USHGA Paragliding Vol5/Iss4 July/August 1994 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

The

For Pilots Who Are Serious About Fun. Super Space takes 1he best features

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High Performance, High Security

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURES: 6. 15.

Vol. 5#4 July I August '94

Sites; A Pilot's Travel Log

Compiled

A glimpse of Elsinore

by Ken Baier

So. California's XC Meet 16.

The National's I Aspen

by Tim Meehan

A first timer's perspective

Cover photo taken at Elsinore by Fred Stockwell XC Meet 1994

26.

124 Miles, Owens Valley CA. 1st 100 + miler in the USA

by Tom Truax

28.

Women With Wings

by Claudia Stockwell

36.

Maiden Voyages

by Norma Jean Marsh

A Thermal Clinic 38.

Powered Paragliding

by Len & Rick Davids

How does it work? Published Six Times Per Year Publisher - Fred Stockwell Art Director - Fred Stockwell Editor - Claudia Stockwell Editorial Assistance - Shari Asplund

Overseas Correspondents Urs Haari - Switzerland Philippe Renaudin - France/US Willi Muller - Canada Ian Currer - Great Britain James Brown - Japan

U.S. Correspondents Ken Baier - Bob Schick Alan Chuculate - Jan Ala

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Departments 4.

1994 Calendar

14.

Flight Lines

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Safety Info.

22.

News & Noteworthy

32.

USHGANews

41.

Classified Ads

48.

Paragliding Schools

Vol. 5 #4

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NEXT DEADLINE: August 29 for Vol.S #5 Paragliding the Magazine is published for members of the paragliding community as well as other interested parties . It is the official publication for the United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA) news for paragliding . Contributions are welcome however, Paragliding , the Magazine reserves the right to edit any contributions. Further, the magazine reserves the right to edit any advertising which may be deemed objectionable or damaging to publication by the staff of the association. The magazine and the association do not assume any responsibility for the contents of any published articles, advertising or for the opinions of its contributors. Anyone is invited to contribute articles, photos and illustrations concerning paragliding activities. If the material is to be returned a stamped self addressed return envelope must be enclosed . If you wish us to keep the material on file please send duplicates . Notification must be made of submission to other paragliding publications. Absolutely no articles, advertising , photos or other published materials of the magazine may be reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher. @ Copyright 1993 PARAGLIDING PUBLICATIONS INC. All rights reserved .

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE • PAGE 3

~,,,,4~· "'l ADVENTURE , / . .·__:_:.,,

VIDEOS

LEARN from sensory image as the experts July: 30 - Aug.1st Canadian Paragliding Nationals

15 - 18 Coupe lcare

San Diego California , Administrator Marcus Salvemini 619 450-0437

12th Annual International Film Festival, Equipment Expo , Competition, and Mascarade flights. The festival is open to all films dedicated to Wind and Flying for more info, please contact Martine Lange St Hilaire, France 011 (33) 76 08 33 99 also don 't miss; the XC Challenge Sept 15-17th Coupe lcare & Mascarade Sept 18 Aerial Sports Show Sept 16- 18th 2nd Hand Market Sept 17-18th.

20 - 21 Save the Point Fly-in

24 - 25th Pine Mt. Oregon

The North Side of the Point of the Mountain is in serious jeopardy of being developed - this Fall !!!! All proceeds go towards purchasing a safe landing zone. Please join us in saving one of the most unique sites in the U.S. Entry Fee $20, incl. T-shirt 1st prize UP Stellar (donated by UP) Registration Aug 20, top of the S. Side. Sponsored by Utah HG Asso. & Above & Beyond PG for more info. call; 801 254-7455

Annual Cascade PG Club fly-in on Sat. and Sunday. The 1993 fly-in drew 53 pilots from the western states, come and fly with us this year. Call the bulletin board 503 977- 0454

Mt. Seven , Golden, BC Entry Fee $35. Tasks, race to goal, & out and return, & open distance. More info. Contact Muller HG 403 932-6760.

August: 16-21 PWC Avoraiz France (33) 1 46 56 24 70

19 - 20 Tandem Clinic

21-30 AeroSport Indonesia XC Competition Us team wanted. For more info. contact USHGA office.

26 - 31 Tour Alaska Chandelle is offering a tour of Alaska's beautiful mtn. sites. $860 includes transportation , hotels, guide service, maps, instruction and more. A few spaces are still available. call Norma Jean for more info. 415 454-3464.

28 - Sept. 4

PWC Final

Chamonix France (33) 50 55 52 81

27 - Sept. 4 US Nationals Aspen , Colorado , (see pg Contact Aspen PG for more info (303) 927-4524

Sept. : 8 - 11 Iron Eagle Whiskeytown , CA Mt. Bike , Canoe , Paraglide. Contact Ed Pitman 1 800 SKYPILOT

October. 1-2 Pt. of the Mt. UTAH 8th Annual Gary Lagrone Fly-In for Save the Children Competition for hang and paraglider pilots. Class I, Hang II welcome. Live band and BBQ on site, raffle for all registered pilots Registration fee $30. includes fly-in T-shirt and raffle ticket. This is a charitable event. All proceeds go to Save the Children foundation. For more info. call Valerie Carroll 801 572 5869.

Jan. & Feb. 1995 Rocky Mtn PG is offering New Zealand Tours which also include ratting and fishing Call Glenn 403 678-4973

Feb. : 9-201995 North American Paragliding's 4th annual New Zealand Adventure. Deluxe accommodations retrievals, ground transport, lift and landing fees included . Register today! NAP 509 925-5565

11 & 12 Flight Fantasy in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Fun Flying (non ranking) Competition, in conjunction with the famous Carnival for more info see News and Noteworthy or call 55 21 255 55 90

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Where is maxx? Today is Monday. Do these guys ever work? Fly here, fly there - we haven't even had time to update the flight log . Good thing maxx remembers the last 199 flights . Today the thermals are light, and we've been scratching for every foot of altitude. Up 0.4 meters per second at the moment - not much, but stay in the lift for 18 minutes and you can be at 4550 feet, 3050 above the valley floor. Time to take in the view while those other guys catch up. Then we'll see just where some light thermals can take us. If we ever have a free moment, maxx can review the peak values : altitude, rate of climb, rate of sink, elapsed time, and more. If the barograph is turned on, maxx will keep a second-bysecond recording of the whole flight. Or several flights - maxx has more memory than some of these pilots. And maxx can print the barograms or transfer them to a PC so there is a permanent record of the flight. Next month we'll demo some new wings , and use the speed sensor with maxx to really understand how they fly . If we get some calm air, we'll be able to plot a performance curve for each on the PC. And we'll know just how to fly for minimum sink, maximum LID, and top speed. Just to be sure those guys only catch up when we want them to.

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by Mark Wright

It ·s o me.1.1, bur ir is tire clreupest 11·cl." c1{ gerri11g rlrere Jiw11 S() Ca/(fomia. Thor is. fly 0111 r!f Tij11ll110 and Iloy do111csric all the \I'll_\' there and bllc/... Especi11/ly if rou are g//i11g 011 slrorl 1101icc like I 11·m. 1 usl'd Mexic(IIW Airli11e.1, courresr <1/' a frie11d. Bill N//011011. 11'/ro \\'WIied 1111' /() a.1·.1·es1 th<' sir,•.,. Bill (11 ·/io l lwd 111Cf i11 Me.1ico Cirr) and I c'llll'rf!.ed from rlre lli1pla11e to be slapped in tire .fiu·e hr rhe hot l//l(l /r11111id tropical llir of Veracnc Ir rakes ll /i11/e ge//ing usecl ro ifyou ·l'l' 11111fm111 am1111d r/r()se J}(frt, . We checked our baggage a11d 11·aited palie111/y outside for 0111· l,0.11. Marco A111011io G11iller1110. I l1C1d 111'\'C'I' met him before S() fwd 110 idea 11'/wr he looked like. h111 11·he11 Ism, · J,i111 I k11e1\' ii !1C1d ro be Ma/'CO. A big 11'd/-dres1ed g11\' ll'ilh ll bell111i11g smile from ear to ear srridi11g p11rposejilily /m\'(/rd 111·. From 1!1i.1 fin/ i11111re.1.1io11 ro /hi' /asr good hye u fi•11· duys farer. Ire 11 ·01· tire pe1:fi•ct lro.1/.

• Friday 15th April We woke at 9 am, showered and had coffee. Marco met us at the hotel and took us to a local restaurant on the beach for breakfast. Breakfast was fi sh. Yes- fi sh, but absolute ly wonderful. So fresh that the eyes are crystal clear when presented for your choice before cooking. ll' s just come off a boat a fe w hours earli er. By noon we are on the road heading for the fl yin g sites whi ch are predominantl y inl and about l - 1/2 hours drive Mex ican-style, which is fas t and furi ous. As the dri ve progresses the coun tryside becomes more jungle and soon the mountains are i11 sight. Marco does not waste any time. and there is no stopping all the way to launch at the ftrst site he wants us to fl y.

• Fortin launch This is about a 1500 ft launch on a very tropica l mountain . It's thick jungle up there, but the valley SU-etches for miles out in front.While there is a fairly large ri ver below, al so surrounded by dense jungle, between it and the base are smalI farming communities. Trees and sugar cane fields abound but there is the ever present Mex ican soccer fi eld. It is a small fi e ld and has trees, hi gh sugar cane fie lds and some dwellings surrounding it. From the launch it seems to be no proble m for an experi enced pil ot to bit. Launch is sti ll being cleared but is already fairly easy fo r an intermediate or better pil ot. Marco launches students here under stri ct supervision via radi os. Th ere are so me old tree stump s aro un d and it is pretty verti cal. Winds are strong, IO to I 2 mph , and there is a lot of cloud development about three thousand feet over launch. Marco says it is not a very good day for altitude ga ins, and normall y it 's better. The ridge runs left to ri ght a total o f about l mile. Behind launch the ridges go back and higher, about another I 000 feet. There are big radi o antennas rigbt at launch so this is not a pl ace to be blow n back on launch by an unpredicted gust. Like r said , thi s is for the more ex peri enced pilots or a newer pilot under stri ct guid ance in the ri ght conditi ons. I launch and am soon a few hundred feet over in the ridge lift. It' s pretty smooth by my standards, but I am used to bein g thum ped around pretty good before l say it was turbul ent. I find some thermal acti vity and can get up to about 600 over. Launch is pretty c lose to 4000 above sea level. A bi gger thermal comes through and now I'm about a thousand over and heading

PAGE 6 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

back toward the higher ridge behind launch. By the time I a1Tive there I have lost some altitude and the glide back out to the front side is go in g to be di cey if I lose too many precious feet. I am about to start heading bac k when I bump into a large thermal. It is fairl y smooth and bi g but with a strong core of I000 ft per min. or more. Tdon' t have to work it long be fore I am at 6800 feet, close on 3000 over. Cloud base is just above me and the condi tions I ca n now describe as turbul ent. It remind s me of Aspen because I am looking down at the te1Tain and it does not look very promising for a quic k exit if you were to go down under a reserve. Landing would probabl y be fa irl y soft but getting a reserve and glider out of that bush would take a while. I have a couple of choices here, stay where I am, go ri ght to cloud base and chec k it out or turn down wind and go cross co unt,y. I'm getting beat up and workin g hard to keep my racer infl ated but it is doing what I tell it to and l am not experiencing any major coll apses, however, "hanging around" has never been my strong point. O.K, . how about going to c loud base and sett ing off on a little cross country? My guide does not ha ve radi o contact with us and I have no idea where I would be going. The cloud is now pretty severe and covers 90% of the sky. The bottoms are getting pretty dark and the air feels more moist now. To th e no,th are some huge cumulus, probably 20,000 footers, plu s. Thi s is the directi on I have to head for cross country. Maybe not today. I reach up and do "Bi g Ears" on the le ft side and the glider starts a gentle turn toward that side. I wait until I am on heading for the front of launch and then " Bi g Ear" the right side. Pretty soon I am out in front and go to normal fli ght again. For another twen ty minutes I slowly make my way out into the valley. The head wind is strong and progress is slow espec iall y when I have to stop to thermal up again and I lose a lot of the ground that I gained. The rest of the flight is routine with unu sual and beautiful views, espec iall y for those of us who fl y desert regions. Landing was easy with sli ght wind shadow and seconds later I am greeted by droves o f locals, mai11l y children, with smil es from ear lo ear, because they think l am quite insane.

• Tecamalucan Later that day we travel to the second fl ying site, called Teca malu can . Now I am beginnin g to get an idea of the mo untain ran ges and vall eys. Fortin, the first flyin g site, is ri ght at the start of the mountain ran ge, called the Acultzingo Mountain s. They stretch up two sides go ing inl and with a large valley in between. Thi s valley is also ca ll ed Acultzingo Valley after the mountain s and although there are several bi gger towns here, none of tbe vall ey refers to them. Tecamalucan launch is about half way up this valley. Once agajn, ii is a drive to launch. A small fin ger ridge comes down from the mountain s and into the vall ey. Launch is low and the landing fi elds in th e va ll e y a re littl e mo re th an 800 foo t be low. Wind s are stro ng and although it is an ideal fl ying site for just about any level of pil ot skill , good canopy control is recommended in the stronger winds. We only Oy here for a short while and our top landings are done well after sunset. The local restaurant is the club house and pictures of hang and para gliders adorn the wall s. Thi s is the storage point for equipment. The mea ls are ho me cooked. vari ed and good and we are all dog tired . Ce rveza (beer) drinkin g begin s before the meal and continues long afterward . Later we tra ve l in darkness dow n the rest of the va ll ey and then hi gh up into the mountain s to "Tito's" cabin. Tito is a local Vercruz pil ot who built the two bedroom cabin which serves as the nj ghl time c lub house and sleeping facil ity for many of the loca l pil ots. Affectionate ly known as 'Tito' s resort", it is a welcome resting place. While there is no electrici ty, pl ans are to get it i11 soo n. Li ghting at ni ght and cooking is done via the use of propane and tunes are powered by batte1y . Televisions, VCRs and bl aring Hi Fi's were not mi ssed sitting outside in the quiet mountain 11ight.

• Saturday, 16th April We are not up early. We breakfast on eggs. sweet breads , juice. etc. Outside the weather does not look good. It is windy and cloudy but we are up high so who knows what is going on at the flying sites. Marco, who insi sts that the area is flyable almost every day of the year. does not seem to be concerned, so nor am I. On Lhe drive down into the valley, the weather clears a little and there is some blue sky over the valley. We stop at another launch site whic h is at the extreme opposite end of the valley from Fortin launch. We will not get to fly here today as wi nds are strong , but it seems to be a perfect site for all levels of paragliding. The launch has a perfect gradient and is wide open and clear. A pilot could flail around hopeless ly and still not bump inlo anything. Tandem flights wou ld be a breeze here if the breeze were not so strono today . Although cond itions were perfect for this site on Sunday afternoon~ we would not fly it as our Mex.icana airplane would be waiting for us in Veracruz. I look forward Lo flying this site on my next trip and believe that the cross counlry potential from here on the right day could be great. From here, crossing back over with a few kilomelers puts the pilot into desert thermal conditi o ns Lhat are phenomenal. Cond itions are deteriorating and getting very tropical. In addition to much cloud development and hi gh winds. the valley creates a tremendous venturi so the va lley is experiencing some impressive wind conditions up to 60 mph. We camp out at the club house and more pilots begin arriving , both Mexican and French (who work in Veracruz and surrounding cities). Later in the day. toward afternoon, all the pilots pile into their vehicles and bead out for the small 800 ft Tecamalucan launch behind the restaurant. I am puzzled as the winds are still storming down the valley and there seems very little chance of flying at all that day. Still I follow. nol having anything better to do. Up on launch, sure enough , the winds are buffeting the cars badly. Everyone else goes for a walk up the mountain while I opt to siesta in the back seat of a car. I have only been dozing in the buffeting car for about ten minutes when something alerts me to a change. It takes a few seconds but then I hit on it! The car' s not buffeting any more . A few paces away from the vehicle is launch and when I arrive I find almost pe1fect 10 mph soaring winds. There is no one around, just me. Hey, what the hell do I know about the site. There are a thousand questions going through my mind with one goal, can [ fly? Thick clouds still cover the valley as far as I can see in every direction, the winds seem to be very consistent now. Do conditions do this here, only to slam back up to 40 mph or more again as soon as the gringo gets in the air? Maybe. I am worried about gust fronts and things I don ' t know about. No body is coming back down from their walk. I finally decide to fly based on very evident smoke plumes miles away in the valley. They are drifting lazi ly upward and this tells me there is no monster out there. I decide to fly and keep a c lose eye on the friendly smoke. My gl ider is locked in the other vehicle . Oh well. perhaps I should wait for a local. 1 settle down to siesta again and no! ten minutes later the pounding of running feet and excited chatter stirs me. It ' s Marco and the French pilots. We fly , relaxed ridge soaring with some nice bench ups to higher altin1des, easy top landings and more than enough space for six pilots to continuously top land and launch. Tito's cabin that night witnessed larger amounts of cerveza and even some local brew tapped from the cactus that very morning. It was cold and rainy in the mountains that night but I slept on the couch in front of a warm fire wi th a li ght and pleasant aroma of wood smoke in my nostrils. (And the not so pleasant and Light sound of someone snoring in my ears .)

• Sunday 17th April Today I will leave to fly north to California again. but fust we fly our own personal aircraft. We go down to the club house/restaurant to pick up our gear and head out on the same road up to the 800 ft Tecarnalucan launch. but Marco soon turns off onto a cobblestone road. We are going to a ridge about a half-mile downwind of Tecamalucan. There are fields that slope gently up at about 30 degrees to the base of a much larger ridge, which also fingers up into the mountains. Marco stops the car well short of the base of the ridge as there are no roads, just fields. We hike about 3000 ft . It can hardly be ca lled a hike as the gradient is so gentle it is little more than a walk. At

the launch. which is s impl y a clear spot in the field near the base of the ridge, the fields slope down gently into the valley and it does not seem likely to be easy to get up onto the ridge from here. It is an excellent trainin o site for a student ' s first solo flights but the experienced pilot will be ver; pleasantly surprised at the versatility of this launch. Winds are good, 8 to IO mph. and Marco is first to inflate hi s glider and get in the air a few feet . A little brake and an immediate left turn and he flies along the base of the ridge not very hi gh over the field s. They do drop away a little so he is no longer o nl y a few feet. It is pretty amazing to watch. The ridge lift created by the long sloping fields and the subsequent near vertical ridge a few hundred feet behind launch is significant. At the end of the fields the ridge comes out and pilots can get onto this vertical terrain fai rly easily by heading left immediately after launch. It is brainl ess fl ying, but marvelous conditions. There are some good clouds forming and reaching cloud base is easy. While I am flying I see the French pilots only a few hundred feet over Tecamalucan further up the valley . At a seemingly impossibly low altitude they tum downwind and begin running back to our site. I have beaded out and am over the parked cars very high under a great cloud. I have my doubts about the French pilots making it to the Little ridge at our site, but amazingly they do and are soon skied out with us. This really has to be seen to be full y comprehended and believed. Truly the Oattest launch I have ever done and when it can be done from a drive to launch far away, with Little altitude, it is truly a unique flying site and experience. As I come down the wind gradient is very obv ious. At 100 foot I have little forward penetration and the application of some brake puts me into a vertical decent. I set up like this right over the edge of the downwind side of the field 50 feet and I cannot hover anymore without getting really deep in the brakes and starting to push the stall speed on my small racer. Still plenty of room in front of me, thanks to setting up over the downwind side. I touch down perfectly in the middle of the field. lightly hopping over the occasional basket ball boulder. The crowd is huge and they seem to keep materiali z ing from behind every small bush. Soon I have 40 locals around me all jabbering Spanish at once. I can m ake out the occas ional word but still have no clue what anyone is talking about. They all seem quite friendly though so, I'm not too worried about an upset land owner. Still, I pack quickly, which is difficult as there is not much room that does not have a pair of sparsely clad or bare feet on it. I say my good-byes in the best Spanish I can , with a big toothy gri n and handing out the odd peso to a small chi ld . The handing out o f money was perhaps a mistake. The hike back to the main road was about a mile and I was followed by a faithful bunch of about 15 kids. It's hot and on the main road I see a small Coca Cola sign. This is my stop. When I arrived at this small roadside store I had about $ 10 in Pesos, a lot of money in Mexico. When I left I hardly had a dollar in my pocket but my band of small children was well quenched with Coke and quite impressed with the mad stranger. Looking at my photos back here in California, I cannot wait to go back and enjoy the unrestricted, unique flying of the Acultzingo Valley , coupled with some great hosts.

llJR-1

~ 1. t-v RIDING THE THEFI HIGHWAYS OF 8 by David Soltz

The mention of Brazil probably brings to mind images of the Amazon rainforest and Carnival in Rio, perhaps not the sort of things that are normally associated with foo t-launched soaring. However, both hang gliding and paragliding are popular here, and interest in the latter is rapidly increasing.

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 07

Sapiranga and Nova Petropolis are located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and both have ramps that are 600 m (1800 ft) above the landing zone. In Nova Petropolis there is a house available for visiting pilots to stay at free of charge. Brazilians are an extremely friendl y and upbeat group of people. They enjoy fun -generating activities such as drinking, dancing , and having large barbecues. As mi ght be expected, the appeal of free flying to Brazilians is immense. Though not normally inclined to wilderness sports, local pilots will surmount almost any obstacle, from the financial burden of purchasi ng expensive equipment (I have known pilots to sell their cars to purchase gliders), to braving physical hardships (such as the occasional emergency landing in a tick infested cattle pasture), all to be able to fl y. Brazil is a tropical country with lots of sunshine, so needless to say there is first-rate thermal flying here. Thermals of 5 rn/second ( 1000 ft per minute) are freq uent in much of the country. Ridgelift soaring is also common, and at some locations it is possible lo follow the ridge for some kjlometers lo the landing zone. Takeoff ramps are usually well-kept, es pecially in the most popular flying areas. Access to the ramps is reasonable, though few of these mountain roads are paved. This can present traction problems after a rain storm, so cars with rear-wheel drive (such as the ever popular VW bug) are preferred. One of the greatest advantages to foot-launched flying in Brazil is the abundance of alternative landing sites. I have yet to hear of a cold reception given by local inhabitants to a pilot makjng an emergency or cross country landing. It should be noted , however, that beef cattle (identifiable by their white color and horns) do not take kindly to brightly colored gliders. On one occasion I brought the glider in to a perfect landing after a smooth fli ght only to be greeted by a stamped e of a ngry cattle. Fortunately the cattle understood some English (as my Portuguese failed me at the moment) and I was able to back out of the field holding my glider in front as a toreador. Because the number of pilots in Bra zi l is still relatively small, the paragliding community is quite close-knit and most of the frequent flyers know each other. Hospitality is common among pilots, and it is often possible to stay at the house of a loca l pilot when traveling lo a remote site. ln any case, Brazil is not very expensive and hotel s are cheap. Contact between hang glider and paraglider pilots is strongest outside of the main flying centers of Rio and Sao Paulo. As elsewhere in the world there exists a difference of mentality between the two forms of foot-launched flying. But this does seem to be improving somewhat with time.

• Geography: Brazil is bi g, really big. [n fact it is larger than the continental USA . The Amazon rainforest lies in the northern part of the country, stretching from Peru in the west to Columbia and Venezuela in the north and the Atlantic coast in the east. It makes up about 25% of the surface area of Brazil. To the west is the Pantanal- an area very similar to the Everglades. Both of these basin s are formed from run -off from the Andes and both are quite flat. Neither offers much in the way of paragliding. Along the Atlantic coast run a series of modest mountain ranges with peaks of about 1500-2000 m (4,500-6,000 ft. ). There are also numerous hills in thi s area with hei ghts of 300-1000 m (900-3,000 ft.) . This chain runs all the way from Rjo Grande do Sul in the south (on the border with Uruguay) to Ceara (which forms the right-hand comer of South America) in the northeast. It is along these ranges that most of the flyin g in Brazil occurs.

• Flying ondition und Rump ocution : Fl yin g conditions vary grea tly across th e country, therefore I will treat separately each of the regions where paragliding is practiced. Nearly all locations li sted below offer good flying throughout there year. In the so uth th e climat e is more temperate , similar to that of the Southeastern U.S.A. In summer the days are longer and though they take some time to heat up, strong currents of rising air persist until nearly sunset.

PAGE 8 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

In Santa Catarina there are ramps located at Jaragua do Sul, Pomerode, and Florianopolis. I am told that the latter offers a beautiful flying route that takes the pilot over the sea for about 600 m ( 1800 ft) to a landing on the beach.

Southeastern Brazil (which includes the states of Rio and Sao Paulo) is more tropical. Probably Brazil 's most famous take-off ramp is Pedra Bonita in Rjo. It is located above the beach of Sao Conrado, which serves as the landing zone. Flights there are mostly lift oriented, though the view from the air is truly spectacular. There are also several ramps located inland where thermal flying is more favorable (Petropolis , Teresopolis). Around Sao Paulo there are several ramps which offer first rate flying. The most popular of these is Atibaia, a ramp of 560 m (1700 ft) located 40 km (25 mi) from the city. It has both good thermal and lift flying conditions. On a fine sunny Sunday afternoon more than 40 gl iders can be seen in the air at any one time (this is more than double the number of last year). Atibaia can also serve as a cross country take-off point. Flights of 40 or 50 !c_m (25-30 mi) are possible. Some 150 km (95 mi) in the direction towards Rjo are three more ramps of around J000 m (3000 ft) : Pico Agudo, Pedra do Bau, and ltamonte. Pico Agudo is probably the most popular of these and take-off lines for paragliders and hang gliders are normal on the weekends. Pedra do Bau is close by and faces the opposite direction. Itamonte is more remotely located and offers a very scenic flight with a view of the neighboring mountains. However, the ride can be a bit turbulent. Neighboring Minas Gerais has several exceptional ramps worth noting . On the border with Sao Paulo is Andradas, which has some of the finest flying (and best hospitality) in the area. The main ramp (Pico de Gaviao) is located at the edge of the mountain ridge outside of the city, while the landing zone is in the town. A take-off at the end of the afternoon is a good time to lift soar along the ridge, and the pilot is often treated to a front row seat with which to watch the sunset, followed by a smooth landing in the center of the town 8 km (5 mi) from the launch point. Free lodging is available for pilots in the municipal sporting complex (in front of the landing zone). Tucked away in a southern comer of Minas is a tiny town called Carmo do Rio Claro which has all the elements of postcard perfect footlaunched flying. Nearby is an artificial lake and at the edge of the town is a large hill (450 m, 1400 ft) called the "Serra da Tormenta" with a little church on top. The hill is quite steep, but access is easy thanks to a paved road which zig-zags up to the TV/radio tower. Take-off is possible from nearly all sides of the hill and farms and pastures below serve as sources of strong thermals. With good equipment and a bit of luck the pilot can make it to a landing zone by the shore of the lake, where a local restaurant serves fried fish and ice cold beer. Other ramps in Minas include Govemador Valadares, which offers perhaps the best flying in Brazil. It was there that the Brazilian cross-country record of 124 km (80 mi) was set, and this is always one of the main sites for the Brazilian nationals. Belo Horizonte (the state's capitol) has a growing paraglider population and there is a ramp close Dy at Serra da Moeda. Located on the high flat plateau in the central part of the country is Brasilia, the nation 's capital. It is a planned city designed to serve as the center of government, and is famou s for its modern architecture. Some 70 km (45 mi) outside of the city is a gorge about 500 m (1500 ft) deep that opens up into a valley. At the edge of this is the take-off ramp. The area below is a source of powerful thermals which often peg variometers. The ramp is used almost entirely by hang glider pilots and paragliders are still relatively unknown there.THJS JS A LOCATION FOR THE EXPERI ENCED PILOT ONLY. In the northeast there are ramps located in Espirito Santo, Bahia, and Ceara. I have not yet flown in this part of the country, but the sites are reputed to be good flying areas , and are near some of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. It is of course nearly impossib le to give detailed information on the practice of such an eclectic sport as paragliding in such a

large and exotic country as Brazil, all in the space of a few pages. What I have tried to present is an overview of the sport here, in the hope that it will whet the appetites of some pilots to come down and try the flying. I have met many European paragliding pilots touring Brazil , but have yet to encounter a single American pilot. There is no better way to see a country than from the air, and no better way to meet people than to share in the excitement and addiction of free flight. The sensation of controUed, unpowered, sustained flight is universal, for it knows no international boundaries or language barriers. It is shared by aU foot-launched pilots throughout the world .... About the author: The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that is not necessarily the most interesting route. For reasons not entirely clear even to himself, David Soltz ended up studying towards his PhD in electrochemistry at the State University of Campinas. He has been living in Brazil since 1989, and hopes to return to the States some time in 1994 to find gainful employment in any location that offers good flying. He was introduced to the sport of paragliding in Brazil in 1992 and has logged about 100 flights and 50 hrs of flying time in the last year.

by Dixon White

e get to live in one of the most spectacular spots on earth! Flagstaff, Arizona is within minutes of the Grand Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, Walnut Canyon, the Craters, the Painted Desert, the San Francisco Peaks and many more great areas. Local pilots rarely get non-flying days, but when it is blown out they have plenty to do. Skiing, rock climbing, sail-boarding, mtn biking and horseback riding , can fill your non-flying days if you want to do more than gawk at the countryside. The craters are certainly one of the easiest places to access and fly , but Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Peaks, as well as others have been tough to develop for easy access flying. NOT ANYMORE!! In the past month we've handily flown some of our most desired flying spots. Having a motorized backpack is the trick . With the help of Rick Davids of ParaPower a few of us dreamers enjoyed ridge soaring some truly stunning red cliffs in the Sedona area. I used my motor unit to climb 1000'

up the San Francisco Peaks and then, without power, used thermals to enjoy some fantastic scenery. A couple of days later I launched from my backyard to get a bird 's eye view of my hacienda - Yee haa! We've just opened thousands of flying spots with the aid of a little miracle invention. An even bigger accomplishment though wasn't made with a motor unit. Those of you who fly hang gliders are probably familiar with this monster of a site - MINGUS. Located above Cottonwood and Jerome this rotor site is something to behold. This was not an easy task to handle - hang glider pilots only shook their heads over the idea of paragliders surviving the launch, the flight, or the long long glide out. After much consultation with Mitch McAleer, other hang drivers, and some study I flung myself off this 4000' bad boy for the first paragliding flight off Mingus. Although pummeled by expected sink a ways out from launch the foothills provided the expected lift necessary to make the LZ. by the end of the day Mitch and I both had two flights and some local pilots each got one. Our second flights were long, just shy of 2 hours, the conditions were very sweet - lift everywhere. This is a MASSIVE site that tumbles hangdivers on a regular basis - but it can be flown by paragliders. Our local pilots are working on launch improvements, but that' s only a small part of sorting out this site. High desert, big mountain/ rotor sites need to be very very respected, and it's probably going to take years to learn all about its quirks .

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were abl e to wa lk out the door o f our condo and be fl yin g in less than half an hour. ft was usuall y the qui etest time of our day as we launched a most relax ing warm-up fli ght . From the landin g zone, we would stroll into town, each o f us seekin g the ultimate pilot's breakfa st, mince meat pies, lattes served in a soup-s ize mug, or a fruit smoothi e & kill er muffin . The group was defi1utely gastronomically di vided ' by Diane Sheffield

"I would have paid the price of the trip for this ONE flight, now the rest are free", exclaimed Stephanie Subak after a personal record 27minute soaring flj ght over the hill s surrounding Queen stown. Four other pilots al so broke personal best records of time duration or crosscountry, What a start! Ali thi s onl y hours after arriving in the country . We joined Mike Eberle of North American Paragliding for hi s return trip to New Zealand , and it was "No worries, mate'' throughout tJ1e tour, as the six of us learned, ex periencing some of the best fl yin g of our lives . As Jeff Duenwald repeatedly c laimed, "'The tour could not have been any better' " Everyone arrived February 18th , a sunn y day down under. We left the snow and ice of the northwest's winter and the endless days of no fl ying, and we were anxio us to get into southern hemi sphere skies. "Ask and you shall receive ... " Eberle. along with Simon Nighy (our kiwi guide and New Zealand ,s nati onal champion), drove us out to Crown Terrace fo r thi s introductory flight. Within minutes we had all launched and were soa ring the endless li ft. During the fli ghts, some of us were guided on a 14 kilometer round trip x-country to Arrowtown. while the rest worked at perfec tin g their soarin g skills above launch. Each day began typi cally at 8 a.m. with a quick gondola ride and a short hike to 2,000 ft. above Queenstown. Thi s was a spec ial treat for us as we

From he re a day would take us in any number of directions. We flew 13 out of J 5 days and hit I I different sites. The weather was outrageous and the cho ices endl ess. How about a he licopter ride to Bowens Mounta in , where we caught a thermal that took us 2000 ft. above launch to cloudbase?! At that point it was onl y a matter of how far Lowell Skoog and Simon would get as they headed for the north end of Lake Wak atipu . One hour and forty- fi ve minutes later Lowell landed at Moke Lake. Simon fl ew on and made the first ever fli ght to the town of Glenorchy, a di stance of 24 ki lometers. Anothe r c hoi ce involved a qui c k dri ve up to Lake W anaka to fl y the famous Treble Cone and soar above the 650 ft. Twin Falls. Defin itely the most spectacul ar si te fl own, Treble Cone won the hearts of all . A close second would have to he the 8 p.m. fli ghts off the aptl y named Remarkabl es. The pilots enj oyed the strenuous hike up the mountainside whi ch lead them to a spectac ular 20-minute sunset sled ride overl ooking Lake Wakatipu . Of course our biggest thrill was our full day maneuvers seminar above tJ1e lake. Each of us tested our skill s and wings with plenty of maneuvers, including full stall and fl at spin s. and no one got wet! Finall y, we were dealt a day un suitable for fl ying. After such an extended hi gh we began to wonder what we co uld poss ibly do with our rime th at would ever begin to keep our attenti on. Never fear' Mike was well prepared for just such an occ urrence. He loaded us into the van and drove us down an extensive canyon on a most terri fy in g one-lane dirt road) hut it was onl y a preview of what was ahead . We fi nall y arri ved at a thin wooden bridge gentl y sway ing more th an 300 fee t above a nmTow , elem·, shall ow 1iver. Yes! The A.J . Hackett School of Bun gy ' Barry Barr, cool, calm, and collected. was the first off as he was an old hand at it. I was the next v icti.n1 and had to

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have my fingers pried from the rail before I would approach the brink. Even then it took several minutes and countdowns before I could launch myself into the air attached not to my wing, but to a single rubber band. No question, it was the most horrifying experience of my life! Everyone else made the jump, and the return trip up the harry track went unnoticed as we excitedly babbled about our experiences. A few more days of flying, a jet boat excursion, and a day of river surfing rounded out our New Zealand adventure. Thanks to Mike Eberle for our once in a lifetime experience. Diane Sheffield is a 32-year old fisheries biologist living and working in the Cascade Mountains of North Central Washington. She learned to fly during the summer of 1990 and currently has 200+ flights. Diane's participation in the New Zealand adventure enabled her to break personal records of time aloft, highest altitude gain, and cross-country distance. Additionally, she doubled her afrtime during the tour. When she's not flying, you can find Diane diving the South Pacific, cycling the Canadian Rockies, or back country skiing outside her own hack door.

pilot so they will always remember their flight. Herc is a summary of the places already proven for flying in Venezuela, and some directions on how to get to them, in case some of you decide to leave your winter coats behind and head on to the hot summer sun' Legend: LI. Site good for hang gliders • Site good for paragliders

CARACAS: • Oripoto height: 273 meters. This is our everyday hill; it is located very close to the city of Caracas so it is possible for all pilots to make an afternoon flight after leaving the office. For those that arrive earlier in the afternoon, there are possibilities of thermalling and taking off to places nearby, such as the Simon Bolivar University, or just some very nice soaring. •LI. El Avila height: 2030 meters. There are two take-off spots: one located in Picacho de Galipan, which needs a 20 minute walk, and the other in the town of Galipan ( Toco - Toco ), which is the backyard of a fellow hanglider pilot. There are many places to land in La Guaira, such as Maculo, Cmnuri Chico and the Golf course located in Caraballeda. This is a specially beautiful flight, first because it is one of the longest we have and also because the take-off is at the top of the mountain, where it is quite cool in the morning, and the landing is in the middle of a nice, warm, sandy beach .

GUATIRE: by Elana Cebalos

hile most American and European paraglider pilots spend their winter in the cold, we, the Venezuelans, right here in the southern hemisphere, are enjoying the best time of our year, SUMMER ! This is a time for flying, for making distances, or for taking a flight to the beach and then spending the day in the sun. All over the country there are different places to fly, each of them has its very unique way of enchanting every

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•LI. Guatire height: 600 meters. This is a flight for people who don't fear the thermals. In front of the take-off spot, there is a quite strong thermal, which breaks up, reappears later, or leads straight to the cloudbasc, bul it presents lots of ups and downs which will not make it suitable for a first timer.

PUERTO LA CRUZ: • El Morro height: 300 meters. This is a great flight for people that really want to enjoy soaring or even to try it for the first time. The take-off is a little rough, but the soaring is foolproof. There are possibilities of top landing or landing at any of the beaches below.

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EL MORRO: • Altos de Santa Fe height: 530 meters. This flight is similar to the one in La Guaira, but only shorter, the take-off place is localed in Los Allos and there is a long traverse to get lo Playa Arapito. You definitely need a modern paraglider with a good glide ratio to make this flight.

LA VICTORIA: •LI. Loma Lisa height: 700 meters. This is a must for advanced pilots, but is also good for intermediate ones. After the take-off, there is an almosl sure thermal exploding right at the tip of the hill, and from then on, most pilots head south or southwest hunting for new ones, and records. The Venezuelan records have been made by David Castillejo (paragliding), who completed 92 kin January 1992, and (hang gliding) an American pilot made the 200 kilometers in March 1992.

• Plazivel:: This flight is located on Lhe way to La Colonia Tovar, a German community that was settled there five hundred years ago. This place offers soaring and thermals, but the possibilities of achieving distances are very little, because this area is in the middle of a very narrow valley.

MERIDA: It offers the best conditions for beginners to intermediates, but it can also be good for the very tough pilots. Merida is best known for its beautiful long flights, ranging from 800 meters Lo almost 2000 meters. After 10 am the tough ones take off and there have been some distances made in Merida, but beware, because there are strong winds near noontime. The most known sites in Merida are: • Lagunillas height: 800 meters. This is the best site for thermalling after l 0 am. IL also offers a ve1y nice and quiet f1ighl early in the morning. •LI. Las Gonzalez height: 900 meters. This is a foolproof place for soaring; there are about 2-3 kms of soaring area which allow pilots lo stay up from anytime in the afternoon until sundown. •LI. Teleferico height: about 2000 meters,(depends on the take off place). This flight is absolutely beautiful and relaxing. The locals either head to the city of Merida for landing or Lhey head on to nearby towns for a little cross country.

TRUJILLO: •LI. Vira Vira height: about 600 meters. The take-off spot is located above the city of Bocono.This is a place for Lhermalling early in the morning, the conditions are very nice for making distances, but after 10 am the wind rises up to 40 - 45 km/h which makes il impossible for take-off, and even flying.

• El Zamuro height: about 700 meters. This is a nice direct flight in the afternoon, the landing possibilities are either near a highway in Trujillo City or in a town located right below the take-off place.

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•LI. Oregano Flight. This is a 3 km soaring hill. It got its name from all the oregano plantations that surround the area. Normally, there is good wind all year round, but it is al its best during lhe summer days.

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• La Virgin de la Paz height: 730 meters. The take-off place is located below a huge statue that resembles the Blessed Virgin of Peace, and there are two landing spots: one at a seminary located about 200 meters below the statue and another one in Trujillo City.

!?U@@@fl @OU@@ll U@ Ufl@ @ll{f]@@" If, after reading this, you have decided to come to Venezuela, just give me a call, Elana Ceballos (582-916049) or send me a fax (582 913035). I will try to find a suitable place for you to stay, and if my job gives me enough time to accompany you, I will personally lake you lo the sites or give you some useful phone numbers of some of our friendly pilots.

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Dear Editor, Hello and thanks for a great magazine! I only just started flying paraglidcrs 3 months ago, and anxiously await each issue. Keep up the good work! I'm writing to thank all the great people of Northern California Footlaunched Pilots Asso. for the great job in hosting the Super Clinic al Wiskeytown, CA. I arrived to an awesome camp, with nice cabins, great mountain fresh air, a real good homestyle breakfast and a very warm welcome from all the crew. Thank, Ed Pitman for your time and patience on my last minute registration. Thanks lo all the other pilots I met , I hope to fly with you all again. What great folks in the kitchen! You made il 100%. All the factory reps, what help, I knew nothing, now I know a little more, thanks. Last but not least a very warm thanks lo Liz Hern for laking all of us ''old men and women: out to ONO and teaching us how to fly the sky 'like seagulls. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my paragliding life, than the "SUPER CLINIC '94", I'll be back next year! See you there. Kevin Lee Wolf Creek, OR. Dear Editor, In the lasl issue May I June 94 New products, the SKYBOX item was misleading. While most of the item talks about the SKYBOX Maxx, the photo and large print are actually the Skybox Birdie. The Birdie and Birdie Plus do not have barograph capabilities. Refer Lo the full page ad for a photo of the Maxx. I hope this clears up any confusion. Stay Above, Mike Steed Dear Editors, I write with regard to the March I April issue of Paragliding , The Magazine. I was most interested to read the featured article on a new method of hooking up by using a swivel apparatus. I have also been developing a similar unit which eliminates the use of carabiners. I would like to mention that my device has two axes and rotates both vertically and horizontally. These features prevent the risers from twisting and permit unrestricted glider flight.

I manufactured the prototype from 304 stainless steel. After testing in the field, I found that such heavy duty material was unnecessary. The next version was made from 60/61 aluminum with stainless steel bolts. This mechanism can withstand at least 4,000 lbs of strain. I've enclosed a photograph of my design for your perusal. I thought this information may be of interest to the paraglider pilots who read your magazine. I am currently considering filing a patent for my device. if you would like any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me al 818 395-4390. Thank you, Nils N. Asplund, Pasadena, CA. Dear Friends, We have an established business in Ecuador since 1981, working in the adventure field , with mountaineering. Among other things, we offer guide service for treking and climbing, as well a s tourist info. through our publication "CAMPO ABIERTO". There is also a store open for selling equipment for outdoor sports. Day after day, we are seeing more interest in the sport of paragliding, especially combined with mountaineering. There are no stores selling paragliding gear and we want to start our business in this field. As you may imagine the economy of our country is not as good as we hope, and the problems with taxes and imports are big, making some sports like paragliding a little difficult. We would like to establish direct relations with manufacturers of paragliding equipment in the USA and with the publishers in this field. That is the reason of this letter, asking if it is possible lo gain the addresses of the manufacturers of equipment and publications. Surely this information will be valuable to us for the development of this beautiful new sport. Hope to here from you soon, Ivan Roja5 B. President; Campo Abierto Apartado 17-03-671; Quito Equador Ph. # 593 2 230029 fax # 593 2 524422 Dear Editors, I want to publicly express my personal thanks to all the hang glider pilots of the Vermont HG Asso. for allowing me to make tandem flights during their regional competition. The camaraderie was exceptional, considering that it was unforeseen by either group that the New England weather would draw so many pilots to converge at the same time for two separate events. Such a positive atmosphere is a commendable example of harmony among aviators on how two different groups of soaring pilots can share a flying site together for mutual airtime. Thanks, Alan Chuculate USHGA Director at Large, La Jolla CA

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1st place - Bob England Flying Apco Supra 30 ob Eng l and won the 1994 Elsinore meet by flying consis tently well during 4 days of competitive flying. 43pilots competed and produced close scores with a large number of pilots in contention. The first two days were cancelled due to bad weather but after that good conditions prevailed. Here is a quick summary; Day I - Marshall. It blew down at Elsinore so we ran up to Marshall for what may have been the best "race' of the meet. This was text book downwind cloud flying . Once a thermal was found it wou ld go to cloudbase at around 6000ft ms!. From there the pilots could bomb downwind to the next cloud to thermal up again. Over half the field completed the 15 mile task with (myself) , Ken Baier the first one in. Lucki ly the security officer at the LZ was friendly, as the on ly safe place to land was private property - no trespassing!

six pilots completed this one. which was the most challenging of the meet. Strong winds in the desert made it tough and the landings at the finish were definitely interesting. Bob England won the day and moved into first in the meet. Day 4 - Elsinore to Soboba. This flight is one of the cool flights in So. California. With the field tightly packed this long task was called to help sort things out. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. Ordinarily 3 1/2 hour flights are pretty satisfying, but this time the convergence wouldn't move east and the desert never got bot enough. so everybody just bung out in a gaggle, 2000 ft over launch, waiting to race. Several pilots did top landings to help water the dry desert. then relaunched, making this the first paragliding competition with pit stops' Lee Kaiser flew the furthest. but the day was not counted due to the short distance flown.

Day 2 - Two turnpoints and out to

Bob won this meet for the second

Hahn Road. The convergence came through ear ly and pilots found out why it co mmands respect as some reported pegging both ends of their varios. Too bad the task was so short because once again about half the field made goal and the desert was really cooking, so a long day wou ld have been possib le. Scott Amy won the day. Day 3 - Around the towers and out to Winchester fruit stand. Only

time . Todd Bibler was second. with Ken Baier third. The sponsors provided plenty of good prizes, so everybody got one and the format of choosing a prize based on your final placing was fun. Thanks to the Meet director. John Pitt, for bis calm helpful and fair decisions, also thanks from all the pilots to the meet scorer and the Safety director. I' 11 see you there next year.

submiued by Ken Baier

Paragliding Magazine would like to thank Ken Baier for hi s la st minute write up on

Elsinore.(we were desperate). We had planned to provide more complete coverage of the event. Fred Stockwell traveled to the meet and shot 20 roll s of film We had agreed beforehand that a pilot who had done stories in the past would be our Elsinore corespondent. For reasons unknown to us we have not received any info from him (or an yone else involved) Due to these unfortunate circumstances we had no recourse but to go to press without it. We feel like the pilots who attended the meet have been let down but we can ' t print what we don't have! Elsinore was a sanctioned meet and the scores count towards national ranking .

We will try to run the complete list of pilots, points and sponsors in the next issue (if we can obtain it). Sincerely the Editors

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f you've never been to the nationals, this is the year you s hould be thinkin g about going. For the second year in a row , the U.S.

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Championships and Fly-In are being held in Aspen , Colorado; vacation wonderland and home to movie stars, super-model s, and skiing legends. Maybe you' ve been thinking about it. Maybe you 've been wavering on the figurative fence worryin g about the expense, gettin g Lime off of work, having to fl y with a bunch of egoti stical Euro-spuds and California ego-hounds. Maybe you're woJTied about findin g a place to stay at a reaso nable price in America 's most expensive real-estate haven, maybe you' re thinking your fl ying skills aren ' t up to the professional calibre you 'd expect to see at an international competition. Well fri ends, I'm here to tell you the truth- the honest facts, the real deal, the low-down about the actual place. Here' s the scoop: First, Aspen is eve rythin g yo u've always beard it to be; The food's ex pensive, parking is scarce, lodging is hard to find- and worst of all the fl ying is GREAT! It seems such a tragic inequit y that such a beautiful place to fly should be so hard to get to, so expensive to visi t and should have such a disproportionately large population of stock brokers and real estate millionaires .. .

Aspen

is as close to European flying as you will come and still be standing on U.S. soil. The terrain is defin itely alpine in nature, with 2800-3000 ft vertical space from launch to landing with access via comfortable gondola service from Aspen Ski Corporation. Local weather patterns support excellent smooth morning sailing, exceptional afternoon thermal flying and cons iste nt eve nin g glass-off conditions. The launch sites are a challenging mix of splendiferous class l and spectac ul ar class II sites with broad, easy to reach, grassy landing areas.

The loca l club, Aspen Parapente has champi oned th e cause for paragliding over Lhe past five years and has established a great relationship with the City of Aspen and Aspen Ski Corporation, allowin g us alm ost co mplete access to PAGE 16 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

several laun ch sites across the en tire mountain . Add to this all the amenities and conveniences of a modern-day contemporary city right at the base of the mountain and you've got all the ingredients for a great flying experience.

The Natio als

All-i n-all. if there is one place on the planet that has all the items on your wish list of the best features yo u' d hope to find in a place to hold the Nati onals. Aspen is the place! Last year I attended the Nationals in Aspen, my first fly-in ever. I worried about all the issues mentioned above, (including my perso nal safety) and was surpri sed at how smoo thly th e event was run . and how much fun I had, even though l was a onl y newly certified class II pilot. Wh at fo llows are my th ought s as I recorded them day to day throughout the week. I hope you find them informational, entenain ing and that they entice a few fenc e-sitting, crows-on-a-w ire, indecisive, uncenain, tent ati ve, timid, hesitant, still-thinking-about-it pilots.

Friday, September 3, 1993 First da_v. Everyone who was flying met at the shop (Aspen Paragliding) at 7am for planning and instructions, then a trip up the hill by car for the the first run of the meet. I was among the first pilots off of Walsh's launch, the class I site overlooking the va lley that leads up into Independence Pass. My fir st flight was a typ ical no- wind sled-ride down into the L.Z. a park area off the side of the road bounded on either side by trees and a stream. With 2800 vertical fee t from launch to L.Z. it's an extended sled-ride even with no wind. It takes about JO minutes and is usually a smooth ride until the va lley floor heats up near noon time, and the air gets a little un stable and starts to blow cross to the launch point.If you can handle a mild cross-wi nd laun ch fr om a broad ledge overlooking th e Aspen Valley, including God and all of creation, then the ride is usually worth it as there is usually plenty of lift in the valley to keep you up as long as you want. On the way up the gondola after that first fli ght, we could see a few pilots starting to soar off of the launch. They were getting up above launch and staying up, gelting everyone on the gondola all excited about prospects. This kind of "oh-boy-

Why you should go to Aspen this year... story and photos (co111puter e11hancec1; by TimMeehan

me-too,,. wishful thinking is really what seems to be dri ving these fl y-in event s. Once a few pilots start getting some serious air, everyone else ge ts in a bigger hurry to get launched and into the air. So (being the wann abe, fit-in, kinda guy 1am around these venerable pro-pilots) I hurried off the gondola, sprinted down

the hill and got launched as soon as I could. I got a little lift, smooth enough that I got ou t my ca mera and start ed snapping some shots of all the other pilots. There were easily 22 pilots buzzing around in the thermals off of the Walsh's launch, including one tandem glider and all these

brightly colored fabric jellyfish floating and swirling all around each other. Quite a sight !

the objective of the competition pilots is to perform a task that is announced the morning before flying.

Later in the afternoon while flying off of Ruthie's launch on the opposite side of the mountain, a hotshot west-coast pilot had a major full -stall collapse below the launch and deployed his reserve. He went down in the trees and had to ·wa de a stream to get back to a road where he could be retrieved. After the air around

The ··task" is a prescribed course that each pilot is required to fly. requiring a photograph of each turn-point as they fl y cross coun try. After the competition task starts. the skies are closed to everyone but the co mpetition pilots. Before they lau nch however, they'll send off a

moves over to Ruthie 's on the other side of the mountain . I had onl y flown Ruthi e's once before as it is a cla ss II certified site (hang-four rigid- wing site) and can be dangerous in afternoon winds. My fir st flight off of Ruthie's was short enough, but my second was pretty impressive with about an hour of air time. It was pretty stiff fl ying- you

had to be on your toes all the time. I was scared stiff most of the time myself. I made one especially unint ention al low pass over the ski lift cables and caught a good lecture on it the next day from the launch marshall, he told me "... I'm not harshin ' ya man, but we really just want to keep you ali ve up there .. ... These guys are all the nineties' equi valents of the sixties' surf-bums and skibums. Pretty interesting study in microcultures. I continue to be impressed at bow helpful and supporti ve they all are, always sharing good fl yin g advice and great stories...

Saturday First competition day I got a late start after having to spend a half hour sticking big numbers on the underside of my wing so I could be identified from the air. By the time I'd gotten up to Walsh's launch it had been closed to class one pilots because the wind bad was cross at launch. The launch director told me I could launch lf I want ed to since I was as class II, but I told him that " .. .while I have a class II rating. I still had class one testicles ... " So everyone packed it up and headed up the hill to the sununit to try and catch a ride down to the other laun ch site to watch the competition pilots launch for their first task event. If you've never attended a fly-in before.

ingly. I TOOK OFF. Cored that thermal and hun g out in th e ri sing air up to 11.780 feet! This was a personal best for me. having only flown for a year prior to thi s meet. My borrowed vario meter (t hanks to Ball Ya ri os) showed I had 1200 fpm sustained lift (for me. this was MAJOR vicious, radical) killer therm al action. Scared the heck out of me ...

I was the only pilot in the air and soo n l found l was n' t wind du =ying ju st for the meet , a Cessna 180 tow plane dropped off its glider right below me and it co red up and flew alon g side me for several passes a short wingspan away- l co uld see what brand sungla sses the se guys we re wearing. the gaps in th eir teet h en site , tne c\ass \ \aun when they \f'Ja\sn s, smiled. [ radioed down to see n11es if anyone cou ld get on the radio to the to see how the air is and see tower and wave these guys away from where the thermals are (if any). As the me. (we ' re on different radio frequenevent start drew near. the air was lookcies- otherwise I wo uld have verbally ing pre tt y ratty and th e fo ur wind flipped them off myself) But J got in dummy pilots had sunk out into the l. z. some impressive photographs (and a few pointed gestures). With no lift anywhere. I was thi nking that even though it looked a little treacbero us, it might be my only opport unit y to fl y for the day since the skies would be closed to nonco mpeti ti on pilots once the task was started. l asked if I could be a lastminute wind dumm y and Dick Jackson. the assistant to the grand poobab of Aspen Parapente said, "Ok. sure. you· ve got a few minutes left, but hurry". l took off with no problem and start ed sink ing out immediately (as I expected) but man aged to clea r the ridge and saw some bushes moving down the hill. Looked like a thermal to me so l turned into it even though it was over an area they call the ··toilet bow r· (because pilots are always getting '·flushed" there and rescue is especially difficult as there are no roads in to the area). It's all tall pine trees on a steep slope. I headed for the spot where I saw the bushes moving in the wind. and surpris-

from the gro und . Remember how a good fli ght tends to draw all the other pilots off the mountain- l was WAY over launch (about 2000') and I could see all the competition pilots hustling to get their wings into the air. They all cored up and bugged as close as physically possible to me in the thermal. A beautiful sight, all these colorfu l wings swirling around each other like jellyfish and butterflies. It was serious rock ·n roll toss-ya-' round thermals. l got

sca red aga in and decided l had better seek to relieve the subtle but persistent pressure on my bladder and headed for the L. Z. I got out over the landing area and still showed 3,000 ft AGL so J just hung for awhile and did some lazy s-turns until J landed right down in front of the spectator stands. 57 pilots launched into the competition this day, but only 4 got across the valley with enough altitude to make the first turn point. Everyone else went down in the vall ey or the trees. They were all long-haired Germ ans with no fear of death. One landed low across he valley, skimming the rooftops below tree level and finally skated down and landed close to the power lines that bound the south edge of the L.Z. (whew !) That was my only flight for the day. was surprised later at the barbeque by all the people who recognized me and complimented me on my style and fl yin g skill. I heard from some of the guys that J bad drawn a lot of favorable comment from the pros on the ground while l was in the air. What flattery for a first-timer on an intermediate Edel Space 24 glider!

Sunday Rai11i11g a11d cool, the third da y of th e event We finally hiked down to the launch site and saw some pilots climbing out in some warm rising air from the valley floor, but they were reporting some stran ge air in places. A few co llapses and so me rowdy rides, so the laun ch director closed the sit e to cla ss one pilot s. Carl Swift and I were all set up and it looked OK in a few places so we decided to take off together. We we re keen so see how eac h would do since yesterday he had sunk out while I rode that big thennal. so there was some small bant er about the relationship between pilotage and luck. Unfortunately both were working against Carl that day as he suffered a hair-raising collapse that spun him into the ground. There was one more spectacular reserve deploy ment thi s day , droppin g Steve PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 17

(Continued fro m page 17) Phillips right in front of a formal wedding ceremony at the top of the mountain in fro nt of hundreds of spectators. Most of the spectators attending the wedding were way over-dressed for the fl y-in. but you've got to figure that there had to be a few ca mco rders in th e audi ence and someone had to get this on tape.

Monday Sunny and warm- /'111 wasting valuable flyi ng time 1yping my 1ho11gh1s in here! I headed up to Aspen late and got there in time 10 see the competition pilots all circlin g over Walsh's launch site. As the gon dola neared the to p, I co unted 50 pilots in the same airspace, all swirling around lookin g for lift. A trul y awe inspiring sight. I love this sport. The only thing more beautiful than the sight of all those flu orescent jellyfish is being among them climbing up to some serious altitude along-side. It's no wonder everyone who gets into this sport loves it with an almost religious fervor. Tuesday Rain ing, raining raining. It rained all day long. I spent a couple of hours waiting around town for the weather to clear, read a book, took a nap, ate some lunch. And st.ill RAIN. No fl ying today for anyone. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

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Wednesday High Jlight, channel 9 news Three flights. The first one from Walsh's was the Fly-In Mini-Task flight. We had to fly over the LZ, drop a tennis ball with a long strea mer into a target, fl y off around a turn point and land onto a point landing. I had some serious altitude when I got to the LZ and dropped my ball far, far away from the target. I was so high that getting around the turn point was a short hike, then a quick couple of spirals and an easy spot landing. My second flig ht off of Walsh's was a rock n'roll ride with some booming thermals that took me up to 12,148 feet and up the ridge to the summit of Aspen Mounta in. And let me tell you, it was COLD ! I was up for 41 minutes and shiverin g like a scared puppy before I started making my way back to the LZ. I was so high over the LZ that I did 5 or 6 revolutions of a spiral di ve dow n to another perfec t spot landing. It was pretty exhilarating. Third fli ght was off of Ruthie's on the

north side of Aspen mountain. I stayed up 46 minutes and got up 10 10,778 feet. The therm als were seve re and abrupt. Scary and bumpy to be sure for an intermediate pilot. No kidding. I lan ded aft er a steep app roach and a several wingovers and hit the spot in front of about I00 spec tators and the channel 9 news team.

Thursday Big thermals, evening lapse. I started the day wi th a laun ch off of Walsh's I knew it was going to be a sledride and I remembered how I froze my little class one-sized testes off yesterday. Anyway, I think I nailed Lhe bomb drop dead-on. Can't be sure though. Hit the spot landin g ri ght on fo ur out of fi ve times. Too k the mid-aft ern oo n shullle up to Ruthi e's for $5. Gene-o Karbo (Gene, Gene, the flying machine, a pilot from Denver got checked off fo r his class n license today, so he was ready to get the "big air' off of Ruthie's for the mid-day thermals. We got up there just in time to see the last of the competition pilots sail off for the daily task. The thermals were kicking up out there and it looked pretty ratty. A lot of front-edge co llapses and asymmetricals. Gene launched anyway, and got spanked pretty hard. I don't think he was ex pecting to get the rowdy ride that he did . I shot out and up and was doing so well, that the competition pilots headed back to my airspace and joined me in the same them1als Id fo und. I got an hour and 12 minutes in that flight, but never got above 11 ,000 feet. I was pretty antsy to get back up again. It looked like it would lapse good today and there were thunderheads building so uth of the mountain. I got a ride up, crammed between two Southern California female pilots in the back of the club's Suburban with three tandem customers and 11 other people. 16 in all, with two of them hangi ng off the sides on the runnin g boards- all the way up Aspen Mountai n. Now THIS is the sport of paraglidingI It was a great glass-off, with dozens of pilots in the air. No one was getting very high, but everyone maintaining really well. The air was warm and buoyant and smooth. Absolutely PERFECT dreamfl ying. The tandem customers looked like they were genuinely enjoying skimming the trees at the top of Ruthie's Ridge. Big, big fun.

We had a late dinner at the Flying Dog Brew Pub in Aspen. A sponsored event with everyone invited for free beer and dinner. (Except for people who don't drink alcohol-- non-alcoholic beer or soda pop cost extra; this is my only complaint for the whole week ... ) A hundred and fifty sunburned and weary pilots all telling the day's flying stories and tips and adventures of flying days long pasl. Pretty cool lo be part of this crowd.

pilots, and had a blast hanging around every evening in a town as exciting as Aspen. I can't wait for this year's fly-in! lf you're still thinking about attending this year's fly-in, stop thinking and call Jan or Dick at Aspen Paragliding (303/925-7625) and sign up. It's worth it!

Friday ·> Saturday WHA.CK! Whack, whack, whack! The day started out OK weatherwise. I wore my high altitude space suit and flew off of Walsh's once in the morning sun. Got plenty of looks and comments. On launch, Dick Jackson, one of the locals who was running the show, told everyone that today's task was to full-stall on landing.

Sunday [,ast day of the event. Got into town early and the place looked deserted. No cars anywhere. I deduced that the competition must be over and most of the competitors (that didn't show or place Jleft town early.

Cnfortunalely, too many pilots took him seriously and did just that. Just as unfortunately l was one of them. I couldn't hear the wind, and the helmet visor seemed to upset my depth perception (1 was wearing my contact lenses too.) and I went into a deep stall right on landing and fell about IO feet straight down. Mark Ferguson got it on tape, and watching it later, I found out people were yelling al me lo let off my brakes, but I couldn't hear a anything in that helmet.

I ran into Granger Banks from ParaSoft Paragliding School early and found out that I had won some kind of grand prize on Friday night for the most accumulated total points j1Jr the fly in. (wow!) Surprised and dumfounded, I walked over to the paragliding shop where Paulina Van dcr Noorda, the matron of the event called out "Tim Meehan! You won a new harness!" and I found out I'd placed ahead of everyone based on a cumulative score for all my great spot landings and a good bomb drop. Whoopee! But what am I going to do with TWO harnesses now? My new one is a nice UP harness with lots of straps and pockets and zippers.

It turns out it wasn't just me. Everyone was whacking in hard. Mark Ferguson got the whole morning on tape and they'll be analyzing everyone's mistakes for the rest of the year. I spent the rest of the morning at the top of Aspen mountain with all the competition pilots showing off my flight suit and taking pictures with other pilots. They were waiting for wind conditions to improve so they could start their task. It started getting worse as a front moved in following a trough hanging over the divide so I went down the hill and helped Mark Ferguson of Ball Yariometers compose a tape of edited footage of all the morning whacks into the LZ. Took the rest of the day off to rest and hang around the house with my family.

So there's my stroke for the day. All that spot landing practice paid off. Now I am a man ... The competition ended with a ceremonious presentation of the top three awards and a tearful word from the meet's organizers and sponsors. If ESPN ever deems it worthy of coverage, we'll have to encourage the participants to bathe and shave before accepting awards this year. A good public image never hurts. All in all, a most satisfying and rewarding week off. I learned so much just being around such talented and intense

Author Tim Meehan is an up-and-coming class II paraglider pilot, volunteer firefighter/EMT and computer graphics consultant flying in Denver, Colorado.

The Premier Paragliding Event of 1994 The Aspen paragliding club, Parapente Aspen, will host the US Open I National Paragliding Championships August 27- September 4, 1994 in Aspen, Colorado. The first US/Open National Paragliding Championships were successfully held in Aspen, Colorado, September 4- 12, I993. During the nine day event, 200 paraglider pilots from the US and Europe, including internationally ranked World Cup competitors, participated of which 57 competed for the US/Open & National title. The others participated in the Annual Aspen Fly-In, a recreational flying event. The competition included distance-to-goal tasks, pre-determined flight courses with multiple turn points, "cat's cradle", and timed events. The pilots foot-launched from sites off of Aspen Mountain. Many spectators watched the competition for free from various locations around Aspen. Among the week's highlights, paragliding pilots took spectators on tandem paragliding rides. Colorado network affiliates (ABC & NBC) broadcast several "live" segments on the event throughout Denver and Colorado. In addition, Radio Station KSNO, THE MOUNTAIN (103.5 fm) & affiliates, promoted the event throughout the state. Lastly, several newspapers (including USA Today) and magazines made mention of the event. This year TC! will provide a PSA around Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico to promote the event. And, with enough sponsorhip support we can guarantee an hour show on one of the major cable channels. Parapente Aspen is the local paragliding club recognized by the official United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA). The US OpcnlNational Paragliding Championships is sanctioned by USHGA. Although there arc numerous regional events scheduled, this is the premier paragliding competition in the United States for 1994' For more information contact; Dick Jackson, Jan Stenstadvold (meet directors) or Paulina Vander Noordaa (event organizer)

Aspen/US Open National Paragliding Championships Tel:/Fax: (303) 927-4524 or Tel. (303)-925-7625

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 19

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HELMET SAFETY; AN OVERVIEW The way we have chosen to fly is a very simple route requiring a minimum of equipment and a maximum of maturity and judgement. All we need is a wing, a harness, a reserve parachute and a helmet. All other pieces of equipment are merely accessories. Information to assist us in choosing gliders, harnesses and chutes is abundant and reliable, choosing a helmet is another situation entirely . Whether a helmet has to meet DOT or SNELL standards, the merits of open vs. full face and the compromise between weight and strength are all subjects of much debate among pilots. This article is an attempt to provide an overview of what a helmet is supposed to do and how . The purpose of a helmet is to prevent or reduce brain injury in the event of a blow to the head. A helmet accomplishes this by distributing and absorbing the force of impact in such a way that the skull can do its job of protecting the brain. There is a limit to how much force can be diverted to prevent injury. Extraordinarily high impact forces will cause extensive and usually fatal damage to the neck and or spine that will render the role of the helmet moot. Thus a helmet should properly be designed to function in the low to moderate impact range, typically below a threshold of 300g's deceleration. Forces somewhat greater than this, which would result in hemorrhaging and permanent brain damage, will probably still result in a severe concussion. this is only a little comforting, but still an improvement over the alternative . The critical factor in the success of a helmet is the foam liner. A solid shell is important, but primarily in that it protects the foam liner from damage. When an impact occurs the shell comes to a stop and transfers the force to the liner. As the head continues to move within the helmet the cells of foam collapse progressively, absorbing a large portion of the energy and effecting a reduced rate of deceleration of the skull. The liners shock absorption qualities are determined by both density and thickness, with the trade-off made at the discretion of the designer. A thin liner makes for a lighter, more comfortable helmet, but the cells may reach complete collapse early on and result in a somewhat violent transmission of the remaining load to the head. So the thicker and softer the better, right? Up to a point. A very thick liner may exhibit spectacular energy absorption but increase rotational forces beyond acceptable limits and would likely be too bulky to be practical. The rigidity of the foam must also be reasonable. A very hard liner that can absorb a sever impact quite well may not give enough in a moderate crash, causing injury instead of preventing it. A very soft liner might be so delicate that only minor bangs and bumps would damage it to the point that it needs replacing. So just what role does the shell play in a crash? he shell distributes the impact force but plays virtually no part in shock absorption. Without the shell only the foam cells at the point of impact would absorb the shock, resulting in little if any protection. The shell spreads the energy over a wider area of the liner, and will flex, possibly even cracking or delaminating. It takes a great deal of energy to damage the shell but by cracking the shell dissipates much of the energy without passing it on to the liner. So finding your helmet shattered after a crash isn't evidence that your helmet was inferior, it's evidence that it did its job, and your lucky to see that it did. The shell also guards against penetration and will help the helmet slide a bit on contact with hard surfaces . Certainly a helmet proudly displaying DOT or Snell stickers, or the foreign equivalent, would be a very good choice, but such a certification may not be absolutely necessary. A motorcyclist is far more likely than a paraglider pilot to need a helmet that protects from punctures or slides well on asphalt. Motorcycle helmets are generally far heavier than those designed for pilots. the added weight could cause fatigue which may contribute to accidents. Bicycle helmet standards are actually closer to our needs than any others. Some

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pilots use climbing helmets, but these are ~ very poor choic.e because they are designed for only one scenano; a small to medium sized rock falling on the top of the head. The full face vs. the open shell debate will no doubt rage for a long time to come. This is more an issue of aesthetics than safety. The open helmet lets you feel the wind more, possibly allows better peripheral vision, permits you to hear and be heard. and allows your face to be seen in those in-flight photos. The full face 1s warmer, shields your microphone from wind noise and may keep your face pretty. Regardless of these considerations both do roughly the same job of protecting your brain. One major problem with our helmets is that we tend to take them for granted, assuming that they can take a lot of abuse, and replacing them only when the straps wear out or they become so scratched up we can't bear to be seen in them. The reality is that helmets must be treated with care and retired long before they give out. A helmet should be replaced after any significant impact, that is any time you're really glad you had it on. The reason for this is that some portion of the cells collapsed ( the foam, not your brain), though they may appear to be okay, and so they will not be of much benefit next time. Likewise heavy loads placed on the helmet in storage, transport or by sitting on it, may damage it to the point of rendering it ineffective. Even further, the dents on the inside of the liner, from placing sharp cornered objects like varios or radios in it, can cause many areas of diminished shock absorbing ability. Even without obvious signs of damage it would be good to change helmets every two or three years. Treat your helmet with care and include it in the your preflight of equipment check.

ALP

When deciding which helmet to buy, Mark Dale Safety officer of the British Hang I Paragliding Asso., put it quite well," What we should be doing when choosing a helmet is trying to ensure that our heads survive survivable impacts, while at the same time ensuring that our safety equipment does not itself become a possible cause of accidents or significantly detract from the pleasures of the sport." submitted by Marcus Salvemini co-chairman USHGA Safety and Training Committee.

Deep Stall Through Line Changes Wet paragliders tend, especially right after launch, toward deep stall. Another frequent cause of the deep stall are from line changes; and as a consequence of this an, undesirable increase of the angle of attack. If the lines had been we, there is - particularly with Dyneema lines, the risk of shrinkage by several centimeters, on~e they have dried. The A and B lines stretch themselves again quickly as you load your wing during flight. The C and D lines stay shortened. As a precaution, particularly if the lines have been wet, the pilot can hook in the risers and pull (and stretch) the dried lines with 20 kg's of pressure. So he gets the original length of the C and D lines and can avoid the risk of deep stall. Irrespective of moisture the higher wing loading from towing can over stretch the front lines with equal consequence; increase of the angle of attack. The most important thing, to avoid unrecognized line length changes, is to preform regular and frequent measuring according to the manual. Translated from the DHV Magazine and submitted hy Mike Eberle, N. American Paragliding.

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case of a gas leak. it may lead to fire or explosion. All Adventure paramotors have of course the fuel tank under the engine, perfectly protected against any risk. (see ad pg 38 for details) Starting in July Pierre Bouilloux from Sup'Air and Pierre Wilmar!, will attempt to make the crossing on foot and paraglider only, between Menton France, near the French Riviera, and Austria. They estimate the trip will take about 7 weeks. they will hike and fly across the entire Alpine Spine, through France, Switzerland and Italy and arrive in Austria sometime in August. More than just hiking and flying it will be a true life human adventure story!! Submitted by Philippe Rcnaudin GM!

A flying site high above an historic goldmining town, landing fields ringed with blades of sicell blades and thermal winds on a highway to cloudbase .... These are the memories of Barbeton, the site chosen for this years South African National Paragliding Championships. 77 pilots attended this five day competition. Although only two valid tasks could be flown the competition produced some excellent flights with many new pilots excelling. Nevil Hulet, a relative newcomer to the sport, surprised many with his excellent third placing. A third task was flown, however insufficient pilots passed the foul line and the task could not be validated. This day also saw several pilots hanging from trees surrounding the "turkey patch". With two further days completely unflyable the competition also could not be validated. The final scores were: 1st - Alex Louw - Apco Supra 2nd Peter Wallenda - Swing Minoa 3rd - Nevil Hulet - Swing Minoa 4th - Hans Fokkens - Laser 5th - Walter Neser - Apco Supra SubmillcJ by Bruce Mortimer

PRESS RELEASE Adventure, a leader in paramotoring, is proposing a complete range of motorizations for paragliders. They have decided to enter directly the American market, without any importer. Adventure is searching for IO paragliding schools who want to sell paramotors. They will ship directly from France at a very competitive price. Moreover those schools will receive free training as paramotor instructors, this training will take place in Quebec or Paris, according to the business deal they make with Adventure. Adventure would also like to inform the American market that no serious paramotor maker in Europe puts the fuel tank above the engine. It is very dangerous in PAGE 22 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

Dates: February 11 & 12 1995 Place: Rio de Janeiro - BRAZIL This competition will not be valid for ranking and will be open to all qualified pilots with imagination, creativity, and a sense of humor. This is the 3rd year running for the Flight Fantasy Festival, but the first year to be sponsored by POPST AR. As always it will be held two weeks before the world famous carnival in Rio. The press and TV are always on hand at the festival. The judges usually come from the TV personalities and Show business. All interested pilots should contact A. Eduardo De Souza POPSTAR Viagens E Turismo (Travel Agency) Av. N. S. de Copacabana, 680 s. 404 22.050-030 Rio de Janeiro- RJ I Brazil Tel. 005521-255-5590 fax. 005521- 255-3644

On April 25th the Cloudbase Country Club, voted to allow paraglider pilots to fly Dog Mountain. near Morton, WA. on a trial basis. The following restrictions apply; * USHGA Class Hand rn pilots only. *Maximum of 5 paragliders in the air at one time. * No commercial activities or Tandem. * Pilots must purchase a key to the gate $25. Discount for CB C Club members. *Pilots must sign a waiver before flying. The trial period will be reviewed in September, at which time these arrangements may be continued, modified or terminated. Paraglider pilots are urged to abide by these rules, since our use of the site is very tentative at this time. Please remember Dog Mtn is an important training site for hang glider pilots. You should give novice HG pilots more clearance than is common at Tiger Mtn., which is a Hang Ill site. Reprinted from The Fly Paper. NW PG Club Newsletter. Submitted by USHGA office.

The region 2 regionals were held in Reno NV, Mayl3 15th. Although the weather did not cooperate, everyone got in several good flights on Friday and Saturday. The meet was won by Scott Amy fly ing Airwave's new Rave, competition glider. Nate Scales took 2nd place on an Edel Super Space, followed by Dave Bridges in 3rd place, also on a Super Space.

Starting July I, 1994, North American PG in Washington State will run a factory certified repair loft capable of doing annual checks, line stretching, measuring, repair. and other maintenance. For questions, comments or to schedule an inspection, please call 509 925-5565 our shipping address is lO I Wilson Creek Rd # 16 Ellensburg , WA 98926

Brauniger recently named Mike Eberle of North American PG as the sole US distributor of Briiuniger products. NAP will keep all units in stock at all times. They will also be able to service all variometers in their dedicated electronics shop. For more info contact your nearest Brauniger retailer or call NAP 509 925-5565

SUPER SPACE Certified in DHV June 23 1994, the Edel Super Space medium (25) and large (27) both passed the DHV tests at level II with accelerator. The report states that just one maneuver (negative 180°) was level II, the rest were level I or I-II. The Super Space sm, and lg. & Orion s, m, lg. , will be applied to DHV testing in July.

Edel Demos

Joe Gluzinski of Air America PG will be touring the Western US and Canada all summer, with a truck full of Edel gliders. Joe is working as Edel' s technical and sales rep, and conducting demos where ever he goes. For specific dates and sites please contact your nearest Edel dealer or Edel USA 208 726-1100.

AT Sports is pleased to announce two new and valued additions to our staff. Mike Haley, our new full time instructor, with 18 years of foot launch and teaching experience. Mike is bi-wingual, a tandem instructor and a towing instructor. Mike will be hosting our specialized clinic events for pilots of all levels. Rio Salvemini, our new Sales rep. Rio will be traveling to schools, sites and events across the US this summer, spreading the AT Sports name. Rio will be in your area soon with state of the art equipment for you to demo. Call us to ask "Where is Rio?" As he travels Rio will also be updating our site guide Paragliding in America, for 1996. Welcome Mike and Rio to AT Sports, it's great to have you both with us.

~IREBIRD

Edel and F irebird made a j oint ve nture agreement at the end of June. The new compan y will consis t of Mr. Suh , Mr. Schweiger, His Highness Max Emanuel, Prince of Thurn and Tax is, Schwangua, Germany. The name of the new company is STT AG which will coordinate finan ces, bookkeeping, planning, as well as control the fo ur daughter companies; 1. EdelGMBH 2. Firebird GMBH 3. Profile Sport GMBH 4. AKTIV Freizeit & Bavaria Balloonfahrten

The new Ede l d ealer fo r Ge rm any , Austria, Eastern Europe & Scandinavia is Profile Sports Gmbh, a new trading com-

pany based in Seeg/ A llgiiu. P rofi le Sports will also handle Firebird Sales and Marketing worldwide. The manufacturers Edel & Firebird state that "cooperation with Profile Sports will mean that we can concentrate on development and production and leave the sales and service to a specialized company .This is more efficient and will mean the customer gets even better service."'

a ttac hed to any h arn ess w ith o ut rea r reserve containers.

New Memory Vario Plus Ava il able th ro ugh AT deal e rs and AT Sports, this new unit is ve ry user fri endly. Th e dim e n sio ns are 120x 4 5x2 0mm weight 200g. 12 month warranty. Features; Combined LCD and di gital display, Variable acoustic pitch, Altitude displ ay with o ut lea din g zero , Ra nge to 18,000 ft. Programmable altitude memory, Flight register fo r total # of fli ghts, 15 me mory reg isters fo r re lati ve alt. , 45 Register for max absolute alt. Flight time recorder, Barometer showing air press ure.

AIR THRUST ROCKET At Sports has completed the Air Thrust Rocket Design that fi ts into the back of the AT Trace harness . This rocket is a unique design to AT Sports and can be filled , packed and reloaded without any costly returns to the fac tory. This Design allows you to test fue your rocket periodically to test its reliabili ty. Additionally, this new rear mounted deployment system fits into the rear container of similar harn esses, and is capable of deploying most reserves, including the Free Flight 24 gore tandem. The rocket also comes in a universal cli p on bag design that can be

1 know , I know. we o nl y j ust moved, bu t Florida was only a temporary . (read winter), resting place. We needed to gel the magazine into a more permanant home, and of course we mi ssed the mountains , not to ment ion good ai rtime'' So here we go, by the time you read thi s we will be in our new headquarters in Rog ue Ri ve r , OR. Close t o t he No. Ca l if. Foot Launched Pil ots territory , and also near the Cascade PG c lub , and lots of good Lakeview OR flyi ng. New Address; 890 I Rog ue River Hwy. Grants Pass OR 97527 ph 503 582 1427

FASCINATION OF OUR NEW LINE ALTO VARIO BASIS • Altimeter up to 5500 m ( 17 500 ft) • Yarl analog/digital • Audio - ASI system • Memo for 5 flights

ALTO VARIO CLASSIC/COMPEffllON • Easy to use with audio feedback keyboard ~ Altimeter up to 10000 m (30000 ft) • Audio -ASI system • Nomonal flight calculator • TEK • Temperature indication • Speed • 2 clocks • Memo for 25 flights Additional flight recorder at COMPETITION • Resolution 1 m(3ft)upto6000m(18000ft) • Scan rate variable • 25 flights storable max. 70 h • Speed values storable • Parallel (Centronics) and serial (RS 232) connector for printout Distributors: North American Paragliding PO Box 4 Ellensburg, WA 98926 Ph 509 925-5565 Fax 509 962-4827

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Save the point It's not pointless!!

NORTH SIDE - Point of the Mountain Utah he first signs of development are being seen on the North Side of the Point of the Mountain . At thi s time. access to the site has been detoured in order to build a paved road whi c h will run to the edge of the ex istin g Salt Lake County Fli ght Park. Fortunately in 1990, 40 acres were designated by Salt Lake Co unty to be used by the Utah Hang Gliding Asso. as a Flight Park. Unfortunately , none of the acreage extends below the bench to be used as a landin g zone. Therefore, to keep the fly ing ac tive at this site an L.Z. must be secured before all the land is built upon.

The current developers have agreed to provide 12 a·cres of their land to be used as a landing area if the improvements are made to the Flight Park. These impro ve ments include: sod, sprinkler system. res troom fa cilities, paved parking etc. To make this park an asset to them. it needs to be changed from a 'dust bowl' into a true World Class Site. The improveme nts are es timated at $75 ,000. This fi gure is well below the $20,000 per acre it would cost to purc ha se a 12 acre LZ (if it we re av ail a ble to purcha se) . Negotiations are being made with the city, county and state officials to match fund s raised by UHGA to be used toward improvements.

The "Save the Point Fly-In" August 20 - 21 (see calendar pg. 4) is a call to pilots around the US to help raise awareness in Utah to this national Treasure. Government officials have been formally invited to attend the Fly-In and witness the national draw and econontic potential of this hang gliding and paragliding site. Participants and spectators are needed to raise money, but more importantly, to prove how important the Point of the Mountain is to the national flying community. If you can attend please do, if you can ' t please write a letter to Utah Hang Gliding Asso. stating why the point is important and should be preserved. Include in your letter how often you visit the point and approximately how much money you spend annually on flyin g. Donations are accepted ,please make your check out to UHGA Save the Point. Addresses follow ; S ubmitted by Chri stine Warren. UHGA. Save the Point Committee

Utah Hang Gljding Asso. Draper PO Box 757 Draper. UT 84020

City Mayor I City Council 24 11 S. 900 E. Draper, UT 84020

Gove rnor Mike Leav itt Office of the Governor Capitol Hill Salt Lake City. UT 8411 I

Salt Lake County Commj ssioners 2001 S. State St. Salt Lake City, UT 84115

Attenti on all pilots and clubs. We at Parag liding Magaz ine fee l that preserving our n ying sites is one of the most important things that we as individu als or as a fl ying community can do. We will donate our time and space in the magazi ne and absorb any costs, to be nefit any non profit fund rai sing event, such as thi s. We will al so donate magazines to he lp educate the general public. or government officials to our plight. We encourage all pil ots to get involved in thi s campaign and send us stories of your Let' s set our sights on saving sites ! efforts, in formati on or anything of interest, so that we can help to get the word out.

PAGE 24 PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

CALIFORNIA- National Distance Record (unofficial)

UTAH National Record. Tandem Altitude Gain Date; May 22, 1994 Pilot; Bob Schick Glider; Edel Space, Tandem Launch; Inspiration Point, Provo, UT. Time 4:00 pm, Bob worked thermals up to 13, 350, flew to the top of Cascade then to Rock Canyon, down to 8,700 . then back up to 10,000 above BYU straight glide out to Springville. Altitude gained - 6,600, documented with barograph. Official record status pending.

Out and Return -Triangular Distance Date; April 4, 1994 Pilot; Ken Hudonjorgensen Glider; Flight Design A-4 Site; Inspiration Point, Provo UT. Distance; 22 mi. total distance in 4 hrs. Flight path; launched at Inspo. 1:00pm. thermaled up 5700' flew east to Cascade Mt then south to Camels Pass at Springville, then back to Inspiration Pt., then West to the normal LZ Highest Altitude ; 12,000 ms!

First US 100 + mile paraglider flight. Date; June 11 , 1994 Pilot; Tom Truax Glider; Edel Rainbow 29 Launch; Walt' s Point, Owens Valley, CA Landing; Hwy 360 & 95 in NV. Distance; 124 miles! ! Congratulations Tom. (see Torn ·s story pg 26)

COLORADO New State Record, Open Distance Date; May 29, 1994 Pilot; Gerry Eicholz Glider Edel Super Space 25 Launched on tow at 500' AGL gained 9000' in the first thermal. Distance; 46 miles in 3-1/2 hours Landing; Last Chance CO. Site Record Aspen to Crested Butte Date; June 5, 1994 Pilot; Chuck Smith Glider; Edel Rainbow 24 Launch; Walshes, Aspen Mt. 10,800' msl Launch time; 8:40 am Chuck thermaled up to 14,000' , headed south and crossing the Elk Range at altitudes of up to 17,000' Chuck comfortably glided into downtown Crested Butte. Elapsed time; lhour 35 minutes. Distance 25 miles

Same day, same launch; Pilot; Todd Bibler Glider; Edel Rainbow Launch time; 11 :00 am Todd thermaled up hoping to fo ll ow Chuck to Crested Butte, although he had plenty of altitude, he encountered a building headwind out of the Southwest. He turned back to Aspen. Over Hurricane Ridge he thermaled up to 17,900' , with airport clearance he flew over Aspen Highlands to Snowmass, then to Basalt. After 31/2 hours, and still at 13 000' he decided to come down and land. ' Todd covered 39 miles dog leg distance.

WYOMING New State Record, Altitude Gain Pilot; John Patterson Glider; Edel ZX Vario; Ball Altitude gain; 7150' Altitude reached 15,400

NEW YORK Site Duration Record Pilot; Brad Whittemore Glider; Apco Astra Date ; June 9, 1994 Site: "Secret site", don' t ask' (only I hr. from NY city) Duration; 3 hrs 2 1 min .

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124 MILES, OWE On lune 11, 1994, US pilot, Tom Truax (The Sundowner) logged the first JO the traditional Hang Glider route, along the Sierra's, across the valley, up based on coordinates off the San Francisco Sectional, was about 124 statute

The Day I awoke before the alarm, just after 4 am, for a weather check. Flight service had the winds aloft forecast for Bishop, good till 11 am. Looked like a strong lapse up above and more stable down below. Reports from Team Topa's scouts indicated good altitude and light winds the day before. I'd sent my Sensor ahead just in case the winds were up. but it looked like I wouldn't need it.

Alli C

12 1P.

After some colorful begging , I managed to get my Honey Bunch (Pam) motivated, and we were on the road from Camarillo by 5. We stopped for breakfast in Mojave and noticed the winds were unusually light, it' s typically blastin from the north-west that time of day. A final pit stop in Lone Pine, then up the hill. I'd had trouble launching my Alcor last July, so we scouted the possibilities out on the points, but n We arrived at take-off about 9:30, just in time to see Herb lift off under his Fledge. Launch conditions, had the poll, so they let me up front for the honors. Herb & Rod had launched a bit too early, and were sinking o spread on the edge, and backed down the slide for the lip launch technique. After a couple attempts, we were off and up a bit before I0:30. Initial conditions were pretty mellow, and after finding a core I climbed over I 2 and was on course as the first Hang Glider's got ai rborne. I was the only paraglider for the day. I pulled a pretty good glide staying up on the back ledge. l needed some OJT (on the job training) to figure out the first few stro ng thermal s, but after a couple of overwhelming episodes, I started to get the hang of it. Gliders started passing me half way to the Portal, and I'd have course markers ahead the rest of the day. The altitudes got good quick with pilots reporting over IS early on. Conditions seemed ideal, a light drift from the south in thermals and drift from the west on glide. I dolphined along between 11.5 and 14+, stopping to work up every 2 or 3 peaks. I'd fallen about 15 miles off the lead crossing Onion Valley with 15+. It was pretty easy goi ng with plenty of terrain clearance for comfort. Hit some steep sink on a few glides, but the drift was out towards the valley between thermals . I thought of crossing at the narrow spot, but opted to let the valley heat a bit more and headed on. Rotor reported topping at 16 and pointed across with company . El Diablo got to 17 before pulling in east bound, and TQ was finding heavy sink on the way out towards Big Pine. I left Tinemaha Peak with a good drift just over 16 and let the Rainbow shine, getting to Big Pine with IO+. Picked up a

couple thousand over town and snaked up the river wiggling from one scrap to the next. I tested towards the hills several times, but kept taking the drift back out to the river. Gliders were littered between Big Ears and Gunter, reporting light winds from the south on the deck. Down to 68 behind the airport, I started to pick up a little draw from the hills passing Flynn's. I clim and connected to altitude. I'd been low for about 45 minutes so I took it up to about 17 because it was sweet and ti The Whites were ea y but strong. It was working better up high, so I stayed between about I 2 and I 5. valley (ideal). Rotor & TQ were off the end of the range by the time I got to White Mountain. The course markers ing better up high. I never got below I I. Boundary has some deep canyons, so I climbed up and cut the comer, b took a little stretch looking out past Montgomery pass. The last hour had been a real workout. Lead Chase (Galahad & Bulldog piloting the Bullpen) was catching up as TQ went down in the shades the course was starting to OD fast. l climbed to 16 over Basalt (just north of the pass) in a fading patch of sun. The I rough ridin. Despite the reports of light south-east on the deck, I started to get a push from the west as the develop as [ skirted the bulge, drifting east of retrieval past Miller Mountain. I needed one more to get out to the road and 360 & 95. [ thought r had Mina on the glide as the thermal fizzled and I boated north in glassy-smooth shade. A co went from glassy air into free-fall as the canopy was pushed halfway down from above. After a 200 foot drop, I wa ed toward the intersection , fighting for control under a gyrating canopy. Fortunately, I was fresh from a full day o on his heals. I out-ran the turbulence with a couple of thousand left crossing the road into Mina, and blundered in wanted to take me out toward Pilot Peak, but without dedicated chase I was hesitant to commit to a long hike (w Mina and was quickly clobbered by the advancing turbulence. I decided to throw in the towel and turned back fort The situation got worse, I'd dug a hole and made a stand in the wrong place. About 1500 off the deck, a and advancing micro-burst. The dust clouds were along the boiling edges of the down blast. It was about a mile in descending into the stronger wind below. The turbulence was wicked as I continued to fight for control of the tucki

PAGE 26 PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

S VALLEY CALIFORNIA mile foot launch paraglider flight in the United States. Tom launched from Walt's Point just before 10: 30 and followed he Whites, and out towards Mina. He landed about 6 PM at the intersection of 360 & 95. The great circle distance, iles. The Glider was a 29 meter Edel Rainbow. The winds were light, the altitude good, and the thermals strong.

by Tom Truax

ude

Direction

Velocity

00 00 00 00

010 260 260 220

11 L&V

7 10

Temp in C Temp in F Lapse in F/1000

NA 14 B -10

57 46 14

3.6 5.3

thing looked as good as Walt's. looked good, cycling in up to 10. It was a bit crowded, but Team Topa t to the valley. Utilizing a large gaggle of assistants, we got the canopy

feet, but I was taken by the sharply increasing wind speed the last couple hundred feet. I was backing up at 30 mph 50 ft off the deck and lost a third of the canopy. It twisted off course and surged wildly. I got it under control and into the wind half way till impact and was really covering some real estate. I laid out with my legs behind about 45 degree s and had a square touchdown. I was snapped back as m y helmet cracked the ground. Rolling to crawl up the lines in eerie silence, I realized I'd sprung airborne again. Crashing back to the salt, I lost orientation and struggled to claw up the lines amidst roaring chaos. I got the canopy stabilized after being dragged across I 00 yards of dry-saltyevaporation ponds. Surveying the damage .. . ; dripping blood, tattered hand , shredded clothing, and mangled gear. The wind was whipping about 50 and I could sit and re s t. Euphoric.

The Glider

Retrieval

Galahad Pinky El Diablo Methane Tombstone TQ Bull Dog Rotor Sundowner

Tombstone shuttled me back to pool side in Lone Pine. He' d landed just up the road and said the conditions were calm minutes before I arrived. Watching from a distance, he thought I was landing downwind. The pool side celebration was under way by the time we arrived. We collected tbe stories, and Pinky, rested from a day by the pool, drove us home (says she earned lot' s a brownie points). Showered by I :30, in bed by 2.

Speed & glide increase your options and can get you out of trouble, however, canopies are prone to tucking and surging when flown too fast in the turbulence. I didn 't use the speed stirrup all day. If I could choose from a quiver of gliders to suit the day, I'd probably fly a smaller, faster canopy in the bigger air. My Edel Rainbow gave me the glide I needed to cross the valley, and the sink rate to work the scraps. The Rai nbow 's performance is impressive, but mostly I like it's behavior in the rough air.

Rainbow 28 specs; Span 11 meters Area 29 sq. meters Aspect Ratio

36 feet 310sq.feet 4.3

Team Topa I pushin' the lead Code Names Charles Cole Pam Costin Tony Deleo Dane Jacobs Robert Markert Todd Quayle Guy Roetcisoender Steve Smith Tom Truax

BEYOND THE LAW OF MAN a search for the truth in the wind-of-a wave

Reflections. ed back to 8 out front a nd made a play for a bump just before Gunter ... , e for a view. ases looked around 20, and the drift at altitude was still out toward the acing the lower points persuaded me to be patient because it was work! not too far back in. I topped over 16 a couple miles past the peak and hart of Mina. Ground reports were light from the south-east (good), but ate afternoon air was pleasant, buoyant and soothing after a sharp day of ent off to my 8 o'clock started to swell. Virga was forming behind me aught the last remnant of sun back to 14 thousand a few miles short of pie of miles before the intersection, I got a rude wake up call. I sharply left in a washing mac hine with meanest air I'd had all day. I plummetpractice. A last transmission to Rotor who was up at Gabbs with Chase o a big area of smooth lapse off going up about 300 a minute. The drift eek). As I started to fall out the front of the lapse off, I headed toward e intersection. dust storm built below as I realized I was on the downhill edge of a ripe diameter and coming straight at me. At 500 AGL, I was parked out and ng, twisting, and surging, canopy. I knew I'd need some luck the last 50

The Owens is do-able in the beat of the Summer, if you get the right day . After the flight I was fatigued from fright, and physical ly drained A week later I ache for more. The big air is addicting. We' ll learn the ropes, but it ' ll never be safe. I lucked into ideal conditions. The wind was light, it was working good up high . and the drift was out to the valley on glide going up both ranges. If if if, maybe I should 'a gone with the last lapse. I made pretty good time, but still had 2-1/2 hours left. Gabbs should be reachable . If I could come within sight of Mina on a one day shot, the herd should be able to grasp the limits. Flat land flying is a different game. Pilots will go further off tow. We should recognize foot launch as a sacred category.

where right and wrong are hard to grasp vague and gray but real

and ~ ..W-,!

the moment is there as is never before and never again where hindsight and forethought cannot touch base with The Infinite The Sundowner 88'

PARAGLIDING , THE MAGAZINE

e come together through our sport. We come out of our ntrospective shells into an experience that is elating. We come from many varied backgrounds, nationalities, and lifestyles. Yet as we begin to _open our minds to the lear:iing.i rience, we find that we have more m common than we ever 1mag1 }Vt all have over come our fear, followed our dream, left our every r_1;s earthbound and discovered the sky. This column wasn 't started to highlight "special " pilots or only women that teach or compete. More than that, it was to show the "average" woman that anyone wha has the desire can fly. These women fly because they can. They realized the dream of flight through paragliding, in that aspect we are no different than our male cou,,te;parts. Their personal stories are only just a peek into the lives of these ladies who paraglide. Most of us will never gain notoriety, nor do we seek it. We only want to fly gently, soar smiling, and land softly. And that's enough, and it's ours.

rmstron I've never met Sybil, but I know we would be friends. She has sent me her story and I will share it with you now.

FEAR. It was a brow n potatoshaped vapor. It was waiti ng fo r me a t the e d ge. Waiting to reac h up and pull me down the mo untain. I cou ld see beyo nd th e e d ge to the la ndin g zo ne. 150 me te rs away, whe re Shima-se nse i was wa iting to guide me down p' on my firs t fli ght. Mt. Fuji loomed on my ri ght, bluegrey aga ins t a c lea r blue sky . On my left a line of low mountains fo rmin g a boundary of the Asag iri Hi ghland on the wes t side of Mt. Fuji. The launch site faces south from which the prevailing winds usually blow. Fourth attempt that day al launchin g. I have to do it this time. But fust I have to kick the fear monster. Nakayama, the launch director, signals "dash, dash! ", I started and suddenly I was airborne. I don' t know how or why, may be I blanked out my min d. Anyway, Thad fin ally had fo rced myself to run fast enough to take off. It was a white kn uckled glide with a few turns. I, whimpering the whole way, quaki ng and crying out with each bump in the air. Wind roarin g (it seemed awfull y loud) past my ears, I prayed to God, pl ease let me get my fee t bac k on the ground. I clung like a drow nin g person to the sound of Shima's voice in my left ear. That voice would get me dow n. Please let thi s end! What was I doing up here? I who was afraid of heights! Whal about all of those fin e noble notions of fl yin g with the haw ks, unfettered to the earth . Where was the fee lin g of having overco me human limitations, the glorious visions of fli ght that have gilded human eyes fo r centuries? Well let me tell you, all that turns to ashes in the face of fear.

PAGE 28 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

But, there I was, fl yin g, and there was nothin g to do but do it and land. So I did it. I hit the ground quite hard . My knees were shaking so much that I couldn ' t do a proper runnin g landin g.I collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Shima and my friends came runnin g over full of smiles and congratulations. I felt relieved but foolish with all those tears watering my eyes. I couldn ' l speak. Shima went back to his duties after ascertaining that I , 'w~s OK. T fo lded my g lider, marvelin g at my achievement. T fl ew! It hadn ' t been fun , but I fl cwl So, of course Thad to try it again. Second fli ght was still scary, but less so. I co uld see that this stuff was gonna be fun eventually. M y story probabl y echos the ex perience of man y first time fli ers. Suffice it to say the fear is gone. Nervousness is still very much present, but I suppose that's good. Keeps you alert. T haven' t been fl yin g paragliders long; I started in August of ' 93 . That was the 40th year of my life and I was feeling like T was getting old. I didn ' t and don' t want to lose my sense of adventure. I wanted to challenge myself with something daring . Since I' m afraid of heights, I thought paragliding would do it. The onl y site I' ve fl own is school site in Shizuoka Prefecture near Mt. Fuji in Japan, and so far I' ve only flown the school's training gliders. Someday I hope to fl y XC because if you' re going to fl y, you might as well go someplace. Para glidin g has prov ided me th e chance to overcome a fear and stretch my limits. I love the simplicity of the sport, the fact that everything you need to fl y can be can-ied on your back. It has opened up a whol e new world to me and I look fo rward to exploring it more full y. There seem to be a lot of women flyin g in Japan. I've taken paraglidin g and Karate-do lessons here in Japan and found th at women are encou raged and helped as much as the men are, and as much is expected and required of us. I com.mend and thank my instru ctors for their encouragement. They are always careful and patient, and they obviously enj oy their work.

r s Chris was one of my favorite students. She is an amazing athlete, and she took to paragliding like a true bird. She was soaring the training hill on her third day of lessons. I wish you many pleasant flights Chris. "Before I met my hu sband, Joe, 7 years ago, free fli ght bad never e nte red my mind . Ski in g and mo untain bikin g in V ail were what I thought to be the ultimate thrill s. But whe n Joe introduced me to hang gliding, 1 knew I had been mi ssin g out on exc itement beyond my imagination. After fo ur years of dri ving for Joe and his fri ends, I decided it was time J tri ed it myself. My first hang gliding lessons were uneventful, and T barely got off the ground. While I was hauling the hang glider up the South Side at Poin t of the Mountain, I saw a paraglider for the first time. I learned that the people that were fl ying off the TOP were students, and that it was their first day ! So we contacted the school and before I kn ew it, I was flying off the South Side while Joe flew his hang glider. -;,;;,GI/Iii;;.. Before long T bought m, 1r an ITV Rubis. This glider was re doin g around Vail. It was a great fo r the mountain fly" g lide r I could alw ays count on for easy launching, e ven as high as 13,000 ft MSL. After a year I wanted more (as I suppose is human nature). and bought a Firebird Apache. I have had some of my greatest fli ghts so far with this glider, and have only had it since May, 1993.

My most memorable flight was at a new sight in Wolcott (near Vail) ju st down the ridge from one of the best hang gliding sites in Colorado. I launched al 7 :00 p .m. at 7,900 MSL and was at 12,300 thirty minutes later. This was o ly my second thermal fli~t,so was a little overwhelrrj . Joe has been helping me t<t judgment an intermediate s rnme in check. J try to learn something new every time I fly , most of all learning respect for the forces of nature that we deal with.

One of the best things about fl ying is the great people that we have met both in Colorado and in Utah. We have recently moved to So. Calif. and although we miss our friends in Vail, we look forward to making friends with pilots who fly on the west coast.

I was interested by your paragliding articles on women pilots and thought I would write something about myself Not that I am in any way special! In fact , I am a very ordinary paraglider pilot - if such a thing exists. I am English and live in the French Alps where I regularly saw these colored canopies fly in the ski resorts. Eighteen months ago, I made a dream come true and began to learn. Like many other pilots it quickly became a passion for me. I spent every spare weekend at the paragliding school and as soon as I felt autonomous, I bought my own glider, a Storm 301, manufactured by the French company, US Voiles. It's a good glider and suits me. At firsc it seemed very sensitive compared to the slower models I'd been flying in school but now I feel very satisfied. Living and working in Grenoble means that J can drive to the French Mecca of parapente, St. Hilaire du Touvet, at lunchtimes for a quick flight - the French habit of taking two hours for lunch certainly has its advantages! Then, if I organize my day well, I can get up to the ski resort on the opposite side of the valley for a flight in the evening this can have its problems though as hitching to the top is not easy al that time of day and then if conditions aren 't good, it isn't always easy to hitch down again. I travel quite a lot for my work and during this year's travels have managed to fly in the UK and South Korea. I have discovered a paragliding site near my company's head office in New Jersey but as yet, have never been there on flyable days. So after a year of fl ying, I've managed to accumulate 94 flights at 34 different sites. So I'm looking forward to celebrating the round 100 (next we e11d ma be?). lf any of you American readers come to the ~ps, always appreciate the hospitality I receive where., glad to reciprocate.

My address is Sara Gill Domaine St. Georges ; 384 l O Uriage France

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZIN E, PAG E 29

I grew up around flying , I lived the life through my Dad's experiences. During my elementary school years, when everyone else was having sleepovers, I spent my weekends at the local airport practicing PLF's. At that time Dad was involved in skydiving. In the mid '70's Dad discovered hang gliding. I became his hang driver and trusty sherpa. I got my first real taste of flight on a tandem hang gliding flight in 1987, with my Dad of course. I was hooked, I started taking hang gliding lessons, but at the same time we jointly discovered paragliding. I learned how to fly an Excalibur and a Birdwing. I fell in love. I flew the sand dunes in Michigan endlessly, and I actually got good enough to soar before I got my Class I rating. What a switch from hang gliding.

I first heard about paragliding in 1989 from a newspaper article. Then when my friend Alice and I heard that an instructor was in town to give lessons, we decided to give it a try. We 're members of a Christian group and believe in staying active and alive, so we 've been involved in other active sports; motorcycles (both dirt and road bikes), scuba diving, sail boating, running and bicycling, but paragliding is by far the most exciting and fun sport I've ever tried. I also like the spiritual aspect of it; soaring through the heavenlies-what could be more divine ? After a few lessons, we bought two used Ferrels, a 9-cell and a l 0-cell to practice on, and we had fun with those, but my paragliding career didn't really "take off' till I went out to Ellensburg, Washington, in September of '92 for one of Mike Eberle' s 9-day certification courses. What a wonderful experience that was! Nine days of nothing but paragliding as we went to progressively higher and higher mountains until the last day we were goi~ off 2000 foot Saddle Mountain, doing "big e • ' 360's with Mike's reassiring v~1 ta1king to us through the radiis · helmets . I still had a few more spot 1 'ngs to do when I went home, so I look Dale Covington here in town and he o ked with me till I got those. It was November already and there was snow on the ground, but that was OKI found the dense, stable winter air easier to do spot landings in! My best Christmas present that year was getting my Class I certification. The next spring and summer were unusually wet and cold in the Northwest, but I managed to sneak a fair amount of flying in. In April, I bought a new Apco Prima 24, and I love it. There are only about a dozen PAGE 30 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

of us paraglider pilots here in Missoula (though new students are corning up all the time) so we all know each other and keep in touch as to what ' s going on with everybody. Our best local flying site is Mount Jumbo, which rises 1000 feet from the city's valley floor. It ' s strictly a hike-to launch site, and flying there, you always know eyes are watching you with a city of 60,000 down below. We want to keep our privilege of flying there by staying in the good graces of the landowners and have been working with them and various city planning committees to keep Mount Jumbo as open space-as wild and undeveloped as it should be. It' s truly a special site, with good ridge soaring and thermal lift. But perhaps my favorite place to fly-one wrapped in mystique to me still-is Plateau Mountain at Alberton, which rises 2800 feet above the valley floor. My highest and longest flight to date was from there-an hour and ten minutes-and I got up to 9000 feet, a gain of almost 4000 feet over launch. I flew with Peter Swanson that day , who flys an Apco Astra, but he got up to 13,000 feet and went cross-country to Frenchtown Pond, 15 miles away, as did the other paraglider and hang glider pilots who flew with us that day. I knew I didn't have quite the altitude to make it that far (and besides, my hands were getting cold after being up at 9000 feet for an hour) so I just came down and landed at Alberton and drove the van over to retrieve the guys. Next time I will go cross-country! Well, such adventures are par for the course in this game, and they keep on getting better! There ' s been so much to learn about the principles of aviation and meteorology that it ' s always interesting and always a challenge.

In the summer of '91 , I moved to Michigan to work with Dad at his shop and school, Traverse City Hg I Pg. I learned that summer that what I really wanted was to teach others to fly. Nothing can match the excitement on

someone's face after the "first flight' . It's positively addicting. Later that year I moved to Jackson, Wyoming, to spend a season as a ski bum. I discovered that not only was there an active flying community there, but the flying was as good as the skiing. Many of the local pilots were self-taught and were teaching their friends. None of the local sites were regulated or secured. It seemed like a prime place for a paragliding school. I had a strong

desire to promote safety and help secure sites. I became a certified instructor that summer and started Jackson Hole Paragliding School, with 3 other partners. It's an ongoing project, never easy, but I'm really learning a lot. Recently I've gotten my feel wet at USIIGA board meetings. I want lo give something back lo the sport that I love so much. I think that involvement with the Association is the best way to accomplish this. As with many women who write in, safety in the sport is one of my main concerns. I am working at my own pace lo advance my skills and knowledge. As an instructor I spend a lot of time watching and helping other people fly, and doing demo flights on beginner gliders, but that's the way it goes. I feel it's important that I have knowledge of the equipment that I'm selling. Flying several different gliders has its drawbacks (you never get really wired in lo one glider), and its pluses (you get to experience a large diversity of wings! honing your sensitivity). Flying has helped me to develop a positive attitude in general and kept me moving forward.

I love the flying life!

~ \{

"Paragliding" by Auralee Carlson Who could imagine a sport so free As to capture the heart and soul of me? That when l see bright wings in the air My spirit cries out for me to be there, To climb the hills and lo feel the sky, To launch it above and to silently fly, To laugh with those who've become my friends As we savor the light of a mellow day's end. Oh, let the days of our flying increase And let our hearts be rewarded with peace, As we follow the path of a new frontier And practice our flying throughout the year. The thrill of discovery wherever we go, Up mountains, 'cross deserts, in heat or in snow, To follow the weather day after day, To wait for the winds; to watch and to pray, To dream the dreams of aerial flight Through the turning, Phrygian caverns of night, To feel the pain of Prometheus bound And to break his chains without making a sound,

NEW ZEALAND Paragliding Tour!! Jan. & Feb. 1995 Join "Rocky Mtn. Paragliding" on a flying Holiday! I've been doing Tandems and teaching in N.Z. for the past 3 winters. I know the sites and have the contacts. Join me and other pilots on a tour in January or February 1995, for flying, rafting, fishing and f.U.M!!!

Exultant, to tread the high places of earth Exploding with joy and feeling new birth, To learn the ways of the eagle in flight, learn to judge distance with new eyes of sight.

JUST DO IT I

So come, experience effortless flow Up rivers of air, and Jct yourself go Cross-country, cross barriers set in your mind, The limits of excellence yet to define.

Glenn Derouin Canada

Call me today for details;

403 678-4973

Adventures await for those who would dare To break free of earth and lo take lo the air, And these simple pleasures surely won't hide From those who will come oul to paraglide.

I I A Pilot's Training Manual

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$19.95

~ ~~%C:::

2000 Copies Sold\--------------Revised 4th Edition 140 Pages 62 Illustrations Skills, Aerodynamics, Weather, Equipment, and More Available from paragliding schools, dealers, or direct from

WillsWing 500 Blueridge Ave. Orange CA. 92665 Include $2.00 for postage and handling Calif.Residents add 7.75 % sales tax PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 31

u P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933 (119.) 632-8300 (119) 632-6417 FAX

PARAGLIDING RATINGS RECEIVED IN MAY (Name: City, State; Instructorname)

CLASS I

R,ICE; DA'VE: Arvada, CO; G. Banks/Parasoft ROGERS, RENEE: South Jordan, UT; T. Zakotnik/Above &Byyon.g SANTACROCE, JAMES: Carbondale, CO; C. Santacroee!UP$oaring Sf!UMWAY, JIM: Salt Lake City, UT; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring SMITH, SCOTT: Cedar Crest, NM; G. Bri!!;ntbill@nchantml;\~t PG S'J;AkE):, JO~H{JA: Sl!lt Lake City, U'j:';. K. Hudonjorgensen/irwo-Cim Fly WESTBJ,lOOK, JANE: Cedar Crest, NM; G. Brightbill/Encpantm!nt PG

Region 1 ANGIULO, MICHAEL: Tucson, AZ; M. Chirico/Parapente USA BAGLEY, NATHAN: Soldotna, AK; G. Brightbill/Enchantment PG BENNETT, JOHN: Chugiak, AK; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring BLOXHAM, BRAD: Idaho Falls, ID; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring CLEMENSON, JEFF: Portland, OR; D. Raybourn/HG PG School OR CRABTREE, PAM: Lynden, WA; J. Yates/Mescalito PG DETRICK, LARRY: Wilson. WY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond ERWIN, PATRICK: Vancouver, WA; D. Raybourn/HG PG School OR HARRIS, JAN: Olympia, WA; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring HUBALEK, JON: Jackson, WY; T. ZakotniklAbove &Beyond HUMPHRIES, PHILIP: Bellevue, WA; M. Chirico/Parapente USA KELLAR, KELLY: Greslwm, OR; l,. Pjndar/Over the Hill PG MUNN, li'lEAN: Tet!1>n Village, wY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond SAEZ, STEVEN: Jackson, WY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond TRZECIAK, GERI: Spokane, WA; M. Eberle/Nortj;I Amer PG WOOD, BALNINE: Jackson, WY; T. Zakotnik!Above & Beyond ZAKOTNIK, JASON: Kemmerer, WY; T. Zakotnik/Ahove & Beyond

Region 2 BRAUNING, JAY: Redding, CA; L. Hern/Skyn 4 Hi PG BRUNELL, LEE: Pittsburg, CA: N. Marsh/Chandelie COBLE, J TODD: San Francisco, CA; J. Greenbaum/Airtime SF GILBERT, LEE ANNE: So Lake Tahoe, CA; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports HARTMAN, TONY: San Francisco, CA; J. Greenhaum/Airtime SF LEHMAN, CLAUDIA: Oakland, CA; E. Hern/Skyn 4 Hi PG PERE'.l, CARTER: Palo Alto, CA; T. Swit21t1r/Skytimes PG RHEA, DARREL: Los Altos-Hijls, CA; N. Marsh/Chandelle SCHICK, CAROL: Tahoe City, CA; T. Zakotnik!Above & Beyond VanKEULEN, MICHAEL: Novato, CA; T. Switzer/Skytimes PG

R~gfon 7 ANGLIN, BRU.CE: Mishawaka, IN; J. Steristadvold/Aspen:,l'G 11 BEi<:,tMAN, WA:YNE:}4uskegpn, W, B,.;Fifer/Ttaverse City HG PG DAJ;lP: f)~A: .lvfadison, WI; B, Kushner/Raven Sky Sports

Rigi~us WALSH, BILL: Hyannis Port, MA; K. Baier/Airjunldes

: Le;iµngtont,KY: J. Smns~gvol<lfAspencPG;c ld, 'MD;. F. Lawley/Acceleriited Flight .M©l.,LT€4\, JOlIN: Columbus, QH; J. Stenstadvq,tdl~pen,r~,

· l\~tfo:n:·10!

.·

JERNIGAN! CHUCE':: NotthP<itl.~L; F, Stockwell/Powetch\jfe~A\liation REEV:El.k]3.IC~RD: Huntsvi!)e, AL; C. Mendes/Compact Wings

Region.u;· Pl.iRRON, PEl'ER;.Austin, TX; N. Stanford/Hill Country PG REEVES,TIJAY: Amarillo, TX; C. SantjQroce/UPS.oaring WEA:~']:',,OON1Pall3s, TX; J, Stenst3dvold/A~pen PG WEAST, SHELLY: Dallas, TX; J. Stenstadvold/Aspen PG

Region 12, LoSAURO, GAETANO:Washington Twnsp, NJ; .I>, Bt1!ertAi,\;iuflkie!r ,,

,'.'i

>'I

Region 1 Region 3 ALLEN, SCOTT: Long Beach, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure BARBER, WILLIAM: Seal Beach, CA; L. Love/Torrey Pines BASTIAN, CHAD: Santa Bl!rbam, CA; K. deRussy/HGPG Ernporiurn BERRY, BART: Solaqa Beach, CA; F. Lawley/Accelerated Flight CAMPBELL, KARI: Costa Mesa, CA; R. McKenzie/H:igh Adventure DAVITT, DENNIS: San !i'liego, CA; M..Salvernini/AirtekPG DEBS, ALANt Westwood, CA; J. Gh1zinski/Air America PG deVISO, DANNY: Laguna Nigel, CA; D. Skadal/Flight Systems HALL, TIMOTHY: El Cajon, CA; M. Salvemini/AirtekPG HOWELLS, KEN: San Bernardino, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure KAYYEM, JON FAIZ: Pasadena, CA; M. Misiewicz/Flight Systems LIU, MARGARET: Redondo Beach, CA; M. Wright MATTHEWS, DAVID: Long Beach, CA; F. Lawley/Accelerated Flight MITCHELL, HOWARD: La Jolla, CA; F. Lawley/Accelerated Flight MUELLER, ARMIN: West Hollywood, CA; L. Love/Torrey Pines NOONAN, MIRE: Laguna Nigel, CA; M. Wright PRATT, MARK: Fillmore, CA; R. Liggett/Topa Topa PG SALVEMINI, RIO: San Diego, CA; M. Salvemini/Airtek PG SCHNYDER, NORBERT: West Hollywood, CA; L. Love/Torrey Pines SCHWARZ, MILAN: La Verne, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure WALKER, EDWARD: Kihei, HI; M. Eberle/No America PG

Region 4 BAROODY, ROBERT: Santa Fe, NM; K. Hudonjorgensen/Ahove & Beyond BROOKS, CAMERON: Telluride, CO; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring CAHUR, MARK: Steamboat Springs, CO; G. Banks/Parasoft HARVEY, JAMES: Telluride, CO; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring HEPLER, DENNIS: Magna, UT; C. Snatacroce/UP Soaring HYDE, JENNIFER: Albuquerque, NM; G. BrightbilJ/Enchantment PG KN OWLTON. DOUGLAS: Albuquerque, NM; J C Brown/Enchantment PG LAWREN CE, OTHAR: Salt Lake City, UT; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring

PAGE 32 • PARAGLIDING, THE MAGAZINE

BARKER, STEVEN: Moose, WY,,T. ZakotniklAbove &; Beyopd KLEMOND, PA{JJ,,; $¢attlei,V{A:,M. Cbirico/Papapente USA·: NORRIS, DAV!l)i,Red,niorid,{WA; MXhiril:o!Parapente USA NUT'TER, DAVE: G\\lnas, V{A; J.,Qluzinski/Alr America PO"' POlRIER, DON: . . . ' . Ste.Yti1S4j/J1phiIJente USA:'''.: WILLIAMSON,-JE. 'RXeohlii:WAdventure Sports

R!;lgion.,l

ANDERSON, WALLACE: Anselmo, CA; N; Marshl,Chaii(lelle DUNDAS,KARRJll: Bolinas, CA;T. Swµzer/.Sk.yt~eslilQcc "" GASPARI AN, S(?c'.Cl'!'l\ San I::r1111eisca;>CA;;J, .Greenbaum/Airtime SF LEHMAN, THOMAS: Oakland, CA; J. Greenbaum/Airtime S,F

Regioi;ta CUMMINGS, SCOTT: Laguna Niguel, CA; R. Ryan . FoiJLTZ, KEN!i'lRIC: Santa Barbara, CA; K. deRt1ssy/HG PG Emporium JEJ,3B, DAVID: Jamul, CA; M, Salvemini/Airtek PG MacCREADY, MARSHALL: Pasadena, CA; B,Eµqland/Al) 7j,al Action

RegiQn4

.·,

GAli'lD, WILLIAM: Boulder, CO; D. Whaley/Alpine World.~\lventures P~MAZ, ALEJANDRO: A~pen, CO; J. Stenstadvold/Aspen PG PAULSON, TERRY: Aspen, CO; J. Stenstadvold/Aspen PG WARREN, CHRISTINE: So Jordan, UT; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond

Region 8 NICOLAY, JEFF: Claremont, NH; J. Bouchard/Morningside FP

Region U BR©WN, CARL: Killeen, TX; C. Fontenot/Texas PG BROYLES, DAVID: Allen, TX; C. Stevens!Papapent<:J USA

Class III

Region4

Regfon 1 COVINGTON, DALE: Missoula, MT; K. Hudonjorgcnsen

Region2 MINNING, CHRlSTOPH: San Francisco, CA; J. Lucas MORRISEY, PAT: Foster City, CA; K. Davis REGE, MICHEL: San Jose, CA; J. Lucas SCHIFFMAN, KARIN: San Francisco, CA; J. Greenbaum WILDE, KATHY: Union City, CA; J. Greenb11um

COCHRANE, PAULA: Albuquerque, NM; G. Brightbill/Enchantment PG CORTEZ, CHRISTOPHER: Roswell, NM; G. Brightbill/Enchantment PG ERRETT, BRIAN: Albuquerque, NM; JC Brown/Enchantment PG LEMON, BRYANT: Rio Rancho, NM; G. Brightbill/Enchantment PG SPITZER, TRAVIS: Durango, CO; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring TILEY, RON: Albuquerque, NM; P. Waffelaert/Encbantment PG

Region 7 FJCUTER, PAUL: Ev11nston, IL; J. Gluzinski/Air America PG METZ, RICHARD: Maple Grove, MN; G. Banks/Parasoft

Region 4

Region 8

WESTWOOD, DAVE: Orem, UT; K. Hudonjorgensen

GOOD, JOHN: Salem, NH; J. Bouchard/Morningside FP GUIDOS, DAVlD: Dover, NH; M. Misiewicz/Flight Systems McMAHAN, GEORGE: Washington, ME; R. Sharp/Fight Gravity SUN, KIM: Greenwich, CT; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond

TANDEM ONE RATINGS

TANDEM INSTRUCTOR

RAY LEONARD BRIAN PORTER

MIKE HAILEY CHRIS SANTACROCE DIXON WHITE

Regi1m 10 HAWLEY, SHERMAN: Monroe, NC; F. Stockwell/Powerchutes Aviation SANDIDGE, TONY: Lookout Mtn, TN; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond

Region 11

FOREIGN RATINGS Class I

READ, RUSSELL: Ft Bliss, TX; T. Zakolnik/Above & Beyond

MINDER, THOMAS: Eschert, Switzerland; L. Lou/ron-ey Pines HUTCHENS, JOE: English Harbor, Antigua; J. Lucas/Glidell DAVIES, PAUL: Bath, Avon, UK; J. Greenbaum/Airtime SF

CLASS II

ClassW DEROUIN, GLENN: Canmore, Alberta; D. Bridges

Region 1 GRABER, BROCK: Tacoma, WA; M. Chirico/Papapente USA McNICHOLS, MATT: Jackson, WY; J. Gluzinski/Air America PG

Reipon 2 PARAGLIDING RATINGS RECEIVED IN JUNE (Name: City, State; Instructor name)

CLASS I

Region 1 BAGLEY, CAROLYN: Soldtna, AK; G. Brightbill/Enchantment PG ELLIOTT, ANDY: Missoula, MT; D. Covington/Big Sky PG LINK, WlLLIAM: Seattle, WA; M. Chirico/Papapente USA LUNT, SUSANNAH: Wlison,-WY; T. Zako!nik/Above & Beyond MANSFIELD, ELIZABETH: Teton Village, WY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond MOLL, CHRISTOPHER: Jackson, WY; C. Santacroce/UP Soaring NICHOLS, DAVID: Cook, WA; P. Phol/Sky Hook Sports RANKIN, JOHN: Wasl!la, AK; C. Mendes/Compact Wings STECK, PHILIP: J11ckson, WY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond TASKER, TIMOTHY: Jackson, WY; C, Santacroce/UP Soaring WALKER, ALEX: Wilson, WY; T. Zakotnik/Above & Beyond WALL, SCOTT: Olympia, WA; C. Mul11ck/Tiger Mtn PG

AMY, JOANNA: Pacifica, CA; K. Davis HODGES, JACK: Moss Beach, CA; K. Davis PUTNAM, DAVID: Nipomo, CA; R. Liggetllfopa Topa PG WICKHAM, DOUGLAS: Lafayette, CA: J. Greenbaum/Airtime SF

Region3 BURNETT, GREG: Newport Beach, CA; K. Baier/Air Junkies JENSEN, STEVEN: Long Beach, CA; C. MendedCompact Wings STEVENS, THERESA: San Diego, CA: W. Maurer/HG Center STEVENS, NORM: San Diego, CA; J. Ryan/HG Center

Regio.ll4 KENWORTHY, ANTHONY: Albuquerque, NM; JC Brown/Enchantment PG MAYER, STEVE: Sandy, UT; C> Snatacroce/UP Soaring SMITH, MIKE: Arvada, CO; G. Banks/Parasoft

.Region 11 MURRAY, STEVEN: Houston, TX; N. Stanford/Hill Country PG

CLASS III

Region2

~egion 2

FRIEDMAN, FORDON: San Francisco, CA; F. Weber/uP Soaring GRAHAM, DEAN: Pacific Palisades, CA; M. Haley/Airplay PG OLIVER, GORDON: San Luis Obispo, CA; H. Murphy/Surf the Sky PG YOUNG, STEVE: Belmont, CA; N. Marsh/ChandeUe

HODGES, JACK: Moss Beach, CA; K. Davis NORTHCUTT, CHRIS: San Francisco, CA; K. Davis SCHNABEL, MICHAEL: San Francisco, CA; J. Greenbaum

Region3 GRIGERETT, HELMUT: Laguna Niguel, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure HAYMAN, EDWARD: San Diego, CA; L. Love/Ton-ey Pines HOULE JR, PAUL: Ventura, CA; R. Liggett/Topa Topa PG KIJOWSKI, DAVID: San Diego, CA; F. Lawley/Accelerated Flight LANE, MARC: La Crescenta, CA; M. Haley/Airplay PG MANN, SLASH: Newport Beacl1, CA; C. Mendes/Compact Wings WILLARD, GREG: San Diego, CA; L. Love/ron·ey Pines

Region 4 HANRAHAN MIKE: Aspen, CO; K. Hudonjorgensen

FOREIGN RA TINGS Class 1 INGLIS, TONY: Nedlands, Australia; N. Stanford KELLY, BRJAN: Scarborough, Australia; N. Stanford WILLIAMS, JEFF: Tokyo, Japan; M. Salvemini/Airtek

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 33

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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 PAGE 34 • PARAGLIDING, THE MAGAZINE

FAX (719) 632-6417

P.O. Box 8300, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933 (719) 632-8300 (719) 632-6417 FAX FEDERATION AERONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE CIVL GLIDER CLASS DEFINITIONS At the March CIVL* meeting in Marbella, Spain, it was decided to review the definition of hang glider classes. There were several reasons for doing this. First, a world record attempt made it clear that a Class I (weight shift) glider could be altered to make it qualify as a Class II glider by simply adding lines to the trailing edge. Secondly, the appearance of flaps and other cambering devices need to be clearly classified before meet directors see them and are forced to mak.e a judgement with no guidance. Finally, the development of new designs between hang gliders and sailplanes have required us to look at the problem closely to determine exactly what type of aircraft we wish to consider as hang gliders. The question is complicated and cannot be resolved at one meeting. However, in the interim the following definitions have been adopted to address the first and second problems above. The words in italics are the essential additions. CLASS I - Hang gliders having a rigid primary strucrure with pilot weight shift as the primary method of control. CLASS II - Hang gliders having a rigid primary structure with movable aerodynamic smfaces as the primary method of control in at least two

axes. CLASS III - Hang gliders having no rigid primary strucrure (paragliders). The definition is unchanged. For pilots and meet directors pondering what all this means, let us offer some examples. Flap systems, slats and spoilers that are operated symmetrically so that no rurn results are allowed in Class I under the new defini tions. Ailerons, dragelons, elevons, rudders, ruddervators and most other imaginable conlrol systems are not allowed in Class I. Adding lines to the

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trailing edge of a Class I glider no longer qualifies it as a Class II glider for it is not the primary means of control. A good test to see if an add-on is a primary means of control is to see if tlie glider can be controlled without the addition. We expect and promote the continued development of both hang gliders and paragliders. Such progress will most likely require a continued examination of the artificial limits we place on our sports so as to assure safety, minimal costs and maximum fun. Any pilot wishing to add his or her carefully considered ideas to this discussion should write them down and send them to bis or her country's CIVL delegate. The US delegate is Dennis Pagen (c/o USHGA office) • C[VL is the Commission of FAI governing hang gliding. The letters stand for Commission Internationale de Vol Libre or International Commission of Hang Gliding.

Region 3 Announcement USHGA President Gregg Lawless has authorized Director At Large Alan Chuculate to assume all tlle authority and responsibility of a Regional Director for Region 3 for paragliding issues since he currently resides in Region 3, is active in paragliding as well as hang gliding, and he is more familiar with the names and skills of the pilots in the paragliding commlllllty. Some examples would be: Class 3 ratings, Tandem ratings, and Observer appointments. Please direct all paragliding related matters to Alan rather than to Gregg, or the other two Region 3 directors, Joe Greblo or Sandy King, since they each have minor involvement in paragliding. Thank you. Alan can be contacted at: Box 13451 , LaJolla, CA 92039, or at 619-221-7918.

tlSAGA T's PO Box 8300 Cororado Springs CO 80933 (7i9) 632-8300 fax 632-64i7

his is the story of a soaring clinic especially for women. The fo cus was on building confidence through undertanding of the air. Standing on top of Marshall , a premier flying site in southern California, we were struck by the beauty of the view surrounding us. Behind us, at nearly 6,000 fe et were Crestline and Lake Arrowhead , rimmed in pine trees highlighted by distant snow covered peaks. The air was c ri sp a nd fresh from a morning shower and the view of the city below shimmered as sun began to heat the valley floor. This was a Los Angeles that none of us had imagined.

Jennifer, a truly witty wild-natured woman, and Allen are next in the air. Allen , flying without a vario, chose to follow Kari like a shadow, circling and following the big lazy thermal up and back above launch. I reminded him that "at a new site we stay out in front" and begrudgingly he left the thermal , and found another one further out! (Safety first kids!) Margaret prepares to launch, with her friend and fellow pilot Dick acting as "glider wench" for her, before he set up his own glider. Their excitement at launch was apparent as they took deep breaths and focused their thoughts . Crisp, clean inflations were followed by smooth lifting air, and soon they too were in the growing gaggle of pilots thermaling overhead.

I walked to the laun ch with 6 friends - Class T paraglider pilots and students of mine . We were here at Marshall, from the San Francisco Bay area to work on thermaling skill s. Now, standing at launch at 4050 feet, my "critters" (as we fondly call our students at CHANDELLE) wondered if they really were ready for new sites, new conditions, more air traffic and turbulence. In the Bay area, as here in L.A., it ' s spring and the smooth westerlies are beginning to blow. Most of these pilots had a full year under their belts of coastal ridge soaring and smooth mountain flights , yet non e of them had any significant thermal flying time. They had come back to me for advanced lessons in order to become more comfortable in thermal (spelled TURBULENT) conditions . Now, it seemed, their real fl yin g would begin. Before driving to the launch site , we had a walk-through of the landin g zone and discussion on approaches, site rules , etc. At the beginnin g of our clinic I had handed out informative packets to each pilot. These packets contained written information on finding , tracking and staying in thermals. My morning di scuss ion topic on turbulence associated with thermal s prepared the pilots for the flight. Flying a new site is a sweet thrill. A feeling of anti cipation, excitement, and control fills your body, starting in the stomach for most o f us. The hunger to be in the air pulls at us, espec ially as we can see other pilots launch and circle above us. As we had arranged , Rob McKenzie met with us at launch to di scuss conditions. Rob ' s lec ture is riveting , a sobering talk entitled "Surviving Thermals" . He desc ribed his techniques for canopy surge and pendulum control, he gave us tips for successful flight plans. Marshall is " home ground" for Rob and Diane, who run High Adventure hang gliding and paragliding. Working with Rob enabled my critters to learn more about this site and hear information worded a little differently than perh aps I would communicate it. Rob 's techniques in visualization and his simulation of canopy controls is not only unique, but incredibly effective. The first two in our group to launch were Kari and Jody . I had taught them the basics of paragliding 3 years earlier, when T still lived in Alaska. But as they continued fl ying near their home in L.A. 1 suggested they team up with Rob, the local instructor who knew the sites well. As they launched Kari reminded me that even though she 'd flown Marshall quite a bit, she still felt nervou s entering thermals when others (especially) hang gliders were already there. Her concerns were shared by most of our group . Kari began circling out in front with Jody close behind. Pilots start lining up at launch, and one by one I attached radios to their harnesses. I hoped to talk them through successful searching for and tracking of thermals, and to make sure they keep aware of the increasing air traffic around them.

PAGE 36 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

There is only one thing harder than flying a new site, and that is finding the courage NOT to fly it, if you're not comfortable. Ann had decided to experience thern1al flying and maneuvers under Tandem instruction, rather than not flying at all. Rob offered to take her, and as they prepared for launch, all eyes were riveted on them. Something about two pilots on one glider is just fascinating! Through their smooth reverse inflation and the lumbering, hobbling forward run (similar to potato-sack racing) Rob's calm voice guided them into flight. How is it he manages to rocket right to the top of the stack, even tandem? For more than 2 hours I could see them circling high above. lnci was the last to launch. She let me know that being here seemed a big step for her. She had only experienced a handful of mountain flights , and although she felt prepared to fly, she wondered what would make her relax? I reminded her of our radio communica-

by Norma Jean Marsh tion, and I let her know I had every confidence in her usual cautious approach. I descri bed a technique that I use in mountain guiding, when clients are overwhelmed at the size of the peak or the route that faces them. We break down the task into sections that seem comfortable, fami liar. For example, think about the inflation only, and once you' re inflated, allow yourself to think about the launch, next the flight plan and finally the actual thermalling. "Be in Present-time" as my hang gliding instructors said. Think only about the task at hand. I gave Inci a big hug, and taking a deep breath, she launched. We watched her as she, under radio contact, moved to the house thermal. After talking her through 4-5 turns in the rising air, I told her "remember to relax ... FEEL for the thermal, and listen to your vario". The hair on my arms is standing out, tears are in my eyes as I watch her, unaided, continue to circle upwards, outclimbing an experienced hang glider pilot! What more could I have hoped for? Except wait! It's my chance to fly, now they are all doing well , and most have headed out to the LZ. I wonder if I've missed it. I do the usual prayer to my wind gods, the ones who have lately been snubbing me and sending me too quickly to the LZ, and remind them that as the INSTRUCTOR here, it would look mighty sad for me to SINK out while the students were SOARING!!! Charlie , our delightful and patient driver, laughed at my grumbling and groveling and gave me a hand laying out the glider. I'm off the ground in a smooth gentle thermal , and I follow it to where Rob described the "house thermal" would be. Sure enough, I'm giggling and circling, determined to climb up and join Kari who is on top of the stack. How'd she get there? She doesn ' t know how to thermal THAT well yet, does she? Jody said he thought she'd eaten too many beans .... Anyway, we can't have HER on top, now can we? After a good 45 minutes of working it, I find myself up with Kari. How can I describe the joy and wonder on her face? There is great pleasure in flying side by side one of your best friends. We are laughing, circling each other and the hang gliders, until Kari spies Jody climbing in a thermal to the north. Off she goes to fly by him, "to look at the top of his glider!" Smug little thing, she DOES it! I watch as they all head down to the LZ. Alone in what must be evening glass-off, I'm still climbing. I can easily see Crestline and beyond. Far below the red and gray outcroppings covered in ponderosa pines the sky is developing a radiant glow. The sun is setting and the valley, some 4000 feet below., begins to appear hazy. I'm beginning to get a little cold, and I can see wispy clouds around me. OK, I'll come down , but that nagging voice in my head that says "never leave a soarable sight!"is haunting me thro ughout the descent. Oh well, 1 was anxious to hear the first hand accounts of each of the "critter's" flights. I spiraled down to the LZ and "the group" . They were relaxing at Kari and Jody's motorhome, which had been stocked with snacks and refreshments. What a luxury out here in the dry, desert-like area. Hugging, laughing and recounting the ups (and downs) of thermal fly ing at it's best! They were wonderful , they were entirely satiated and So Very Much Alive!! Tales of flying with the hawks , near brushes with hang gliders, and how Margaret recovered nicely , quite professionally, from a spin!! We weren ' t sure what zip code Allen had landed in, but before we cou ld begin worrying about his health and well being, we saw him re-launch from the 750' training hill. A little chagrined he told us upon landing that he'd underestimated the evening sink in the canyon. So with the "critters" together once again , we headed to our hotel at Lake Arrowhead. Sweet dreams of warm air and winged friends, and 2 MORE DAYS TO GO!!

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POWERED PARAGLIDING HOW DOES IT WORK? by Len & Rick Davids

Background When we fi rst got into the spo rt of powe red paragliding, it was with a great deal of excitement but with some trepidation. Ou r concern of course was of the un known. Although paragliding pilots had already been into powered paragliding welJ befo re we started with no published problems, it was obvious that the evolution of paraglider design up to thi s poin t did not have power systems in mind. The fi rst qu esti on that came to mind was how much power is safe? Co uld excessive power ca use a stall or collapse of the glider? Since we co uldn ' t find any written materi al on the subject (even though a lot of people out there probabl y have already got it fig ured out) we started to do a little in vestigation on our own.

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The simple answer to the qu esti on is that the power system fools the glider into thinking it' s fl ying over a sloping te1rnin. The glider fli es as it norma ll y flies and is only effec ted in two min or ways by the power system. First, it is subj ected to the additional weight of the power system. If the weight range of the wing encompasses the weight of the pilot plus the power system, then this is no problem. Second, as discussed in Philippe Renaudin ' s a rticle " PROP TORQ UE-No tes Fo r Begi nn ers", the reacti o n torque of the prope ller causes a slightly uneven loading on the main risers. This ca n be counteracted by applying a small amount of additio nal left brake or crossing your legs and shiftin g yo ur weight. Another way aro und the torque problem is to obtain ri sers with trimmers. By trimming the ri ght side to fly faster, the glider wilJ fly stra ight under full power. This method is cuITently being used with great success by long-time So. Cal. power pilots Dr. Richard Smith and Steve Roy . One word of cauti on, trim ri sers will put yo ur paraglider out of certification and should be used by experienced pilots only. But lets get back to our main point : that is, "the power system fools the wing into thinking that it is flyin g o ver a sloping terrain·· Fi g ur e l is a s ke tc h of a g lide r w ith an ass umed glide ratio of 6 to 1 (9.5 deg ree slope) fl ying over a sloping teITain that is also 6 to 1. If the terrain is fl at and there is no upward moti on of th e surroundin g air, the pilot is on a "sled ride" and will soon come to earth . If o ur glider has an initi al altitud e of 2000 ft and a speed of 22 mph , th e

figure #l Non Powered Flight

S PCJW!ii]R P~GeS l!HiWIII PAGeS POWER PAGES P<DWER PAGES PCJWER PAGES P6WEII PAGES Pe>WER PAGES P6WIH1f PAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGESPCJWERPAGES descent rate will be 322 fpm with an expected touch down in just a little over 6 minutes (an all to familiar number). You are also familiar with the phenomena of seeing the ground below you moving at 40 mph while the wind in your face remains constant at 22 mph which is the wings design speed. In like manner, if a constant horizontal force is applied to the risers, the wing will fly either straight up or straight down depending on which way the wing is pointed (if you have been at an air show when the sky divers in their sport chutes grab each other and down plane, you are already familiar with this phenomenon). The point we want to make is that the wing doesn't care how it is oriented to the ground, it only cares how it is moving through the surrounding air and the direction of the force being applied to the risers. Unlike a rigid wing aircraft that uses the propeller thrust to push or pull the wing to the required velocity to give the necessary lift, thrust applied to a paraglider can only change its orientation. Thus, if thrust is applied to the back of the pilot to change the direction of the riser force to pitch the wing up, it will fly up in a direction consistent with the orientation of the wing.

Horizontal powered flight. The question is how much thrust is required to maintain level flight? Figure 2 is a sketch of a hypothetical 170 lb pilot and his glider. These forces consist of a 225 lb gravity force ( 170 lb pilot plus a 55 lb power system), the propeller thrust (Fp) and the glider lift force through the risers. We know the gravity force direction to be vertical and the relative pitch angle of the risers to be 9.5 •. Assuming that the propeller thrust is applied perpendicu-

figure #2

lar to the risers (which is the most efficient direction), one can easily solve for the propeller thrust which is Fp = 225 lbs X sin 9.5° Fp = 37 lbs

Level Powered Flight

If you don't want to fool around with geometry, all one has to do is draw a right triangle 222 lbs force diagram as shown in figure 37 lbs 2, scaling the short side to be one (propeller The glider is shown pitched at an angle to the ground that thrust) and the would be necessary to maintain level flight for a glide perpendicular ratio of 6 to I. ie 9S. Assuming that the thrust in question is being held constant side as six ( the to maintain level flight, all forces at the attatch point of paraglider glide the harness and the glider risers arc in equilibrium. ratio). Since the long side of the force diagram (225 lbs) isn't much different from the opposite side, it's obvious that the propeller thrust must be

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fax: 1-616-897-8080 PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 39

OWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER AGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES POWER PAGES approximately one sixth of 225 lbs or 37 .5 lbs. By the way, we are not claiming these calculations to be exact because many secondary effects such as glider weight, change in glider loading, etc. are being ignored. However, our experience and testing shows the numbers to be reasonably close.

Climbing out under power So much for just cruising. What if we want to start climbing out? Lets assume that the power system is capable of putting out 100 Ibs thrust and calculate what our expected performance will be. The force diagram in figure 3 is constructed as follows. A vertical vector is first drawn and scaled to equal 225 Ibs. 2.25 inches can be used as the scale or if you want to be really accurate, use 2.25 ft. Next, take a protractor ( that's one of those things you draw circles with) and draw an arc at the bottom the bottom of the 2.25 inch vector of length 1.0 inches. Finally connect a line from the top of the 225 lb vector and tangent to the preceding arc. You now have a completed force diagram.

figure #3 Climbing out under power

Paragliding, lift is equal and opposite the weight on the wing. As the weight decreases, the forward component of the lift vector that "pulls" the wing forward also decreases. Please note that the above discussion of maximum safe thrust is only analyzing the condition at steady state. One danger of having excessive thrust capability is that unintentional rapid variations of high thrust can cause unstable conditions that could quickly become dangerous.

Conclusion One common misconception we hope to have dispelled is, "adding power to your paraglider will cause additional stresses to, or stretch the lines of your paraglider". Obviously, quite the opposite is true. The more power you apply the less weight the lines see. In other words, powered paragliding is very different than towing since you are being pushed, not pulled up. We have also found that paragliders climb out better on paper than they do in the real world. 500-600 FPM from 100 lbs. thrust is a little optimistic, probably because of alot of factors we ignored. Finally, to quote Philippe, "Not all paragliding wings will be right for paramotoring". Of the 15+ paragliders we have flown under power, a few have displayed unusual side to side oscillations under full power. Before you spend your hard earned cash on a wing for paramotoring, or to determine if your current wing is O.K., talk to an experienced paramotorist We would be happy to answer any questions and can be reached at 805 264-3249.

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// /

If y~u nOW measure the ape·x angle of the force triangle with a compass you will find that the paraglider is pitched up 26.4 •. You can now use either a velocity diagram or a bit of geometry to calculate the effective rate of climb. Without boring you with the details, the climb rate works out to be about 570 fpm. Again, secondaryeffects have been ignored so the actual number is probably somewhere between 500-600 fpm.

Maximum safe power To make what we think is a very interesting point, lets go back to the force diagram in figure 3. With the application of I 00 lbs force to the back of the pilot, the force on the risers was reduced from 225 lbs in the non powered condition to 202 lbs. Application of higher thrust will further reduce the loading on the glider. Thus, the only limitation to how much thrust can be safely applied is the minimum glider loading that the pilot is willing to fly with. If the same pilot were to apply 150 lbs of thrust, the glider load would be reduced to only 168 lbs which would probably be to low for a wing rated to a maximum of 225 lbs or greater. Also of interest is that higher thrust means a lower wing speed because of the lower wing loading. This is just opposite your intuition. As explained in Tim William's article "What Keeps You Up There?" in the special new pilots edition of

PAGE 40 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

Info Pack $1.00 Dealer Info Pack $3.00 Video and Info $21.00 Video and dealer Info. $23.00

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Man's oldest dream come true! Vear-round family FUN! Quick and easy training. No license required for single seater! Nothing easier, safer or more fun! Dealerships available worldwide. Low investment, high return. Complete company training and support. Extensive national advertising. No aviation experience necessary. Destined to be the hottest selling aircraft in the world. You have to see this craft to believe It. Order our fascinating video with complete information on the safest, most unique aircraft ever conceived by man. Video in VHS, Beta, or PAL. Add $10. for Beta, $20. for PAL. Add $2. SiH for Canada, $10. Foreign, US Funds only. Send check or MO or call for COD (US only)

·ttjlWfllots

Low Hours, Excellent condition , no harness included, ONLY $700. call Pete today (619) 276-165

;,ith';;;ograph.• Top of the line flight instrument, has computer downloadmg cable. New $675. used only one season $350. 904461-7048

'93 Air Tee Shadow 25. Low hours well cared for w/ Air Tee harness (med.) 1990 pocket Rocket reserve system. Full face helmet size medium. Total price $2799. If interested call Valerie at 801 572-5869

Excalibur 27 cell 197 lb. max w/ paraporter harness, reserve, & helmet.less than 20 hrs. $750. also '91 pocket rocket 20 gore $400. 208 733-2690

Four Blades, Brand New, Never Run, includes harness $3900. Call Eric 418 875-4280 Quebec Canada

!"!"fllll,llaJU~.1Y!t·Pll:9tS Ls.su,

The Best pilot's fly with 2 varios, so why don't you? Don't miss out when your vario craps out. Ball M30 analog varios w/ audio are an excellent first vario also. Cigarette lighter charger, nicad battery. $100. NEW V/MC call Todd 303 449-7351

AirTek Trace harness w/ back protection and rear mounted parachute container. 20 gore PDA reserve. Both for $450. Call Wade 619 279-5194

Good condition, w/ comp. risers. $900. OBO Ball M-19 vario w/ dual altimeters, quick & accurate. $250. call Nate 208 726-1100 or 208 726-3332

Purple Very Good cond. Proven XC performer. Will sell for $1200. to a good home. 505 281-2176

Nov. '93 model, purple & white, 60 hrs in winter at the beach. No tears, Exe Condition $1800. call Joel 619 221 0910

Practically new glider, less than 8 hrs airtime. Excellent stable wing, for beginner pilot. Comes with harness and helmet. Weight range 120- 160 lbs. If interested call Anne at 307 733 9188

, l~~:,~'-'~' ,-~~,,~~'

•111'!'~'~1··N"'1:iilmr11',t'11tiL&n!RS ,Wr,,,,: Dealer inquiries invited. USA Distributor; Shutte Sails 716 492-1892 or 492-4576

Excalibur 33 cell, 298, fuscia and blue, w/ trim system. 5.5:1 LID. 141 - 198 lbs.In great condition $800. Craig 619 672-4045

/1QOPiJJ

Adventure 210 system in new condition, never flown! $3800. Includes harness and 3 blade prop. also Wills Wing AT 125 Exe. Cond 32.9ft wing span 315 sq ft for large pilots or good for paramotor,$1800. Call 801 226-3748

Rock solid glider for the new pilot. Has speed risers. Hook in at 110-155 lbs. Low hours. Call Tom 801 359-4709

This annual magazine contains articles, info, and stories geared for students, or anyone interested in learning more about paragliding.Incl. current info on motorized paragliding. To order a copy please send a check or money order for $6.50 for orders in the U.S. $8.50 for other countries, to Paragliding Magazine/ New pilots issue; PO Box 208 ; St. Augustine, FL 32085-0208

IUlll1 RogH River Hwy. Grants Pan, OR. 97527

Florida Flatland Flyers has lost its member list from a computer crash. If you've called before, please call again so we can put you back on the list. FFF PGC is now a USHGA chapter and should be flying soon. Call Fred 904 767-5768 or Bruce 813 831-6359 Tirnnks.

Paragliding the Magazine makes no warranties or representations and assumes no liabilities concerning the validity of any advice, claims, opinions, or recommendations expressed herein. All individuals relying upon the material do so at their own risk. When purchasing a used glider, be advised to carefully check it's condition for air worthiness. If in doubt many paragliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion about the condition of the equipment that is appropriate for their skill /eve/ or rating. New pilots should seek professional instruction from a USHGA certified instructor.

Introducing the new SUPP A.LR: rocket~equipped harness system. In cooperation with the most popular paragliding harness designer in Europe-Pierre Bouilloux-Second Chantz now offers the first readq-to-flq paragliding harness package with built-in n.1.n.· rocket and parachute of qour choice for an unbellevablq low package price. Rdd-on A.I.R." rocket s1stems also available. Call or write todaq for our 20-page product catalogue.

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RENO, NV 89502 U.S.A. FAX 7028292079

In Europe

p U P E U 0 E SINDELSDORF, GERMANY GUT 1'10HLECK, D-824044 FAX (49) 08856/82 416 TEL. (49) 08856·82413

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZINE• PAGE 41

/L'f~1:r·'"~:!~l·l/:cs1<,w1NG$ . ·. The official monthly magazine of the British HG and PG Asso. Subscription (Visa or Mastercard) to BHP A The Old Schoolroom, Loughbirough Rd., Leicester LE45PJ, England or phone 011 44 53 36 11 23 1

Thi ACCESSORY IHOP Paraglider repair service, reserves repack and inspection. Custom gear bags. Complete parachute/paraglider loft service Fax (303) 277 - 9839 Phone(303)277-9857

~tv tME ALF-s 1

Stay with other pilots in the heart of some of the best Alpine sites in Europe. Verbier, Avoraiz, Miussy, and Lake Annecy are only one hour away. Stay at our lodge in Chamonix, fly the Aiguille du Midi, plan Praz, les Grands -Montets and others all lift accessible. $600. includes 7 nights hotel, breakfast, dinner and transport w/ guide to all sites. Discounts for instructors with students and large groups. Call Alex in Chamonix 0113350540072 fax 3350541741

'!ULTRALIGlilT AIR(!fRAPT New Publication ULTRA FLIGHT Magazine has plenty of information, picture's and stories on this exciting sport. Buy, sell, trade, fixed wing, powered parachutes, hang gliders, rotor, balloons, blimps, sailplanes, and kit built aircraft. Sample issue $3.00 Annual subscription $36. Introductory offer of only $24. Ultraflight Magazine 12545 70th Street North; Largo, FL 34643-3025

Here's your chance to fly the best! Joe Gluzinski will be touring the Western US & Canada this summer as a Tech. Rep. demoing Edel gliders and products from July 5th thru Sept. 18th. Locations EDEL can be found; July; Marshal, So. CA Santa Barbara, CA San Francisco, CA Bend, OR Portland, OR August; Golden, BC Lake Chelan, WA Seattle, WA Missoula, MT Jackson, WY September; Aspen, CO Pt. of the Mtn, UT Flagstaff, AZ For specific dates and locations contact your local dealer or call

EDEL USA 208 726-1100 PAGE 42 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

ParagUdlng;SctfbqtJ~1~itJ11!

i'"Niiv.11,pUc,ts ·\iic:leo

Name; OREGON°PARAGLIDJNG Location; The shop is located on the busiest street in a destination resort town (Hood River Oregon - world destination for windsurfing the Gorge). Excellent exclusive use teaching sites throughout Oregon, including access to 4000' Gondola for advanced pilots. one full time instructor available through next year. Computerized office with everything setup. $25,000 in inventory. For details write to : Oregon Paragliding c/o Kev Arends Box 63349 Saddleback Dr. Bend, OR 97701

Super new video from Touching Cloudbase author Ian Currer. Takes you through an overview of paragliding lessons, to speci fie ground schools on aerodynamics and micrometerology. A great compliment to your lessons. Nicely filmed on England's rolling hills, and cliffs. $29.50 + $2.90 1st Class postage. Visa /MC or send check to Paragliding Magazine Order yours today! 904 461-7048

, .,KJNt'8~.t~IJ·Air~<itAR!Nt1

U A R I

Super light weight Pneumatic Inserts for your Hi-top or regular shoes. Can be used in other sports that demand extra support as well. Made in USA 1 yr. warranty, versatile, durable. Special Intro. --1' Price, ONLY $87. a pair. 9.0" add $5. S&H ORDER NOW! AIR MED PO Box 148; Nipomo, CA 93444

Vacatiori' Time I Tired of the hum drum life of 9-5 ? Then call 509 925-5565 and get more information on the following tours; Reno/ Tahoe Nov. 7-13 1994 Hong Kong/Macau Nov. 19-26 1994 Venezuela Dec 1994 Scuba In Tonga Feb. 1-8 1995 New Zealand#! Feb. 9-20 1995 Feb. 23-Mar. 5 1995 New Zealand #2 Euro. Alps June 1995

Ready to Mbve Priced to sell! Stellars, Challengers, Flight Design B-2s, Apache 2, Wills Wing, Sphinxes, Rainbow, Advance Sigma 2, Excaliburs, Corvette2, FM Radios $260. Call for details 909 654-8559

DEALERS, SCtJQO.~S 1 · .

. -.-

fl.fl . .,;. ..... , "': mo

do you ~.!lVf,81'.'i}t~ !.lllt, , ea

rte. , .

yo~ wartt~r

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r 1>ag

t1Jed It

only costs .SO¢ a people read. It. CI au c;[lit ~·(!. Auguitlne;jl;t

3Q.QO -

• 1

R A D I 0

Specializing in electronics, communication, GPS navigation and flight decks. Allow a fellow pilot and licensed ham help you decide on a system that suits your needs.Radio prices fluctuate call for the current price and specials. Yaesu FT 411 $305. Yaesu FT416 $265. Yaesu FTllR $289. Icom P2 $339. Alinco DJ180t $255. Alinco DJ180h $249. Kenwood TH 28A $329.95 Kenwood TH 22 $289.95. Mobile radios 50w units from $329. All ham radio models available. MARS/ CAP MODS available, with warranty intact. Antennas: 5/8 wave gain duck $17.95, 5/8 wave telescopic $20.95, 1/4 gain duck $14.95, special mounts available. Tow rope 1/4 poly $35. per 1000'. Mason releases $47 .00 Hook Knives $14.95 the good ones. New Flightmate Pro GPS $795.95 incl. accessory package. Avocet Flight Watch$120. Vario's Vario's and more Vario's from most mfgs. Ball M-19 demo $394., Aircotec Piccolo demo $376., Flytec, Brauniger, new Tangent Flight Computer if your in the market for a vario give us a call. We either have the best prices or we'll try to make it that way.We represent most manufacturers Ball, Aircotec, Flytec, Brauniger, NAS products from helmets, parachutes, paragliders, High Energy Sports harness, Quantum parachute, Helmets from Panoramic and Reflex, Ballistic parachutes from BRS and Second Chantz. Our new motto "YOU SHOW US YOURS AND WE'LL SHOW YOU OURS"(best price)! Kentuckiana Soaring 425 Taggart Ave.; Clarksville, IN 47129 ph# 812 288-7111 fax 812 284-4115 Send SASE for sale flyer.

Some of the new certifications fo Medium 1994 : Sphinx 11 A's, 1 B, Ph ocu s 12 A's, DHV 2. New XL o XS sizes available. Phocus projected 31 , Sphinx 20m and Phoenix 20m. NOVA designer, Hannes Papesh has continually led the market in innovative glider design since the Comet ex in '89. 1994 NOVA gliders go faster & gllde farther with dramatic reduction In llne drag. French magazine Vol Libre measured the Sphinx and Phocus as the fastest gliders ever measured I ifhe Phocus uses 20°/o less line than even the low line count Sphinx, giving it performance above its intermediate cl ass. Fewer, thicker lines are the future. Call for independent European Magazine glider review or color catalog. Also all types of first class accessories available.

COTE

•! l .l)]: . •••••r • • ~p •· ~

PICCOLO $420

by Dennis Pagen

- Alllmeters: 3 adj. modea G-25,088 Ft. - Varlomettr: Adj. slnt/1111 setpolnl and audio lone ,- 4,000 1pm dlgllal/LCD needle Indicator 1 - RF shielded; Auto POHi IGYII - Weighs 7 oz. Incl. latttrf - Opllonal 1p11d probe (G-75 111pb)

!!The best way

Ito improve ...

PARAGLIDING j FLIGHT-$19.95 The most widely used training manual, full of advice. 208 pages, 170 photos and Illustrations

; ••• and to befriend '~ the air! ~

ALIBI

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ALL FEATURES OF PICCO LO ABOVE PLUS:

- flight counter/Total fllghl·tlme - Slop watch - Maximum Alt., highesl climb role sloroge - Peok value memory - 200 hrs. bollery life - Weighs 6.3 oz. Incl. Battery

PRIMUS

BAROGRAPH $1,075

.i'\

AU FEATURES OF AUBJ AND PICCOLO

Swiss mode, Swiss occurote, Ille, simple, rugged ond meeting NAS Distributing crllerlo. All AIRCO!EC Instruments ore bocked by roctory trained U.S. technicians and a l year warranty. H.G. or P,G. mounting system. accessory bog. safety roP.e and batteries ore stondo1d.

...~ I

THE SKY

& UNDERSTANDING ~ THE SKY-$19.95

The best guide to large and small scale we ather effects. 288 pages , 270 photos and illustrations

,_.,,.,n..,,,ll!I.

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Send total for books plus $1.95 shipping to : Sport Aviation Publication, Dept BP, PO Box 101, Mingovillc, PA 16856

MINI VARIO ONLY $169.

ABOVEPWS: - Barometer - Spud prob, - Clock (realllm,. stopwatch) - Temperature - Aulo battery switch over - larograph (conne.cts direct lo printer) - Weighs IU oz. Incl. balttrlH - Too many other leolures to llsl

New Dealers Welcompl

UNO ERSTANDING

Worlds Smallest Vario! The New Paragliding Standard 2 Year Guarantee Clips to helmet, cap, chinstrap etc. 00 Hours on batteries -1200 fpm Fast Response Very sensitive in light lift

Check or draft only to;

Mallettec Box 15756 a Ana, CA 92705

714 541 -2625

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GMI Corp. ( ITV /USA ) P.O. Box 451 Glen Cove, N ew York 11542 I USA Phone : 516 I 676-7599 Fax:516 I 676-0106

AT Sports Flight Design -Pro Design -Edel

;.,·

'---~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~----J'

.fAFRC1USA

Olslributed in North America solely by lkaros Sport Aviation (ISA). Malling Address· 39.11 Ditmars Blvd. #110, Astoria, NY 11105, Tel 718.777.7000, fax 212.942.8155. Visit us at 29·31 Newtown Ave., Astoria, NY. Exclusive dealers of MOYES Hang Gliders. Plus Paragllders , Paramolors, Aerochutes and Microlights.

PAGE 46 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

PARAGLIDING, lliE MAGAZINE• PAGE 51

PRRR6LIDIN6

S C H O O L S

Enchantment Paragliding

From sand training hills to dozens of mountain sites across the state, learning to fly in New Mexico's uncrowded, crystal clear Skies Is an unparalled experience.Learn mountain flying, towing, thermalling, and X-C from USHGA certified Instructors. A variety of gliders, accessories and safety equipment available. Euro flying interest you? Call or write for more info.

_'-- --===--'

PO Box 1082; Cedar Crest, NM 87008

New Mex,·co (505} 281 -2759

( 90 7) 563-

~ ·"

Golden Eagle Paragliding is a full-service school and shop specializing in Pro design, Edel,Ball, Brauniger, Flytec and morel Our ~ ~ USHGA Certified Instructors utilize the latest in techniques and equipment. Guided tours available throughout Alaska! Come fly with Golden Eagle Paragliding and SOAR WITH THE EAGLES! Owned and operated by Bruce and Tami Hamler since 1989.

500 West 42nd Ave, Anchorage, Alaska 99503

CIMI•., Pa.., 9'.clh:acl

GMI: Paragliding I Paramotoriog I T owing School

r~'

,.,

.___·-_ ___.

GMI Paragliding

GMI: June I July I September Paragliding Trips to Chamonix,France GMI: Represents Exclusively SUP'AIR & ITV in N. America Sup 'Air being the world leader in paragliding accessories. GMf: Free catalogs and Brochures

PO Box 451, Glen Cove, NY 11542 Fa x 516 676-0106

NEW YORK

(516) 676-7599

ALPINE World Adventures

COLORADO (303) 440-0803

Boulders premiere paragliding school, est. 1988. Come to learn or just to fly in the Rocky Mountains. We are the U.S distributor of Firebird products. and dealer for Ball varios and Hanwag Boots. Other accessories available in our full service shop. For more info. please call Dave Whaley or stop by.

4439 N. Broadway unit E 2 Boulder, CO 80304

GLIDELL-SKYTIME PARAGLIDING Instruction and sales with our certified staff. Towing clinics and Tandem instruction, Summer paragliding tours in France and Switzerland.

California

(Charier nigh1s '" aliuble)

(415) 868-1330

555 Bryant St. suite 258, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Fax 415 424-9704

EiJPitman~ ·Jt

N. California

Personalized instruction, beginning through advanced skills.

INSTRUCTION THAT DEVELOPS EXTRAORDINARY PILOTS!

1-800-SKY PILOT PO Box 188 Shasta, CA 96087

UP SOHR I NG CENTER

Two full seruice ha ng gliding a nd pa ragliding schools , located at t he nations mos t consis t e nt sites; Torrey Pines, CR. a nd Poin t of the Moun tain, UT. St a te of t he art t raining gliders, etcpe r ie nced instruc tors a nd ideal condit ions set UP apart from the r est. Tandem and s olo Ins truction, ye ar round. Call for a n informa tiue brochure. COME 2 UP

So.Calif.(619) 452.3202 (801) 576-6460 UTAH

JJ 0 So. California •Touring over a dozen great year-round sites in Calif Baja. IA

(619) 753-2664 PAGE 48 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

•A lr)unkies just love to fly, so that's what we do! •Professional Instruction from beginner, through Instructor. & •Flight test the equipment that's right for you! • 253 Rodney Avenue, ;Encinitas, CA 92024

S C H O O L S

PRRRGL I D I NG

North American Paragliding Become a pilot under the guidance of USHGA certified instructor Mike Eberle . W e offer year-round instruction for the Pacific Northwest, sales/service of all major brands, and world wide adventure tours. Distributor for Flight Design, Brauniger, UVEX, Meindl, and more.

P.O.Box 4 Ellensburg, WA 98926 fax {509) 962-4827

Wash .• ngto n (509) 925-5565

Hill Country Paragliding Inc.

TEXAS

Learn complete pilot skills with Texas-style fun at Hill Country Paraglldfng Inc. Our per:,onalized USHGA certified Class I training Includes ridge soaring, toot launching and tow launching from sites in central Texas. Motorized paragliding instruction and equipment is also available. We offer a full range of the besl paragliding equipment, towing accessories and novetties from a variety of manufacturers.

1 • 800• 664• 1160 4800 Wlspering Valley Dr. Austin, TX 78727

Accelerated Flight Systems o CaII"fornI•a

Personalized, USHGA Certified paragliding and hang gliding instructfon. Courses are expertly run on a friendly. informative basis. We have been introducing people to the world of foot launched flight since 1976. New and used gliders and accessories. Ball, Cornet, Edel, Firebird, ITV, Second Chantz, Wills Wing, and others. All skill levels welcome. (

P.O.Box 1226 Del Mar, CA 92014

•

61 9)

481 • 7400

fRAVERSE CITY H.G./ PARAGLIDERS

M•ICh I•g an

Put your knees in our breeze and soar our 450' sand duhes! Full time shop. Certified instruction. beginner to advanced, foot launch and tow. Sales, service and accessories for all major brands. USA distributor for Pegas Paragliders and motors. Vlsa and Mastercard accepted.

(616) 922-2844 1509 E. 8th St. Traverse City , Ml 49684

ABOVE & BEYOND

_____

,__

Above & Beyond is the first paragliding school in the U.S. Est. in 1987, at the Point otthe Mountain, near Salt Lake City. This is the best inland training site in the U.S. featuring year-round drive to launch sites. Our USHGA Certified Instructors will ensure you receive personal instruction and the finest training available. We provide everything you need to become a pilot; including tandem instruction and 3314 W. 11400 S. So. Jordan, UT 84095 _, advanced training.

UTAH (801) 254-7455

UT.'A H (8Q 1} 359 • 6036

---,-

SOUTHWIND Hang Gliding USHGA Certified Tandem Instruction. Come learn to fly XC with Nationally ranked pilot Bob Schick. Specializing in advanced tandem instruction, thermal and XC . clinics and custom tours of the breathtaking Utah and Wyoming scenery for both hang gilders and paragliders.Southwind is the proud manufacturer of the Brain Bucket and Back Buddy, and new Brain Bucket Full Race Helmet.

106 E. Capitol; Salt Lake City, UT 84103

--.. ---..

SOUTHWIND HANG GUD/NG

Thermax Paragliding Year round flying at the easiest site to learn. Drive -up wide open launches and LZ's at 1200· volcanic craters. 10+ mile flights. 1 hr. from the Grand Canyon. Cheap lodging. Dealer for almost everything, specializing in Edel. Class m instructor w/ tandem and motorized backpacks. 2 day classes from $195.

1500 E. Cedar #10 ; Flagstaff, AZ 86004

ARIZONA (602) 526-4579

n IR TEK Paragliding School San Diego So. California (619) 450-0437 4206 C. Sorrento Valley Blvd.; San Diego, CA 92121

Take advantage of San Diego's weather. nearly everyday is a good flying day. Class I certification $450. six days of training including high altitude. Accommodations, airline reservations. and transportation arranged on request. Teaching since 1989. Class Ill Tandem rated instructor, excellent safety record.

Alr //1 LJ

PARAGLIDING, MAGAZIN E• PAGE 49

PHRR6LIOING

SCHOOLS

• Certified USHGA Introductory to advanced lnstruction COLORADO • Instruction PARAGLIDING • Tandem Year round mount.am tours of Colorado and Utah

(303) Boulder

278-9566

MES CALI TO 50639 Obyrne Road• Sardis, B C.• Canada • V2R 2Pl

(604) 858-2300 Only one huur from Vancouver. 8.C. and Bellinghnm WA.

~--

~ 5UN \/ALLEY

PARAGUDIN6

• Dealer for most major brands, including Trekking and Aircotec 18301 W. Colfax, S-101 Golden CO 80401 FAX (303) 750-3226

•USHGA AND HPAC Certified paragliding Instructors •Tandem Instructors •Paragliding tours in Europe, South Africa, & Mexico •Distributor for Sup' Air, US Voiles and the New "PROFILE" with 7 to Lglide, 1.0 m/sec. sink and all A's! •Dealer For Pro Design & APCO

SUN VALLEY PARAGLIDING The most eicperlenced and comprehensive flight school. We specialize in tandem instruction. Our certified instructors and USHGA appointed towing administrators wlll ensure you receive the finest training available. The local topography is the perfect location for our XC and mt/thermal seminars.Visit our shop at the base of Bald Mtn. where our full llne of flight equipment and knowledgeable staff will satisfy all of your paragliding needs. PO Box 571 s, 301 Bell Dr., Ketchum ,ID.83340 fax:208 726-1149

COMPACT WINGS

So. California (909) 654-8559

IDAHO (208) 726-3332

Located @ the famous Soboba site, which combined with other local mtn. sites & great weather. offers more in altitude gains and hours than anywhere in the USA. Year-round tandem and solo thermal instruction (our specialty). 5 day course, $395, 8 days $595. Class Ill tandem Instructor Cary Mendes has 5,000 hours flying experience. Less than 2 hrs. from LA & San Diego.

1271 Avd. Florlbunda, San Jacinto, CA 92583

!"'l1li.., ~~ TO FU'

r PA

l \I

GLID

'i\JIA

' ~ AIRPLAY PARAGLIDING SCHOOL

'-¥~

~~ s.t...t

We are located at world famous Kagel Mountain. L. A. 's most popular flying site. Our full service retail shop offers complete lines of clothing, books and magazines, flight suits, cross country gear, instruments, gliders, harness repair facilities and much, much more. Year round certified instruction. Eric Heister

1329 Corte De Primavera; Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

805 5 29-7100

' -- -' - -- - - '

ADVENTURE SPORTS

NE VA QA .

( 702) 883•7070

Paragliding - Hang Gliding, learn the sport of your choice today and start . - . .. your adventure tomorrow. s;erra toura our specialty, Lake Tahoe I Reno. ~ Learn to fly the mountains. USHGA certified school and ratings. ~ · · ~ Dealer for Ed~I, Pro Design,. Wills Wing, Pacific Airwave. Sales · Service - Instruction. - -· -- · ·.

3650 Research Way #25, Carson City, NV 89706

~,JIUU8\ .S.,C..N FRANCISCO 2

Personalized instruction, small class sizes, custom scheduling. Training hill in the quiet Marin country· side. USHGA certified instructors. Lesson packages Introductory to Class I, Class Il, Soaring and mountain flying clinics. Full service retail shop, all major brands

1595 East Francisco Blvd. Su i te F; San Rafael, CA 94901

Bay Area

415-GLID ING (454-3464)

Your school Ad should go here. For info. call Claudia at Paragliding Magazine (904) 461-7048 or fax (904) 461-7017 PAGE 50 • PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

Air Thrust Rocket Deployed Reserve. reload and refill In the field Hand Deploy Capability

~---

FREE COLOR catalog available, call or write to Airtek

"Where before, there was just no CONTEST ..." • The new advanced glider from PRO-DESIGN • For cross country flight •

1"EST PRO-DESIGN USA Shasta Air, Inc. 2608 Hartnell Ave. #6 Redding, CA 96002 Phone: (916) 222-4606 Fax : (916) 222-4640 PRO-DESIGN SINCE 1986 · PARAGLIDERS ·HARNESSES· RESCUE SYSTEMS