIFY SIZE: 8(6-8) M (10-12) L(14-16) .................. $9.95 USHGA NEON LOGO T-SHIRT 100% Cotton Our beloved official logo, color revised of the 1990's. HOT! SPECIFY TYPE: WHITE TANK TOP or BLACK T-SHIRT & SIZE: Small Medium Large X-Large ............................................. $9.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER CAP Embroidered SPECIFY COLOR: RADICAL PINK WILD YELLOW NAVY WHITE ........................ $9.95 USHGA CORDUROY CAP Embroidered with "Glider Trails" design SPECIFY COLOR: ROYAL BLUE OFF-WHITE ..................... $9.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER SHORTS 100% Supplex. Neon and traditional colors. Side pockets, lining and drawstring. SPECIFY COLOR: PINK GREEN YELLOW RED BLUE & SIZE: Small Medium Large X-Large .......................... $13.95 USHGA EMBLEM BASEBALL CAP Foam white front, colored mesh back. SPECIFY COLOR: RED NAVY GOLD ORANGE .......... $5.00 USHGA LAPEL PIN Beautiful multi-colored Min. Glider design. Custom shaped pin w/ military clutch and epoxy dome ...................... $4.95 USHGA 1988 WORLD TEAM PIN Commemorating the world meet in Mt. Buffalo, AUSTRALIA ......................................................... $2.95

$ $ $ $

PARAGLIDING· A PILOTS TRAINING MANUAL Produced by Wills Wing. Everything you wanted to know about paragliding .......... $19.95 HANG GLIDING FOR THE BEGINNER PILOT by Pete Cheney The Official USHGA Training Manual. Over 200 pages.................. $29.95 H.G. MAGAZINE- Special New Pilot Edition Covering several aspects ie. equip., instructors, log books, 1st solo, etc ....................... $4.50 PARAGLIDING FLIGHT-Walking on Air by Dennis Pagen Covering all aspects of Paragliding. Over 140 illustrations ................... $19.95 HANG GLIDING FL YING SKILLS by Dennis Pagen Our most popular book. For the beginner to intermediate pilot. ......................... $9.95 HANG GLIDING TECHNIQUES by Dennis Pagen Continues where FLYING SKILLS left off. For intermediate to advanced ............... $7.50 FLYING CONDITIONS by Dennis Pagen Micrometeorology for the hang gliding pilot. Over 90 illustrations ....................................... $7.50 RIGHT STUFF FOR NEW HANG GLIDER PILOTS by Erik Fair Overview, humor, techniques and personalities ................................. $8.95 FEDERAL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1991 Federal Regulations covering ALL types of aviation ........................................................ $8.95 USHGA INSTRUCTORS MANUAL Syllabus, information, teaching methods, flight training maneuvers and procedures ...................... $5.00 USHGA DELUXE LOG BOOK 72 pages. Covering pilot ID, ratings, rules, maintenance, inspection, terminology ... and more .............. $4.95 USHGA X·C LOG BOOK 64 pages. Very clean! For those who like to document their flight. ............................................................... $3.95 USHGA FLIGHT LOG BOOK 40 pages. The Oflicial USHGA Flight Log Book ...................................................................................... $2.95

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

Otticial USHGA Windsok"' Pink/yellow or pink/white .......................................................................................................................... $39.95 USHGA DELUXE LOG BOOK COVER Gray colored and debossed with the Mtn. Glider design. Show off your flights ...................... $9.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER SEW-ON EMBLEM The most beautiful patch you'll ever own. 12 different colors used ................................... $4.95 USHGA MTN. GLIDER DECAL Full color 6" diameter vinyl decal. Guaranteed to last! ........................................................................ $1.50 USHGA FLYING DISK Min. glider red on black color. Completely soarable. Thermal finding capabilities ............................................ $1.95 USHGA DRINKING MUG w/HANDLE Unbreakable 14 oz. frosted plastic mug. Mtn. glider screened in blue ....................................... $1.95 USHGA KEY CHAIN "Soft Feel" Plastic. Custom Min. Glider shaped. Screened white on red .............................................................. $1.50 USHGA SEW-ON EMBLEM Our original logo, in its original colors on this 3" circular emblem ............................................................... $1.50 USHGA EMBLEM DECAL Our original logo, in ils original colors on this 3" circular sticker. .................................................................... $ .35 USHGA LICENSE PLATE FRAME "I'd Rather Be Hang Gliding" PLASTIC-white wilh blue lettering ........................................ $5.50 METAL-(zinc) with white on blue lettering ............................ $6.50

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

MAGAZINE COLLECTOR BINDER Brown vinyl binder w/ gold lettering. Wire inserts to hold 12 issues o1 HG .................................... $9.00 'USHGA ERIC RAYMOND POSTER 24" X 37" Eric doing oxygen at 17,000 ASL over the Sierra Nevada Range ................................ $5.95 'USHGA HANG GLIDING POSTER 22" X 28" Colortul nostalgic standard rogallo flying into the golden sunset. (Circa 1977) .............. $3.95 'Posters are NOT AVAILABLE on International Orders-SORRY!

$ $ $

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

$ $ $

PAYMENT must be included with your order. FOREIGN orders must be in U.S. FUNDS drawn on a U.S. BANK! CHARGE MY CREDIT CARD ($2.00 handling fee-cash, check, M.O. excluded)) VISA or MASTERCARD (circle one) acct#_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ exp . _ _ __ Signature._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

SHIPPING .01 · 4.99 ADD $1.25 5.00 · 9.99 ADD $2.50 10. -19.99 ADD $3.50 20. · 34.99 ADD $4.00 35. · 49.99 ADD $5.00 ADD 50. + $7.00 Canada & Mexico add $1.50 extra Int'! surface add $4.00 extra lnt'I air add $10.00 extra

SUBTOTAL

COLORADO RESIDENTS add 6.5% TAX

SHIPPING (see chart)

CHARGE CARD ($2 if app.)

TOTAL ENCLOSED

SHIP TO: (Street address if possible) NAME_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

USHGA#

CITY/STATE/ZIP _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING ASSN. P.O. BOX 8300

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

80933-8300 (719) 632-8300

FAX (719) 632-6417

CLOUDBASE INSTRUMENTS

NO SLIP RUBBER BUSHINGS PREVENTS BASE TUBE ABRASION WHEN USED ALONE

PROTECT YOU AND YOUR GLIDER A must for dealers with demo gliders. German made, thousands flying in Europe. Sold to major dealers in U.S. and Canada. ONLY

I~-

OFFrno:1 ' - - - - - - - - - - - gh18000 ALT/YARlO-

The gh18000 ALT/VARIO combines an accurate, tempera· ture stable altimeter with a sensitive fast response rate variometer. A switch allows rate of climb to be displayed in the average mode to help determine long term progress. Flight information is di~played on large, 1/2 inch characters, making it easy to read at a glance. Also, The gh 18000 is packaged in a small (4" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2") and rugged case which also offers additional shielding against radio interference. And, batteries should never be a problem as a 100 hour battery life is common anct·there is a low battery warning. Finally, this instrument is very affordable with an introductory suggested retail price of $369.

• SNAP ON/SNAP OFF ANYTIME, ANYWHERE • AFFORDABLE/HIGH QUALITY • RUGGED & DEPENDABLE • 7" DIA. x 2%'' WIDTH EXTREMELY LIGHTWEIGHT STORE IN GLIDER BAG OR HARNESS

$4500 PER PAIR (specify 1" or f1/a" base bar) AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL DEALER, FOR MORE INFORMATION. CALL (408) 263-1548 OR WRITE 2464 EL CAMINO REAL, SUITE 513 SANTA CLARA. CA 95051

SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO:

MORNINGSIDE HANG GLIDERS ~ RFD 2 BOX 109, CLAREMONT, NH 03743 (603) 542-4416 ~ CANADIAN ORDERS ADD $3.00 DEALERS WELCOME

IEB

Hang Gliding Lesson #1 Fly hard, fly safe, fly with High Energy Sports To reduce risk of bodily injury or death while hang gliding you need a complete safety system. From your glider to your hang straps you need to know you have the best system for you. We al High Energy Sports specialize in harness-parachute systems designed for the worst circumstances.

I: It

Airspeed Indicator with Long Bracket

A precision instrument for the serious pilot. Rugged, dependable and easy to read. Airspeed Indicator .............. $23.50 ....... $7.00 Long Bracket .. Foreign & C.0.D. orders add $2.00 Control Bar Protectors 5" diameter ABS plastic wheels. Specify 1" or 1-1 /8" control bar. Wheels - $20.00/pair.

COCCOONS, PODS, PARACHUTES, etc. • Flat Circular Solid Gore Construction • Vent Cap Covering Apex Hole • 1/2" Tublar Nylon Reinforcement At Apex • All Seams Reinforced With Type III Webbing • V-Tabs At Each Line Attachment • Type XVIII Bridle FAX (714) 972-1430 • Parachute Safety Lock System • Continuous Webbing Sewn With Five Cord Thread • Each Harness Custom Sized • Safety Back Strap • Adjustable Padded Leg Straps • Two-Week Delivery • Custom Options • Your Choice Of Colors

The Hall Airspeed Indicator

Control Bar Protectors

Ha II Brothers P.O. Box 1010-H, Morgan, UT 84050 MasterCard I Visa I C.O.D. Phone Orders (801) 829-3232 FAX (801) 829-6349

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY BLUFF LOTS Across from Henson's launch $15,000 (Bank financing available)

H & H Properties RT 2 Box 68 Dunlap, Tennessee 37327 (615) 949-3396

Be /fl/brmetl I

\\ /

/'7

AA~4~iff4. ·

\\. ,,.,,.~ rt'j

3314 w. 11400 s.

Subscriptions: $24/year U.S. $36 Canada - $44 overseas Back Issues: $5.00 each - all back issues (4) $14 (both include postage)

South Jordan, Utah 84065 Bus 801-254-7455 • Fax 801-254-7701

:~:=n~~!:APA • Safety • New Products • Glider Reviews • Competition News • European Undate •Who's Who • Facts & Figures

f11/I Color Md/dZJlfe

RATINGS SAFE PILOT AWARDS DANIEL HARTOWICZ DAVID FREUND DAVID GERDES JAMES ASHER JERRY FORBURGER KATESPOONT LARRY WALLS PAUL BURNS RODGER HOYT STEVE ARNDT VICTOR TOCE

LILIENTHAL AW ARDS BRONZE CHAD MARGOLIN HENRY BUTZEL JOHN BLASKO JONATHAN SZAREK KEVIN MADDEN KURTKREISZ LORENA HILLMAN MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN PAUL DOERING PETE HAMMER SILVER ANDREW PIZIALI BILL SODERQUIST JOEL GODIN GOLD ANDREW PIZIALI BILL SODERQUIST DIAMOND RODGER HOYT

HLAVAC, MATHEW: San Diego, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center LAMANDRE, ANTHONY: Lawndale, CA; J. Greblo/Windsports Int'! PAPAGEORGE, JIM: San Diego, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center PERRON, YEHUDA: Palm Desert, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure RIZK, ANOIR: West Covina, CA; G. Reeves/Windsports Int'l SHELLEY, J: Lancaster, CA; J. Greblo/Windsports Int'! SIRCELLO, CHRIS: Irvine, CA; J. Lazaro/Miami Hang Gliding TATRO, MARTIN: Covina, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure TWOMBLEY, SCOTT: Oxnard, CA; D. Quackenbush/True Flight Concepts VELIKOFF, JOHN: Lake Elsinore, CA; P. Burns/Windgypsy ZILBERMAN, ZVI: Palm Desert, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure Region 4 BAGLEY, KEVIN: Phoenix, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Sails of AZ CANTRELL, ANDREW: Phoenix, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Sails of AZ KAESTNER, PAT: Tempe, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Sails of AZ KELLY, LEO: Santa Fe, NM; F. Valenza/Mtn Wings i'vlARDENBOROUGH, SPENCER: Central City.CO; M.Windsheim/Golden Wings NAGYVARY, JOHN: Albuquerque, NM; C. Woods/Up Over NM NORMAN, CRAIG: Wheatridge, CO; G. Greer/CO Hang Gliding Center QUINTANA, MARIA: Paonia, CO; D. Thomason/Silent Flight Region 5 BAHR, STEVEN: Blackfoot, ID; F. Gillette/Magic Valley Sky Sales OSET, ROBERT: Hamilton, MT; K. Wolfe/Big Sky Hang Gliding VELVICK, BILL: Boyse, ID; M. King/Treasure Valley Hang Gliding ZIMMERMAN, MICHAEL: Missoula, MT; K. Wolfe/Big Sky Hang Gliding Region 6 BINGHAM, STEVEN: Sapulpa, OK; M. Hair/Sport Wing of OK BROWN, MIKE: Alma, AR; J. Flatte/Ft. Smith HG Assn. BROWNING, GARY: Unity Village, MO; L. Haney/Sail Wings SMITH, BENNY: Rudy, AR; J. Flatte/Ft. Smith HG Assn. Region 7 BUERK, STEVE: Park Ridge, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports DUBAY, DANIEL: Livonia, Ml; N. Lesnow/Pro Hang Gliders MATYSIK, GREG: Verona, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports MCCORMACK, CA THERINE: Chicago, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports MCDONALD-DOREN, DENNIS: Madison, WI; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Spmts NICHOLSON, MICHAEL: Ypsilanti, Ml; W. Fifer STAHL, MIKE: Skokie, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports WEIGAND, DAVID: Streamwood, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports

BEGINNER RATINGS PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 1 BECKETT, RICHARD: Seattle, WA; J. Estrin/Air ·o• Sports DENISON, EVA: Springfield, OR; J. Estrin/Air ·o· Sports LANTHRUM, GARY: Manchester, WA; J. Estrin/Air ·O' Sports WALTER, BRIAN: Kenl, WA; J. Estrin/Air ·o· Sports Region 2 AB KOWITZ, DAVID: Palo Alto, CA; R. Palmon BRAENDEL, ROBERT: Fallbrook, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center BRENNAN, FRANCIS: San Carlos, CA; R. Spear/Chandelle CARLSON, JOE: San Jose, CA; M. Spinelli/True Flight Concepts DEAN, KEVIN: Sunnyvale, CA; P. Denevan/Jvlission Soaring DOWNING, STEVE: San Jose, CA; R. Spear/Chandelle FULLER, RANDY: Palo Alto, CA; P. Denevan/Mission Soaring MENDENCE, MARY: Sonora, CA; W. Ostiguy/Western HG NAZARIO, ALEXANDER: Modesto, CA; J. Fritsche/Mission Soaring ROGOFF, IAN: San Jose, CA; S. Gillingham/Western Hang Gliders SHARKEY, JOHN: Walnut Creek, CA; C. Bolfing/Airtime of SF TESCH, DAVID: Santa Clara, CA; P. Denevan/Mission Soaring WIMER, JOHN: Half Moon Bay, CA; J. Fritsche/Mission Soaring Region 3 CHANDRAKANTH, SANA THAN: Azusa, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Systems FREEMAN, TREY: Calabasas, CA; M. Spinelli/True Flight Concepts HARIRI, REZA: San Gabriel, CA; G. Rceves/Windsports Int'! HEIDE, OSCAR: Los Angeles, CA; G. Reeves/\Vindsports Int'!

SEPTEMBER 1991

Region 8 CHIODI, ROGER: Rockland, MA; J. Zagarella/Aeolus CULLEN, BILL: Cambridge, MA; B. Millican/Kitty Hawk Kites HJORTSHOTS, ERIC: Boston, MA; B. Millican/Kitty Hawk Kites KOWALEWSKI, RICHARD: Burlington, YT; R. Hastings/Morningside FP MCLAUGHLIN, CHRISTOPHER: Strafford, VT; R. Hastings/Morningside FP MCNAMARA, JIM: Amston CT; R. Hastings/Morningside FP OLSEN, GREGORY: Vernon, CT; R. Hastings/Morningside FP PYLES, TANJA: Middletown, CT; G. Crowe/Morningside FP TALEGHANI, BARDIA: Belmont, MA; R. Hastings/Morningside FP Region 9 BALK, :MICHAEL: Annandale, VA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites BRISSON, THOMAS: Washington, DC; J. Middleton/Silver Wings DAVENPORT, DEVIN: Bruington, VA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites DEVADHAR, SIDHARTHA: Vienna, YA; S. Mendoza/ FELTENBERGER, JODY: Reading, PA; B. Umstattd/Mountain Wings FINK, MARC: Bethesda, MD; E. Logan/Penn-Aerie GAYOSO, TONY: Annandale, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings GRAY, JONI: Roanoke, VA; R. Coxon/Kitty Hawk Kites LAUSCH, M SCOTT: Denver, PA; B. Umstattd/Mountain Wings LEWIS, RUSSELL: Harrisburg, PA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites LOCKHART, JOHN: Cincinnati, OH; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites MATYLONEK, JOHN: Philadelphia, PA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites MORRIS, JAMEY: Amelia, VA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites NICHOLSON, CHRISTOPHER: Arlington, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings O'BRIEN, WILLIAM: Morgantown, WY; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites PHIELS, DAN: Columbus, OH; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mtn FP RASPEN, GALE: Trevose, PA; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites

RATINGS Region 10 BASS, MARK: Ft. Lauderdale, FL; J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding CARPENTER, JOHN: Greenville, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites CASHWELL, JIM: Greensboro, NC; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft CIZAUSKAS, RICH: Kitty Hawk, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kiles COOPER, PARKE: Dunwoody, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP DADISMAN, TAD: Kill Devil Hill, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites EVANS, GREG: Ja111estown, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites GEIST, JIM: Orlando, FL; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mtn FP GOOLSBY, KIRK: Nags Head, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites HERNDON, LEE: Orange, VA; B. Scott Millican/Kitty Hawk Kites HUNDLEY, TODD: Knox, TN; B. Chal111crs/Lookout Mtn FP MATOS, HUBER: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/lvliami Hang Gliding MILLER, DOUG: Clyde, NC; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mountain FP NELSON, JIM: Birmingha111, AL; M. Taber/Lookout Mountain FP SMITH, KELLY: Ft. Cavo, FL; J. Lazaro/Mia111i Hang Gliding SMITH, MICHAEL: Miami, FL; J. Lazaro/Miami Hang Gliding TARPLEY, JEFF: Thomaston, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP WARRELL, SANDY: Del Ray, FL; B. Chalmers/Lookout Mtn FP WORMSLEY, TOM: Doreville, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP WYATT, JIMMY: Nags Head, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites Region I I BENNER, DAVID: Austin, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sports BROWNING, DAVID: Palestine, TX; D. Broyles/Kite Enterprises GILLES, VACHON: Houston, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sports ISENSEE, JAMES: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft STALLINGS, ART: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft WALTER, JAMES: Lubbock, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sporls Region 12 DIAZ, DAVID: Brooklyn, NY: B. Umstattd/Mountain Wings DRAGO, CHARLES: Greenwich, NY; D. Guido FILARDI, VINCE: Newtown, CT; B. Umstatld/Mountain Wings FIXLER, STEVEN: APO, NY; G. Elhart/Nova Air FOLDVARY, KEN: Wurtsboro, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings FROCK, JAivlES: APO, NY; G. Elhart/Nova Air JASON, INGRID: Bayshore, NY; B. Urnstattd/Mountain Wings OLSHETSKI, DAVID: Danbury, CT; B. Umstattd/Mountain Wings POOLE, JOHN F: APO, NY; G. Elhart/Nova Air SVEINBJORNSSON, ERIK: Medford, NJ; B. Umstattd/Sky High TIMMERMAN, ROGER: APO, NY; G. Elhart/Nova Air

CHANDRAKANTH, SANA THAN: Azusa, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Systems DE VILLEFRANCHE, MAXINE: Arleta, CA; G. Reeves/Windsports 1nt'l HARIRI, REZA: San Gabriel, CA; G. Reeves/Windsports Int'! HLAVAC, MATHEW: San Diego, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center KAISER, REINER: Playa Del Ray, CA; M. Spinelli/True Flight Concepts KWALICK, TONI: Salinas, CA; W. Ostiguy/Western Hang Gliders LAMANDRE, ANTHONY: Lawndale, CA; J. Greblo/Windsports Int'! PAPAGEORGE, JIM: San Diego, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center PERRON, YEHUDA: Palm Desert, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure PISTOLE, BRAD: Tommcc, CA·, M. SpinelliITrne Flight Concepts RIZK, ANOIR: West Covina, CA; G. Rceves/Windspons Int'I ROETCISOENDER, GUY: Goleta, CA; J. Hagemann SIRCELLO, CHRIS: Irvine, CA; J. Lazaro/Miami Hang Gliding SMITH, DONNA: Santee, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center TATRO, MARTIN: Covina, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure VELIKOFF, JOHN: Lake Elsinore, CA; P. Burns/Windgypsy WANGLER, GREG: Santa Monica, CA; M. Spinelli/True Flight Concepts ZILBERMAN, ZVI: Palm Deserl, CA; R. McKenz.ie/High Ad'lcnture Region 4 BULLARD, DOUGLAS: Ogden, UT; G. PollockN,'asateh Wings KELLER, TRENT: Fredonia, AZ; M. Knowldens/Rebel Wings MOSGELLER, MICHAEL: Aurora, CO; E. Duerksen/CO Wind Park NAGYVARY, JOHN: Albuquerque, NM; C. Woods/Up Over NM QUINTANA, MARIA: Paonia, CO; D. Thomason/Silent Flight VELVICK, TOM: Peoria, AZ; S. Mish/Bandito Action Sports YSTESUND, KEITH: Durango, CO; K. Stowe/Winclrider Region 5 BAHR, STEVEN: Blackfoot, ID; F. Gillette/Magic Val\ey Sky Sales BUTZEL, HENRY: Missoula, MT; K. Wolfe/Big Sky Hang Gliding ELLIOTT, TRAVIS: Big Piney, WY; G. Pollock/Wasatch Wings NICHOLS, PATRICIA: Boise, ID; L. Streib OSET, ROBERT: Hamilton, MT; Kevin Wolfe/Big Sky Hang Gliding ZIIVIMERMAN, MICHAEL: Missoula, MT; K. Wolfe/Big Sky Hang Gliding Region 6 BROWN, MIKE: Alma, AR; J. Flattc/Ft. Smith HG Assn. BROWNING, GARY: Unity Village, MO; L. Haney/Sail Wings GRUIS, ZEPH: Des Moines, IA; R. Hauser/W.O.W. MAGRADY, HOB: Tulsa, OK; G. Pol\ock/\Vasatch Wings MALOY, lVIATTHEW: Norman, OK; M. While SIMMONS, BOB: Nixa, MO; B. Chalmers/Lookout Mountain FP SMITH, BENNY: Rudy, AR; J. Flatte/Fl. Smith HG Assn.

NOVICE RA TINGS PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 1 BECKETT, RICHARD: Seattle, WA; J. Estrin/Air 'O' Sports LANTHRUM, GARY: Manchester, WA; J. Estrin/Air 'O' Sports SCHWEIGER, JASON: Seattle, WA; T. Johns/Cascade Soaring WALTER, BRIAN: Kent, WA; J. Estrin/Air ·O' Sports WEIST, KAREN: Lake Oswego, OR; J. Estrin/Air ·o' Sports WELLBAUM, ROBBIE: Spokane, WA; J. Jernigan/So. Oregon HG Region 2 BRAENDEL, ROBERT: Failbrook. CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center BYRNE, EDWARD: Monterey, CA; S. Gillingham/Western Hang Gliding HARRISON, MARK: San Jose, CA; A. Whitehil\/Chandel\e ICHIRYU, HIROSHI: Berkeley, CA; R. Spcar/Chandelle Hang Gliding KOEHM, JOHN: Reno, NV; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports ROBINSON, STEPHEN: Bishop, CA; K. Klinefelter ROGOFF, IAN: San Jose, CA; S. Gillingham/Western Hang Gliders SCHEETZ, TERRY: Gardnervil\e, NV; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports WATTS, ALISON: El Sobranle, CA; A. Whitehil\/Chandel\e WILLIAMS, SCOTT: Clayton, CA; J. Greenbaum/Airtime of SF Region 3 ADOLPHE, CA VAN: Fal\brook, CA; W. Henry/Torrey Flight Park ANDERSON, RICHARD: Gardena, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Systems ANDERSON, ROBERT: Alhambra, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Systems HOARD, STACEY: Sunland, CA; G. Reeves/Windsports Int'!

Region 7 THIELSEN, JEFFREY: Palatine, IL; W. Wiand/Thermal Up Region 8 ATWOOD, JONATHAN: Burlington, MA; J. Hannus JOHNSON, ROGER: Newlown, CT·, R. Hastings/Morningside FP Region 9 CADORA, TOM: Moneta, VA; G. Reeves/Windsports Int'! FIELD, MICHAEL: Simpsonville, MD; E. Logan/Penn-Aerie LAVERY, JOHN: Arlington, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings PRATT, SCOTT: Bellefonte, PA; R. Cobb/Wind Drifter SHIMKETS, JOSEPH: PGI-I, PA; J. Hostler/Mountain Top Recreation Region 10 AMERMAN, RICHARD: Nags Head, NC; G. Keoho/Kitty Hawk Kites BAILEY, ROBERT: Orange City, FL; F. Foti/Miami HG HAKER, JOHN: Bradenton, FL; F. Foti/lvliami Hang Gliding CAREY, CHRISTOPHER: Chattanooga, TN; J. Laughrey/Hawk Airsports CASHWELL, JIM: Greensboro, NC; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft COMER, SEAN: Nags Head, NC; B. Millican/Kitty Hawk Kites COOK, JEFFREY: Huntsville, AL; R. Patlerson/Cloudbase HG GEISER, DA YID: Brooksville, FL; P. Dene\'an HIGHTOWER, BRIAN: Chesapeake, VA; G. Kcoho/Killy Hawk Kites HUNDLEY, TODD: Knox, TN; 1. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP LITTLE, JOHN: Buckhead, GA; C. Thoreson/Lookout l'vltn FP ROBERTS, JIMMY: Huntsville, AL; R. Patterson/Cloudbase Corp. TARPLEY, JEFF: Thomaston, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout !\fountain FP

HANG GLIDING

RATINGS VILA, MICHAEL: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami Hang Gliding WORMSLEY, TOM: Doreville, GA; J. Reynolds/Lookout Mountain FP Region 11 HAM!VIER, PETE: Richardson, TX; D. Broyles/Kite Enterprises ISENSEE, JAMES: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft MAGERSTADT, DAVID: Austin, TX; 1. Hunt/Red River Aircraft STALLINGS, ART: Austin, TX; J. Hunt/Red River Aircraft

Region 12 GIRNDT, JEFFREY: Depew, NY; T. Forester/Rochester Area Flyers HY ARY, RAMI: Albany, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings RICH, STEPHEN: Bedford. MA; G. Black/Mountain Wings VINALS, JOSE: New York, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings WRIGHT, RAY: Greenwood Lake, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings

ADV AN CED RA TINGS Region 12 BRANDS, RAMONA: APO, NY: G. Elhart/Nova Air DEMARLE, DAN: Rochester, NY; M. Hedden/Rochester Arca Flyers DRAGO, CHARLES: Greenwich, NY; D. Guido/Susquehanna FP FRENCH, STEPHEN: Rochester, NY; C. Dechow/Rochester Area Flyers HICKMAN, MICHAEL: APO, NY; G. Elhan/Nova Air KLIMCHAK, LINDA: Greenwich, CT; B. Umstattdflv!ountain Wings KOEHN, DAVID: Oneonta, NY; D. Guido/Susquehanna FP LINZMAYER, NEIL: Morris Plains, NJ; B. Urnstattd/lV!tn Wings NOTTEBOHM, LAWRENCE: Wassaic, NY; B. Umstattd/Mtn Wings WOOD, WILLIAM: New York, NY; B. Umstattd/Mountain Wings

INTERMEDIATE RA TINGS PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 1 BAILLY, DEVIN: Medford, OR; D. Thomason/Silent Flight Region 2 CAMERON, KEVIN: Campbell, CA; E. Gama/WOR NELSON, CHARLES: San Francisco, CA; R. Canham ZOGLMAN, KATHIE: Reno, NV; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports Region 3 JACOBSEN, STEVEN: Westminster, CA; P. Burns/Windgypsy MILLER, LUEN: Santa Cruz, CA; J. Johns PENIX, BRAD: Santee, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center SMITH, BRUCE: Santee, CA; J. Ryan/Hang Gliding Center WHITE, JAY: MCAS Tustin, CA; D. Skadal/Hang Flight Systems ZITO, DAVID: San Diego, CA; R. Patterson/Berkeley, HOC Region 4 ARMAS, RAY: Tolleson, AZ; S. Aycock BAUMANN, DAVID: Golden, CO; J. Yocom SMITH, GREG: Clearfield, UT; C. Stockwell Region 6 HARLAN, KENNY: Elkhart, KS; R. Kenney/Prairie Hang Gliding ZEN BOULDEN, JAMES: Ft. Smith, AR; J. Steele/Ozark Mtn. HG Region 7 BERNA, FRANK: Gurnee, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports DRINKER, PHIL: Boxford, MA; R. Hastings/Morningside FP LESSELS, PETER: Brighton, MA; R. Hastings/Morningside FP MAYS, PAUL: Chicago, IL; B. Kushner/Raven Sky Sports Region 9 EYRE, GAVIN: Alexandria, VA; R. Millman HAGAN, DAVID: Cuyahoga Falls, OH; B. Chalmers/Lookout Mtn FP LOZANO, DEBBIE: Mentor, OH; M. Delsignore/N. Coast HG LYTLE, DAVID: Cabot, PA; P. Brooks POLAND, CHARLES: Herndon, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings Region 10 BLAND, STEVEN: Apex, NC; D. Rice/Sauratown Mtn HOC GODIN, JOEL: King, NC; D. Rice/Sauratown tvltn HG Club LACOTCHE, JIM: Boynton Beach, FL; S. Hubbard/S. Florida Free Flight MASSEY, STEVE: Raleigh, NC; T. Massey MICHAEL, ARNOLD: Sunrise, FL; J. Tindle/Miami HG PALS, GERARD: Maryvile, TN; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn fP

SEPTEMBER 1991

PILOT: City, State; Instructor/School Region 2 MIES, ERIC: San Francisco, CA; K. Dearborn/Airtime of SF Region 3 GREENWAY, ROGER: Bonita, CA; B. Bennett/Torrey Flight Park MACK, TEDDY: San Diego, CA; B. Bennett/Torrey Flight Park SHEA, TIM: Santa Cruz, CA; W. Ostiguy/Western Hang Gliders Region4 ANDERSON, STEVE: Dillon, CO; J. Yocom BISHOP, DAVID: Tucson, AZ; E. Smith/Arizona Airfoils KAUFFMAN, ETHAN: Santa Fe, NM; K. Stowe/Windrider Windsports MCLAUGHLIN, PATRICK: Salt Lake City, UT; K. Stowe/Windrider TOMPKINS, CHARLES: Tucson, AZ; M. Stockwell Region 6 TROUT, CHRIS: Elkhart, KS; R. Kenney/Prairie Hang Gliding Region 7 AUSTIN, CRAIG: Duluth, MN; P. Caulfield/Sport Soaring Center Region 8 DOHERTY, CHIP: Andover, NH; G. Crowe/Morningside MALLOCH, CHARLES: Middleton, CT; G. Crowe Region 9 BUMPUS, JAMES: Mansfield, OH; M. Del Signore/North Coast HG CHURCH, KEN: West Chester, PA; J. Harper CONNER, STEVE: Christiansburg, VA; R. Cobb/Wind Drifter DONAHUE RICHARD: Alexandria, VA; G. Nicolet HUDDLE, CHRISTY: Harpers Ferry, WV; L. Lehmann IAQUINTO, DANIEL: Philadelphia, PA; J. Keller Region 10 FLYNN, STEVE: Orange City, FL; M. Pleskovich/Draggin Flyers ROJAS, RICKY: Rising Fawn, GA; M. Taber/Lookout Mtn FP SMITH, ROBERT: Stum1, FL; J. Graham Region 12 FISHER, BILL: New York, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings

MASTER RATINGS LARRY R. HUFFMAN

FOREIGN RA TINGS BEG: HALPERIN, GIL: St. Josefh-Du-Lac, Quebec; C. Bolfing/Airtimc NOV: HALPERIN, GIL: St. Joscfh-Du-Lac, Quebec; D. Ruzck/Airtime INT: TULLY, ANDREW: St. Thomas.Ontario; M. Gates/RAF INT: RUPCIC, JOHN: St. Thomas, Ontario; M. Gates/RAF INT: VANASSE, GUNTER: Willowdale, Ontario; M. Gates/RAF ADV: STRUCK, MIKHAEL: Nottuln, Germany; K. DeRussy/HG Emporium INT: APRO, TIBOR: Brampton, Ontario; M. Gates/EHGC BEG: MILES, CARLOS: Mexico DF; B. Chalmers/Lookout Mtn FP BEG: TEDSTROM, JOHN: Munich, Germany; G. Elharr/Nova Air

CLASSIFIEDS ADVISORY Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rnsted cables, tangs with noncircular holes, and on Rogallos, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges. If in doubt, many hang gliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. Bu:yers should select equipment that is appropriate for their skill level or rating. New pilots should seek professional instruction from a USHGA-certified school.

MAGIC KISS - < 10 hours, bullet sail cloth. $2,300 OBO. Dream I65, <25 hours, good condition, S800 Gene (503) 779-3409.

ROGALLOS

MOYES XS 155 - Excellent condition. beautiful sail, $2,400 (616) 465-5859

ATLAS 16- Excellent condition, i 60-210 lb. weight range, rainbow colors. $850 (213) 938-6469. ATTACK DUCK 180 - Excellent condition, less than 50 hours, new specdbar. Blue, spectmm, white. Cocoon harness included $600 (805) 497-2080. AXIS 15- 1989 Full race, eighty hours, excellent condition (412) 898-3219 (PA). AXIS 15 - Red & white. full race, good condition, extras. Call Andy, days (602) 773-4316 $1,180. BRAND NEW - 1991 165 Spectrum Plus. Includes 2 extra faired downtubes. safety wheels, pa11s kH, owners manual, W.W. hat, tax and shipping tube-Only $3,305. Save $478.85 The Hang Gliding Connection (916) 241-6974. COMET 185- Very good condition, rainbow with blue L.E. & new wires. $450. Flight Designs cocoon, like new $150. Padded knee hanger $100. Bob (408) 595-0007. COMET C-1 185 - Very good condition. Extra base & downtubes. Call Ron (719) 687-1280 COMET 185 - Good condition $350. Condor 224, good condition $200. must sell-Tim (eves) (608) 269-4569. COMET IT 185 - Good condition, complete spare airframe included, $400 Kent (512) 369-28l4 (days). COMET Ill l85 -Custom, new $2000. Comet I 185, good condition $500. Oly 180, fair, S300 (714) 674-121 l.

MOYES MISSILE 180 - Double surface, gold/blue, good condition, <50 hours. $600 OBO (804) 295-2585 evenings.

VISION l8 - Black leading edge, dark blue, light blue, white. 35 hours. Nlatching cocoon harness, chute, helmet, hummingbird vario. S 1,000 (2 l 9) 744-1700.

MOYES XS 155 -Full race, l5 hours, excellent condition. Two spare downtubes & spare speedbar. S2,500 (515) 2850505.

VISION MK IV 19 - Excellent shape, 20 hours, 3DCG, $1,250. PacAir cocoon harness, 6'3" -6' 4", $190 (703) 3443372.

MOYES XS 155 - Good condition, low hours, $2,000 Airwave MK IV $600 (808) 874-0322.

COLORADO HANG GLIDING (303) 278-9566 24 hours Region [V's oldest, largest, full time shop. Never used chutes (all sizes) .... S265 D.O.T. helmets (colors!) . ... $58-$129 NAS vario/Alt (intro price) ...... $388 Used harnesses ......................... $75-$300 Steel biners (2 min.) ......... ... $14.80 Varios (demo's, all brands) ..... $75-$500 I 00% guarantee all equipment. MCNIS,VAMEX/DISCOVER ACCEPTED

NEW GLIDERS - Best prices' Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, Seedwings, Delta. Silver Wings (703) 533-3244. PRO STAR 130 - New (100-165 lb. weight range) $795. Litek vario SIOO. Emergency parachute $150. (505) 6627840. RA VEN 209 - Red/black/yellow/white. Very good condition-always garaged/transported in PVC tube. Kevin, (619) 944-1396 eves, (619) 534-5044 days. SENSOR 510-B VG - 1988 $800. Kevlar full face helmet, $275. Motorola FM radios, inquire. (214) 625-5821. SENSOR 510-E- Full race, $2,500. Ball vario, model 652 $350 (907) 694-4032. SKYHAWK 158 - Like new, rainbow sail, 2 extra downtubes, $1,000 OBO. (317) 289-2718. SK YHA WK 168 3733.

Excellent condition, S 1,300 (805) 965-

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USED GLIDER REFERRAL - BUY-SELL-CONSIGN, ALL MAKES, MODELS. CALL TODAY (619) 450-1894 OR (619) 450-9008. SPORT 150 AT- Short control bar, 3/4 race, white L.E., magenta & dayglo yellow custom sailwork. Great for the smaller pilot' Excellent condition, 52,500. (619) 444-8956 Sandy.

DREAM 165 - Excellent condition, very low hours, $900 (415) 454- 6429.

SPORT I 50EURO-Excellentcondition, faired downtubes, red and white checkerboard with black wingtips. $2,000 or make offer (714) 632-7542.

DREAM 220 - By UP, 1990 model, excellent condition. $1,950 (916) 938-2061.

SPORT 150 - Full race, great condition, flies very well, shipping included. S 1,500 (818) 309-4355.

DREAM 220 - Almost new, immaculate shape. $1,650 OBO (702) 345- 0612.

SPORT 167 AMERICAN - Blue and white, speedbar, new bag, l 50 hours, good shape, S 1,000. Custom Sport Keller pod to 5'8", excellent $250. Patrick Conners-evenings. (619) 934-4365.

HP AT 158- Flown two seasons, well maintained, $1,950. HP I, $500 (303) 973-5153. HP IT - World team glider, great glider, low price, $700. Vision MK IV 17, $1,200 Paul (714) 676-4425. HP II - 88 race, custom sail, low hours, extras. Clean, excellent condition guaranteed, will ship, S 1,400. Ball vario, model 620H $150. Thomen altimeter, $75. (513) 961-2817.

SPORT 167 EURO - Blue/gold/white, 109 hours. Good condition- always garaged/transported in PVC tube. Recent sailwork at WW, sail-off airframe inspection. $1,100. OBO High Energy cocoon harness with High Energy 22-gore parachute (re-packed in February), ballast container/lots of extra storage. $700. OBO Kevin, (619) 944-1396 eves., (619) 534-5044 days.

K2-Custom sail, 40 hours, excellent condition, $3,200. HP II, 1988 full race, beautiful custom sail, 75 hour, excellent condition, $1,300 (505) 293-5165.

TRX 160- 75 hours, pink, purple, excellent condition. (80 I) 254- 6l41.

LT. DREAM 165 - Excellent condition, low hours $1,400 OBO. (213) 433-4443.

UP COMET CI 165 ~- Custom blue and yellow sail, $400. UP Gemini 185, light blue, good condition, $800. Seagull !OM, blue and white, make offer. Jack (415) 728-0938.

MAGIC JV 133 - Low airtime, super condition, speedbar, $1,200 (206) 586- 7021.

VISION MK IV 17 -Great condition, blue trilam L.E.,, blue undersurface, S 1,300. (619) 451-3970.

MAGIC IV 177 - Blue/gold, good condition $875 OBO, Marina (408) 384-2266.

VISION MK IV 17 - Blue undersurface, speedbar, 2 years old. S 1,500. Ball vario 652, almost new. $450. (805) 2748036.

VISION MK IV 17 -Low hours. low U.V., red L.E., gold undersurface, very clean, (209) 334-5572.

Vision 16 ....... ...................... ... Olirs . ......... $l,200 Magic Kiss ................. ... <5 hrs ....... $2,575 Lt. Mystic 166 ................. ... <40 hrs ..... $1,300 Lt. Dream 185, 205 ...... ..... . ............... $800 ea. Mystic 177 VG ....... ............... .<12hrs ... ..$1,100 Harrier 177 ......... ..................... <25 hrs ..... $800 .... ............. $500 ea. Comet II 165, 185 ........ ... <15 hrs . .... $485 Phoenix 6D ................. Seagull 140, 170 . .................. $250 ea. I 00% guarantee on all equipment, inspected and shipped anywhere. Colorado Hang Gliding (303) 278-9566 24 hrs. THE HANG GLIDING CENTER Axis l5 FR '89 ............... good shape ...... $12000BO 150 Sport AT ........ .. ..... excell.shape .... $2,400 167 Sport AT ..... ....... ............... ............. $2,400 Magic Formula, .............. in stock ...... .... New Magic K2 145 ..... ...... ............. ......... .... New Magic Kiss ... ............... . like new . ......... $1,950 & $1,800 HPAT,. ............. ...... ... in stock ....... ... New Vision MK IV, ... ....... ... in stock ....... ... New Vision MK IV 17/19, used ........ ......... ... $1,200 Equalizers, used s/m ....... ....... .......... $425 4206-K Sorrento Valley Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121. We have instruments and parachutes in stock. (619) 450-9008. *Special travel incentives on some glider purchases. GOLDEN WINGS 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 8040 l TOLL FREE ORDER PHONE 1-800-677-4449 or (303) 278-7181 Mystic 177 VG Exe. cond. ... $1,300 Vision 19 (used) (Exe. cond.) .. S 1,800 Several Sport 167 ······ ·············· S 1800 - $2,200 HPAT, Demo ........... ·············· $2,800 Many other good used gliders .. $450-$1000 EMERGENCY PARACHUTES ALL BRANDS - Bought, sold, and repacked. Inspection and repack $20.00 - Parachutes, bridles, inspected and replaced. Airtime of San Francisco, 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) SKY- 1177. NEVER USED CHUTES' - 100% satisfaction guaranteed. $265 each. All sizes, new bridle. deployment bag, repacked/ inspected. (303) 278- 9566. BRAND NEW -

22 Gore, H.E. $295 (714) 654-8559.

THE TAIL DRAGON - All flying contraptions boughtsold-serviced. SECOND CRANTZ RECOVERY SYSTEI\! DEALER (916) 542-3833.

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIEDS PARAGLIDERS ITV METEOR 97 - Blue and pink. special seat and bag. S1,400Jack<415J 728-0938. PARAGLIDING IN PARADISE - Alpine paragliding in Crested Butte, CO, 24 tlying sites. LZ@ 9,000+ MSL I No Wimps!. Videos $32.50, shipping included. Peak Performance Paraglidcrs, P.O. Box 213. Crested Butte. CO 81224. Steve (303) 349-5961. Rusty (303) 3./9- 6384. WILLS, UP'S, ETC - $795 +up.Instruction, equipment. southern California and European tours (714) 654-8559

ARKANSAS SAIL WINGS HANG GLIDING- Specializing in towing lessons, sales and service. Pacific Airwave, Enterprise \Vings. P.O. Box 321, Atkins, AR 72823. (501) 227-4920. LET'S GO TOWING!

HANG GLIDER EMPORIUM- The best training hill in the west is in Santa Barbara. a hang gliding Y ACA TION PARADISE. High quality PERSONALIZED instruction focusing on the skills that most affect your SAFETY. Call for vacation info and glider inventory. Tues.- Fri. 10-5, Sat. 10-4. 613 N. Milpas, Santa Barbara. California 93103 (805) 965-3733.

CALIFORNIA ACTION SOARING CENTER - In Lodi near Stockton. Personalized USHGA certified instruction, sales and service. Emphasis on special skills and techniques, T.0. and L Call to demo XS, EZ, \YB. Ask about tow clinic. 1689 Annstrong Road. Lodi. CA 952./2 (209) 368- 9665.

RIGID WINGS QUICKSIL YER- With trike and en~ine. S2.000 <908 i 8066131 ULTRALIGHTS PARA.PLANE- I Powered parachutes) Solo after one hour instruction. Free brochure. Orlando (407) 351-4510. WANTED CASH PAID- We buy used equipment. Paid immediately (303) 278- 9566. \V ANTED - Used hang gliding equipment. Gliders, instruments. harnesses and parachutes. Airtime of San Francisco. 3620 Wawona, San Francisco, CA 94116. (415) SKY-1177 SCHOOLS AND DEALERS ALABAI\!A UvlFP - Two hours from Birmingham (sec our ad under Tennessee.) (404) 398-3541. ARIZONA ADVENTURE SPORTS TOURS - Certified instruction utilizing the world's first man-made training hill plus other sites which all face C\'ery wind direction. Dealer for Pacific Airwave, Wills Wing, Ball and High Energy. 1327 E. Bell De Mar Dr.. Tempe, AZ 85283 (602) 897-7121. DESERT HANG GLIDERS - USHGA Certified School. Supine specialists. 4319 W. Larkspur, Glendale, AZ 85304. (6021 938- 9550.

AIRTI:\IE OF SAN FRANCISCO - Hang Gliding & Paragliding. USHGA & APA Certified Inst111ction, Sales, Sen·ice. Rental. - Pac. Air, UP, Wills, Sensor, High Energy, Mantis. Second Chantz, B.R.S., Pro Design. Apco Hilite, I.T.Y .. Edel. Skywalker and MORE' Large selection of 2nd hand £ear t buv & sell). Next to Fort Funston. 3620 Wawona. San F~·ancisc~. CA 94116. (415) SKY-1177. AIRTIME UNLIM1TED-S0u1hland Hang Gliding School. Pacific Airwave 2:\iders in stock. Tandem instruction. ATOL towing. 12120 s.;-,·ern Way, Riverside, CA 92503 (714) 7340622 CHANDELLE SAN FRANCISCO. INC. - Since 1973. complete hang gliding and paragliding sales service and instmction. Dealers for \Vil\s \Ving, Pacific Airwave. Delta \Ving, Seedwings, UP, High energy, Center of Gravity, Ball, BRS, Second Chantz, ITV. Firebird, Edel and more' Norlhern California's most complete repair facility, including 7th class rigger· s machine. New and used equipment, spare parts, and demos. Complete training, including introductory lessons. packages, clinics, ground school and tandem. Five minutes from Ft. Funscon. 488 iWanor Plaza. Pacifica, CA. 94044. (415 l 359- 6800. COi\lPACT WINGS PARAGLIDING - Wills Wings. UP and other paraglidcrs. Instruction at best site (Soboba) Lours. accessories (714) 654- 8559. HANG FLIGHT SYSTEMS - DJRECTL Y across the street from WILLS WING, DEi\!OS and rentals available to qualified pilots. HP-AT small, medium & large Sport-A T's, Kiss, Mark JV. Genesis, Dreams and Axis. FLY 'EM ALL and decide what you like. \Ve sell and service all major brands of gliders and accessories. USHGA certified XC clinics and training program. 1202 E. \Valnut. Unit Jvl, Santa Ana, CA 92701 (714) 542-7444 Near Disneyland.

HIGH ADVENTURE- Full service facility located on site at Southern California's famous mile high mountains, Crestline. from sand hill to XC thermal flying, our 20 tandem accelerated training program is quick and thorough. Instructor Rob McKenzie. Dozens of new and used 2:lidcrs for sale or rent. Other services include, Wl'ather infor~rntion, mountain shuttle. towing seminars, XC trips, repairs, ratings (714) 883-8488. THE HANG GLIDING CENTER - Located in beautiful San Diego. USHGA instruction. equipment rentals, local flying tours. Spend your winter \'acation flying with us. \Ve proudly offer Wills Wing. Pacific Airwave. High Energy, Ball and we need your used equipment. 4206-K Sorrento Valley Blvd., San Diego. CA 92121 (619) 450-9008. IvIISSION SOARING CENTER-Serving the tlying community since 1973. Complete lesson program with special attention lo quality takeoff and landing skills. All major brands of gliders, parachutes and instruments sold. Sail repair and air frame ~ervicc available. 1116 \Vrigley \Vay. iVlilpitas, CA 95035. (408) 262-1055. PERFORMANCE DESIGN PARAGLIDING SCHOOL - Excalibur, Edel, UP. and many more. APA & USHGA certified instructors. \Vorld wide tours, accessories. Call for free catalog. (714) 687-4466.

~--------------------------------------, USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum. Boldface or caps $1.00 per word. (Does not include first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs $25 per column inch. (phone numbers-2 words, P.O. Box-1 word) photos-$25.00 line art logos-$15.00 Deadline-20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the issue in which you want your ad to appear (i.e., June 20 for the August issue). Prepayment required unless account established. No cancellations and no refunds will be allowed on any advertising after deadline. Ad insertions FAXed or made by telephone must be charged to a credit card. $2.00 credit card charge. Please enter my classified ad as follows:

Number of Months: Section (please circle) Rogallos Emergency Chutes Parts & Accessories Business & Employment Miscellaneous

Towing Schools and Dealers Ultralights Rigid Wings Publications & Organizations Paragliders

Begin with 19_ _ issue and run for consecutive issue(s). My check :::i, money order CJ, is enclosed in the amount of $ NAME: ADDRESS: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

I I I I I I I I

I I I

I PHONE:________________ I Number of words: _ _ _ _ _ @ .50 = I Number of words: - - - - - - @ 1.00 = USHGA, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933 (719) 632-8300 I L ______________________________________ ~

SEPTEMllER 1991

CLASSIFIEDS SILENT FLIGHT - Towing, tandems, full instruction avail· able. Dealers for all manufacturers. Fly the beautiful Shasta Valley. (916) 938-2061. TORREY FLIGHT PARK, INC. - At the launch of the world famous Torrey Pines Glider Port, one of San Diego's highlights! Unmatched convenience for pilots and specta· tors. Refreshments and souvenirs at the Cliffhanger Cafe. Certified Training program featuring tandem soaring lessons. New, used, rental and demo equipment by Delta Wing and UP. 2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 (619) 452-3202. TRUE FLIGHT CONCEPTS - USHGA Certified Jnstruc· tion, Sales & Service. Become a better pilot in less time with our small personalized classes & tandem instruction. Our head instructor has over 12 years teaching experience. Only minutes from our local Kagel Mountain flying site. l 3185 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342. (818) 367-6050. WINDGYPSY - USHGA Certified school specializing in personalized tandem flight training. Full service sales & repair facility in Lake Elsinore· call for site info. Wide range of new & used gliders & flight accessories in stock. Paul Burns, 33041 Walls St., Lake Elsinore, CA 92330 Phone (714) 678-5418; FAX (714) 678- 5425. WINDSPORTS SOARING CENTER - Los Angeles' largest and most complete school since l 974. We specialize in personalized tandem instruction, sales and repair. Spend your winter vacation flying with us~ 16145 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406 (818) 988-0111.

Full service and sales of parts for all gliders, makes and models. For more information call (305) 573-8978 or (305) 962-6968. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK-See ad under Tennessee. (404) 398- 3541. GEORGIA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK under Tennessee. (404) 398-354 l.

See our ad

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY SOARING SUPPLY our ad under Tennessee

See

IDAHO TREASURE VALLEY HANG GLIDING - USHGA CF!, service/sales, Pacific Airwave, UP, American Windwright, La Mouette, 11716 Fairview, Boise, ID 83704. (208) 3767914. ILLINOIS RA VEN SKY SPORTS HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING - Largest and most popular in the Midwest. Traditional curriculum, ridge soaring, mountain clinics, tandem by Brad Kushner. Sales/service/accessories for all major brands. 300 N. Green Bay Rd., Waukegan, IL60085 (708) 360-0700.

NEW YORK AAA MOUNTAIN WINGS HANG GLIDING CENTER AND FLIGHT PARK - Now offering PARAGLIDING instruction and sales. Base of ELLENVILLE MTN, Four exclusive training hills. Area's only dealer for Pacific Airwave, UP, Seedwings and Delta Wing with demos in stock. \Ve are the largest, most complete H.G. accessory and repair shop of its kind in the country. Many new and used gliders in stock. R/C supplies and kits, Ultra Pod camera systems. VISA and MASTERCARD accepted. Stop in and get your night pass and gate combo. 150 Canal St., Ellenville, NY 12428 (914) 647-3377. In N.E. l-800-525-7850. FLY HIGH HANG GLIDING, INC. - Serving S. New York, Connecticut, Jersey areas (Ellenville Mtn.). Area's EXCLUSIVE Wills Wing dealer/specialist. Also all other major brands, accessories. Cenified school/instruction. Teaching since 1979. Area's most INEXPENSIVE prices/repairs. Excellent secondary instruction .. .if you've finished a program and wish to continue. Fly the mountain! ATOL towing! Tandem flights' Contact Paul Voight, RD 2, Box 561, Pine Bush, NY 12566, (914) 744-3317. SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK - Cooperstown, NY. Certified Instruction. Sales and Service for all major manufacturers. 40 acre park, 5 training hills,jecprides, bunk house, camping, hot showers, 600' N\V ridge. \Ve have the best facilities in N. New York state to teach you how to fly. RD 2, Box 348A, Cooperstown, NY 13326. (315) 866- 6153.

INDIANA

·'Professionals You Can Trust?"

JJ i\HTCHEL - USHGA certified instructor. PacAir and

COLORADO

UP dealer. 6741 Columbia Ave., Hammond, IN 46324 (219) 845-2856 (219) 762- 5365.

COLORADO HANG GLIDING/PARAGLIDING - lst USHGA certified school in U.S.A. Region's largest and oldest. Operating full time since 1972. (303) 278-9566.

KENTUCKIANASOARING-Mike Kelly, 3023 McArthur Dr., Jeffersonville, IN 47130 (812) 288-7111 (eves.) Sec ad under parts & accessories.

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.

EAGLE'S NEST SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING/ PARAGLIDING - USHGA & APA certified instruction. Sales and service. P.O. Box 25985. Colorado Springs, CO 80936 (7 l 9) 594-0498.

MICHIGAN

NORTH CAROLINA

GREAT LAKES HANG GLIDING. INC. - USHGA certified instructors. Dealers for iVIoyes gliders, new & used equipment. Located near Warren dunes (616) 465-5859.

FLY AMERICA, Corolla Flight-All introductory flights and lessons taught by USHGA Nlaster Ratc<l, Advanced Tandem Instructor. Greg De\Volf instruc1s new through advanced students with ATOL and Tandem. Tow from your blanket or doorstep on beautiful Currituck Beach on the Outer Banks. Call (919) 261-6166 or write Corolla Flight, Box 1021, Kitty Hawk, NC 27949.

GOLDEN WINGS - Sales, service. USHGA certified instmction. Tandem Towing Instruction. Dealers for \Vills \Ving, Pacific Airwave, UP. 1103 \Vashington Avenue, Golden, CO 8040 I. (303 J 278-7 I 81.

LID ENTERPRISES - Sail and harness repair· Equipment manufacturing· Towing supplies. 5000 Butte #183, Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 440- 3579. PEAK PERFORMANCE PARAGLIDING SCHOOL Paragliding instruction/equipment sales, videos $32.50, shipping included. PO Box 2 I 3. Crested Butte, CO 81224, (303) 349-5961 STEAMBOAT ULTRAFLIGHT - Sales and service. Moyes, BRS, High Energy, Ball, all major brands XS's in stock. Best prices. PO Box 77 I 703, Steamboat Springs. CO 80477. Call (303) 879-6284 or (303) 879- 5068. CONNECTICUT MOUNTAIN WINGS -

Look under New York.

FLORIDA

PRO HANG GLIDERS - USI-IGA instruction since 1978, advanced instructor, examiner, observer. safety is# I. Towing specialists since 1978. ivlaintain and enhance your basic skills. We still foot launch. All brands sold and serviced. Contact Norman Lesnow, 569 W. Annabelle, Hazel Park, Ml -18030. (313) 399-9433 Home of the Stormin' Norman windsock, S39.95 MINNESOTA SPORT SOARING CENTER/lvtlNNEAPOLIS - Instruction, equipment dealers for Pacific Airwave, UP & Wills Wing (612) 557-0044.

KITTY HAWK KITES, INC.-P.O. Box 1839, Nags Head, NC 27959 (919)441-4124. Learn to hang glide on Jockey's Ridge, the largest sand dune on the easl coast, just south of where the Wright Brothers' first flight took place. Beginner and advanced lesson packages and camps offered. Advanced tandem tow instruction, l 500 ft. plus up. Dealer for all major brand gliders, complete inventory of new and used gliders. accessories and parts. OHIO

NEVADA ADVENTURE SPORTS - Sierra tours our specialty . USHGA & APA certified school and ratings. Dealers for Pacific Airwave, \Vills \Ving, UP. Enterprise \Vings. Fly the Sierras with a full-service shop. 3680-6 Research Way. Carson City. NV 89706 (702) 883-7070. NEW ,JERSEY MOUNTAIN WINGS -

Look under New York.

NEW MEXICO UP OYER NEW MEXICO, INC. - Instruction. sales, service. Sandia l\ Iountain guides. \\'ills, Seedwings, Pacific Airwave, Delta, Moyes. Albuquerque. NM (505) 821-8544. 1

MARIO MANZO-SKYWARD ENTERPRISES-Certified instruction, inspection, repair, CG-1000. Dayton and Chillicothe, OH (513) 256- 3888 (wkd. eves.) NORTH COAST HANG GLIDING-Certified Instruction. New & used gliders. Specializing in Pacific Airwave gliders. Mike Del Signore, l 916 W. 7 5th St., Cleveland, OH. 44102 (216) 631-1144. OREGON SOUTHERN OREGON HANG GLIDING - Best training sites with camping. Gliders and students retrieved with A TV. Tandem instruction with Pacific Airwavc Double Vision (503) 862-2922. PENNSYLVANIA

MIAMI HANG GLIDING. INC. - has the most advanced training program known to irnng gliding today. Ce1 tified instructors specialized in personalized tandem llight training.

MOUNTAIN TOP RECREATION-Certil1ed instruction. Pillsburgh. (41'.'.) 697-.\477. C'i\lON OUT AND PLAY!

HANG GLIDING

CLASSIFIEDS MOUNTAIN WINGS -

Look under New York.

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

TENNESSEE CRYSTAL AIR SPORT MOTEL - at Raccoon Mountain. Private, regular, waterbcds & jacuzzi rooms, w/carports. Fliers bunkhouse & work program. Pool, gift shop, video. Nearby, hang gliding simulator & flight training & tourist attractions. FF!, Send SI .00, 4328 Cummings Hwy., Chattanooga, TN 37419. (615) 821-2546 HA WK AlRSPORTS - New and improved hang gliding' Attention Novice and beginners! New 360 degree training hill designed and built specifically for you. Conveniently located. Fun! Fun! Pun! Clinch ivltn. -The longest ridge, t\'.'O launches. The popular light wind indicator \Vindsok. Brochures available. Your satisfaction is the key to our continued growth and success. Hawk Air Sports. Inc., P.O. Box 9056. Knoxville, TN 37940-0056, (615)453-10}5. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK -Since 1978. Southeast· s largest USHGA-certified mountain flight school. Complete training, from grassy, gently-sloping training hills to soaring hlgh above Lookout ivlountain. Our specialty getting you your first mountain flights. Lesson packages, USHGA ratings, glider nnd mountain bike rentals, camping. local site information. Largest inventory of new and used hang gliders and mountain bikes, harnesses. helmets, instruments. T-shirts. Repair services. \Ve buy used gliders, equipment! Send $LOO for brochure. rates, directions, accommodations information. Twenty minutes from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Route 2, Box 215-H, Dept. HG, Rising f'awn. GA 30738. (404) 398-354 l or }98-3433 SEQUATCHIE VALLEY SOARING SUPPLY - Certified, two place flight inslruction and first mountain flights are our specinlties. Rentals, storage and ratings aYailable. Dealers for all major brands. Located in the "Hang Gliding Capital of the East". For personal, professional service you can trust, call SYS. RT 2 Box 80, Dunlap, TN 37327. (615) 949-nOI TEXAS AUSTIN AIR SPORTS - Still the one in central Texas. quality service since 1978. [nstruction, sales, rental, and a complete airframe & sail repair facility. 1712 \Vaterston, Austin, TX 78703 (512) 474- 1669.

Al R ENGINEERING - introduces the latest and most innovative safe(y advance in hang gliding today. the CLOUDDEVIL. A pilot working strong thermals may at times find himselr/herself at cloudbase. Visibility and situational awareness may at times be comproniised. The CLOUDDEVIL is lightweight, battery-powered, gyroscopically stabilized turn coordinator specifically designed for safe escape if accidentally caught in a cloud. Introductory price S359. For information. call or write Air Engineering, 401 Pinc Street. Signal Mtn., TN 37377 (615) 886-6487.

GRADE A SHEEPSKIN HAND FAIRINGS -Warm hands in all conditions. Endorsed by Kevin Christopherson. "I wouldn't fly without lhern.'' Special orders and dealer inquiries welcome. Send S47.00 to Wyoming Aerolites, P.0 Box 880. Casper, Wyoming 82602 (307) 235-3367.

BELL SOARING HELMETS - White, blue, red. Sl29 plus. Nearest dealer? (303) nS-9566. Best prices on the RANGER VHF radio, S159 shipped' Soaring Technology, 6 Harvest, Farmington CT06032 (203) 677-753}. CAN'T TOUCH THIS -Save Smail order-weekly specials. i\lAXON SP5000 6 ch. programmed $319., VOX S69. HAM RADIOS, YAESU Fr 41 IE $319,, MOD $30., ICOM 2SAT S3 I 9. MOD S-10. Dealer for Ball, BRS, Sentek, High Energy. Safewhcels, V ~v1itts. Brauniger, Raymond. Scco~d Chantz. tow rope 1/4" poly $25 per IOOO'. Send S.A.S.E. for sale llyer or call Kentuckiana Soaring, 3023 McArthur Dr. Jeffersonville l'i 47130 (8[2) 288-71 l I Calls returned collect.

HIGH QUALITY HELMET - at an affordable price. D.O.T. Well finished brushed nylon liner with high strength polycarbonate shell. ONLY $55.00 + S4.00 S/H. Great for schools. Dealer inquiries welcome. GOLDEN WINGS, 1103 Washington Avenue. Golden. CO 80401. t303) 278 7181 or TOLL FREE l-800-677-4449.

KlTEENTERPRlSES-lnstruction. sales, repairs, platform towing, Dallas, North Texas area. 2l I Ellis, Allen, TX 75002 <214) 7706 daytime, (214) 727-3588 nights and weekends. Dealer Pacific Ainw1vc.

996-

RRA~RED RIVER AIRCRAFT We specialize in turning students into pilolS. Dealer \Vills \Ying and Pacific Airwave. (512) 467-2529 Jeff Hunt, 481 l Red River, Austin TX 78751. UTAH WASATCH WINGS - USHGA certified hall\! eliding school, dealers for \Vil ls \Ying, ivloyes and Pacific :,i~·wav;_ Flight operations at Point of the Mountain. Call Gordon 180 I J 277-IOH. Wii\DRIDER WIND SPORTS, INC. -Certified instrnction, from the point to t!1e mountains. AIRTlt\lE. Also soaring clinics. mountain tours and flying vacalions. Call frn information or reservations. Box 17675. Sl.C. UT 8-1117 180[) 272-6908. VIRGINIA

S1L VER \VIN GS. Inc. Certified instruction and equipment

CUSTOi\l BOWSPRIT- For your glider. Pheasant (shown) S:25, Ttirkey- no charge (inscrl your own photo), Red Tail Hawk S75. Golden Eagle SI 00, Bald Eagle SI 000, California Condor SI0.000. Rome rDead- eye) Dodson Enterprises. GLIDER MARKING INTERNATIONAL - Creates a state-of-the-art adverti.r.;ing medium by applying names and logos un hang gliders. parachutes, paragliders, sails. etc. P.O. Box 451. Glen Cove. NY 115-12 (516) 676-7599.

sales. I 70.1) 533-1965. !NTER'iATIONAL DEALERS

HIGH QUALITY HELMETS-At lower prices. Exceeds 1988 DOT standards. S58. colors S8.00 exlra, nearest dealer 1303) 278-9566.

DEALERS- \V ANTED small/lar2e. domestic/international to represent North American Sport~· cnmpktc line ofmln:nture sporb equipment. (.303) 278-9566.

SEPTEMBER 1991

THE f'AMOUS "LAMBIE LID" - Aerodynamic hang glider helmet. S85 poslpald. Pu\1 face version. SI 05. State size and three choices of color. 8160 \Voodsboro. Anaheim, CA. 92807 (71-1 J 779-1877.

Due to production schedules, we work two months in advance. Please place your ad early to avoid missing a particular issue. 61

CLASSIFIEDS

SYSTEK II VARIOMETER - Designed for thermal flying. Hang glider and paraglider pilots. Perfect for entry level pilots. Adjustable audio set-point, mount included, other options. Affordable S185. Systems Technology Inc. PO Box 7203, Knoxville, TN 37921 (615) 531-8045.

LINDSAY RUDDOCK V ARfO - Prices around S800. ( US

price vary slightly depending on current exchange rate) VISA/MC Call or write: Russ Douglas. 2060 Gosser Street. Milpitas CA 95035 (408) 263-1548 msg. (408) 764-8822 days. MAXON RADIOS - $349. VHF FM 5 watt c1ystal, includes 3 USHGA channels, charger, case, clip, antenna and I year warranty. Best prices on Maxon hand-hclds. mobile and accessories, plus fast, reliable service facility ($49 flat rate charge on all repairs sent to us). Maxon 1 watt, S175. NOHYPOXYGEN III OXYGEN SYSTEi\J, 5 1/4 lb. Refillable continuous flow system, on/off valve, pilot controllable 0-5 LPM regulator, contents gauge, 200 L. AL bottle 5 yr. hydrostated to 3358 psi, nasal cannula and hard carrying case. ONLY $350. Extension hoses and diluter demand systems available. ARAi\IJD FULL FACE, Supcrlite helmet. Excellent vision, yet cold weather protection. $325. Visors $25. X-C SMOKE BOMBS. $5.00, large signal mirror $8.00, Jack the Ripper cutaway knife $15.00, Silva compass SI 00.00. Pendulum Sports, Inc. 1-800-WE FLY X-

QUICK RELEASECARABINER-$49.95. Extra ball lock pin, $29.00. 10,000 lbs., dealers welcome, patent pending. Thermal 19431-4 l Business Center Drive, Northriclge. CA 91324. (818) 701-7983.

Mountain lligh E1uiprncut & Supply Cmpany 516 12th Ave., Salt take City, lltiih 84!03 U.S.A.

Sec and hear what you are doing in Real Time. " ... and ifs easier to change battery in flight" ... Ric Lee. The E model is the most rngged vario. and NOW ONLY S225. (VISA, MC, AMEX, COD). Free brochure. Litek (503J 479-6633, 4326 Fish Hatchery Road, Grants Pass, OR 97527.

PARAGLIDING EQUIPMENT FOR SALE - A complete line of equipment and accessories available. \Vhatever your needs, from Alpine descents to ocean, thermal, and ridge soaring, we have it. Videos. $32.50, shipping included. PEAK PERFORMANCE PARAGLIDERS INC., P.O. Box 213, Crested Butte, CO, 81224. Tel/Fax (303) 349. 5961.

PARA-SWIVEL - DON'T LEA VE THE GROUND WITHOt:T ONE! $84.00 + $4.00 S/H. Available as an option by Free Flight, High Energy, BRS, Second Chanez. Dealer inquiries welcome. GOLDEN WINGS, 1103 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401 (303) 278-7181 1-800677- 4449.

Hang Gliding Classifieds FAX line (24 hours) (719) 632-6417 62

SportsOxygen-$89.95 (+$5 S/H), measures only 2" by 8", weighs 18 ounces, up to 6 hours service with 18 liter nonrefillable cylinder $12.95 (3 cylinder minimum order). Introductory prices until October: SupcrSport 63 ($300) & SupcrSport 220 ($330) arc 63 & 220 liter refillable cylinders. UltrnSport (not shown) 240 ($400) & 480 ($440) are 240 & 480 liter rel11lahle composite fiber cylinders. All refillable cylinders come complete with SportsOxygen regulator, adaptor. harness & accessories. (S 15 S/H for refillable kits.) The smallest yet most capable supplemental breathing systems designed for high altitude sports. One year conditional guarantee. Check, money order, or major credit card. (80 I J 36.J-.J 17 I.

DON'T GET CAUGHT LANDING DOWNWIND! Perfect that no-step landing by watching our \Vinclsok. Constructed with 1.5 oz. ripstop nylon. UV treated to maintain its brilliant color. 5 '4" long with an 11" throat. A l'ailable colors arc lluorcscent pink/yellow or fluorescent pink/white. $39.95 (plus $4.00 shipping/handling) Colorado residents add 6.5'/c tax. Send to USHGA Windsok, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs. CO 80933-8300. FAX (719) 632-6417, PHONE (719) 632-8300. VISA/MC accepted.

HANG GLIDING

Tomas Suchanek wins 1991 World Hang Gliding Championship, flying Moyes XS 155 Brazil , the exotic country where the jungle wild life is only surpassed by the wild life of the people . Sun , Samba and Sex took a back seat last February when the town of Governador Valadares played host to the 1991 World Hang Gliding Championships . Tomas Suchanek performed brilliantly in extremely difficult conditions . Low cloud base and rain showers were the order of the day. The XS 155 was supreme in

these tropical conditions . Many of the pilots were forced down early into mud up to their armpits, grass eight feet high and mosquito ridden swamps that would have made Indiana Jones turn paie. Tomas and his Moyes XS 155 overcame all these obstacles and proved that he and his XS are an unbeatable World Championship team. To become a World Championship team .. .. conta ct us at ... . Moyes California 22021 Covello St., California 91303. Tel: (818) 887 3361 Fax: (818) 702 0612

XS 142, 155 Gutesiegal Certified. XS142, 155, 169, U.S. H.G.M.A. Ce rti fi ed.

The World Championship GHder

Moyes Delta Gliders P/ L., 173 Bronte Rd. Waverley 2024 N.S.W. Australia . Tel: (02) 387 5 114 Fax: (02) 387 4472

CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Shop work, glider repair (experience necessary). Pay negotiable. Contact Jeff, Airtime of San Frnncisco. (415) 759l !77.

PARAGLIDE USA -- Subscribe to North America's most widely read paragliding magazine. 12 issues just S25. Send checkormoneyordcrto 12662Softwind0r., Moreno Valley, CA 92388 or call (714) 924-5229 or FAX (714) 242-4718 with your credit card information. SOARING -

HANG GLIDING INSTRUCTORS WANTED - Western Hang Gliders, P.O. Box 828, Marina, CA 93933. MOUNTAIN WINGS - Is looking for advanced hang gliding and paragliding instructors. Salaries negotiable. Full and part-time positions available. !vlanagcr position available-requires knowledge of computer systems. Call Greg or Judy at (914) 647- 3377. Send resume to 150 Canal St.. Ellenville, NY 12428. PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS DOUBLE 1\-IALFUNCTION - The hot new skydiving mystery novel by E.P. Gottschalk. ''An engaging tale of crime and injustice set in the real world of sport parachuting.'' Hardcover, S l 9.95 + $2 shipping. lv[C/VISA (7 l 7) 349-2.989 or send check/MO to Daedalus Press, PO Box 375, Dept. H, Chambersburg, PA 17201.

Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of

America, Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $45. Info. kit with sample copy $3. SSA, P.O. Box E, Hobbs, NM 88241. (505) 392-1177. TOWING COSMOS TRIKE -· With hang gliding towing system. Rotax 532. Call after 6pm (714) 625-6960 STATIC LINE TOW SYSTEMS - From S750, release bridles, 114" poly S25 per lOOOft. KentuckianaSoaring, 3023 McArthur Dr., Jeffersonville, IN 47130, (812) 288-711 I (eYes.) Sec our ad under parts & accessories. TOW ROPES -Continuous lengths. Spectra, dacron, kevlar, polyester, polypropylene-all sizes. Available with synthetic finish. Call (215) 723-1719. FAX (215) 453-1515. Ask for sales-David F. Bradley, PO Box 291, Telford PA 18969.

DON'T FORGET YOUR HANG DRIVER - Buy them an J' d Rather Be Hang Gliding license plate frame for their retrieval vehicle, $5.50 for a plastic frame, $6.50 for a metal (zinc) frame. Please add $2 S/H (CO residents add 6.5\'0 tax) SEND TO USHGA, P.O. BOX 8300, COLORADO SPRlNGS, CO. 80933.

ULTRALINE IN STOCK-3/l 6" X 3000' delivered S 105., 1/4" X 3000' delivered S 145. From the original Ultralinc source-Cajun Hang Gliding Club, I IO Kent Circle, Lafayette, LA 705081318) 981-8372 VIDEOS & FILi\lS VIDEOS - "Torrey Pilots", "Wind Sprints 1991 ", "Torrey Tandem", "Air Races 1990" by W.A. "Pork" Roecker, S29.95 pp (2 for$50), from Fl yin' Pig Productions, PO Box 586149, Oceanside CA 92058. i\!ISCELLANEOUS

HANG GLJD1NG CARTOONS -

HAWK RING -Silver $90.00, 14K gold $450.00. Please include ring size and check or money order. Hawk, P.O. Box 255, Woodacre. CA 94973 (415) 488-9383. Allow4-6 weeks.

by Bob Lafay Hundred

and something far out pages of Hang Gliding and them that do it. Be the first kid on your block to get stuck wilh one. A measly S9.95 plus S2 S/H (CA residents add 7'1c tax). Bob Lafay, 11431 Cacrn Ave., Tujunga CA 91042.

Beautiful, Yivid, airbrushed colors on silkscreened outline~. Large design on back. Air Supply logo on front. Other designs available. C.11l for information on custom designs for club.s. etc. All shirts I 00'7,- cotton, short sleeves have pockets. Price includes shipping & handling. Short sleeve-$12.00, Long sleeve-$ 16.00 Send size and check or money order to Air Supply. 2 l Violet St. Batesville AR 7250 I. (501) 7932007. HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS-by Pete Cheney. The Official USHGA Training Manual. Learn to tly with the world's finest hang gliding manual. Complete flying instructions from the !raining hill to soaring lechniques. Over 260 pages, with more than 160 easy- to- understand illustrations and photos. Guaranteed to satisfy !he most inquisitivi.: pilot. NOW A \I AILABLE FOR S29.95 (plus S-1.00 shipping/handling) Colorado residents add 6.SCil tax. SEND/ FAX/PHO:s/ETOL'Sl IGA,P.0. Box 8300,ColoradoSprings, CO 80933-8300, FAX (719) 632-6417. PHONE (7 l 9J 6328300. VISA/,v!C accepted. PARAGLIDING-A Pilot's Training Manual. Produced by Wills Wing and written by Mike \.Icier. in its revised 2nd edition. Fro1n an overview of the sport. to equipment, to flying and micrometerology. Beginner and advanced skills covered, and much, much more. NOW A \I AILABLE THROUGH USHGA. Send S 19.95 (plus S3 S/H) to USHGA, PO Box 8300, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-8300

Sell your unused equipment with the help of a Hang Gliding classified ad. For more details call Jeff (719) 632-8300.

SOLID GOLD 1-IK Pcndam $119.00 SS PendanL $ 32.00 $3.00 shipping and handling $5.00 for C.0.0. Other glider jewelry available in 1-1-K and sterling sil\'er. To order or inquire, call Antcro Jewelers (719) 539-7611. Satisfaction guaranteed. ULTRAPODCAMERAS-fnfrnred remote S 179 . Therm ills S39. 17141 654-8559.

Need help writing your ad? Call Jeff (719) 632-8300.

HANG GUDING

CLASSIFIEDS Raymond doing oxygen at 17,000' MSL over the Sierra Nevada Range, $7.95 USHGA Poster, P.O. Box 8300. Colorado Springs, CO 80933 (719) 632-8300.

MAGIC KISS - Fluro. yellow LE., white chevron. pink undersurface, ai1foil, down tubes pitchy, bar mitts, 2' skull and cross bones on wing tip, over Kiss emblem inlay, many skull stickers on glider. Serial No. KM 83707. Also HP AT 158, serial no. 22504, with Lt. blue LE., red chevron on bottom, custom plan. Serial No. 22504. Stolen in L.A. with van 6-26-90. Van recovered without gliders. (619) 27 4-8254. BALL VARIO - With total energy probe, electrical tape securing battery. Lost in Hemet (So. Cal.) in early Spring of 1990. Located in black fanny pack, can describe the contents of the pack (619) 480- 132 l. i'>!AXON - Three-channel radio. lost or misplaced at the Telluride Aerobatics Competition. Serial No. 81171758.

(602) 745-6739 days, leave message.

USHGA FALL T SHIRT BLOWOUT SALE - Our original official logo T Shirt. Original three color logo on tan, (blue T available in small only)-$6.00 (+ $2 S/H), available in S, M & XL. ALSO, our "Bars" design T shirt, with multicolored horizontal bars across the chest. $7.00 (+$2 S/HJ. A vailab\c in white and yellow (T shirl color may be suhstituted depending on inventory). Specify color & size: S, M & XL. Sony-no larges available in either 1-shirt. USHGA. PO Box 8300, Colorado Springs CO 80933-8300. USHGA DELUXE LOG BOOK COVER- Be proud to show off your flights with our deluxe log book cover. American made from "reconstructed·' gray vinyl. Looks and feels like leather and ··debossed" with the Mtn. Glider design. \Viii fit any hang gliding log book' Only S9.95' (plus $2.00 S/HJ Colorado residents add 6.5'/c sales tax. ORDER YOURS TODAY! USHGA, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Sp1ings. CO 80933. (719) 632-8300. FAX (719) 632-6417.

USHGA SEW -ON EMBLEMS - Our original tri-colored logo emblem $1.50 each. The NEW multi-colored Mountain Glider emblem $4.95 each. Please add S 1.25 S/H. SEND TO USHGA. P.O. BOX 8300, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO,

80933. HA VE YOU SENT FOR YOUR NEW 1991 USHGA MERCHANDISE ORDER FORlvl TODA y·i FREE' CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RA TES The rate for classified advertising is S.50 per word (or group of characters) and S 1.00 per word for bold or all caps. Minimum ad charge, S5.00. A fee of$15.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 for each photo. Please underline words to be in bold print. Special layouts or tabs $22.00 per column inch. AD DEADLINES All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing I 1/2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. October 20 for the

December issue. Please nrnkc checks payable to USHGA Classified Advertising Dept. HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs. CO 80933 (719) 632-8300 or fAX (719) 632-6417. STOLEN WINGS DON'TFORGETABOUTUSHGA THEFTOFGLIDER INSURANCE. STOLEN ON 7/19/91 - From a car in Hollywood, CA: Knee-Irnnger harness, green with a "Finstmi',alder label; white parachute mounted in red pocket. Reiner Kaiser, 7848 illanchester #1, Playa Del Rey, CA 90293 (213) 8237383

USHGA LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT- Our Ion~ sleeve tshirts me colorfully screened with a ··simplistic" ha71g gliding design across the chest and down the left sleeve, I OO'K cotton' Now in GRAY or WHITE. $16.95 (plus $3 S/HJ Please specify color and size (S)vl,L,XL) when ordering. Colorado residents add 6.5'K sales tax. SEND TO USHGA. P.O. BOX 8300, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80933.

WW Z-2 HARNESS - Navy blue with red/white/blue slriped. BRS & hand deployed parachute, Roberts vario. Taken at Owens Valley (Janies) May 25th, 1991. SIOO Reward (714) 677-6065 leave message MAXON 6 CHANNEL 5 WATT PROGRAMMABLE fM RADIO- Picked up/stolen from Oceanside, OR on April 6. 1991, 500 P.ivt. Taken from meet director while meet wa~ in progress! Serial NO. 01009862 $100.00 REWARD - NO QUESTIONS/GAMES. Jas. Asher, OHGA FLT. DIR. 1503) 2-15- 6939 or 828 S.W. Chestnut St, Portland OR 97219. FROM DOWNTOWN CHATTANOOGA TN -

February

1991 Brand new magenta spaghetti strap harness and white bike helmet. Call eves. (615) 267-7908 ONE Of A KIND - camoutlage A VSAC harness. Second Chant7 rocket- deployed chute mounted on left side of

harness. Two helmets. One full face with ··Cpt. Laytex" painted on the front One "\Vhitc Stag" one-piece ski suit. Call Richard (916) 577-350~.

USHG A POSTER! -

SEPTEMBER 1991

Full color. 2~" X 37" poster of Eric

STOLEN from Johnson City. TN. 1987 Raven 179. Colors from center out black. white, reel. green. black and white tips. Also. Seagull III, orange, yellow andrecJ with white duck tape patching on sail. Leave message clay or night (work#) (615) 926-5211. Mitchell Brown. 17~3 Skyline Dr.. #20, Johnson City. TN. 37601.

155 MOYES XS-full race, stolen from side of road at IOI and Scheller exit, between San Jose and Wforgan Hill. {( ww, taken away with no bag or ties. Colors arc L.E.-orangc. maingreen, bottom- white. Contact Kevin Dull. (~15) 934-2189 STOLEN WINGS are !isled as a sen·ice to USHGA members. Newest entries are in bold. There is no charge for this service and lost and found wings or equipmenl may be called in to (719) 63~-8300 for inclusion in Hang Gliding magazine. Please call to cancel Lhe listing when gliders are recovered. Periodically. this listing will be purged.

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

Adventure Video .............................. 54 AirWorks ............................................ 7 Applied Air Research ....................... 51 Ball Varios .................................. 41,54 Brauniger .......................................... 66 BRS .................................................. 10 Cloud base Instruments ..................... 53 Cross Country Magazine .................. 27 Enterprise Wings .............................. 18 Hall Bros .......................................... 53 High Energy Sports .......................... 53 Lookout Mt. Flight Park ................... 33 McC!aren Products ........................... 51 Morningside Hang Gliders ............... 53 Moyes ............................................... 63 NAA .................... ,............ ,... ,........... 43 Pacific Airwave ................. Back Cover Paragliding Magazine ...................... 66 Performance Designs ....................... 28 Roberts Glider Instruments .............. 22 Safari Sky Tours ............................... 38 Seed wings ........................................ 51 Sentek ............................................... 47 Sequatchie Valley Bluff Lots ........... 53 Sport A via ti on Publications ............. 50 UP International ................................. 6 U.S. Aviation .................................... 17 USHGA .............................. 2,3,4,52,54 Wills Wing .................................. 15,16

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Large

X-Large

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USHGA Golf Shirt • P.O. Box 8300 • Colorado Springs • CO 80933

BAU lfAIIIOMEfEIIS INC. 6595 ODELL PL, SUITE C, BOULDER, CO 80301 (303) 530-4940 MODEL 651 VARIO/AUDIO/ DIGITAL ALTIMETER $530

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MODEL M20 WRIST VARIO $250

VHS - 90 Minutes - send $29.95 plus S3 postage and handling (NV res. add sales taxl check or money order to: ...... .:.:-:\ f$!it§l.-::C>-· ... .

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BALLCLAMP $20 Available from hang gl ider manufacturers and dealers

ST. PAUL, MINN -- A few things of interest again this month, as (~rumpets blare!) our old faithful Hang Gliding magazine turns twentysomething. Yipes, can ya believe it? Its summertime and the action is plentiful. Been doing some traveling; visited several hang gliding and ultra~ight dealerships (my job you know). Excitement surrounds the UP Int'l TRX. In ~he '70s each , new glider was heads above the rest. Those days passed into technical advances and fine craftsmanship in the '80s. Raw leaps of performance gradually metamorphosed into professionally engineered refinements. I thought I'd heard the last of comments like, ·No, really, this glider is a huge step over previous state-of-the-art. Flies better, lands easier, is lighter ... blah, blah.· You should judge for yourself, of course, bt:.t the TRX has earned wide praise fro~ old ti~ers. • •, In August, UP was out testing the TRX 140 or 145 (final sail measurements are still pending) . They hope for certification by the end of September. If t~ese rave reviews I've heard are substantial and not just •first blush,• the TRX seems destined to earn a firm niche in American hang gliding. Whatever tl.,_e final judgment, I'm pleased as pur_ch to see the old UP solidly back in the action. In non-American companies, Moyes seems more determined than ever to hold onto their part of the big U.S. market. As I write, Bill Moyes, Bobby Bailey, and crew are touring the east with their slick aerotug, and playing to impressed Yankee pilots. • • • l'-'ioyes also reports for son Steve that the California Moyes operation has stepped up efficiencies by retaining Juan Corrall who will assemble airframes and spare parts in SoCal. Office response to customers is improved by the addition of Gayle Schutte, who ans1qers the phones and fax plus handling the bookwork. If you've been concerned over the quick availability of parts, try 'em again. Bill assures me things are being smoothly managed. ••• Having mentioned the aerotug, I should note their very first outing produced a sale. Yep, Sequatchie Valley Soaring, at famed Henson's Gap near Chattanooga, Tennessee, expects to receive the remarkable machine later this fall. They plan a membership deal 1

to fund the rig, an airstrip, hangarage, and other operational costs. Limited member slots are filling up. If interested in this exciting concept at a top soaring spot, contact Rick Jacob at 615_/949-2301. • • • Jacob also reported that the Mountain Condo lodge at the well-known site is now open and booking space. He's reportedly Lill already for next April's East Coast Championship. The Condo offers three small apartments plus a kind of bunkhouse for individual pilots. • •, Another bit of Moyes-oriented news is the inclusion in that company's gliders into a new proposed show at galaxy-famous Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Malcolm Jones has been retained by Disney a.s a consultant to coordinate logistics of the boat-towed hang gliding portior_ of the show. Four Moyes gliders have been received for use, and all aircraft will be equipped with special BRS rocket parachutes. The show will also include some ulcralight action. This is all still tentative pending Disney big wigs' final approval, but it appears the mammoth entertainme'lt complex will again present ultralight flight to (get tnis!) 10-12 million annual visi~ors. Jones has promised to keep me informed. , • • Rich Pfeiffer is back at High Energy Sports and wo:i::-king hard on new projects. Ready at this time is his and Betty's newest harness, the Tracer. The front-entry pod features an easy-up linkage allowing the pilot to de-prone easier (·like a cocoon,• says Rich) . It also has more storage areas, uses continuous 1;.1ebbing, plus it sells for $399 which qualifies as a bargain in these days of pricey hig·h-tech harnesses. Call HES at 714/972-8186. • • • Mitch MacAleer ( former Gen. Mgr. of UP) informed me that the failed Dream rigging reported last month was a Delta Wing- unit. UP built a continuous cable that could not pull through the aluninum, as occurred on the failed craft. Seems DW made the wires as separate using a nico stop to secure the cable. That stop was retained at the top of the reinforced kingpost, and evidently under significant force the wire could be yanked out. Check yours! Make a correction if needed. Got news or opinions? Send 'em to: 8 Dorset; St. Paul MN 55118. Phone or fax: 612/450-0930. THANKS!

' 1

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SOAR UP THE PERFORMANCE tADDER SOAR UP 1:0 PACIFIC AIRWAVE eacific Airwave builds the ultimate gliders for every level of pilot. Period. Vision MK IV 17/19, a time-proven standard in excellence. If you are a student looking for double surface performance and a glider that will take you to your first X-C flights you are looking for a Vision MK IV. Available in two sizes, the Vision MK IV allows you to maximize your enjoyment with the confidence that comes standard on a glider that is #1 with USHGA Certified instructors. The Vision MK IV is the lightest, most suitable entry level, double surface glider available.

Magic Formula 144/154, for the next tier in your soaring career. Until the release of the Magic Formula there was limited choice for the recreational sport pilot. Now there is one choice glider, the Magic Formula. "Top of the stack" sink rate. Smooth responsive handling. Broad speed range. Pacific Airwave fast set up. 50 MPH VNE. What more could you want from a glider with an already long list of standard features.

The n e w ~ 145/155, a superb high performance glider. Refinements on the top end allow the~to exhibit superb tracking characteristics. Cross bars tensioning is easier with new hardware and design. The V.G. system is the finest ever. Indexed line and a clever pulley/cleat allow for finite adjustment with minimal effort. Dynamically load tested in excess of 10 G's for a 200 lbs. pilot and pitch tested to 65 mph the ..k.. is a confidence inspiring glider. For serious X-C or Competition pilots, the ..k.. offers more smiles per mile. Service, we don't just do it, we engineer it into all our gliders. At Pacific Airwave service is our #1 priority. Just ask any hang gliding professional. Pacific Airwave has been continuously setting the standards in customer service and support for years. This same philosophy is applied to every aspect of our design and day to day business.

Pacific AIRWAVE

PACIFIC AIRWAVE LTD D P.O. Box 4384 D SALINAS, CA 93912 D TEL. 408-422-2299 D FAX 408-758-3270