USHGA Hang Gliding June 1997 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

Sail area sq ft Nose angle deg Wingspread ft Aspect ratio Double surface area % Battens (upper+ lower sail) 11 Weight lb Min Pilot lb Packing bag length Short-packed length

134.55 130° 32.48 7.84 86

142.08 130° 32.87 7.60 86 21+4 68J4 122.00 188 00 ]6J4 l:l.62

155.00 130° 34.12 7.51 86 23+4 7385 166.00 243.00 17.06 13.62

142.08 130° 32.87 7.60 88 21+6 72.74 122.00 176.00 16.34 13.62

155.00 130° 34.12 7.51 87 23+6 77.15 165.00 242.00 17.06 13.62

The lcaro 2000 Full face Helmet is ovailoblo from your locol hong glidin,J or porogliding shop or direct trom JUST Fl.Y. It comes in Whitt, and Corbon Optic finishes. Mode of Carbon Fiber and Kovlor, it's cerli· fied in Europe (CE95) for hang gliding and parogliding. Contact JUST FLY to order or to get your copy ot the certification standards.

AVB East: 1530 Eastern S.E. · Grand Rapids · Ml 49507 Ph. 616.2457.777 Toll free: 888.ICAR02000

ICARO 2000

· Via Verdi, ·19 21038 Sangiano (Va) Italy Tel. ++39·332-648.335 · Fax ++39-332-648.079 http: //www.alphasys.it/icaro ·· E·Mail: icaro@alphasys.it

(USPS O17-970-20 - ISSN 0895-433X}

W. A repon on the new copless gliders on display ar Jnduga '97.

34 Cloud Suck by Jim (Sky Dog) Palmieri and Mike Vorhis Avoiding the dangers inherent in Aying aroW1d clouds.

40 Arizona Cross-Country Contest by Mal'II Manross

When it's good ic's great. When ir's bad it's ... still pretty good!

48 A Hang Glider Pilot's View of "La Cage" by Rich Pruett Another kind of weighr-shifr, foot- launched flying.

Columns

Departments

Accident Reports, by Luen Miller .......... 13

Airmail .......................................................4

USHGA Issues, by Bill Bryden ............. .44

Update........................................................8

Product Lin es, by Dan Johnson .............62

Calendar of Events ............................ .. ..... 14 Racings .... ................. ................................19

Classified Advertising ..................... ......... 52 Index to Advertisers ................................. 62

JUNE 1997

Gil ·Diidge11,•.Mao,1g,1J)gl;1//t<Jt!Fdiiotin.·c;1.1M Dave:l'Jlµmls, .Art.Director John. Heiney, Gerry Charlebois, licroy.Cli'a111Jis,Mark Vaughn Pht"togmpher$ Marry Martin, !1/ustrntor t;>ennls. Pagen, Mark Stui;ky, Geoff .Mmnford, G.W. Meodows, Jiml'a11)1ieri; smrf,Wriu)1'.,

De:1r Editor, Many of your readers know from per· sona\ that Utah is a wonderful place to enjoy bang gliding. The area from Ogden to Provo known ,ls t:he Wasatch Front (which includes Salt Lake City) is home to the vast majority of the people in this state, and happens to have some of the best soaring sites that any hang glider pilot could hope to call local. Along with all the disadvantages of such a concentration of population comes the great benefit of readily available jobs. Most hang glider pilots here live and work within a short drive of an excellent flying site. Each summer the "Poiut" plays host to foot·launch pilors from all over the nation and the world. 'The South Side launch has a unimproved camping area. Novice pilots can arise at dawn Lo smooth ridge lift nearly every morning, and practice top··landings at one of the easiest top,Janding spots on the planet. But watch for the rowdy air that occurs later in the morning when the thermals start. Often in spring and summer the pre>· vailing south wind reverses in mid-afternoon, making the North Side ridge soarablc with thermals. Although less frequently soarable, the North Side offers an excellent opportunity to practice ther·· maling skills, "bench up" and get high with beautiful alpine scenery. Visiting pilots can camp at the "Poinr," fly the South Side in the morning and then fly one of the mountain sites. The "Point" is an important gathering place for the international foot-launch soaring com·munity. Over the past two years it has become irrcf1Jtably clear th,it the Wasatch Front has quickly evolved a "boom town" economy. The population is exploding, and the unstoppable urban sprawl is consum·· ing LZ's and threatening launch sites. The expanding population base, which is the very thing that mnkcs it possible for so many pilots to live here, is threatening the closure of the most popular and well-VQLLJME

No.6

known soaring site in Utah. The geological forces that created the Point of the Mountain as a nearly perfectly sculpted soaring site also left it as a major deposit of gravel. As the demand for house foundations and roads increases, so docs the demand for gravel. Gravel mining on the South Side has increased noticeably. The ridge height at the west encl is now lower due to the local soci-cty's voracious appetite for construction materials. The North Side is suffering from housing development. For those of you who have not been here lately, they arc actually building srrects and houses on the North Side bench! While the launch site is a county park and relatively secure, the I.Z is planned for a light industrial park. A group of dedicated hang gliding enthusiasts is mounting an effort to secure hang gliding fen the future at Point of the Mountain. There is a possibility of designating the South Side as a historical thus diverting the gravel mining. People have been soaring there in various types of craft since the l 930's. The group is also negotiating with rhe city of Draper for a permanent LZ on the North Side. The time has come for a letter-writing campaign. Most of us hate writing letters, but it is a proven means of influencing those normally unrcach-· able people who make the decisions that determine our fate. Those of you who have partaken of the wonderfulness of flying at the Point should need no further motivation. Pilots who have not been here yet should be planning a trip. Please take a few minutes to help save this excellent site. Perhaps you will visit or live here some day. Please address your letters, "'fo whom it may concern." State why you think the Point should be preserved as a hang gliding site. Tell a story of your experience at the Point. Explain that you learned how to fly safely because of the Point's reliable conditions. Describe how the Point has enriched your life, or how your life would be adversely affected if you could not fly there. Tdl your stories of what the Point means to you. Refer to the "Point's" international notoriety. Keep it HANG CLIDING

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positive. Please do not complain about the people who arc bringing their doorsteps to our flying site. T'berc is absolutely notbing we can do to stop this. The only thing we can do is work to secure out right to be there, and be good neighbors to the people who will live there. It is the eternal conflict over geologically-correct real estate between people who need it for foot-launch soaring and those who want to develop it or haul it away. Just a few sentences from enough individuals will make a difference. Please send your letters ASAP to Linda Comfort at 'I'be Soaring Center, 12665 S. Minuteman Drive, Draper UT 84020, fax (801) 576-Ci482, HBC3@aol.com. Linda will harnl-deliver the letters to the powers that be. Check the Soaring Center's web sire for updates on the "Save the Point" efforts: http://rnembers.aol.com/hbc3/index .soar center.html I ar:n grateful in advance to anyone who writes a letter to help save "The Point." John Heiney Draper UT

Dear Editor, Recently, afrcr a six-month hiatus in my membership, I rejoined the USHGA. My reason for leaving the Association was concern over the wording of the national waiver. At that time it contained language rhar, under certain circum·· stances, could have been disastrous to my family's financial future. This same wording also had the potential of making the signer responsible for someone else's actions. This is not just a paranoid lay·· man's opinion, it is also the opinion of several highly respected legal counselors. Leaving the Association permanently or just signing the waiver and hoping for the best were not acceptable solutions. !1 was clear that a waiver program is, in the legal climate of our country today, a necessity for ensuring rhc future of the Association and the services it provides.

er were needed so members weren't overly exposed. So, I formed a group of similarly concerned members in hopes of resolving the matter. We did our homework, hired legal counsel for their opinion and consul tcd our R.egional Director. Several of us attended the Board of Directors meeting in San Diego and presented our researched position ro a group of Directors tired of hearing about the subject. In the end they agreed to an action item that eventually led to the indcnmification clause being removed from the national waiver. We gained several things from this endeavor. We learned that our Directors have a tough job doing what is best for the future of the Association and at rhe same time keeping the mernbcrship happy. We learned a lot (too much) about the waiver, its contents and their necessity. We confirmed that sometimes it's not enough to complain or talk to your elected representatives; sometimes you have to get off your butt and do something. Mosr importantly, we confirmed that the system, however slow to react, docs work. Sometimes it just needs a nudge. ""I 'he Gang of Five" wams to take this opportunity to formally extend our thanks to Tim Herr, Paul Gazis, Bill Bryden and others for their support in resolving this important issue. I would like to add my thanks to the rest of "The Gang ofFive": Christie, John Hill, Peter T.awrencc and Dutcher Sterling. Thanks, guys. It wouldn't have happened without you. Frank Peel Santa Clara, CA

Dear Editor, After reading Leifor 'Thor's letter in the April issue I folt compelled to contribute my opinion which has long been simmering as to the health our sport. As an active pilot for the last 17 years T have watched our sport grow and develop. I agree with his opinion that increased

costs have caused many pilots to abandon the sport and newcomers arc finding it too expensive in the first place. I've seen a lot of pilots and potential pilots decide that paragliding is the way to go because of the expense. I began flying J'7 years ago because it was the cheapest way to enjoy flying at the time. I stayed with it because of the challenge it presented; any moron can stay in the air with a motor. I had also planned to replace my current glider after seven years until l saw the prices. I have flown some of the best gliders made, and the new wings h;ive not demonstrated any better performance than what I have now. A glider that costs twice as much had bet:rcr perform twice as well. I don't blame manufacturers entirely for the trend toward expensive gliders. Pilots shonlcl shoulder some of the responsibility. Manufactmcrs don't make gliders people don't buy. However, many of us arc stuck flying the old wings because manufacturers arc not interested in supporting older gliders. Does anyone know of a shop thar will sell you a new sail for a Sensor C or a Kiss? I can no longer buy round, ready-made downtubcs, yet I can go into any auto parts store and buy a warcr pump for a 57 Studebaker. I don't believe increased cost is the only reason pilots arc leaving the sport and new prospects arc finding other activities. Hang gliding is now almost like golfing at a local country dub. Many of our flying sites arc regulated enterprises: licensed, landscaped, ramped and quik-martcd, with foes to fly or join. We arc developing, regulating and administering ourselves into rhe ground in the name of progress. Hang gliding has lost much of the individualism, exclusivity and comradeship it began with. We have become the enemy, a bureaucracy concerned with perpetuating itself through regulations and fees. I-fang gliding should be fun, exciting and challenging, not a bureaucracy or a sport for the rich. Don Schultz Gooding, ID HANC GLIDINC

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Bl update AV8 NEWS

NORTH WING DESIGN LTD. INTRODUCES NEW TRIKE WINGS

ainron Blevins, former glider designer for Pac Air, has starred a new company, the main focus of which is to supply the trike indusuy with a line ofhigh-qualiry, U.S.-made trike wings. North Wing will also supply spare parts for Pac Air products. While at Pac Air Kamron designed the highly-successful Orion glider which was mainly designed for aerotowing. It tows between 26 and 29 mph. While flying for G.W Meadows at his aerorow clinic G.W remarked, "It's so close to flying behind a Dragonfly, even I was surprised!" According to the manufacturer, light roll pressures and virtually no stall break mal(e aerotowing enjoyable for the tug pilot, ai1d many ultralight schools have accepted it as the best two-place training wing available. North Wing will be producing a highly refmed wing similar to the Orion called the Mus rang 19. The compai1y will also be producing two other trike wings this season, a smaller 165 sq. ft. exposed crossbar wing with a speed range of 25-65 mph, and an 85% double-surface 150 sq. ft. touring wing with a speed range of 28-75 mph calJed rhe Contour 14.5. All wings are designed for single- and/or dual-place instructional use and will adapt to any trike. North Wing's tubing is produced exclusively for trike wings so as to withstand the loads required for certification. This special tubing, along with

lightweight, high-density foain leading edges, allows North Wing to produce gliders which weigh 90 lbs. or less. North Wing will also offer Pacific Airwave major replacement pares (Safe Edge downrnbes, rigging, main frame), and Delea Wing Dream pares. They also offer top-qualiry sail repair, training harnesses and glider bags. You can replace your Pulse or Double Vision leading edge foain with a higher-quality 1/4" Delta Wing-rype foam for longer life and better performance. If yo u have any Pac Air technical questions feel free to call Kamron and he will be more then happy co help you. The company has hired some of Pac Air's former employees, including Jose and Maria Gonzales, sailmakers for Pac Air for 12 years. Contact: North Wing, P.O. Box 128, Marina, CA 93933 (408) 384-4807. Contour 14.5 Specs (pictured) Span .. . .. . . ...... ... . 34 ft. Area ................. 150 sq. ft. Double Surface . . ... .... 85% Weighr ...... . ....... . 90 lbs. Load Cap . . ........ .. . 800 @ 6 G 's

V8 distributing announces the release of Icaro's rwo newest sizes ofLaininar ST's, the 12-meter and 13-meter. The ST-13 was DHV certified on April 15 and the ST- l 2's certification was scheduled for completion before yo u read this. For intermediate and recreational advai1ced pilots they also offer the Lan1inar RST ("R" for recreational). The RST will be fuJJy upgradeable to the high-performance Laminar ST and comes in all three sizes. The RST is designed for the weekend warrior who wants high performance but is nor quite ready for a super ship. Of interest to advanced pilots is the "downgradeabiliry" of the ST to the RST. The resale value of the ST should remain high, as the used marker for this glider will be many times larger. This "never outgrow the performance of your glider" approach shOLJd make the Laminar ST a good investment for years to come. AV8 also offers an inexpensive 02 system for hang gliding and paragliding. Although the system uses quality components it is a no-frills package to keep the price at an affordable $275 . The system uses a 180-liter cylinder and is contained in an easy-to-attach bag. They also carry Transfills for personal refills in remote areas . The oxygen system is available through AV8 dealers. Call for the one nearest yo u. AV8 may be co ntacted toll free at 1888-422-7620 or 1-888-0WENS XC.

SANTA BARBARA, CA LAUNCH SITE CLOSED

n March 31 the Ciry of Santa Barbara erected a fence blocking access to the Gibralrai· Road launch site known as rhe Eliminator. This is the main mountain site in Santa Barbara and the ciry is considering closing the few other sires in town. This prohibition is in effect unril the city assesses its position regarding foot-launched flying activities. The Santa Barbara H ang Gliding/Paragliding Association is currently negotiating wi th the city counsel in an effort to reopen the site and prevent other fl ying sites fro m being closed. To dare their efforts have been well received and the future looks bright, bur they still have a ways to go and need yo ur support. H ANG GLIDING

Update

They are asking that if you plan to visit Santa Barbara and want to fly one of the local sites to please contact one of the following members: Ken deRussy (805) 9653733, Yves Bajulaz (805) 688-0343, Tammy Burcar (805) 961-2766, or John Greynald (805) 682-3483 . These members have agreed to inform anyone of the current situation. The local club needs to prevent miscellaneous accidents that could hinder their efforts to reopen the site. This has already happened once. You can also receive information on the Internet at: http://www.bodytrends.com/ notres.htm. You may send a letter of support to the SBHGPA at PO. Box 30485, Santa Barbara, CA 93130, or e-mail at the above Web site.

NEW MOYES CSX

MOTOR HARNESS

ail Wings is pleased to introduce the Swedish-made Mosquito Motor Harness. The Mosquito is foot-launchable and landable with retractable landing gear. It is capable of launching from flat fields. The Mosquito is made especially for thermal soaring and the engine is restartable in the air. The unit weighs 50 lbs. including harness, tank and propeller. A video is available for $15. Contact: Sail Wings, PO. Box 13335, Maumelle, AR 72113 (501) 8514094 (tel./fax).

ased on the Super Xtralire, the CSX is the latest model in the Moyes SX Series. The CSX shares all the advanced features of the SX bur is a carbon-fiber, kingposcless version. The CSX draws on the carbon-fiber technological advances made by the massively-funded America's Cup yachting industry. The CSX's center section, crossbars and dive-sticks come from one of the world's foremost yacht makers who has been using composite materials for years. In addition, Moyes has implemented "Sail Propensity" (SP) inro the SX Series, a new sail-twist design innovation which airers the sail's wing tip loading based on the angle of arrack in order to improve handling and performance at high speeds,

and enhance wing tip lift at low speeds. Moyes prefers to contract the fabrication of its carbon and sails to com panies with vast experience in such highly specialized tasks. This does increase Moyes' production costs but ensures the integrity of the product. Other features include extended highspeed glide performance made possible by the Moyes Deflexor System which produces a more defined wing, and spring-tip battens which fit into enclosing pockets on the trailing edge which decreases drag. The CSX is availab le in four different sizes. Contact: Moyes California (818) 887-336 1, fax (818) 702-0612, MoyesCal@aol.com.

the month of April from Wallaby. Mike Barber and Davis Straub also flew over 100 miles from Wallaby that same day. Contact: Wallaby Ranch, http://www.wallaby.com (941).424.0070 (phone/fax).

AIR CARNIVAL UPDATE

FLORIDA STATE AND WALLABY RECORD BROKEN ike "Hollywood" Champlin broke the Florida State and Wallaby Ranch X-C record on April 5, 1997 with a 147mile flight from Wallaby Ranch to Lake City, Florida. Mike made the flight on a Moyes SX 4 that he rented from Wallaby. He earned $500 for breaking the Florida record and for making the longest flight in

JUNE 1997

SPEED GLIDING IN KOREA

ark Vaughn reports that a speed gliding competition with lots of prize money is being hosted in Korea. Check out hrrp:/ /bora.dacom.co.kr/ ~napcom.

he second annual Air Carnival will be held at Ascumey Mountain Resort in Brownsville, Vermont, July 4-6, 1997. Once again the Grand Prize will go to the pilot with the most creative costume and flying machine, and the events will be open to all hang glider and paraglider pilots. In addition to manufacturers' demos they are offering a pilots' equipment swap meet. Come barter, trade, sell and buy used equipment. Join in the fun flying and be among the firs t group of pilots to be invited to fly at a ski resort in rhe

Northeast! Mt. Ascutney is the launch from which most hang gliding distance records have been set in the area. Contact: Nicola Kenchill MIT Cambridge, MA 02142 Cauchy, EO. Box (617) 491,5480, NicoCauchyc;,vaol.corn.

water decals and protected by a clear coating. The Hype and other models arc available in sizes XS to XL. Contact: Aerolight U.S.A., 1355 NW 93 Ct., Unit A.,105, Miami, FL 3:3172 (305) 639-3330, fax (305) 639-3055, aerousa@)sbadow.net.

romotions Unlimited nnnounces a unique how.,to system Securing for securing drivers at no cost! X-C Secret Good Drivers is written by a pilot who has used this system for over 10 years. The system is proven and very effective. Positive psychology, a unique wi1Hvin proposal, and successful ad copy and phone dialog make this the best way to always have a ready driver. The price is $6.95 postpaid. Contact: Promotions Unlimited, 8181 Mission (;orge Rd., San Diego, CA 92120J 600.

eroligbt U.S.A. offers their new Kiwi helmets designed specifically for paragliding ::ind hang gliding. They arc of compositc.,flbcr construction for strength and light weight. T'hc new "Hype" comes in a variety or colors, is decorated with thin

A precision for the serious pilot. Rugged, dependable and easy to read.

M~W! SMALL HALL Great for hand·hcld wind measurement or parnglider Airspeed Indicator Bracket. Small l lall ......... .,...... Parnglidcr Brnckcl Now availnblc: Small Ilall for hang gliders, 0 to 70 mph

Hall Brothers P.O. Box JOIO·ll, Morgan, UT 84050, \JSA Maslcrcmd I VISA I C.O.D Phone (80 I) 829<1232 Fax (80 I) 829,6349

nyone interested in flying in the Big "()" knows that it's easy to get lost out there. Aviation, topo and road maps are helpful, but picking ont the right place names can be tough. This is especially a problem when neither the pilot nor the chase driver arc familiar with the ;irca. After years of flying the 0\/, Hungary Joe's Flying Circus and Grant I Ioag have developed a map or place names that will help both pilots and chase drivers keep track of locations. With instructions fix lamination and carrying on the control bar, rhis map can make an Owens Valley X-C flight easier to navigate and air-·to-ground communications less confusing. 'fo get yom copy of the map and mounting instructions send a selr-addressccl, stamped envelope and Grant will send it to you in time for the 1997 summer flying season. Send SASE to: Grant Hoag, 25 Wbistling Isle, Irvine, CA 92(i14.

his event will take place from 9:00 am to 7:.30 pm on both days in Rosarito, Mexico, on the beach at the Rosarito I-Iotel and Spa, .30 minutes from San Diego, California. lt is free to the public. A variety or unusual light aircraft will demonstrate special forms of flight: trikes, skydiving, powered paragliding and barnstorming. See the famous "Pifiata de Cielo." Watch our for the inramons "E-Tcam." Includes aerobatic contests in unlimited and sporting classes, fimr rounds with a spot landing contest for each round. Launch will be by aerotow using a Moyes/Bailey Dragonfly ultralight. Entry fee is $250 with 15 pilots max. Fee includes hotel accomrnodations, cash purse, prizes, awards dinner and T-shirts. Comest pilots should not call the hotel but contact Aero Events at (818) 563-5316. For hotel reservations call 1800-343-8582 or (619) 498·-8230.

Sue Gale, former sail maker fiH Pacific Airwave with seven years or experience, is back in business on her own. She does sail repair for hang gliders, sail boards, sail boats, tents, harnesses and more. Contact: Sue Cale (408) 442-8569, fax (408) 449-

9:WO. 10

HANC GLIDINC

nominations to the national 1wt}-v,ear term beginning January 1 no ballot should send to headquarters name number, photo and resume ( one page cor1tainmLg viewpoints, written consent to be nominated that at least members residing following reg.10n,s.

current Dn·ectors are listed

their terms will extJire:d

volunteers to help .."'"'"'""t no later than August 20 to:

2 2

3 3 4

5 6 9

Washington vn·guna, West Virginia ueon~rn, Mississippi, North La1ro11.na, l'ermessee, Virgin Islands, Puerto area) (excluding the El

11 is

your cor1ve1rne11ce .

- -

..........

I unc1eri;tar10 that his/her name will no1nmtat11ons are

placed on

by August

Jan Ala (H) 938 N Olsen Tucson AZ 85719 (520) 327-9741

REGION 5

BOARD OF REGION 1 Bill Bolosky (R) 24622 SE Morrormont Dr Issaquah WA 98027 (206) 936-3860 bolosky@microsoft.com George Sturtevant (R) 502 Ogle Ave NE North Bend WA 98045 (206) 888-3856 georges@nwlink.com Bob Hannah (H) 9920 51st Ave S Seattle WA 98118 (206) 328-1104 paraskr@aol.com Gene Matthews (H) 15308 111th Ave NE Bothell WA 98011 (206) 488-1443 skydog@gte.net Claudia Stockwell (L) Fred Stockwell (H) 8901 Rogue River Hwy Grant's Pass OR 97527 (541) 582-1467

REGION 2

Luen Miller(HG Accident Chair) 316 Berkeley Way Santa Cruz CA 95062 (408) 423-9919 lumiller@pacbell.net

REGION 3 Ken Baier (R) 253 Rodney Ave Encinitas CA 92024 (619) 753-2664 airjunkies@worldnet.att.net Joe Greblo (R) 16145 Victory Blvd Van Nuys CA 91406 (818) 353-5580 windsports@earthlink.com Gregg Lawless (R) 9127 Bittercreek Ln San Diego CA 92129 (619) 484-2056 Sandy King (H) 360 Travelodge El Cajon CA 92020 (619) 444·8956 slark@worldnetatt.net Mike Meier (H) 500 Blueridge Ave Orange CA 92665 (714) 998-6359 mike@willswing.com

Ray Leonard (R) 3650 Research Wy #22 Carson City NV 89706 (702) 883-7070 advspts@pyramid.net

Rob Kells (H) 500 Blueridge Ave Orange CA 92665 (714) 998-6359 rob@willswing.com

Russ Locke (R) 868 S Mary Ave Sunnyvale CA 94087 (408) 737-8745 rsslok@aol.com

Alan Chuculate (H) PO Box 13451 La Jolla CA 92039 (619) 687-8993

Paul Gazis (R) 428 Madera Ave Apt 1 Sunnyvale CA 94086 (408) 736-0764 gazis@arwen.arc.nasa.gov Ken Brown (H) 791 Neeson Rd Bldg 521 Marina CA 93933 (408) 449-2508 kenb@ijlee.com Ed Pitman (H) PO Box 188 Shasta CA 96087 359-2392 epitman@c-zone.net

Gil Dodgen (Editor) 6950 Aragon Cir Ste 6 Buena Park CA 90620 (714) 994-3050 gildodgen@aol.com

REGION 4 Mark Ferguson (R) 6595 Odell Pl Ste C Boulder CO 80301 (303) 652-3496 Jim Zeise! (R) 13154 County Rd 140 Salida CO 81201 (719) 539-3335 jimzgreen@aol.com

Malt Taber (R) RR 2 Box 215H Rising Fawn GA 30738 (706) 398--3433 hanglide@chatt.net

Frank Gillette (R) Rt 1 Watercyn 8 Declo ID 83323 (208) 654-2615 Watercyn@cyberhighway.net

Barbara Flynn (H) 705 E Marks St Orlando FL 32803 (407) 894-5715 skygods@ix.netcom.com

Tracie Fifer-Welch (H) PO Box 8225 Jackson WY 83001 (307) 733-5835 di_wyo@compuserve.com

Gregg McNamee (H) 14141 SE 51st Ave Summerfield FL 34491 (352) 245-8263 graybird@praxis.net

REGION 6 Ron Kenney (R) PO Box 356 Leoti KS 67861 (316) 375-2995 kenney@elkhart.com

Greg De Wolf (H) PO Box 607 Corolla NC 27927 (919) 453-4800 DeWolf7@aol.com

REGION 1

Jeff Hunt (R) 4811 Red River Austin TX 78751 ( 512) 467-2529 RRAJeff@aol.com

Bill Bryden (R) 6608 North 100 East Rd Seymour IN 47274 (812) 497-2327 bbryden@hsonline.net

REGION 11

REGION 12

Dan Johnson (L) 8 Dorset St St Paul MN 55118 (612) 450-0930 CumulusMan@aol.com

Paul Voight (R) 5163 Searsville Rd Pine Bush NY 12566 (914) 744-3317 ryanv1 OO@aol.com

REGION 8

Jan Johnson (L) 585 E Frank Applegate Jackson NJ 08527 (908) 928-8370

Randy Adams (R) PO Box 369 Claremont NH 03743 (603) 543-1760 bkramer@mvuts.lucent.corn

REGION 9 Pete Lehmann (R) 5811 Elgin St Pittsburgh PA 15206 (412) 661-3474 104410.1150@compuserve.com

Geoffrey Mumford (R) 750 First St NE Washington DC 20002 (202) 336-6067 gkm.apa@email.apa.org Dennis Pagen (L) 368 Dunkle Rd Bellefonte PA 16823 (814) 383-2569 Chris DuPaul (H) PO Box 801 Gloucester Pt VA 23062 (804) 693-6742 Art Greenfield (X) 1815 N Ft Meyer Dr Ste 700 Arlington VA 22209 (703) 527-0226 NAA@ids2.idsonline.com

REGION 10 G.W. Meadows (R) 109 Carlow Ave Kill Devil Hills NC 27948 (919) 480-3552 justfly@interpath.com

Paul Riker! (L) 101 N Broadway# 28-3 White Plains NY 10603 (914) 946-9386 Lars Linde (H) (PG Accident Chair)

954 W Front St Red Bank NJ 07701 (908) 747-7845

REGION 13 (lnt'I) Jan Johnson (L) 585 E Frank Applegate Jackson NJ 08527 (908) 928-8370 Michael Robertson (H) RR 5 865 Con 7 Claremont Ontario Canada L1Y 1A2 (905) 294-2536 flyhigh@inforamp.net

USHGA Executive Director Philip Bachman PO Box 1330 Colorado Springs CO 80901 (719) 632-8300 ushga@ushga.org

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President-Bill Bryden Vice President-Randy Adams Secretary-Russ Locke Treasurer-Dan Johnson

KEY (R)-Regional (L)-At Large (H)-Honorary (X)··EX Officio

"fflell, they have baclwp systems for the backup the haclmp and when they stop that, people arc going to die. " Bert Nevoni RECENT IWTAUTIES There have been two fatalities reported this year. In the first, a pilot appears to have launched successfully from a mountain site and then became separated from his glider, possibly due to a faulty hang strap configu· ration. ln the second, a pilot probably suf~ fored a stall on bunch at a cliff site and was quickly turned back into the ridge. Details of these incidcnrs will be supplied as the official investigations proceed. STACKING THE ODDS Below is a proposed sequence of events which incorporates clements common to a number of the towing reports received in the past. lmaginc a scenario in which a glider begins ro drift kfr at the end of a static-line tow and the pilot doesn't correct for some reason. Perhaps the pilot doesn't think the drift is signirrcant, or perhaps he plans on flying that way anyway. He dens to just release instead of correcting. The release features a release pin with the tip sticking out, either by design or because it has worn through somehow. Or the release might be one that hasn't been shown to frmction reliably over a range of pressures. It might be something as simple as a utility clip, or might have been intended fc)r use in sailing. Maybe it is otherwise a good release, but rhe release line is fouled somehow. If the release doesn't function reliably the pilot is already part way into a lockout, which will happen very quickly, and he had better hope he can cut away with his knife. [f the pilot has no knife, or can't reach the line or release for some reason, he will then have ro deploy his parachute. What arc the chances he has repacked it recently, and knows ir won't rip at the seams from the opening shock as a result of being eaten up by mildew while stored for the winter? What are the chances he has practiced actu· ally throwing his par;ichute and knows how hard he has to heave it? What arc the JUNE 1997

chances he h,t, pulled the parachute out, just before repacking, in the sequence it is supposed to deploy, in order to check that the chute was packed and routed properly? Jfour pilot instead elecrs to hreak rhe weak link by flying out of the situation, he had better be sure his link is weak enough to break at will. Whm are the chances the pilot has practiced breaking the weak link at the top of a long tow, just to check if it will fail when he wants it to? If the link is not weak, and fails to break, the pilot had better hope the driver or liue operator releases him. I ,et's say there is no release on the tow vehicle. ln that case the driver or operator had better have a knife. If' there is in fact no knife, the pilot had better really, really start hoping the line brdcs before his glider fails, because our pilot has almost run out of possible outcomes. And if the pilot does get lucky and doesn't end up as a fatality report, he can thank the fact that the weak link did fiually break, or the towline had a weak point somewhere, or the operator managed to free the line somehow so he didn't end lljl flying into the ground. Some towing reports have only involved one or two of the above problems, some have involved almost all. Some have been farnl, some have involved no injury whatsoever. Pick how far down the list of troubles you want to go. >fowing is equipment intensive, most of it safety ori-ented, and there seems to be much of it missing from many towing reports. So, if you are going to stack the odds, by all means stack them in your favor. Many reports on tow incidents reveal pilots using weak linl<s of unknown strength, or releases of questionable qualification, or pilots ;ind drivers or line operators without knives or radios. l have heard the cxcellem comment by several observers that safety precautions often seem unnecessary because they never appear to be called upon, and the unwary pilot begins to discard them until only the most critical clements remain. Our family had a close friend who piloted B-29's in WW II and afrcrward, then worked for NASA. He was well acquainted with the space program and the risk involved in flying, and ways to minimize it. I once asked him ifhe thought going into space was really that· dangerous. Tbis was back in the mid l960's when rbe Gemini program was in

foll swing, long before Challenger, even before Apollo l. He said, "Well, have backup systems for the backup for the backup systems, and when doing 1h11, people arc going to die. THANK YOU! ram proud to say J have fiilfilled rny commitment to serve for three busy years as your Chairman of Accident Review. Although I have anguished many rimes over how to deal with an incident, or while speaking with the friends or family of injured or dead pilots, I h::ive greatly enjoyed my duties and have also made many new friends. Serving in the position has helped me become a better, more mature pilot. Thank you for me the opportunity! Jf that sounds like the beginning of a retirement speech, you are correct. Unfortunately, greatly increased demands on my 1ime have made it neccss;uy for me ro step down from the position. rhc Lime you read this J will have retired. I will continue to be involved somewhat, completing the descriptive incident summary; continuing to help the paraglid ing corn mi tree, and probably helping the new hang gliding committee members. l will miss the job, miss imcracting with Board members and our excellent office staff; bm rnost of all I will miss our reporters. J think you arc all doing an outstanding job of' submitting incident rcpons and analyzing them. l can't tell you enough times that the whole process revolves around you. A very loud "Thank youl" to everyone who submitted a report. I also want to thank Doug Hildreth, Gregg Lawless and Russ l ,ocke, the people responsible for hiring me. I fr:h privileged robe accepted imo the company of such dedicated volunteers. I never knew you bdi:Hc serving on the Board, and all l know of you is based on what l saw there. Besides your professionalism I found all three of you to be unfailingly generous wfrh your time, genuinely concerned for the future of hang gliding, and committed to an honest, objective, irnpartial, open examination of hang gliding l am sure our planned new com mince format will serve pilots as well or better than the old one, and encourage pilots ro continue rheir tradition of reporting incidents and dedicating themselves to reducing the level of in hang gliding. See you in the

CalcncLtr of events items WlT l, NOT he listed if 011 ly tentative. Please i ncluclc exact information

(event, date, contact name and phone number). Items should be received no later 1:h;m six weeks prior to rhc cvc111. \l(!c rcqucsr two 1110111:hs lead rime for rcgiorn1l and national meers. UNTII. JUNE 1 5: Second !lnnua! New Vork Championships. Two classes, rookie and CS·mile. from favorite New York site and still compete. l 5 entry fee. Call for info and rules. Contact: David Perry (607) 796 3305 (w), (607) 5(,5.7375 (h). UNTIL SEPT. l: Yosemite Nr:rtionr1l 1'ark N,11·no· ,,,1,r'nr weekend through Labor per day. Meer at Clacier Poim 7:00 AM for sign-in and orientation wirli Site Monitor. Must show current laminated Hang IV card. $5 donation. Monirnrs arc volunteers from the Yosemite Han[; Cliding Association. Call USHGA office at (719) 632-8300 for rescrva· tions. Contact: Breck Betts (619) 47:3·9743. UNTIL SEPT. 30: Dinosm1r, Colort1do X-C contest. Winners receive $100 and a plaque for the longest flight each month. llonus package includes rooms, meals, RV parking, gifr certificates and more for the first flighr over 200 miles from Cliff Ridge launch. Pilots must Dinosaur···area chamber ofcomContacr: Mike Warden

UNTIL OCT, 30: 7 Open, sca1;on··lo111Q X-C compcririon. Monthly-rallied open X-C and ouHmd-rerurn compcririon. Scoring determined by pilot's best three flighrn per month. flights must originate from sites within the Region. March through June scores determine q11aEfica··· rion for entry ro rhc Nats. Send $ l O ctttry fee to: Peter Birren, 502 Shadywood Lane, Elk Grove, IL 60007. Tnfo, rules and scoring formulae will be sent. Scores published in Ree/News and wher·· ever else they'll go. UNTIL OCT. 31: Re7.ion VI! 50-Mile and Undt:r Competition. Cross-country competition for Region VI f pilots who have yet· ro exceed 50 must originarc miles in a single flight. wirhin Region Vfl. Longest single flighr made by Oct. 31 wins. NO ENTRY FEE, prize for at lcasr rop three places. Contact: Spectrum Hang 511 G Pratr, Skokie, lL 60077 (847) Angelotnant(tllaol.com. UNTIL DEC. I: Second !lnnutd New York Str.1.te 1 etmo•n.f.A·L Contest. Two classes, rookie and 65-· mile. from favorite New York sire and still compete. 10 entry fee. Call for in{l) and mies. Contact: David Perry (607) 796-3305 (w), (Ci07) 5<,5.7375 (h).

'14

UNTIL DEC .31: \)(IORyMr-longX.C Contest: Sum of the best rhrce H (;l]'G flights in three carcgrmc,s: Bay Area, Region TT and anywhere. For more info visit hnp://mcmhcrs.aol.com/worxc and submit flights on-line. Contacr: Ramy Yanetz, 302 Sr. #13, Mountain View, CA ')4043, fax (41 968-6212, worxc@aol.com, or call Mark Mulholland (408) 929, l 753. UNTIL DEC. 31: 11 X-C Crmtest. Sum of best three X-C d isrances. $1 0 entry to a llSHCA Chapter officer required prior to any flights t:hat. coum. Flight must originate in Region l 1 (Texas and Louisiana). Contact: Jeff Hum (512) 467··2529, rrajdl@aol.com. JUNE 2-SEPT, 6: l . akeview, OR Best of the Month" contrst: \X!inncrs receive$ I 00 and a 1ilaque for rhc flight each month. ALSO, monthly random for all registered pilots winner gets $50 jmr for fly(hang and para) ing Lake County. Contact: Lake County Chamber of Commerce (541) 947-6040. JUNE 7-14: Sandit1 C!assic,Albuquerquc, New Mexico. Seventh annual 450 WTSS poinr meet ,lt: Sandia Peale The meet of rhe season! Price includes: cotry top··quality X-C tasks, glider and pilot nansportati011 to launch, turn· compmcrizccl scoring, point film and foll-time paid srafC free oxygen refills, gift certificates from local businesses, convenient meet hcadquarrcrs witli reduced room rat<:s, awards barbecue, T-shirt and more! Sixty-pilot maxi· mum field, 45 spots reserved for pilots ranked in the top 80 OSHGA or rop 100 PIRS. Remaining entries will be based on ranking, competition and flight experience. First-rime cmr:mrs must have: USHGA Advanced all Skills, 100+ hours mountain thcrm;il experience. Oxygen and GPS highly recommended. $325 if postmarked before May l, afrcr. Refundable until April 30. Comacr: Mike Gregg, 12117 Sr. Ma1y's Dr., Albuquerque, NM 87111 ('505) 275-5978 or Mark Mocho (505) 2982922. E-mail to mmocho<i'hrr66.com.

Open P,tragliding C.mnp1:ttt1on, sanJ;tlrDIH:.c\ meet. Hosted by J;m Srcnstadvold and Tim Meehan. Modified ior·· mat. foe $225 (.$25 refonded for each task flown). and standing posted to f JG/PC digest and special Web site daily. Immediately followed by the firsr annual Aspen Snper Clinic, hosted by Aspen Paragliding. Contact: Tim Meehan (303) 422-9029, fox (303) 421-0087, meehan@.csd.net. JUNE 2() .. 22: 8th Wild "\)(lifd we.11. Jll:)!.tul!Uts. Come enjoy great: flying and good fan in Carson NV. Flying from McClellan Peak and Slide Mr. and above welcome. Come claim your silver belt buckle awarded to the top five places.

Cost $100 before May 31, $125 after. l ncludcs Sat. night dinner and party. Contact: Advenmre Sports, 3650 #22 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 883 7070, advsprs(ibpyramid .net. JUNE 2 l-28: First Open, sponsored by JUST FLY, Lost River Valley, ldaho one of t:hc country's most bcamiful sites, near Mackey, fD. 450··poinr meet. Meet HQ in Arco, 15 mins. away. Entry $295 unril April 30, $345 after. Special deal: up for both this and JUST FLY by March 31 for only $500 toral. Contact: G.W. Meadows (919) 480-3552, fax (9 \ 9) 480-0117, justflyftlinterpath.com

JUNE 22: 1,ciunch Dencvan. Covers all aspects ing including equipment, cvalu,ttion, weather and pilot habits. Lecture, simulator, hillside training. Cost $95. Contact: Mission Soaring (408) 262-[055, fax (408) 262-1388, rnschgvllaol.com.

Two contests (hang and para), Hill to Lakeview Trophy Dash, spot landing contest for both hang and para, acrotow din· ic, truck rowing :it Aben Rim. Spectacular new "Palisades" launch open only 19 miles from Lakeview. Kids ping-pong ball drop for prizes, historical and wildlife tours, barbecue, dance downtown, plenty of activities for flyers and non-flyers. Plan a week and join the fim in beau· tiful Lake County, Oregon "Hang Gliding Capiral of the West"! Contact: Lake County Chamber of Commerce (541) 947-6040. "One Grand

JOLY 4: Ellenville Airport Fly-In, Ellenville, NY. Hang gliding, paragliding, ultralights, aerot.Ow· ing, winch towing, acrobatics, fireworks, food and fon. Contact: at Mountain Wings (914) 647.3377. JULY 4-6: Buffalo Mountain Flyers Bufjalo Wings Fly-In, Talihina, OK. Team-oriented tasks, X-C, duration and spot landing contests, plus a con· test with prize for drivers. Buffalo Wings cookout and T--shirts. Comacr: Lynda Wacht (817) 649-5168, lwacht@aol.com.

JULY 4-6: Second !lrmua!Air Carnivt1l, Claremont, NH. Comacr: Contact: Nicola Cauchy, P.O. Box 672, Kendall MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142 (617) 491.-5480, NicoCauchy<i'1laol.com. JULY7-12: 1997 Chel1m Cft1ssic. CBCC and Chelan Flyers invite all HG and PC pilots, Hang lil (TUR, X-C, RLF) and up. $65 entry. All profits go to site fund. Contact: Brian Scott (206) 827-9024.

H/\NC GUDINC

r JUNE 15·20: WI !GS Grem: (World l lang Gliding Series). Speed gliding, X-C. Contact: rel. 011·30-94-%3·693, fax 011 30·H52-:l876, pappadock(1lcompt1li11k.gr. /\UG. 7-1 V(l!JGS Fmncc. Speed gliding, X·C Contact: rel. 0] J .. 33. 492-027')70, fax 011 33.Ji92.027.970. /\UG. 18-27: WHGS lc-!luride, /JS!I. Speed gliding, freestyle. Sec listing below.

AUG. 2-li: 7997 Weslern Cf/nadian 1-lang <:hr1mpionsh1j;s, Colden, !'IC Canada. x.c: raci11g at Canada's premiere site. Check rhc pictmc for March in the US HCA calendar. $30 entry fre includes Sunday nighr beer hash. Individual and ream scoring. Contact: Doug Keller (li03) 29]./i008, skywardCr1\:advision.com. AUG. J 8.27: 'fr1luride

JUNE 15 .. 21: 4th !lnnual XC Chllllenge. hm flying, big·air, oprn·distancc competition. Come fly with the Sandia Soaring Association from 10,678' MS[. Sandia Crest. The last three years have seen numcrot1s flights over 100 miles and several over 150! Prizes awarded for each day's longest flight, rhc flight of' the week, and ro rhc pilot with rhc most cumulative miles. Sunday the 15th is a practice day. Free 0 2 refills, T-shirr, awards and more! Come fly the southwest air! entry Ice. Comacr: Sandia Soaring Association, P.O. Box 14571, Albuquerque, NM 871')1 or Mark Mocho (505) 298·2922, mmocho(rtlrt(,(,.com. J 9.26: Jl !ST Fl, Y U.S. Nationals,

Lakeview, Orcgon. li50-poim meet. Creal flying and local hospitality. A 1111mber of sites will be used. J,:nrry $295 umil April 30, $345 alier. Special deal: 11p for borh th is and JUST Fl ,Y King Mm. Open by March 31 Cor only $500 total. Contact: G.W. Meadows (919) 480,3552, fax (919) 480·0 J 17, justflyCr"imerpath.com. JULY 25·A UG. 3: 20th !lnnual I fang h,stiv1d at Mom Saint·l'ierre, (~uehec! We expect once lots of magic flights over the sea, over the mountains, over the clouds ... ( :ontacl: Alain Gaumond (418) 797-2584, fctevolib(lilque· becrel.com.

JULY 28,A UG. l: Rorky Mountain l.eague "Tr!tally i,;Jecked Out" X.C clinic in Golden, BC. [ .earn to fly X.-C and place higher in comps. Friendly competition format. Nightly discussions on flying x.. c:, conditions and info on rhe Golden, lnvcrmere Valley. l'ri·1.es in many cater•rrnc:s. Fee $20. Camping available: Colden M11nicipal (right in town) (250) 34/i,5/i 12, Whispering Sprnce (250) 34/i-6680, White Tail (250) 344,5979. Contacr: scepter(hspots.ah.ca, gschneidcr(rilblucrange.com, fax (403) 286. 1763, (403) 286·.'ff!O (h) (lt(l:',) 264,7422 cxr. J 407 (w).

AUG. l -3: !CP hosted hy Adventure Carson NV with administrator Mark Axen and Ray I .eonard. Reserve, x.c: and thermal di11· ics. Mark's lecture on mcreorology is unsur· passed. C:osr $300. Conracr: Adventure Sports (702) 8B3·7070, advspts(iilpyramid.net. AUG. 1·3: Pm11glidi11g Instructor Contact: Adventure Sporrs 7070, advsprs(rilpyramid.11cr.

jUNI ·1997

Gliding Festival, !lerob11tic Cht1mpionships Gliding Contest. Entry fr:es: $90 for the Fes1ival, $250 for

the Aerobatic Championships, $200 for rhe (;liding Con rest. Meer organizers Jim /.eiset and rhe TAF promise to bring you rhe hesr event in WI !GS·sancrioned hang gliding. Program i11cludes industry rradc show, prizes, dance, shows, an awards dinner and other events. Prize money totaling $15,000 for the aeros and speeders. C:ontacr: Pendulum Aerosports (719) 539·3900, e-mail jirnzgrecn(rilaol.com, web page 11 rtp://www.11e11d1il11macro.com. AUG. 30-.:l 1: !lnnual convention and workshop of the Wcst!'rn Division ofthe Sailplane l lomebuilde1'.r Association, Tehachapi, ( :A, Mounrain Valley Airport. Homcbuih.s, gliders, vintage sailplanes. Contact: Bruce C:annichacl (714) 496-5191. AUG. 30 .. SEPT. 1: l<t111S(IS ltrhor nr1y Fly-In, I .eoti, KS. Prizes for spor landings, X-C tasks and more (plus rhc party afterwards). No entry fee! If you don't have a row rating sign·offgct one here! Watch ·1 ·010 soar! ( :onracr: Ron Kenney (31 Ci) 375·2995, .com. AUG. 30 .. SEPT. 3: l.11bor Day wee/mid hang gliding Owens Vtrlley tour with Kari Castle. SEPT. 27-0C:T Ii: Owens Valley !'11ragliding X,OThermrd Ginics/1 rJUr with Kari C:asrlc. OCT. J0. ]3: Owens Vrilley XO'f'hermal c:linics!Tourwith Kari Casrlc. Call for schedule in May: (619) 872·2087, karicas ..

!care t1nd International Film

Hilaire du Touvcr, France. Contact: rd. 0 I I,;33·476·08,33-99, fox 011.33.476 9l 20-5Ci. Fm:

SEPT. 20·21: Rosarito J,~r,ht !lii'.rhow find Masters Contest, Rosarito, Mexico. Free 10 public. Includes trikes, skydiv.. powered paragliding, barnstorming. i\crobat ic contests in unlimited and sporting classes. Aero tow launch. Entry $250, 15 pilots max. Fee includes hotel accommodations, cash purse, awards dinner, T-shirts. Conracr: Aero Evenr.s (818) 563-5316. For hot.cl reserva· tions call I BOO :lli.'3-8582 or (619) li98-8230. OCT. 3·5: October's Rest Ffy.fn, 1997 is Nonh Carolina's welcome mar ro ;my pilot looking for a good rime. The Saurarown Mountain Hang

Clicling Club produces the foll flight festival fca·· luring guaranteed Foor.launch airtime. Srarc··or thc·art launch ramps make cliff jumping a breeze. Strong nonh winds aren't flyahle, everything else is. Cash prizes and merchandise and Sunday aways, fi.m competition on wirh practice flights all week long. June Bug's mo111·lHva1ering barbecue chicken dinner at $5 is 10 die f'or Saturday nigh 1. Hor showers available at rhe new YMCA, cottage available: on the mouutain, or free camping in rhc 1./.. $30 entry ic:c incl11des custom Tshirr. Conracr: Doug Rice (910) 994 li:377, Vic Lewellen (910) 595·6505 or 70272.5:1 I

OCT. ] ] .. !3:

Gtnyon Columhus Day fly.fn,

Alamogordo, NM. Sponsored Rio Grande Soaring Assn. Contest, trophies, shins, dinner, ere. Meet at I;;, I 0:00 AM rhc I l 1h. Fntry $IO in advance, $15 011 sire. Mail advance cmrics 10 27.16 Pecan Dr., i\lamogordo, NM 8B310. Coman: Robin Hastings (505) 5/i 1S71i4 or Tommy West ('505) li.'\7·521 :l.

OCT. 19-20: Tut,, Mount1tin

( ,'Iiding

CA. Bring whole family to om annual evenr. $1,000/day prize purse with no entry fre. Includes free bar· bccue lu11cl1 and limited deluxe accommod:1· tions, cooking facilities and more. Transportation from 1./. to launch without breaking down. Prize compcrit ion lcH duration, spor landing, most !lights and the famous "Mysrcry l'ilo1" awards. Includes Tm's exotic animal preserve, live culrmal demonsrrations. Conract: Tm's M tn. 1-800 (,21. J 768, (706) 782·67.JB or l'lrucc Hawk (li23) 12·499/i.

NOV. I J: 'IZ1ermal Clinic sponsored Air California and Sky I look ar La Salina, Baja, CA. Contact: David Jd,b (619) 670-5322, aircalCrilnetcom.com. NOV. e, .. 9: f,,zlf US! /Gil mer:tKiny Hawk, NC. All members arc cncom· aged to arrcnd! Please send your agenda items in writing to the US] !CA office. Contact Karen Simon ar USH( ;A Headquarters for information and reservations: (719) 632·8300, 11shga(1'lushga.org. DEC. 1/i .. 19: 2nd !V!mma Kea: !lang dr Pt1raglidi11g Big [sland of Hawaii, directed liy Achim Hagemann. Intermediate ro Advanced pilots. Mauna Kea offers incredible flying wirh lannch sires at I 1,000', 12,500' and 13,700' MSL Includes prize money, liWD ro launch, free 'J'.shirr, retrieval, guidance, free oceanside camping. Disco11mcd flights available. Conract: Paraglide Hawaii, l'.O. Box 797, Mo11nrain View, HI %771 (808) %fl .. 8685, hagemanng· gte. net, hnp:/ho1ncl .gtc.net/liagemann/ indcx.hnn.

The Instructors Several years back I wrote an article for Hang Gliding magazine called «Lockouts and Other Paths to Disaster. "At the end ofthe article I promised a sequel called ''Masters ofDisaster, Advanced Towing Techniques. "I got a call the other day .from someone who scolded me for never writing the sequel. He thought it was supposed to be two articles, and he was highly disappointed that I hadn't written them. I have to disappoint him yet again. It was supposed to be one article with two names, a bad habit ofmine as I like to write articles with catchy names in hopes that someone will actually want to read them. owever, there was a reason why I never wrote Advanced Towing Techniques. I wasn't rhar excited about encouraging pilors to do "Tricky T hings Under Tow." Ir was my feeling ar the rime that 360-degree rums under row are best not enco uraged, and step-towing is best left to those with a ton of experience. On the ocher hand, I just conversed with Luen Miller, the USHGA accidenr review guy, about some of the rowing accidents last year, and it was clear to me that regardless of cute names for articles and other things chat go bump in the night, a lot of towing is going on out there, and some of it is going down badly. There are a lot of differenr flavors of towing going on now - rowing behind cars, trucks and ultralights, and even the occasional hand-pulled tow. Tow bridles include the ATOL tow bridle, the European double bridle, the Skyting bridle and the aerotow V-bridle, with the towline both above and below the control bar. Releases include the three-string release, che two-string release, the three-ring release, che Mason release, the Linknife,

the European steel bar release, and so on. With all of these variations, however, there are some basic principles of rowing thar continue to be the same. One of my paraglider students, in the process of learning how co cow paragliders, kept locking out. Yes, you can lock out a paraglider. The mechanics are different, but the problem is the same. You ger over co che side, che forces gee high, and the glider won't rum back to center. So what does rowing hang gliders have co do with all chis? Well, I generalized that cowing hang gliders and cowing paragliders are very similar, and I suddenly realized what che problem was. Flying paragliders is very easy and, in fact, relaxing, but rowing a paraglider is just as intense and peril-ridden as towing a hang glider. I have been cowing hang gliders for some 20 years, and have never gotten to the point where I am totally relaxed about any tow. I realized suddenly that of all the things I do in borh hang gliding and paragliding, towing is the most incense. Why? To me, towing seems to involve the most things that can go wrong (short of chermaling in the Owens Valley on a strong day) . I suddenly

realized that the reason I generally don't have tows that don't go well is beca use of the intensity I put into each tow. So I fo rm ulated and mid chis pilot the 100% rule. A tow pilot must give 100% of his or her attention to the successful completion of the row. Why? Because m ost of the problems experienced by new tow pilots H ANG GLI DING

Left: Lynda Wacht on a Vision Mark N, being towed by Dave Broyles' scooter tow. Photo by Suzanne McBride. Right: Kent Robimon about to do a tandem tow on a Double Vision at Grayson County Airport. Photo by James Harlan. Below: Lynda Wacht on a Vision Mark IV towed by Kent Robinson. Photo by James Harlan.

Dave Broyles operating his scooter tow. Photo by James Harlan. are caused by inanemion, and most of those problems could have been nipped in the bud with the correct pilot response, but not two or three seconds after the problem has scarred. Only "right now" is good enough . I got hurt pretty badly about five years back. As a result of a one-in-a-million type JUNE 1997

of occurrence, my arm broke in flight while I was cowing up ar a meet in Hobbs, ew Mexico. One thing char exacerbated the incident was that, due to the unusual nature of the accident, I neglected to release from the towline. Because of the glider's gyrations as it came down, caused by the towline still being arrached, I was

very lucky not to have been more seriously hurt upon contacting rerra firma. From this accident, and many other incidents over the years, I formulated the concept of "recognize and release. " The cow pilot must recognize that he is having

Continued on page 38. 17

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PHILIP GODWIN DONNIE ANDERSEN WAYNE BENFIELD

JULIO rIGUEROA

Region 3

JONES, WfLLIAM: Sherman Oaks, CJ\; M. Joucs/Wallaby Ranch 7 C()OPER. SJ\NDRA: Farmi11gmn, Mf; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch

KIM: Tilton, NI I; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch Region JO

AKINS, JR, AARON: Mims, H.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BAKER, ROBBfN: Lakeland, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BENOIST, W BRENT: l .and-o-lakcs, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch HARPER, RODNEY: Winter c;ardcn, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch JOHNSON, DAVID: Clenvillc, NC; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MAY, MATT: Winter Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallabv Ranch ROBERDS, SCOTT: Tampa, FL; M. Joncs/Wall;tby Ranch WEAVER, GREG: Palm llarbor, FI.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch WILSON, JEREMY: Pace, Fl.; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch WIT.SON, JFRRY: Pace, FL; D. c;Iover/Wallaby H.anch

MACKIN, CHRISTIAN: Dana Point, C:A; I<. l larrison/Advcmurcs Unlimited PIASCIK, MARK: L:ikc Elsinore, CA; P. Phillips/Lake Elsinore Sports STEVENS, JOI IN: Rancho Park, CA; A. Hccm/Wincbports [nr'I STEVES, VINCE: Haiku, HI; G. Putnam/l lalcakula HC: Region 4 BUCKLEY, MTCHJ\EL: Denver, CO; M. l.abado/Lookout Mm FP Cl IIITON, SHANNON: West UT; P. Anderson/' Ihe Soaring Center CHIROUX, MICHAEL: Colorado CO; S. Dewey/Quiet Plight PINEN,JIMMY: Salt Lake Majors/Wasatch MARTIN, DUSTIN: Phoenix, AZ; S. Mish/Bandito Action Sporrs MELDAHL, CAMERON: Tempe, J\'/.; D. ( ;ordon/ Advrnmrc Sport Tours RADMAN, PETER: Salt I .akc City, UT; D. Shmp/hec Flight Spons SALAMONE-MAIDFN, LAURA: Prescott,/\'/.; R. Ridmdson/J\rizona I IC SCI IAJRER, ERIC: Senoda, J\I.; R. Richardson/J\rizona HG \XIAGNER, ROY: hirrnington, NM; M. Francis/Mountain West \XIFST, CHARLES: Tempe, A'/.; D. Cordon/ Advcmurc Tours Region 6 HARRELL, PAUL: Springdale, AR; T. Miclcllcron/Soaring Region '1 COOPER, SANDRA: Farmington, Ml; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch DU BOIS, ANDREW: Trafalgar, IN; T. 1lager/1.ookour Mm Fl' MELTON, DAVID: White Lk, MJ; N. f.csnow/Pro !IC: WILSON, STEPHEN: Moline, IL; M. Labado/l.ookout Mm fl'

Region 8 WILLIAMS, THOMAS: Shelton, CT; J. J\rwood/Morningside Fi' Region 9 ALLEN, CHARIJ(S: Bethlehem, PA; J. I larper/Vallcy m; CHITTENDEN, MICHAEL: Alexandria, VA; J. Micldlcton/Silvcr GLrnCH, BEN: Columbus, Oil; M. Manzo KIRKPATRICK, TOM: Big Prairie, OJ I; M. Manzo PJ<'."J'RJ'TES, GREGORY: Louisville, KY; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mt.11 FP SPENCER, JOSEPH: Winchester, VA; P. 1-lawk Kites Region 10

'-""vo:,·.,,, ARTURO: Modesto, CA; C. Prather/Dream Weaver HC GOMEZ, KELLI: Modcsro, CA; C. Prather/Dream Weaver I!(; GORMAN, DANT EL: Vacaville, ( :A; A. Whitchill/Chanclelle HARDING, EVAN: Milpitas, CJ\; P. Dcncvan/Mission HORRILLENO, DENISF: Sunnyvale, CA; D. Bums/Mission KUSE, STEVF: S San Francisco, CA; A. Mclean/Mission KNOWLDFN, DAN: San Jose, CJ\; A. Mclean/Mission Soaring KUJUTJ\, JUNKO: San Jose, CJ\; P. Dcncvan/Mission Soaring RIORDAN, MICHAEi.: Incline Village, NV; C. Thorcson/1.ookour Mtn FP SCHUDER, CASEY: Mi Wuk CA; C:. Prather/Dream Weaver I-IC SEYMOUR, VAT.ERm: Tuolumne, CJ\; C. !'rather/Dream Weaver 1-!G SMITI I, CRAIG: San Jose, CJ\; J\. Mclean/Mission SPINNEY, JOSEPH: Milpitas, CA; A. Mekan/M ission WOJIE, MARK: CA; P. Denevan/Mission Region 3 BEJ\l.S, GRANVILLE: Santa Monica, CA; 1\. Bccm/Wi11dsporrs Int'! CRISAN, EMILY: Lake Elsinore, CA;!'. l'hillips/1.akc Elsinore Sports FURHMAN, DFNNIS: Long Beach, C:A; J\. Becm/Windsporrs Int'I GOTHARD, ROBERT: l(scondido, C:A; J. Ryan/I IC; Center HILL III, EARL: Golcrn, CA; T. Burcar/Fly /\way !IOI.MAN, RICK: Northridge, CA; /1. Bcem/Wi11dspons Jm'I JONES, WILI.IJ\M: Sherman Oaks, CA; M. Jones/Wallaby R:rncl, )UNE ] 997

AKINS, JR, AARON: Mims, Fl.; M. Joncs/Wall:1by Ranch BAKER, ROBBIN: l.akclancl, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BENOIST, W BRENT: f.and--o-lakcs, 1:L; M. Jones/Wallaby Rauch BITZER, GREG: Roswell, CA; D. c;Jovcr/Wallahy Ranch BOWLES, CHRIS: Taylorsville, NC; J. J !unt/Go ... llC BROOM EU., MICHELLE: Kill l )evil I Ils, NC:; D. Haber/Kitty Hawk Kites CONOWAL, TED: Opalocka, Fl.; E. Curr DWELLEY, L THOMAS: Monroe, NC;. f'. ll1yam/llu1:1,ml Wing Flight School FOGLIA, PAUL: Raleigh, NC; P. Vencsky/Kiny lfawk Kircs FOWI.ER,.JOHN: Alabaster, AL; T. Hagcr/Lookom Mtn fl' PRlED, DR STEP! !EN: N Miami Beach, FL; F. foti/Miami I IC HAMMOND, EMTLY: Trenton, CA; I.. Prcslcy/l.ookout Mm Fl' HARPER, RODNEY: Wimer Carden, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch JOHNSON, DAVID: Clcnvillc, NC; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch LIENESCI-1, CHRISTO PI IER: Goldsboro, NC:; P. Vcncsky/Kiny Hawk Kircs MADIUTCII, ST'EPHEN: Apex, NC; P. Vcncsky/Kirry Hawk Kites MAY, MA'l"I': Winter Park, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MC CART, JHF: Wilton Manors, l;L; J. Tindle/Miami HC; MILLER, GUY: I<issimmcc, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch ROBERDS, SCOTT: Tampa, Fl.; M. Jonc.s/Wallaby Ranch ROWE, ROBERT: l.awrcnccvillc, CA; T. Hagcr/Lookorn Mtn FP SANCHEZ, ALBERTO: West !'aim Beach, n.; ]. Tindle/Miami HC: THOMPSON, LARRY: Orlando, 1:1.; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch WEAVER, GREG: Palm Harbor, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch

Region 11 BURKETT, JR, JOHNNY: Spiccwood, TX; S. Burns/ Austin Air Sports MCCROREY, ROBERT: Dallas, TX; J. H1mt/Go .. .f JG Region 12 CAMPENELLO, ALDO: Queens, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings CEBULAR, RUPERT: Forest Hills, NY; P. Voight/Fly High HG CLARKE, JEROME: New York, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings DYVIK, ARVE: Nanuet, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings EHRSAM, DONALD: Middle Island, NY; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch FISHER, MIKE: New York City, NY; P. Voight/Fly I ligh HG JASINKTF.WICZ, PAUL: Hoboken, NJ; G. Black/Mountain Wings MOTTOLA, MILO: New York, NY; G. Hlack/Moumai11 Wings OROSZ, GRETCHEN: Ellenville, NY; G. Black/Moumain Wings ROBINSON, WILLIAM: Lake George, NY; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch TANTERI, MATTHEW: New York, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings Region 13 CANTELLO, Sf<'.RGlO: Argentina; R. McKcnzic/l ligh Aclvcmmc FOX, ROB: United Kingdom; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch JURGENS, MARIANO: Argentina; R. McKenzie/High Adventure LOPEZ, JUAN MANUEL: Argentina; R. McKcnzic/T ligh Adventure LOPEZ, Ml GU El.: Argentina; R. Md(cnzic/High Adventure PEDROTTI, BENJAMIN: Argentina; R. MeKcnzic/High Aclvenrnrc RAGGI, LUIS PABLO: Argcnrina; R. McKenzie/High Adventure WAHL, MATTHIAS: Germany; G. Pumum/Halcakala TTG

Region l CAPAUL, CARSON: Spokane, WA; D. Sandcrson/Tnland Air Sports SMITH, GRANT: Renron, WA; R. Brown/Quest Air Region 2 DREWES, RICHARD: Incline Village, NV; P. Dcncvan/Mission GRAVINA, IAN: Palo Alto, CA; D. Yount/Mission Soaring HANSELL, ERIC: Reno, NV; R. l.conard/Aclventurc Sports LEWIS, GARY: Walnm Grove, CA; G. Hamilton/Sacramento HG NELSON, DON: Sacramento, CA; G. Tfamilron/Sacramcnro HG PAIGE, MIKE: Forestville, CA; D. Buchanan RIORDAN, MICHAEL: Jndinc Village, NV; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mtn FP SACJ ISE, STEPHAN: San Mateo, CA; D. Youm/Mission Soaring SHOTT, BRIAN: San Francisco, CA; D. Yount/Mission Soaring Region :J BEALS, GRANVILLE: Santa Monica, CA; A. Bccrn/Windsporrs Int'! BULL, ERIC: Los Angeles, CA; A. l\cem/Windsports lnt'I EVERTNGHAM, FIONA: Lake Forest, CA; P. Phillips/Lake l~lsinorc Sport;, GOTHARD, ROBERT: Escondido, CA; J. Ryan/HG Center HOLMAN, RICK: Northridge, CA; A. Beem/Windsports lnt'I MACKIN, CHRISTIAN: Dana Poim, CA; K. Harrison/ Adventures Unlimited MORAWIEC, KRYSTOFER: Simi Valley, CA; A. Becm/Windsports lnr'l MURPHY, JAMES: Lake Elsinore, C:A; P. Phillips/Lake Elsinore Sports POTTER, DAVID: Kapolci, l-ll; J. Forhus/Cloudbasc Em ROTHE, MARION: Honolulu, HI; J. Forbus/Cloudbasc Em STEVES, VINCE: Haiku, HI; G. Pmnam/Halcakula l !G WILLIAMS, CARRIE: Lo, Alimitos, CA; P. Phillips/Lake Elsinore Sports Region 4 AUSTIN, BRETT: Tularos;\, NM; C. Graham/Crossroads Windsport:s BRATT, DAVID: Boulder, CO; M. Windslteimcr/J\irTimeAhovc BUCKLEY, MICHAEL: Denver, CO; M. Labado/Lookout Mm FP CHIROUX, MICHAEL: Colorado Spgs, CO; S. Dewey/Quiet Flight DOVYDAITIS, JOHN: l.akewood, CO; M. Windsheimer/Air Time Above

FTNEN, JIMMY: Salt Lake City, UT; Z. Majors/Wasatch Wings RADMAN, PETER: Salt Lake Ciry, UT; D. Sharp/hcc Flight Sports SALAMONE-MAIDEN, I AlJRA: Prescott, AZ; R. Richardson/ Arizona l -IG SCH AIRER, ERIC: Scnoda, AZ; R. Richardson/Arizona TlG VOLK, CFIRISTOPHER: Sierra Vista, AZ; T. Barron/Airborne Sports WELCH, THOMAS: J\urora, CO; M. Winclsbeimcr/ Air Time Above Region 5 NIELD, KRISTOPHER: Dayton, WY; .J. Bowman/Eagle Air Sports Region 7 DU BOTS, ANDREW: Trafalgar, IN; T. Hager/Lookout Mm Fl' ELLEfSON, MARK: Shoreview, MN; S. Mish/Bandiro Action Sports I.DEPPERT, PETER: Hoffman Estates, TL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch WILSON, STEPHEN: Moline, TL; M. Labado/Lookout Mm FP

BEN: Columbus, OH; M. Manzo HG JENKINS, MICHAEL: Coatesville, PA; J. Harper/Valley KIRKPATRICK, TOM: Big Prairie, OH; M. Manzo PETRITES, GREGORY: Louisville, KY; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP Region 10 BENOIST, W BRENT: l.and-ol1kes, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BITZER, GREG: Roswell, GA; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch CANTRELL, BO: Travelers Rest, SC; C. Bowen/Quest Air CHIASSON, DENIS: Boca Raron, FL; J. Prahl/Qucsr Air CONOWAL, TED: Opaloeka, FL; E. Gurr DUFFIELD, MATT: Marietta, SC; B. l-lum/Bluc Ridge FOWLER,JOHN: Alabaster, AL; T. I-lager/Lookout Mm FP FRIED, DR STEPHEN: N Miami Beach, FL; F. Foti/Miami HG HAMMOND, EMILY: Trenton, GA; L. Presley/Lookout Mtn FP JOHNSON, DAVID: Glenville, NC; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MAY, MATT: Winter Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MC CART, .JEFF: Wilton Manors, FL; J. Tindle/Miami HG NOVAK, MICHAEL: Columbia, SC; R. Bachman/Kitty Hawk Kites OUYE, RYLAND: Cleveland, SC; B. Burril/Ulrralighr Flying Equip PERRY, JR, GORDON: Kissimmee, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch RACICOT, BRUCE: Orlando, FT.; J. Prahl/Quest Air ROBERDS, SCOTT: Tampa, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ROWE, ROBERT: J .awrcnccville, GA; T. I !ager/Lookout Mm FP SANCHEZ, ALBERTO: West Palm Beach, Fl.; J. Tindle/Miami HG SNOW, DAVID: Wimer Springs, Fl.; .J. Prahl/Qucs1 Air SUDLER, JONATHAN: Kissimmee, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Rancb THOMPSON, LARRY: Orlando, FT.; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch Region l 1 BURKETT, .JR, JOHNNY: Spiccwood, TX; S. Burns/Austin Air Sports MAHOOD, ALLAN: Wimberley, TX; J. Hunt/Go .. .l !G MOODY, t:HU.: Austin, TX; J. Prahl/Quest Air Region 12 CAMPENELLO, ALDO: Queens, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings CEBULAR, RUPERT: Forest J-lill.s, NY; P. Voight/Fly High HG CLARKE, JEROME: New York, NY; G. Black/Mounrain Wings DYVJK, ARVE: Nanuet, NY; G. Black/Mountain Wings JASTNKIEWICZ, PAUL: Hoboken, NJ; G. Black/Mountain Wings MOTTOLA, MlLO: New York, NY; G. Black/Moumain Wings OROSZ, GRETCHEN: Ellenville, NY; C. Black/Mountain Wings ROBINSON, WILLIAM: l .akc George, NY; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch TANTERI, MATTHEW: New York, NY; G. lllack/Moun1ain Wings

1-fANC CLIDING

SERGIO: R. McKcnzic/J-Iigh Adventure IUX, ROB: United Kingdom; D. Glovcr/Walhhy Ranch JURGEN, MARIANO: Argentina; R. McKenzic/J ligh Advent me LOPEZ, JUAN MANUEL: Argentina; R. McKenzie/High Advcnrmc LOPI(Z, MIGUEL: Argentina; R. Mcl(cnzic/l ligh Adventure NASLUND, IARS-AKE: Sweden; S. Stackable/UP San Diego PEDROTTI, BENJAMIN: Argentina; R. McKenzie/I ligh Advcnmrc RAGGI, LUIS PABLO: Argentina; R. McKcm.ic/High Advcnrure SHANI, YANIV: Israel; C. Thorcson/Lookrn1r Mtn Fl' WAI-IL, MATTHIAS: Germany; G. Putnum/llalcakala HC

Region 1 BROWN, I .AR.RY: Walla Walla, W i\; W. Morgan/RS I JC

PET'ER: Santa C:ruz, Ci\; R. Fngorn/Mission l.EE, ROBERT: Milpitas, CA; IZ. llinrichs/Natural Flying Region 3 BRIANT, WALTER: Koloa, II[;/\. Engen/I-JC Maui lHJDSON, MARK: Carlsbad, CA; M. Bell/Discover Hight MOERER, JEFFREY: Oxnard, C:i\; R. McKcnzic/lligh Advemmc

Region 8 SALKO, KEISHYA: Northampton, MA; R. Hastings/Morningside Fl' SUAREZ, FEDERICO: Da11lrnry, CT; C. Black/Mommin Wings

Region J POSCH, JOHANN: Mercer Island, WA; R. Gclfon/Drcam Rcgion 2 MARTINES, MASE: Modesto, Ci\; S. Bickford/Magic J\ir NUGENT, STEVE: Atwater, CA; S. Bickford/Magic Air RHODES, DAN: Sama Cruz, CA; T. Shca/S &. S Aviation Adventmcs SHELER, MIKlE: Sonora, C:A; S. Bickford/Magic Air Region 3 BROWN, PETER: Lake forest, C:A; J. R1yn/HC Center DE JESUS, MIGUEL: Sylmar, C:A; D. Qnackenbush/Trne NI CHOI.AS, BRIAN: El C:ajon, CA; J. Ryan/I IC Center PERICO, HERBERT: Rancho Sama Fe, CA; S. Stackable/UP San Diego PRUETT, RICH: Sama Monica, C:A; D. Quackenbush/True Flight ROWE, TOM: El Cajon, CA; J. Ryan/I JC Center TOYNF, RICHARD: I.a Jolla, C:A; B. Bcnnett/lJP San Diego VAUGHT, DO UGI.AS: Sylmar, C:J\; J, C;reblo/Windspmts I111'] Region 4 GUDERIAN, BRUCE: I .ongmonr, CO; M. Windshciner/ Air Time Above MARTIN, RANDY: Albuquerque, NM; M. Glamz/High Desert IIG

Region 5 DE LOZIER, DAN: Pocatello, ID; I<. Lavar,a111;ll/Ut1sc Region 6 SEWELL, RON: Russellville, AR; I), Dunning/C:cnrml Arkansas Mm Pilo1s Region 7 LEE, WILLIAM: Frankftirt, Ml; W. Trombly

Region 9

HULL, DAVID: Adelphi, MD; M. Taber/Lookout Mrn FP LEETE, JOHN: Virginia llch, VA; R. Bacl1man/Kiny Hawk Kites

Region 9 MACDUFF, SHAWN: Auburn, PA; J. Corrie

PERZ, DAVID: Twinshmg, Oll; J. Simmers/Ohio Flyers

TED: Opalocka, Fl.; J,:. Gurr DAVIS, DAN: Tupelo, MS; A. Bloodworth/1.ookom Mm FP FORTrnN,JOHN: Miami Beach, FL: J. Tindle/Miami l!C KAPLA, JODI: Wildwood, GA; J. Prahl/Quest Air MAY, MATT: Winter Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Rm1ch Region l l

KENNEDY, SCOTT: Grapevine, TX; K. Robinson/Cloudstrccts

LOWELL: Aswria, NY; P. Voight/Fly High HG Region 13 ARREOLA, MAURICIO: Mexico: D. Pagen/Sport Aviation CANTELLO, SERGIO: Argentina; R. McKcnzie/1 ligh i\dvcnrnrc FOX, ROB: United Kingdom; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch GUfLl.ERRO, MARIO: 1\lkxico; D. Pagcn/Sport Aviation JURGENS, MARIANO: Argcnti11a; R. Mcl<enzic/1 ligh Adventure LOPEZ, JUAN MANUEL: Argentina; R. McKc11zic/High Advcnutrc LOPEZ, MIGUEL: Argcnrin:1; R. Md(cnzic/J ligh Advc111nrc PEDROTTI, BENJAMIN: i\rgcmina; R. McKrnzie/1 Iigh Advcnmre RAGGl, LUIS PABLO: Argentina; R. McKcnzic/lligh Adventure

)UNI 1997

Region 10 ALEXANDER, JAMIE: Miami Bench, FJ .; S. Kroop/Miami f re; DVORAK, ROBERTA: Miami, FL; F. Foti/Miami I IC FRANQUI?., NELSON: San Juan, PR; R. Rojas/Carihlwan Airsports GRYDER, BRADLEY: I liddcnitc, NC:; J. Prahl/Quest Air I-JABER, DOUGLAS: Kill I kvil Ills, NC; R. Bachman/Kitty Hawk Kites KIRSCH, RICK: Kissimmee, Fl.; J. Prahl/Quest Air KNIGHT Ill, WIL!.IAM: l lcndcrsonvillc, NC:; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch POST, KENT: J:r Lauderdale, Fl.; J. Tindle/Miami HG RUMPH, ROl1ERT: Juncos Station, PR; R. Rojas/Carihhcan Airsports Region 13 01.AZABAL, ALFJANDRO: Mexico; D. Pagcn/Sporr Aviation

Region GODWIN, PHILIP: Marina, CJ\; Region 7 ANDERSEN, DONNIE: Traverse City, Ml; Region 12 JEWEi.i., DAVID: llurlingham, NY;

PETER GRAY MARC LALOUETTE ERIC SMITH RANDY GROVE BRADLEY GRYDER WILLIAM THORNTON ALEJANDRO OLAZABAL

WILLIAM KIMBALL

GEORGE TIAMH .TON FRED BALLARD TIMETJIY HELMS Cl.lFTON BRYAN ROBERT HAGEWOOD GERARD I AMARCHE

T?ANK SCHOOL .................................... RH71NNFR I Wallaby Ranch ................................................... 29 2 Lookout M tn. Flight Park .................................. 24 3 Kitty Hawk l<ircs ................................................ 18 4 Mission I

5 (i

9 9

9 9 13 14

14 l Ii 14 14

14 14 14 14 23 23 25 25

Windsporrs ........................................................... 9 Miami Hang Gliding ............................................ 8 lligh Advcnrnre .................................................... 7 Mountain Wings .................................................. 7 l:Jy Away .............................................................. 6 Hang Gliding Center of San Diego ...................... 6 Lake Elsinore Sports ............................................. (i True Flight ........................................................... 6 Airrime Above ...................................................... 5 Dream Wc:1vcr I fang ( ;Jiding ............................... 4 Fly High Hang Gliding ....................................... .4 Co ... Ha11g Gliding .............................................. 4 Maryland School of! la11g Cliding ........................ 4 Morningside Flight Park.. ..................................... 4 Raven Sky Silver Wings ........................................................ .4 So;1ring Wings ..................................................... .4 Valley Forge llang Gliding .................................. .4 Advcmure Sports Tours ........................................ 3 Arizona l lang c;liding .......................................... 3 lhndi10 Action Sports .......................................... 2 B1r1:1:ard Wing Hight School ................................. 2

25 2'5 25 25

Caribbean Airsporrs .............................................. 2 Chandellc ............................................................. 2 Haleakula Tlang c;liding ....................................... 2 lkaros Sports Aviation .......................................... 2 (~uest: Air .............................................................. 2 Quiet: 25 Sacramento Hang Gliding .................................... 2 25 Tck Flight Producrs .............................................. 2 2'5 Wasatch

Rankings are compiled from ratings p11hlished in the January.June 1()97 issues of' magazine.

NANK SOJ()O{ ......................................... NOVTCE Lookout Mrn. Flight Park .................................. 37 2 Wallaby Ranch ................................................... 24 3 Mission 14 4 (~uest Air ............................................................ 12 Miami l Jang l0 6 High Adventurc .................................................... 8 6 Mounrnin Wings .................................................. 8 8 Kiny Hawk Kitcs .................................................. 7 9 Hg Crntcr of San Diego ....................................... 6 9 'T'rue Flighr ........................................................... 6 9 12

14 Sacra memo Hang Gliding .................................... 4 15 Abe ""'"'"'n' .......................................................... ) 15 Airborne Sports USA ............................................ 3 Airtivc Ahovc ........................................................ 3 Arizona Hang Gliding .. ,,,,,, ........................ ,,,, ...... 3 15 Fly High Hang Gliding ........................................ 3 15 Co ... Hang Gliding .............................................. 3 21 Advcnrurc Sports .................................................. 2 21 Advenrurcs Unlimited .......................................... 2 Bandiro Action Sports .......................................... 2 21 Carribcau l\1rspcl!'r1, ................................................ L 21 Cloudbasc Enterprises .......................................... 2 21 J!]y Away H:mg u11u111)', .......................................... L. 21 HalcalrnL1 Hang u11,u111;.; ................................. .. 21 [karos SportsAviation ........................................... 2 21 Maryland School of I Lrng ( 21 Rebel Wings Hang Gliding .................................. 2. 21 The Soaring Cenrer .............................................. 2 UP San I J1ego ...................................................... ,,,.L 21 Rankings arc compiled from ratings published in the January.June I C)97 issues of mag;1zinc. HANC GLJDINC

RIGHT: UP Speed. Photo by Markus Mallinckrodt. BELOW Buffet RCS.

OPPOSITE PAGE Wills Wing Fusion (top). Moyes CSX (cente1). Bautek Twister (bottom).

All of us probably have some incredibly fond memories ofgoing to toy stores when we were kids. The allure ofthe newest toys and the knowledge that you'd probably never experience the joy ofactually owning them drew us over and over again to the toy merchant's place ofbusiness. JU NE 1997

ast forward 25 years. I recently experienced the same fantasies of playing with myriad new toys at the 1997 lnduga show held in early March in Augsburg, Germany. This was probably t!1e most exciting year yet for hang glider pilots at this trade show because of the lineup of topless gliders. As in all competitive businesses, hang glider manufacturers must keep up with the state of the art to continue making sales and stay afloat. With the advent of me "topless" glider over the last rwo years or so, many manufacturers tentatively played with me new technology before jumping headfirst into a commitment of such magnitude. Well, 1997 is the year mat will change hang gliding (tl1is time) and push it to t!1e next level of performance. No fewer than nine different topless hang glider models were present at the '97 lnduga show, which made the coy store an especially inviting place to visit. I decided to report on mese new toys so those of you who couldn't visit the toy store mis year will be informed. I should point our that I'm simply reporting what's on the market, and all information was provided by the manufacturers' representatives. I can't guarantee that t!1is information is totally accurate, bur it is what I was told. To build a glider without upper rigging me designer must devise a way of keeping me wings from folding around me pilot in a negative-load situation. This, of course, has traditionally been done very efficiently (strength-wise) with cables attached to the top of the kingpost t!1at reach out to the crossbar/leading edge junction. If mese wires are eliminated me designer has to rely on the strength of the crossbar and the crossbar center junction ro handle the negative loads. Up to mis point this has been achieved with four basic methods: 1) box-shaped composite spars, 2) round-shaped composite spars, 3) wire-deflexored aluminum round cubes, 4) conventional aircraft built-up aluminum box spars. Beefing up the crossbars cakes care of me negative-load problem, but if you do away wim me kingposr where the heck are

......

~--~- In PP1 1'11u:1 llal ~

--_:_ _ _ _ ~.. _,

CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: La Mouette Topless • The Pegasus rigid wing • UP Speed TL • Moyes CSX • The Exxtacy

H ANG G LI DING

The Tangent Flight Computer is

to be the best XC vario market. No other flight co1mput<,r has accumulated as marjJ co,mrietitic,n miles. Whether y

' e a tech-weenie

or ·-phobe,

want the real

efficiently as audio speed great. It's pretty n be able to get my ey off my instruments. Dangerously addictive, frighteningly necessary. I love it." to put the reflex bridles? Well, gone too. 'fo effecr pitch stability al a angle of anack rnanufactm·· crs have resorted to what (in simple terms) arc dlccrivcly inboard washout tubes. By placing internal rigid members that only allow the sail to "blow down" a fixed amount, designers have found a way to replace the reflex bridles, I won't get into the details of the specific locations of these "dive sticks" (that have lovingly come to be known as "sprogs" in the industry), since every designer with whom I spoke is convinced that his placcmenr method is the only proper one. The first modern topless production that Americans are familiar with was the L1 Mouerte 'fop less. I1 's name is actually Ti.Jpless, so when I refor to all gliders of this genre as "topless" it is with respect for and apologies to La Mouene. This is the syndrome, I will briefly cover the gliders displayed at lnduga this year wirh some basic in for., mation nbom their construction and l have only flown a couple of these gliders and will nor endeavor to pass judgerncm on any of rheir fr1hricatio11 or perfonnatice qualities, in no particular order:

I CARO LAMINAR XT 'l'his glider utilizes a graph ire hox spar, Ir's sprogs arc also rnadc of carbon fiber. The J,aminar is louted 10 weigh pounds. BAUTEK TWISTER While 1he 11an1c of this glider doesn't nee-

]lJNF l 997

translate: positively in the American marker, its crossbar fabrication rnerhod is something the average hang pilot can relate rn, Instead of using more composite materials, lhutck opted to utilize a dcflexored tube system thar increases the effective tube diameter in a negative.load situation. This is accomplished by using n Lugediameter stainless cable and standoffs 011 top of a round, c:onvcmional-looking crossbar tube, 1 had a very difficult time the people at this booth to spend any time answering my questions. 'fhe 'Twister utilizes a graphite sprog system

and

74 pounds,

MOYES CSX The CSX utili,. es a large, round carbon tube and an impressive carbon center

"The t is the best: performing climb and glide instrument I've flown with. I like how you can personally tailor the myriad of functions the Tangent boasts to suit your

DESIGN I IO I Glendora Ave Oal,tland, CA 94601

IO 53 I 2161 18

platc/jm1ction area, 'J 'he glider weighs in at 75 pounds. Its sprog system is a combi, nation of «luminurn and graphite.

UP SPEED TL At 74 pounds, the Speed TL employs car-

bon··box, cross-hcmn construction and aluminnm and carbon self.installing sprogs,

AEROS STEAITH KPL Another black sheep in the war of cross, bearns. Aeros decided to go with GO years of proven box-shaped aluminum spars used in general avi,nior1, The Sreal d1 l< PL employs aluminum sprogs ;md weighs 75 pounds.

TECMA Pl

of~an bmg glider design. It will be inter·

'fhe FI uses a built-up aluminum spar similar to the Acros glider. It employs graphite sprogs and weighs 7:3 pounds

esting to sec which of the construction methods is the most widely used in flvc years. ] would be remiss in my job as a hardhitting reporter ifl didn't include a little information about what's happening on the rigid wing front. Since they're topless too, I must tell you about the two promi .. nent topless designs unleashed on the industry at this year's show. 'I 'he Pegasus is a rigid wing with active·· ly pilot-actuated spoilers that has a long legacy leading up to the current model. It's a clean-looking machine indeed. The most impressive rigid wing to come out in years (from a flex.-wing pilot's point ofvicw) is the Exxtacy by Flight Designs. Utilizing passively actuated spoilers, this glider is flown exactly like a regular hang glider. Shifting your weight shifts the control bar which is connected to the spoilers. Pilots I have spoken with about flying the Exxtacy say that within a minute of leaving the ground they were completely tuned into the glider. Utilizing a "VG. style" flap system for takeoffs and landings, this glider is claiming besr LID performance in the 16, J 7: I neighborhood. Keep an eye out frir this glider in the near future. l would like to thank Steve Uochukwu, a Fine British chap who always supplies me with great photos from Induga. Steve is very involved in hang gliding in Great Britain and is a 1remendous photographer. All photos this article are courtesy of Steve.

WILLS WING FUSfON

Aeros crossbttr.

Utilizing carbon and ~1luminum sprogs, the Fusion (the only American-made topless glider in the lineup at Induga) sports a carbon-box-construction cross··beam and weighs in at 76 pounds.

GUGGENMOS BULLET RCS A Gtrbon-box spar was also the Guggenmos choice. The Bullet uses sandwich··construcrion sprogs and weighs 7 J pounds.

Bullet RCS' crossbar.

LA MOUETTE TOPLESS With a c;:irbon,box spar and carbon sprogs, the 'lc>pless is also a 7 J -pound machine.

AIRWAVEFR 'fhe FR nses a carbon····box-construction cross-beam with carbon sprogs that Airwave calls "spare ribs." fr weighs in at pounds.

Laminar crosshflr.

Tecma crossbar.

At leas1 a third of these rnanufacturcrs emphasized thaL they were the original inventors of the modern topless glider. l personally know of three manufacturers who were working independently of the others on topless gliders as long as four years ago. I mention this because many of these manufacturers told me that they had the first ropless gliders and 1 think they expected me to report this. I say "congratu· lations" to all these fine companies for ere .. ating these new wings and pursuing state..

60th of theae here meet1:1 are r;rc>e:1Lioe1el Great WorldClaeei Meets. For more Info, ocm~

tact G.W. @ 919 480 :3552 or c:hec:k out OLD PILOTS (l.ll<E DENNIS P/\GEN) WILL UE Tl IEHE SO YOU MIGJ IT WJN

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""""'""-"'"'-""""'"""""""""'magazine (HG Division) or 6 issues Division), liability insurance, ratings, and other benefits. O;S. ($65.00 Non~U.S.*) ................. ., ............ .

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Date

**************************************************************************************************************** CHARGE MY:

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(03/97)

In consideration of being granted membership in the USHGA, I,-------------------------· for myself, my pmonill representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouse and assigns, do agree as follows: The following definitiorns apply to terms used in this Agreement: means launching (and/or assisting another in launching), flying (whether as pilot in command or otherwise) and/or landing (including, but not limited to, crashing) a hang glider or paraglider. 2. nrnni!>ll"llv d:am,aie and/or nPr~nn1a1 or sustained by me as a result of my PA,"ITl1CJP,1'TJ'ON TIii':: .lfi:/.PfJR'T:mtllnr as a result of the administration of any USHGA programs (for example: the Pilot Proficiency System). 3. means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials (elected or otherwise), members, contractors, sub-contractors, lessors and lessees: a) The United States Hang Gliding Association, a California Non-profit Corporation (USHGA); b) Each of the person(s) sponsoring and/or participating in the administration of my proficiency rating(s); c) Each of the hang gliding and/or paragliding organizations which are chapters of the USHGA; d) The United States Of America and each of the city(ies), town(s), county(ies), State(s) and/or other political subdivisions or governmental agencies within whose jurisdictions I launch, fly and/or land; e) Each of the property owners on or over whose property I may launch, fly and/or land; D All persons involved, in any manner, in the sports of hang gliding and/or paragliding at the site(s) where I PAJfTl(~IPJ.ITE 11 AII persons involved 11 include, but are not limited to, spectators, hang glider and/or paraglide1r pilots, assistants, drivers, instructors, observers, and owners of hang gliding and/or paragliding equipment; and g) All other persons lawfully present. at the site( s) during my ,..11"'1n"" IDISCHJ'ltGiE the any and all claims and liability for however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the to the fullest extent allowed by law. C. I A against any !lf the loss or damage on account of IN}lJRJfES. If I violate this agreement by filing such a suit or making such a claim, I will pay all attorneys' fees and costs of the ng;;,~f;J't,,r.v PAJfTIJ.~S. ACl(NCJWLE[>GE that the non-participant third party liability insurance obtained by USHGA does provide coverage for TEl~MIINATl<l!N I can terminate this Agreement by either sending written notice of termination to the USHGA National Office postage prepaid return receipt requested, in which case the termination will JlQ! be effective until one year after I cease being a member of the USHGA or 30 days after I place the written notice in the mail, whichever is later; or by signing and returning to the USHGA National Office a later version of the Official USHGA Release, Waiver and Assumption of Risk Agreement. However, even if I terminate this Agreement, all of the terms of this Agreement will continue to apply to I suffer in whole or in part before the termination of this Agreement. E. I shall be and ll"nn,i;:tr1,111'>d

If any part, article, paragraph, sentence or clause of this Agreement is not enforceable, the affected provision shall be curtailed and limited only to the extent necessary to bring it within the requirements of the law, and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in full force and effect

I have

/)ate

MR-3/97

"Call me direct. Let's talk flying! I'll tell you why Ball instruments are the absolute best you can own." - Mark Ferguson, President, Chief Designer; Ball Yarios

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80301

Editor'.( Note: Nying dos(' to (500/r:et) or in is not only gcrous but a violation of I :edcral Aviation this information so Regulations. thatpiloti may let1rnfrom others ttbout the inherent in flying in or near clouds. J\ pilot must always remain aware of weather conditions rhroughour his flight. An advancing storm front ofrcn pushes large masses of warm and rapidly--1·ising air ahead of it and can create power/id and potentially dangerous lift. As lifr strengthens beyond 500 feet per minute (filln) under a cloud, the pilot should expect a condition known as cloud suck. Cloud suck can be potentially dangerous, especially if a pilot is not or has not prepared for it. "Ile rnusr learn to recognize the hazardous signs of cloud suck. As Dennis Pagcn put it in his book Performance Flying, "The danger is nor the lift, of course, bur sucked up imo the cloud." We;ik, spread lift under long cloud meets or under an overcast sky need not be dangerous, bur when under a11 overdeveloping cloud or a large darker clol!d, one should expect strong lift within 1,000·2,000 feet of cloud base. Clouds can suck air not only from below but can pull from the air surrounding the cloud and become sel{.pcrpctuating. Lili approaching 1,000+ fj)ln is common and may be so widespread that the pilot may nor be able to escape. I-Ie may he literally pulled or "sucked up" into the cloud. Flying to within 500 feet of a cloud is not only illegal but potentially dangerous and lifo threatening. Once in a cloud, a pilot is obviously at an extreme disadvantage and may become disoriented, losing all visual references. I fe may experience vertigo and extreme turbulence. pilot may not have the The skills to safely evacuate, so it is important to avoid the situation before it becomes a prob-· lcm. A pilot can learn much about potential conditions by talking to advanced pilots and reading about lifr, cloud formation and weather. Once a pilot is being sucked into a cloud there arc certain procedures that can be used to escape: ]) Spiral down if you arc below the cloudbase and lift is less than 700 fpm. I\ spiral dive is accomplished by pulling in the bar and moving ro one corner ofrl1c control frame. Do what you can to avoid being pulled up into the cloud. 2) Dive to the front edge of the cloud if the ]UNI 1997

cloud is small or if you arc ahovc it. Avoid entering the cloud and rhe potrnlially powerful lifr associated with it. 3) If sucked into a cloud, slow to hcst glide, wings level and fly straight. Eventually, with luck, you will exit the

cloud. 4) Never throw a p;uaclmtc when in a drnndcrsLOrm dmtd or cloud suck (unless experiencing equipment foilurc). The parachute may pull you up faster and deeper into the cloud.

Having reviewed what cloud suck is, kt me share with you four incidents in which pilots have been pulled into clouds. I ,ct their cx11cr1enccs educate you so rhat you can avoid a pilot's worst nightmare, cloud suck.

lntervirw With Bill Colvin

l REAU Y DON''T KNOW CLOUDS AT ALL A year ago while on my a11m1;il latc spring trip to 1-lcnson's Cap, home of rhc T(:n nessce 'Ii-cc' l <lppers, I heard about a pilot who had been sucked well up into an overdeveloping cloud and was "spit om" :H l 2,000 feet MSL. The words used ranged from "complete terror" ro "controlled crash" by pilots who had witnessed the flight. The pilot was Bill Colvin, a highly skilled and long-time hang glider pilot. I-Tis name is synonyrnons with the· Jcnnessec 'Ji·cc 1;_1ppers, the radial ramp and Jlying in the No one soars the at Sequatchie Henson's wirhout passing directly over Bill's house. If there is anyone who uudcrstands the Sequatchie Valley, it is Bill. 'I 'hat is why l was so interested in finding om what happened and Bill, l sit here at your kitchen table ping coffee and wondering why it has taken you six months to me this interview. Why lias it been so difficult?

Bill: Well Jim, it still bothers me to think about that flight. It has been difficult to even scribble these notes on this paper abo11l thar day. I want you ro write this up frJr Hrng Gliding magazine so other pilots will learn from my mistakes. l want you ro put in a disclaimer that this article is not for your cmcrtairunent. Ir is for yom safety. I can only think of what Joni Mitchell wrote in her song "Both Sides Now": ''I've

looked ar clouds foim both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it's cloud's illusions l rcc,11, ! really don't know clonds at all." Jim: Well, the cheesecake is gcning warm not tell me about and the coffee cold so the day the clouds took you in.

Bill: Ir was a typical summer day. It was July 12., 1995 about :3:00 in the aCternoon. It was I would never It was an cvcm that no one would ever think would happen to them. ft took place so quickly. l know it can happen to anyone. I will try ro relate rbe story as it happened to rnc. It was a quiet day. l was at launch with Curley Dunn, Kathy Lee and Larry Applebee. There w;1s no wind and the clouds were slowly building just a real typical day in the Sequatchie Valley. No one thought that anyone would get up, so we dropped off three cars ar the I z. Curley was at launch but backed off because he did not want a "sledder." Kathy Lee launched first. She headed out across the valley and to work a thermal. We all launched afrcr that. I rhink I w;1s the last one oil We all headed om roward Kathy and eventually we all got up to cloudbasc in that thermal. but i1 There seemed w be lilt wasn't strong lifi:, maybe 200 fret per min me. I lost sight of Kathy and ( ~urley. I think they were above me. l ,arry dropped out of that thermal, headed caught another tl1ermal and hc:1dcd up. l later saw Kathy and so l Curley heading 0111 across the headed om toward them. I saw some smoke drifting out toward the valley so the drift was from behind, hm it was light. l got to 5,500' MSL in about 20 minurcs, so I must have been up at about l 60 feet per mim11e. l drifring in and out of lifr until f goi up to 8,900' MSL Twas heading toward the phone tower out in the valley. l saw some there was a lot of vir·· ga ,Ill d was starting to get wer. l decided to head north toward the southwest launch. There were a lot of clouds so many that you could not sec how high went because you couldn't sec the tops. There were still "hluc holes" around; it wasn't there overdeveloped. As ! looked appeared robe a dark cloud with some rain or virga, but no thunder or lightning ar that time, there or anywhere else. I hadn't picked up any thermals since I lcfr the rower. I drifted a cou pie of miles and picked up a thermal over the LZ. ! conrinucd to be a

to drift toward Route 11 I . Jim: Where were the others? Bill: Tlooked down and saw Larry Applebee land. He told me later that be had seen some lightning off in the distance. Curley tried to get up over the quarry but couldn't find lifr, so he landed. I saw Kathy climb up to cloudbase along the north side of the gap; I was south of the gap. We were in separate thermals, about half a mile apart. J climbed up to 7,500' MSL and began to hit the "whispies" again. I took one turn at the base of the cloud and headed out the side toward a blue hole somewhere over the IZ. That is when the cloud sucked me up! f only made one turn so I knew where I was headed. I kept getting lift. I would tl!rn and get more lifr, and turn some more. After that happened a fow times, f no longer knew where I was heading. I then tried to core it down, but T just kept going up. The lifi: was getting stronger and stronger. Sometimes it was strong and sometimes ve1y strong and turbulent, but I never went weightless and it never got as violent as l thought it would be. Jim: How strong would you say ir was?

Bill: I don't know. It was more than 1,000 frim up. T fly with an old Ball 500H variometer. It was fogged over and hard to read, bnt J didn't have to read it because it was screaming pretty loudly. It took in a lot of moisture from the cloud and started making some pretty weird noises, so [ turned it off I couldn't stand the distraction. My fogged up so I couldn't really see anyway. I couldn't say for sure how fast I was going up, but from the feel of it, it was the strongest lift I have ever experienced in my life. I'm telling you, I was scared. I'd say that was the scariest experience I ever had in a hang glider. l don't know how long I was in that cloud probably five minutes or longer. It was a long time, and it felt like forever. I was really scared. I remembering stories of pilots being sucked up and frozen solid after being spit our at the top of a 30,000foot cloud, the glider being tumbled and broken.

decided to fly fast and straight and hopefully fly out of this thing. r tried to think straight but l really had no way to know which direction I was going. My Guardian Angel must have been looking out for me because T finally got "spit out" into a little hlue hole. There were clouds all around it but I pulled in and tried ro spiral down. My al ti merer was fogged over, hut I could see that it read 2,000 feet MSL. As I spiraled downward :md the hand of the altimeter dial kept winding around, 1 re,1lized I had been spit out at over 12,000 feet MSL. ·rhere was a white bridge below me. I realized I was about five miles from launch, out in the middle of the valley. The clouds kept corning in. I could nor just spiral straight down; T had to keep moving over to avoid being whited out. As r looked up toward the gap by Highway ] 27 I could hear thunder and see lightning, it was probably a couple of miles away. l finally got below cloudbase and headed roward the LZ 10 avoid the thunderstorm. Along the way l had 10 spiral down periodically to avoid the clouds sucking me up again. Every time [ would see "whispies" f would spiral down It did not take me long to get to the as there was a big gust from pushing me along. I was directly above the LZ but well above launch level. As T turned around I could sec the trees lay over. I landed in the middle of the LZ. Tlie wind was so strong that l could not go any further. I dropped over 2,000 fed without penetrating very much. I could sec Kathy Lee and Larry below me. It wasn't turbulent, hut the wind was very strong. I had good control of the glider until f was within 20 feet of the ground. lt was as if a big hand had come out and slapped me to the ground. I ended up on the control bar, counting my fingers and toes to see ifI was still ,dive. Kathy Lee and Larry helped me fold up the glider and ger us both out of there. The only damage to my TRX was a couple of battens that ] probably benr hitting tbc underside of the frame while I was in the cloud. Jim: Well, Bill, it sounds like it took a lot of skill to come out of this the way you did.

Jim: So what did you do? Bill: l jus1 held on, trying to fly straight. There was a lot of wind noise, so I knew I was flying fas1. And it didn't make any difference what l did, the glider was just going up. I lost my sense of direction. I tried diving turns, and I was still going up. Then I

Bill: l don't know if it was skill, dumb luck or rny Guardian Angel looking out for me. Wh,it have you learned from this experi-encc? Bill: I realize now that I should never b,ive

gone into that cloud, and, once in it, I should have immediately cranked the glider into a spiral dive and got om before I got pulled any further into the cloud. Mos1 of the rime you don't get caught, bnt when you do, the consequences are very bad. l now avoid gctiing anywhere near clouds when I fly. I hope this interview will teach pilots that flying anywhere near clouds can be dangerous. Please learn from my mistakes and use this information for your safety. As I said before: "I've looked at clouds from both sides now. ft's cloud's illusions T recall. I really don't know clouds at all." Russ Rrown

WIHTEOlJT Some might say that getting lost inside a cloud is a religious experience, much like handling a live rattlesnake is a religious experience. · l'bc: year was 1980 and it was a beautifril March day at Crestline, California. [ had jusr moved ro California, hadn'r had too much mountain experience, and was just figuring ollt how to thermal efficiently. Crestline is a 3,000--foot mountain and fre-quendy hosts nasty weather in tbc winter months, and frlr a pilot more intent on try-ing to core lift than watching the developing weather it can be a dangerous place. Plying my trusty Scagull 10-meter, T worked scraggly lift for about ! 5 minutes before getting above launch, and with about 900 foet above, I shot over to Pine flats, the neighboring mountain to the west. I was gerring up to 800 feet over Pinc and having a grand old time when l noticed about half the pilots suddenly leave. "That's curious," I thought. After boating around for another five minutes I realized why, but at this point the rrap was already sprung. I was a mosquito between two giant, puffy, white hands. J wasn't being sucked up imo the clouds as rnuch as they seemed to move in and under me from ,ill sides. l tried to dive down to the last remaining hole about 500 feet below me, bur it slammed shut before [ even got close. 1:or about five seconds l thought, "This is kind of neat." l was jusL floating around i11 light lifr. Then [ started ro get worried: I could sec absolutely nothing but white evety· where. I went into a claustrophobia-like panic. Faster, faster, I began diving to get om of the cloud. I remembered reading HANC Ct11J\NG

about someone who had been sucked into a

first I ever looped. Ttook off and flew to the

cloud and saved himself by grabbing his front wires to dive so I starred to do that and then 1 thought, "What the hell am I doing? I'm in more danger of ramming the nearest mountain at warp speed than l am of being sucked into a cumulonimbus! I've got to slow down and get ready to flare if the ground comes up!" So l backed oil to minimum sink speed which caused things lo get quiet and spooky. White, white everywhere. I .ost, in a gianr glass of homogenized milk. The air was buoyant and luckily not at all turbulent. I\ mist was coating my arms and I started to get concerned about my vario gcrting soaked. f'm sure it won Id have been doubly annoying had l heen wearing glasses. It was very eerie looking out at my respective wings, e;1ch obviously flying, but the contrary !(:cling was that I was stationary, like an actm on a set, hanging in a fokc glider in front of a big fan. It was dreamlike. I starred losing any sense of up and down and it felt for a while like I was standing vertical· ly in my harness. I was getting preny scared and decided to only concentrate on correct bar position to prevent cntcri11g a spiral dive. "Please God! Get me om of this cloud!" l screamed. 'Then, a couple of minutes later, like an answer from heaven, I started to make out the faint glow of the sun. "1l1ank you God! Th:rnk you!" f cried. l knew this meant that l was poinred roughly south, so I just kept headi11g toward the sun and praying that afrer all my blind flying I wasn't behind the mountain! Then, with joyous relief [ popped out rhe side of the cloud about half a mile cast of where ir had enveloped me, and, thankfully, [ was in an easy position to make the LZ. I was not alone as POT~ POC POP orher relieved pilots could be seen leaving the cloud hank above and below me. We all came down to land and share our cxr)er1ences i11 the LZ. I tell you, I'm grateful for the cheap lesson. Since then I have a lot more respect for, and pay a lot more ancntion to the white development overhead.

hot rocks on the left of takeoff, crossing the

Gilbert Griffith

MOUN'l'

NIGITI'MARE

Mount Buffalo is a granite outcrop in Victoria's Crear Dividing Range. 'Eikeoff is above a vertical rock face at an altitude of 4,450 feet and faces north. lt was 1980 and [ was flying a Wings Kestrel K2. lt was a pretty strong glider, the )UNE 1997

gorge as fast as possible, mainly out of' fear. My glide angle was probably about 5/\, maybe even less, so many of these flights were sled rides down the ridges on either side of the valley. This flight was not much hcttcr, bm I managed to follow the ridge for about IO minutes until it starred to descend into the Ovens Valley. I turned back toward the burrs, was getting very low, and had a tailwind of about 15 mph. I had just flown over Rollason's farmhouse, clearing their roof by 100 foet, and was thinking that a downwind Lmdiug looked like a distinct possibility. An enormous gust seemed to grab me and jerk me skyward. l barely had the time, or rhe wits, ro turn the glider and noticed thar the vario needle was hard against the stop. I wasn't confosed, just apprehen· sive scared if you like. I climbed from 50 feet above a dangerous landing to 4,000 feet in two minutes. At this height a dark, flatbottomed cloud had formed in the last 10 minutes. Entering the cloud caused the vario's very high-speed beeping to become a continuous whine. I felt a bit like whining myself; as all this was new to me and I had previously only flown in clouds in a light plane with an instructor. l had read, too, all rhe stories about clouds having rocks in them. Being so close to a really big granite rock like Mount Buffalo didn't help. I was still thinking though, and elected to fly north, away from the mountain, and proceeded to push the control bar back with my knees in order to dive as fast as possible and exit the cloud. It was a great relief to sec the ground appear under me; I was really expecting to come out in a spin or worse. There is no way of telling which way is up when yon cannot sec rhe horizon or the sun. l hnded safely after only 35 minutes. It was a flight I will never forget and don't particularly warn to repeat, especially in an old glider with no backup chute.

Roy E Mahoney

CI.OUDS 'fhe last time T flew in a cloud was TH.E L/\ST 'J 'lME I will ever fly NF/\R a cloud. (Besides, I now know that it is illegal.) l had had a few pleasant cloud flights in single-· surface gliders in the I 970's and early I 980's, never having a problem, since the gliders I flew could virtually "fly themselves." Then one day, downwind from

Magazine Mountain, Arkansas, Twas 1,500 feet above cloudbase heading downwind, and decided to penetrate a nice, small, wellrounded and flat-bottomed cumi, thinking I would pop right through ir. I was flying a Comet, which if flown hands-off would end up in fairly tight 3GO's one way or the other. Well, I didn't pop right out. I knew I had entered a turn but wasn't sure which way. I could sec the cloud vapor curving from in front of' the nose of the glider, and this gave me the sensation of the glider's angle of attack increasing, as one would feel whcu elllcring a loop. This made me w;mt to pull in and get the hell out of there, before l stalled or ended up upside down. Suddenly it got real co]cl and frost began to fc)nl1 Oil my control har. The cloud vapor was also much whiter now. l was in a Tshirt and knee-hanger harness, and I was shivering. Six minutes after first entering the cloud l caught sight of the ground. l t was not below me but appeared as a horizon orn (i-ont. Finding a crack in the cloud, I followed ir out. ] looked back at the cloud as I left it behind. It had grown several times its initial size into a rowcring storm cell. I landed 20 miles downwind, and by then all the clouds behind Magazine Mountain had grouped to form one massive, towering thunderhead. Shortly after I had finished bagging my glider a gust front from the developing storm blew through, bringing rain and lightning. Tlie moral of rhis story: Even when one is prepared for flight in a hang glidc1~ one must always have respect for weather conditions and cautiously avoid flying in clouds. II

PeifbrmanceFl;ying: Hang Gliding ;Tr:chnique for lntr:rmedi({Je. and Advanced Pi/ots.(1993) by Dennis Pagcn Understanding The Sky: A Sport Pilot's Guide To Flying Conditions (l 992) by Deu.nis .Pagen

Ha1igGliding For Beginner Pilots (1990)

by Peter Cheney and Matt Tabet

Crmtinuedfrom J!tlge a problem and release, well heforc things get so bad that releasing doesn't help. ff the pilot is too inexperienced to know when he is in rroublc, it is cssenti,11 that the observer or instructor be qualified ro release the pilot. Several years later two buddies and l were towing 011 a road where the observer on the tow rig would have gotten a rough ride and a lot of' dirt in his face. I volun-· teered to ride the tow rig as an observer, but the pilot, mindfol of the difficult ride in store for me, declined. 'fhe one-in-·a-thm1sand had platform launch ensued, and the pilot flew into the ground seconds afrer launch. Yes, he tried to release, bm bad just moved his release cord and grabbed the wrong thing. ['m pretty darn good with a hook lmi/'c, bur J was in the cab of the truck. Once again there were a number of things that combined to contribute to an accident, bm the overriding factor was that there wasn't an observer on the tow rig ready to take appropriate action (using a hook knife\ dumping brake or hydraulic pressure, tripping a line-cutting system, etc.). T'hus, anorher principle of towing is: use an observer. Yes, I know it's ofren inconvenient, and many of 11s have rnade thousands of tows without one, but having an observer is like wearing a helmet or flying with a parachute. You wear ;:i helmet on a thousand flights hoping you will never need it, but are very glad you have one the one time you do need ir. Obviously there is at least one type of towing in which an observer is impractical or impossible aerorowing. That means that during an aerotow several extra prccau· tions need to be taken. The main one is that the tow plane needs a good rearview mirror so the pilot can act as the observer, and a reliable tow release at the tug end of' the rope is required so the pilot can get rid of the towee quickly. An inexperienced tow operator and an inexperienced tow pilot are a bad combination. 'fhe less experienced the operator, the more experienced the pilot must be, and the less experienced the pilot is, the more experienced the tow operator n1ust be. A good tow operator is a "Master ofl)isastcr," one who, when things arc going wrong, will quickly and confidently rake the co1Tec1 action. Flying a hang glider or paraglider under tow requires learning to fly the glider in a diffcren t way than you do in free flight. It

Rici? Stl?in on an 1 J.. Metl?r Puhe, on tterotou; dolly. Photo by Lynda Wacht requires learning some concepts that need to be brought to your attention in derail before and as you are learning to tow. Thus, you need to receive tow instruction from someone experienced enough to give you information as well as safo flights. II' you have or plan to get son1e sort of tow system, be sure to get appropriate train-· in the use of thar system, and do a number of' tows with tow-trnined and experienced pilots before you srart towing inexperienced pilots. A group of' pilots may start out with a complete set of safoty precautions and practices, then, due to the exigencies of rhc moment, one (or more) of' these precautions may be omitted on occasion. Over time it may be discontinued entirely with the justification that, "We got away without it this maybe we don't need ir afrer all. I suggest that you have a set of minimum standards that must he met bdc)re you row. Review your checklists, weak links, tow releases, towlines, measurement or monitoring of' tow observer methods, hook knives, use of radios and hand signals, and so forth. Many of these things should not be done without. If basic safety requirements aren't met then don't fly. Several of' these observations fly in the face of'currenr towing practice. I showed a I-year-old cight--millirnctcr film to my local duh, and it was interesting 10 note that I 00°/cJ of the pilots in the fllm, includ-ing myscl/; flew without helmets. It wasn't a great rash o/'hang gliding ;:iccidents over rhc years that convinced pilots of the need for

helmets. It was more like an attack of cornmon sense. Likewise, even now, some pilots have the attitude that an observer is seldom or never needed, and that. "real" tow pilots never have to release from tow. I strongly believe, however, that conunon sense does tell tow pilots that the principles mentioned in this article are pretty wise. I occasionally give lectures on towing, and f always emphasize ;i conservative approach with particular emphasis on using an observer and the "recognize and reb1se" principle. J ,ilways meet pilots and 10w operators who have come to these same conclusions. I believe that as towing becomes more and more popular we arc becoming more and more aware that even a one--in-a-tbousand occurrence eventually hti, to happen. So, here is my basic tow safoty list: ] ) '] 'he l 00% Rule. One hundred percent of your attention must go into the successfol completion of' a tow. 2) Recognize and release! 3) Use an observer who is capable of' taking appropriate action, 4) Cet instruction either as a row pilot or a tow operator or both. 5) Establish minimum requirements for towing, and ii' they aren't met, don't fly. 'There arc a number of' other, n1ore specific ideas for improving safrty in each of the differem towing disciplines, but these rules arc more or less common t·o all hang glider and paraglidcr 10wing, and represent a good place to start in pursuing tow sa foty. Ill H/\NC GIIDINC

ARIZONA Cross-Country CONTEST by Marv Manross

"When it's good, it's great, and when it's badwell it's still pretty good!" Like many oflife's other pleasurable pastimes this definitely describes how we feel about our chosen form of.free flight, and the 1996 Arizona hang gliding cross-country season certainly typified this sentiment. ooking back over the year it was both the "best of

times" and the "worst of rimes" in more ways than one. Perennial contest participants and leaders from previous years' contests were noticeably absent from the winner's

circle at the awards ceremony held last December. An injured Bob

Thompson was unable to enter the contest for the first rime in the collective memories of virtually everyone in the hang gliding community. Bob had seriously injured his back in a non-aviation-related accident which may have ended his flying career. Hans Heydrich was also absent, having defected to sailplanes afrer coming to grips with the realization chat his "bionic" arm had doomed his hang gliding landings to a "marginal" classification at best and possibly disastrous in a downwinder. Your author started out the 1996 season in a wheelchair and is once again on crutches following a freak bicycling accident. Two of the state's most popular hang gliding sites, Mingus and Eldon, were closed for most of the 1996 season by the Forest Service due to extreme forest fire dangers throughout the state. The lack of rainfall in northern Arizona turned the steep and unimproved roads to the top of Merriam and Sheba into a fine powdery dust, closing chose sites to all but the most skillful fourby-four drivers until late in the year after local pilots organized

Looking back at "Yarnell Mountain (Parker Dairy Farm on the left). Photo by Andy Rockhold.

High over the Painted Desert on a flight .from Mt. Eldon. Photo by Andy Rockhold.

Looking back at Mt. Eldon north of Flagstaff. Photo by Pilot.

work crews to effect emergency road repairs. Almost all of the popular X-C routes in Arizona run the risk of "landing our" on Forest Service land and, for much of the 1996 flying season, this meant running the risk of being arrested. The current state X-C record holder, John Johnson, didn't even make it on rhe charts with a qualifying flight last year. But, desperate times often call for desperate measures! The site closures and Forest Service restrictions prompted creative Arizona pilots to use ocher less popular sites and cross-country routes. And

once the season was over it was very clear that, for cross-cow1try "relief," many successful 1996 Arizona X-C pilots spelled "relief" in a way that they never had before - Y-A-R-N-E-L-L! However, even great flights from Yarnell proved to be a somewhat bittersweet experience. On June 16, Ralph Bergh flew his Wills Wing 15 5 XC to an undisputed first place and personal best in the unlimited class with a mind-boggling flight of 194 miles. Launching around 1: 15 PM, Ralph followed Andy Rockhold downwind after reaching an initial 13,000

feet. Several thermals lacer, Ralph was high enough to benefit from a major dust devil passing through the gas station at Pauldon, topping out chis time at 15,000 feet. Two low saves later, Ralph lost voice contact with his driver and had to work our a new system of communication based on one click of his PTT switch for "no" and two for "yes." (Ralph now recommends three clicks for "please clarify.") After topping our with his highest altitude of the day at 17,600 feet, Ralph crossed the 20-mile stretch between the Little Colorado Gorge and Highway 89,

H ANG GLIDING

righting hoth :md headwinds. With the help of a fi·iendly thermal at Shadow Mournain Ralph finally made it; bur failing lighr over rhe Painted Desert gave him a challenge and a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. The diminishing daylight did, however, him some smoother air and a brief chance to rest alter spending over six hours in the air. Ralph was still at 12,000 feet as he arrived at the edge Black Mesa, and soon decided that a sunset was immincm, making a prompt landing imperative. J\t Middle Mesa Ralph's ground crew had already warned him of power lines in the area. While setting up for a right-hand aircraft approach ro end his comest-winning flight, Ralph got rhc "had ncws" and struck rhc now nearly invisihlc power lines on the approach end of his selected J ,/, while still 20 leer in the air. 'J 'he "good news" was that the downtnbes and keel absorbed most of the resulting impact following the wire strike and Ralph walked away with only a bloody nose, a broken glider, and a vc1luable lesson abom the dangers of prolonged high-altitude flying and foiling light. While there is plcmy of time to think abour landing when you are warned about power lines and still at 9,000 , dear thinking is definitely reduced after more rhan six hours in the air at altitudes averaging over I 5,000 leer for most of the day. The membership of the /\HCA unanirnously voted Ralph both Eagle of the Month and 'hirkcy of

the Month at the next club meeting fol .. lowing this flight. 'i<i his credit, however, ir should he noted that Ralph nominated himself for the latter award, candidly sharthc insights he had learned from his mistakes on this flight. Other Yarnell flights rewarded Arizona pilots with significant recognition during the 19% X-(: ( :on test season. Jim J\finowich logged a 42-mile flight from Yarnell to downtown Chino Valley fix a personal hest and first place in the 50-Milc Class on Jerry Dalcn's old 14 5 K2. While not quite good enough for comest recognition in rhe very competitive Unlimited Class, Rick I)cStephens also logged a con· test entry flight of' 80 miles from Yarnell to Munds Park on his new 147 Moyes Xu-a lite. Mingus was finally reopened and first· rime contest entrant Dennis Nelson logged his first cross-country flight ever with ;1 20-rniler in his Vision Pulse from Mingus to the wat-cr treatment planr on 89/\ west of Sedona. I :rank Schwab logged a 30-mile flight from Shaw Butte in Phoenix to the boat ramp at rhe Barlett reservoir, and Orrin Smith won the 'friangle ( :lass with a 39-milc triangle

.FINAL STANDINGS Bergh R.oekhold Sm.ith

Mi/es 194 91 89

from Miller launch ro the San Pedro Bridge railroad track with a rcrum to the Miller LZ. Although northern Arizona hang gliding clearly suffc'.red from the 19% drought conditions, it was also clear that when the going gets tough, "tough" pilots like Andy Rockhold really get going. Year after year J\ndy has been not only an enthusiastic parricipant in Arizona cross-coumry con1peririon, bur he has been one of rhc most consistent cross-country perfrJrmers in rhc stare. This year Andy was rewarded with a plaque recognizing his dfom and formally declaring him m be last Most Consistent Cross···< :ountry Pilor. With High ts originating from both Merriam and Eldon, J\ndy not only took second place in the unlimited class, bur accumulmecl more total X.-C: mileage than any other colllcsr pilot in the stare. Congratulations Andy! After all was said and done, the 1996 Arizona X-C Comest o(fored its partici" it pants more rha 11 just the "best of also taughr Arizona pilots some valuable lessons and provided the adventure or experiencing new frontiers offered by some of the state's less frequently used sites and cross-country routes. Ill

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tis inrcrcsting how history repeats itself. Otro Lilienthal's hang gliders broke the ground for the invention of the Wiights' airplane. The hang glider was reinvented with the Rogallo wing. 'fhcn John Moody mounted an engine on his Fasy Riser glider and, with a few more evolutionary steps, the airplane was once again invented in the powered ultralight. Unfortunately, some of today's "ultra·· lights" exceed some of the definition limits of Part I 03 and arc not precisely legal. Our lawmakers in Washington decided to regulate those new aviation inventions decades ago, and they are looking at today's modem inventions as well. History was repeated when the pow· creel ultralight industry learned in the l 980's what the hang gliding world learned in the l 970's. Without proper training, people would more readily hurt themselves. 'They embarked upon improv-ing this predominantly through twO··place training. The US Ultralight Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and recently the Aero Sports Connection all have exemptions issued by the Federal Aviation Administrntion (FAA) permirting two-place training operations and for vehicles exceeding the weight limits of Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 103 in which to conduct these training flights. Interestingly, the powered ultralight industry itself asked the FAA to reconsider regulations pertaining to their operations and to Part l 03. They wanted rhe FAR's modified, expanding some of the limits, thus making much or most of the illegal activity legitimate. Specifically, they want-ed more weight, speed and fuel and some method for allowing two--place operations. The proponents had data supporting these arguments which demonstrated that the public's imerests would not be compromised and that this would make the U.S. regulations more congruent with those in many other places in the world. Is this all relevant to hang gliding and

paragliding? Well, no and yes. A few years ago the FAA responded to the requests from the ultralight industry. They formed a work group to look in to Part 103 issues. This work group was chartered nndcr rhe FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC). The ARAC is cmnposed of numerous members of the aviation community ranging from air traffic controllers, to airplane manufacturers, to flight attendants, to the EAA and, of course, some people from the FAA. Their role is to assist the FAA in the develop-ment of proposed rulcmaking. 'This is good. The folks most affected by the regularions have a hand in developing them. Once the ARAC approve and submit drafr rules to the FAA, the PAA may modify them significantly bcfc:Hc they are pnblished as a formal Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) and open to public comment. The USHGA is a key member of the ARAC Pan 103 work group. fr is impor-tant to the USHCA and our members that we participate, because Part I 03 was potentially going to be changed. Our operations are conducted under Part 103 and we have to protect those interests. We also need to strive for incorporation of our two--place operations, if possible, into any changes eliminating our need for exemptions. Lastly, some of the aerotow tugs towing onr gliders alofr were potentially going to be affected. We have an interest there. Dennis Pagen and Mike Meier were our official representatives at these meetings. Mike declared that be no longer had time to devote to this activity and, since last summer, Dennis and l have been representing the USHGA. 'fo put it bluntly, the process h;1s been slow and frustrating. '!'he work group generated many ideas in trying to address the issues precipitaring this process, namely rnore weight, speed, fuel and two-place opcra1ions. T'hese were then nm by folks within the FAA for

comment. hw have been acceptable. This iterative process has progressed for nearly four years. Unfortunately, events like the Valujet accident have focused much attention on the FAA. They are under intense scrutiny when it comes to ensuring public safety and have suffered budget cuts. This little ultralight issue is not very significant by comparison, and they are not inclined to approve anything that could in the remotest sense be construed as compromising public safety. Last fall rhe FAA did hire a contractor to work with the group to draft a suggested NPRM. We recently reviewed the latest version of this proposal and provided our comments to the AR.AC commitree. We did not support the draft NPRM. Because this is still an ARAC internal propos,d, though heavily influenced by the FAA, it is not yet available, nor appropriate, for public comment. The US Ultralight Association and the Personal Rotorcraft Association (PRA) strongly opposed this proposed rulemaking. In a nutshell, rbe proposal as it stands today would leave Part I 03 alone. No changes would be made ro it and the bulk of our flying would be totally unaffected. The FAA would, in all likelihood, still issue our exemptions for tandem flying and aerotowing so nothing there would change. What is being suggested is the creation of a new FAA pilot's license. Por lack of a better name it is being called a Sport Pilot Certificate. ] 'his would be a general umbrella category and would grant no specific operation privileges. Subcategories would be created under it defining the skills and training required to operate specific types of aircrnft. 'The operation privileges under those subcategories would be similar to today's Recreation Pilot's Certificate and would allow the pilot to carry one passenger. So, you might have a Sport Pilot Cyrocopter or Sport Pilot ]\·ike pilot's license. The subcategories would be defined by administrative action within the FAA, and would thus not h~1ve to go through the whole rulemaking and NPRM process. That would be good. For those of you familiar with the Primary Category aircraft certification implemented several years ago, this would be funda··· mentally equivalenr hm for the pilot HANC GLIDINC

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if this proposed system were adopt ed we could theoretically have Sport Pilot Glider or Sport Pilot Parngltdcr licenses issued by the FAA, ;md those pilots could legally carry a passenger with-· out any exemption. 'l'he carcl1 is that it would require a certificated aircraft. In other words, rhe aircrafr would need an FAA, not HGMA or foreign, certificate of airworrhiness. For pilots who simply wanted to carry a friend or other person, rhe glider could potentially be cenificated as an Experimenral Category aircraft. This is the certification given homebuilr planes. Bur, if the pilot wanted to provide iustruc.. tion for hire it would have to be ccrtificat· eel as at least a Primary C:aregory aircrafr. Because of the economic hurdles involved in 1) creating a Primary Hang Clidcr or Paraglider subcategory, 2) ccrrifkating the aircraft design, and 3) certificating the production facilities and production processes, we believe no certificated hang

gliders or paragliders would ever be available. So, all this Sport Pilor stuff is mostly irrelevant. However, to the extent that the powers within the FAA might think the exemptions to Part l 03 arc no longer necessary and that the new Sport Pilot license (assuming it even gets approved) eliminates the need for them, then this is rcle.. vant. If the r:AJ\ continues issuing our exernptions, nothing changes. Tei address this, l am trying to get a paragraph added ro the proposed NPRM making it clear that the proposed rule will in no way reduce the need for the current cxcmp·· tions to Part l 03. The: US Ulrraligln Association, the Aero Sports Connection, the Experimental Aircrafr Association and several others have agreed to support us in this effrm. Who knows what will happen in the end. l have heard recently that the objections to the drafi: N l1RM may just start the whole process over again. ft appears

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that no one at the FAA wants to kill Part J 03, at leasr not at this poin r. It is clear that the FAA is very pleased with the USHGA and the record of safe Hying accrued by hang glider and paraglider pilots. Officials within the FAA have com.· plimented our sports. I confess it is very pleasing to personally hear d1ese commenrs. You are ;ill to be commended. I also know we must all continue to be safe pilots and even safer pilots. We must continue to not be the topics of tabloid TV or 60 Minutes. Failure to do so could significantly compromise our efforts to get our tandem and aerotow operations integrated into the regulations instead of being handled through exemptions each year. The USHGA will continue to par.. ticipate in the ARAC process. If we do come to a point where public comment is appropriate and required, we will of course let you know. In the meantime, do not worry, nothing is to happen to Parr I 0.3 any time soon.

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A Hang Glider Pilot's View Of

''La Cage'' article and photos by Rich Pruett

Standing in the local landing zone with a.friend I noticed over her right shoulder a wing carving a perfe~t turn. I looked closer; it wasn't a paraglider -

no, something new! I thought ofthe possibilities ofperfect

turns as I saw it flare like a hang glider to land, and kite more easily than a paraglider using a control.frame to keep all those lines in order. I had been wanting something simple and safe for light-wind and light-thermal days to Sh.)' out over the lightly loaded "sky queens" in their hang gliders. I'm an intermediate pilot with 150 hours and 400

flights, and had tried kiting paragliders, but found line handling difficult and confusing. To most hang glider pilots the idea of frontal collapses, asymmecricals and negative spins evokes images of a plane

going down in flames (more on d1at later). A combination of the best features of hang gliders and paragliders was what I wanted. What I saw demonstrated all the qualities I was looking for and more. This is the story of a love affair. I was hooked. I drove to San Francisco to meet Joel Greger of Cage USA for instruction at a coastal site near Fore Funston called Pacifica. In mid-summer the rest of the nation bakes at 100 degrees plus, but Pacifica stays fogged in most of the time and rarely reaches 80 degrees. Coming from Los Angeles it was wonderful. Joel taught me the setup procedure in a few H ANG GLIDING

minutes and had me kite the glider until T was proficient. You hook into the aluminum frame just like :1 hang glider but in a supine harness, lean back, pur your hands on the control bars and slip your feet into a comfortable hammock for support. It's not weight shift as in a hang glider, but requires mere ounces of pressure. Thermals arc felt through your fingers and response is faster. If you stand at the nose of your hang glider in a 20-mph wind and hold onto the wires you will understand how sirnple control of the Cage is. In a four-mph wind, one step backward brings up the wing, and angle of attack and roll control are instantaneous. A few steps more and you launch no need t:O tum around, just make sure the air traffic is clear. Joel said "go" and I flew from the cliff to the beach, making easy, quick turns and flaring effortlessly. I was so exhilarated that I packed up and ran all the way back up the hill. The next day I did more kiting practice and made 10 reverse and 10 forward launches. The most difficult adjustment for me was letting the harness pull the wing up, leaving my hands free for rnaneu· vering. (In a smooth breeze I later pulled up and took off without touching the controls it's that stable.) Moving in small steps from flying the bunny hill to soaring the cliffs was easy. I was a beginner with new equipment at a new site, but in a few days I was keeping up with the local mas-

ters in their advanced wings. Hawks and eagles fold their wings inward in high winds to help them penetrate. In a similar fashion, the Cage can be launched in higher winds by pulling down the wing tips with a single control. I Dew one day when others would not fly by just pulling a string. This makes the wing even more stable. When flying in those small thermals you can just pull in your wings! I've experienced many precious moments soaring the Cage along the cliff tops overlooking San Francisco: flying with sparrow hawks, kites, redtails, ospreys, golden eagles, turkey vultures, cormorants, pelicans, swifts, gulls; taking in beautiful sunsets; watching dolphins dance just off the beach; looking down on people along the beach and the ridge line. The wing flies so slowly (15 mph) and is so easy to control that you feel comfortable taking photographs, enjoying the view, and even turning around and flying backwards (from the single hang point). I am now mountain thermaling and gaining confidence and trust in my new wing, despite having experienced the effects of turbulence. J've tried pushing the speed limit mph) and inducing the outside wing to frild under at least 40%. This sounds bad, but I was still able to fly level and felt in control. I let rhe glider slow down and the wing unfolded immediately. I practice this now. On one oecasion I was riding a thermal to the top of a ridge, and just as [ topped out a shear came over the back, rotoring my wing through two 360's and dropping me 100 feet. 'l'he wing held its shape, and as it spun it turned me with it no prob·· 1cm except for my shaking knees. On another occasion at the beach I was 1,000 foet up and 1,000 feet away from the cliff when some turbulence hit me from behind. The wing came forward to directly in front of me, but the forward edge sealed, the air inside so the frontal collapse lasted onlyabouthalfasecond. f dropped just a few feet before recovering. On this subject it is irnportant to remember that, just as in hang gliding, it's important to know your limits and those of your glider, and to practice handling turbulence and recovering from its effects. The company name is Nervures, the

wing is called the Lagon, and ll1e system has been dubbed "La Cage." It underwent six years of extensive testing prior to pm· duction. Using the latest computer textile programs and CAD, they designed the glider with a "corrugated" undersurface to allow for fewer lines and increased lateral stability. The frame bas been structurally tested to six G's positive and the wing to over eighr G's positive. Both tests were performed at the maximum wing loading. The frame uses over-·cemer cams with cables for tensioning, and it folds up in 15 seconds. The wing, harness and instruction come as a package, so plan a trip t:O San Francisco to check it out. Every time Joel lets one of his instructor friends demo his wing he gexs an order, so keep in mind that they might be backordered for a while. My love affoir with the Cage is ongo·· ing, as I continue to make new discoveries.

.Joel Greger 1md Cttge USA m11y be contacted at: PO. Box 27.3125, Concord, CA 94527 (510) 711-8288,fax (510) 741-7436, C11ge2 USA @aol com, http://www. univp1w.frl~ puiscux!Ctige. htrn. II

HANG GLIDING

Lessons taught daily, year-round. Soarabl11 conditions 300+ days a year. Smooth grassy ridges "made for soaring". Lesson packages for beginners or your first 100 mile X·country. Tandem/Solo Hang gliding & Paragliding lessons. Pro site guides for 2,000' · 5,000' mountain launch sites. Demos & glider rentals. Sail & airframe repairs by factory experts. Full service shop with products from most dealers. ® Free Camping at the launch. ICP's and aerobatic clinics.

:I lightest I ' mos I' waterproof, flying boot

most durable, most comfortable, available today.

Cushioned foot bed with ankle support.

Full

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

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at "Point of the Mountain" l 2665 So. Mi11ulemor1 Drive Phone (80 l) 576·()460

mo•jo (mo'jo) n. a charm or amulet thought to have magical powers; luck as of'a magical or supernatural a magical selection rfflight gearfrorn Texas. Call for your I1'rcc Copy: 48 full-color pages of over 400 accessories

"HIGHWAY" TOURS TIIE USA FrlOM A GEf1MAN POINT OF VIEW. FLYING IS SPECTACULAR AND SCENES BEAUTIFUL. HAND GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING. 50

SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER WITH $4 SHIPPING. CALL, WRITE, FAX, or E MAIL TO ORDER OR GET A FREE BROCHURE WITH DETAILS AND MORE ACTION VIDEOS. ALL VIDEOS GUARANTEED

ADVENTURE PRODUCTIONS Paul Hamilton 4750 Townsite Fleno, Nevada 89511 Phone/FAX fU,M!''l!:1-!~ti hamilton@adventure.reno.nv.us

Jnstrurncnts, radios, reserves, helmets, life vests, boots, gloves, flight suits, tceMsbirts, hats, ca1)s, survival supplies, sunglasses, eyeglass retention, goggle-s 1 wanneri;, hardware, repair

supplies, towing accessories, knifes, ins!rument mounts, books, videos, maps, compasscB, flares, signals, wind socks, w1~athcr stations, hags, pate-hes, slickers, rrrt, glassware, gifts and MORE!! l

0 ice Hours: MON-11JUR Noon to 5PM Central Standard Time

s 1-IANG GUDTNG ADVISORY Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, hem or dented dowmuhes, mined bushings, bent bolts the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nms, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with ntm--circular holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points from and back on the keel and leading edges. If in doubt, many hang gliding business-cs will be happy ro give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them ro inspect. Buyers should select equipment that is appropriate for their skill level or rating. New pilots should seek pro-· fcssional instmction from a lJSHGA CERT! FIED INSTRUCTOR. FLEX WINGS A BUN Cl I OF GLIDERS f'or sale, new, used and demo, ready ro ship, from $600 up. EXTRA CLEAN/CALL AND COMPARE. TOPLESS: Moyes, learn, Wills, TH3. KTNGPOSTED: Laminar, Concept, SX, Xtralite, Shark, XC, Klassic, XS, UltraSport, SuperSport, Spcctrnm, XT, Sting, MK IV, Pulse, Falcon, Buzz, V2, Fly2 and more. WALLABY RANC!l, Fl.ORIDA. OPFN DAILY (941) 124-00'70 glidcrs@lwallaby.com AIRBORNE Bl.ADE 132 $1,500. Fntcrprisc Combat II U9 $750. Both lly perfectly, 1/2 price, ref. erences. (208) 7J79 l 57. AIRBORNE SHARK 114 -- $2,liOO. Blade Race 1li 1 $2,000. Blade 141 $1,800. All in excdlcnr condition, 50-75 hours. (603) 823-8195. AIRBORNE SHARK, BLADE RACE, STING, BUZZ. New and nearly new. Demo daily. THE WALLABY RANCH (94 l) li24·0(l70.

l 996, sec Ocr'96 Hang Gliding review $2,600. (916) 927-9934.

FORMULA 111 Good condition, flies great, waterproof cover $800. ('/03) 255· 129'7 or xrralirc0laol.corn

BLADE RACE 155 - $2,000. White l.F, blue undcrsurfacc, flown for one season "50 hours, great shape, flies great, perfect for a first high-performance glider. Comact Flytec USA 1,80().662-2449. We'll be on the road this summer, we can deliver it to you then.

FORMULA 14/i Green/blue/white undersurfoce, safr edge downrubes, spccdbar, new wires, good condition $1,000 OBO. John (123) li30-3li91i.

DOlJllLF. VISION /i7}8800.

Cood shape $2,000. (Ii 14)

DOUBLE VISIONS & l'LY2 New and used. WALLABY RANCH (941) 4240070. DREAM 220 Good condition, wheels, pads $850. downrube $30. (408) 89/i-li839 Kiss rdevli11Qilqntm.com DREAMS CI.EARANCF SAI.F 145 & 185. Both in great shape. Raven Sky Sports (Ii 14) IJTl--8800. DlJCK 180 3091.

FUSJON -- Demo daily. WALLABY RANCH (9/il) 424,0070.

Good condition $300. ('719) li88-

down to 2m, easy transport, very low airtime $')50 OBO. (208) :338·5692. ENTERPRISE 152 COMBAT Good condition, spare parts $700. Ball 652 vario $100. Kenwood TH26AT radio $100. Paracl1me $100. (415) 206-9368 SF Calitornia.

I !PAT 15H Coot! condition, lime green, red & white, sail cloth $1,050 OBO. CG l 000 harness, 6'/i" w/26sqfr chme $350. (805) 5/i J. 127'5. !!PAT 158 76689H

Excellent condition $700 OBO. ('107)

]·!PAT 158 ~- Good condition, . 100 hours, new side wires & spare dowmubc. Never crashed, must sell $(,00. Nate (li15) .331-451i2. KI.ASSlC 133 Great condition, <70 hours, sweet handling $2,800. Lisa V. (801) 288-1589. Kl.ASSfC llili Like new, w/winglcts $3,500. ('107) li13 2018, (801) 523·95/ili I.eon. KI.ASS1C 11/i Great condition, blue and magenta, 10 hours $2,000. 1-800-li87al421J extension 225,

1(1.ASS[C lli1 --- Red/hluc, white eagle, hours, immaculate $J,200. (:360) 293 ;)287.

lliO, 1'70, 195, 225 new and nsed. 11ALCONS WALLABY RANCH (941) 42-1-0070. FALCONS CLEARANCE SALE School use, one season. All sizes $1,500,$2,500. (Ii I-1) 17:l-8800.

KLASSJC 1lili Sec February ccntcrspread, w/winglcts $2,600 OBO. (91 (,) li52-li247 airhungry((1)worldnct.atr.11ct

ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum Boldface or caps: $1.00 per word. (Does not includ<0 first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs: $25 per column inch. (phone numbers: 2 words, P.O. Box: I word, E·mail or Web address: 3 words) photos: $25.00, line art logos: $15.00 (1.75" maximum) DEADLINE: 20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the issue in which you want your ad to appear (i.e., June 20 for the August issue). Prepayment required unless account established. No cancellations or refunds allowed on any advertising after deadline. Ad insertions FAXed or made by telephone must be charged to a credit card. Please enter my classified ad as follows:

SECTION

J Flex Wings J Emergency Parachutes U Parts & Accessories J Business & Employment r,. J Miscellaneous l...l Paragliders l...l Videos

rJ Towing l...l Schools & Dealers [l Ultralights l...l Rigid Wings U Publications & Organizations IJ Wanted IJ Harnesses

issue and run for-------···-consecutive issue(s). My U check, J...J money order is enclosed in the amount of $

--·-·•••a _______ ,a ______ ,

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - -. .•

NAME: ___________ ---------------..·--~- .. ---·------------------------· ADDRESS:---·····--·------------·-------------·····-··-··---

Number of Number of

USHGA, P.O Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719) 632-8300, fax (719) 632-6417

HANG GLIDING

KLASSlC Jli,j White & red, nice shape, under I00 hours $2,300. (Ii Iii) IJ7:J.8800.

MOYES X'J' PRO 1(i5 ·-· Novice/intermediate double $2,900. (Ii llj) lil.3-8800. surface, 25 ltottrs, great

SUPERSPORT 15:-3 C:risp sail, <50 hours $2,100. (.360) 866-1 Ii 15 evenings.

Kl.ASS[C J '55 - Superb condition, inside $3,200. (2il1) 471-H88.

PlffDA'T'OR 1li2

· Low hours, excellcm condition $3,300. RarnAir lliG $ J ,800. (71 Ii) li59 78:33.

SUl'FRSPORT 16:l Nevet used-must sell,make o/for,will ship. (516) 82.(, 71 :rn.

PRFI );\TOR 1 58 I .ow hours, excellcm condition $2.,800. (208) 31i2 l 350.

SUPFRSPORT 16.3 Two av;iibhlc, low ltoms, must sell $1,li'J'i. (619) 2.86,560/i.

PULSE 9M - Mint condition, 30 hours, yellow/white

Like new, low low time, beau· SUPER.SPORT 16:l tifol bright yellow/white$ l ,')50. (91 <i) 9B7-l 795,

hom, stored

Kl.ASSJC 155 lkrnriful R/W/B, oisp sail, <50 hours UV expos\ire, wirh winglets and therrnins $3,000 and I pay shipping to U.S. I.ire Mystic thrc<:i flown for two seasons, almos-r- new condition

0!30. C:2 J/l5 $400. Comet l GS $/iOO. 235-:\367 clays, (30'1) liTl-865'i nights.

$600

$2,300 negotiable. Lori (8 lli) 885.617.5.

PUT.SF \OM J:lown 3 rimes, <1 hr airtime $2,'JOO will ship. (209) 878-Tl 10.

TOPLESS LA i\llOUl'TTE 12M $/i,000 <20 hours, white LE, blue undersurface. Flies great, easy to set .. up. 'Creat' glide. Be the first at your site to go top

PULSE I 1M 17, hour,s, pod harness w/parachute, car rnbc, extras $2,500 for all. ('jlj 1) 498-2.233 Oregon.

less) without breaking your hank account. Contact

w/winp;lcts $3,200. LAMINAR ST, 11, 13 in stock. WALLABY RANCH (94 l) li2.4-0070. MAGIC Ill

MOYES CSX

SX, XTI ., XS3, XT, etc. New and

Brand new, 0 MOYFS SUPER XTRM.ITE 16·1 hours, white top, white bottom w/blne stripe, wheels, extra dowmuhcs $.'l,2.00. Moyes harness & parachure, 5'11", brand IICW $800 (702.) (,58-5606.

Flytcc LISA 1··80().. 6(,2-2.li/i<J. We'll he on the road this summer, we can deliver it to you rhcn.

s ,c,rg,:ous, J hours UV, all accessories including harness hclmcr, keel moumcd rocket parachute$}, 500. (Ii J 7) 337·590:l.

TRX 160

PULSES & VISJONS - llour;h1.Sold-Tradcd. Raven Sky Sports (Ii 1Ii) 473-8800.

white, 2 homs airtime $1,400. (C,02) 17'5 98/i/i.

RAMAIIZ Jli6 Fxcellcnr conditiot1, a steal at $1,800. (815) 2.J!i 5388,

VJS[ON MKJV 1'.J Older glider with vct-y little airtime. Robertson vario/alti, WW harness w1,p,1ract1111c, helmet, rherrnomitts $2,000 0110. (80/i)

RAVEN 209 8710.

Cood rnndirion $1,700 (6 19) 272.·8'ili(,,

odwr new goodies

Crear shape $1i50 OBO. (612) li82· VISIONS &. J'U LSES Bought Sold- J'raded. Raven Sky Sports (Ii 11) ljT).8800.

MOYFS Xl. lli5 Like new, 75 hours, single surface, (glider in Southern Cal.) $1,500 OBO. (li06) /28· J926 callcnlfhaol .com

SENSOR 51 OB c;ood condition, w/C cot1vcrsio11, new lower wires, CC I000 ha mess w/7.nrl Chantz ballistic, High Energy chute w/swivcl, Hurnmingbird vario. $ I,:WO package (liO<i) 8G2.7332.

MOYES XTRALITE 12.7 · Hrand new, never flown, unexpectedly relocated overseas, 011,,31-:15-531 .26/i6

SFNSOR 5 JOC Very clean cast coast glider, forms and handles great $800. (70/i) 299· 1113

CM'! , I.

message.

MOYFS XTRALITE l?,'7 NEW, ~:JO hours, mrquoisc/dark blue, small comrol frame, super deal $:3,200 ORO. Call Erika (8 lB) 8/i 1. \ 088.

SENSOR 5101' -· Unused for lasr ii ycms, low hours, wifr insists best offrr takes it. (51 (,) 791 · 1733.

WW SKY! IA WK 188 Cood condition, very low UV, helmet, harness, extras $800 OllO. ('JO')) (,'J,i. 5631.

XTRALITF. H?

Like new condition, 10 hours

,$:3,800. (114)%765\B.

XTR/\LITES Green Team is selling their one year old mylar racing Two 1(/is $1,6()()(,tl. 1/j/ $1,800. Creal deal sorncone, C:all 1-800- WE l'l.Y

xc:.

SFNSOR 510\/CB Want high performance, on a budp,er? Nearly new condition $800. ('701) 626-2.099. SPECTRUM CLFARANCF SALE - Three 1C,5 t1ear new condition, w/all oprions ,M,'JU<,ht.),1.uu. Raven Sky Sports (Ii I 4) /iTl-8800. SPORT EURO 150 -· l'xcdlcm conditinn, small contrnl b:1r, cu.srom sail, low hours $1,100. (!i08) 216· 12.86,

MOYES XTRAUTF. 137 OUTSTANDING CONDITION, SUPP.RB PERFORMANCE, I.IKF NEW AT I !ALF THE PRICE! SHrPPING CONPLUS EXTRAS $2,600. (608) 781,611.3.

Full race, SPORT EURO 167 w/pod harness and parachute $1,200. SPORT EURO 167

!'air condi1iot1 $600. (619)

272-85/iCi.

Cl,Nl'SIS ..... ll011h!,: .. s11rfi1cc,imtall pilot .. Fxcclknt condition ... $1,IJOO l!PAT lli"i ... .. .... $'JOO DRFAM 165. Also Spectmm J 65 and M,trk JV I/ & 1'l's. All gliders inclmle fitll & test flight. Arizona Hang ( ;lidinp; Center (,V,.(i '. 11. .. ,... $!,6'i0 SUPFRSPOR'J' lli:J ..... 75 homs .. SPORT 167A .... ... $1,oOO .. 75 hours ... . FALCON 725 .. , .. 25 homs ... . ..$2,200 Kl .ASSJC: 1(,6 ... .. 10 homs .. . ...... ,$\,)00 ........ 'iO hours. .. .. $2,700 KI.ASSJC 13J. FJNSTFRWI\LDER FUNl'FX 12'J ..... .... ,$/iOO Utah Mtn llangClidinp; (801) 2.51 Gllil

XT lli5 $2,000 OBO. llF Tracer harness

Paracln11c $200. !\all 652 vario $275. Jim Lee helmet, like new $2.00. (6 I')) (,42··0')5),. MOYES XT 165 , J 5 homs, w/harncss & helmet $],700. (619) .'.\65-0li71.

SPORT EURO 167 Fxccllem condition, hot pink I.E, w/cocoon harness & parachme $1,500. (602) 5/i5· '717 I.

SlJPFRSPORT lli3 .. _ Awesome condition, magcn .. ta/yellow, bcsl offer. (81.'l) 595 .. 2.ss!i.

EMERGENCY PARACIJUTES 2/i GORE PDA With swivel f'or tandem $520 w/swivcl $1i20. Many more parachntcs OBO. ro choose (Ii 1ff) 1j7J.8fWO.

SUl'ERSPORT l 53 - Cood condition, folding spmlhar, new wires $1,500. (916) 251587'1. JUN[ 1997

:33

HARNESSES

EASY RISER Complete, parts, litcrnrnre. Whar ya got. (909) 699-085 l.

CG-lOOO'S (5) Pendulum Aerosports is team harnesses. Call for prices and sizes. FLY-XC

SCHOOLS & DEALERS

ALABAMA HIGH FNFRc;y POD HARNESSES Sizes & styles change monthly, $:lOO-liOO. CG !OOO's $250. Cocoons $200 each. Kneehangcrs &. stirrups also available. (4 l 1) 47.3-8800.

WW './,3 BARNESS 6'-G'IJ", used times, all options, w/21t gore l'DA $625 OBO. (71/i) GS0-1%3.

CLOUDB/\SF. CORP. clba Rocket City i\irsporrs. Sales, renrals, service and ccnificd instruction at Keel Mountain, Alabama. For information send SASE ro PO Box Gurley AI. 3571t8. (205) 88085 l 2, (205) 7'76-9912.

LOOKOlJT MOUNTAfN H.ICHT PARK WW Zli 225-:3397.

New in box, 5'10"-(i' $495 firm. (501)

Sec

ad under Georgia.

THE HANG GLIDING CENTER Located in hcautifol San Diego. Hang gliding and paragliding instruction, sales and service, conducred at TORREY PINES and local mount:ains. Spend winter vaca·· tion us. Demo our line and equip .. mcnt at the always convenient world famous TORREY PINES. We proudly offer ICARO (LAMTNJ\R ST), MOYES (SX), WILLS WING (XC) and ,tll kinds of srnff M,1kcrs of the DROGUE CHUTE. (619) 561 1009.

HTC:H ADVENTURE Hang paragliding school. Equipment sales, service, at Southern California's mile high si1c, Crestline. USHGA fnstructor Rob McKenzie. By appointmenr year round.

ARIZONA PARAGLIDERS J\PCO ?.7 3.31-lili26.

IIANG GLIDER EMPORIUM Bes1 training hill in rite wesr! l'u II service gliding/paragliding shop, Sanrn Barbara CA established 197/i. PO Box 9:l I 40-1139, (805) 965-3733.

Harness, extra set of lines $800. (501)

(909) 883-8/i88.

/\PC() '.I.EN 32 Advanced, 40 hours, good condition, fast $2, l 00. Supra $900. XL Pro Feel • 1'wo-metcr radios.

31401 Riverside Dr.

Call Dave (509) 493·

lake Elsinore, CA 92530

!KAROS SA UP STELLAR 25

1.ook under New York.

909-6 74··2453

'')2, cxccllcm condition, must sell

$!JOO. (ltOG) 586-2620 satkin@)monrnna.campns.mci.net

RIGID WINGS

FLEDGE 1TB

Low ainintc, stored indoors $300 OBO. Also UP knee-hanger harness $25. (914) 2710279. UI .TR.ALIGHTS

Fully equipped aeroi\IRBORNF. EDGE TRIKE mg w!trailer $15,000. (864) 592- 1470.

ARIZONA HAN(; GLIDING CENTER INC. We arc a full-time, FULL SERVICE hang locmcd just minutes from the BEST sire in Mountain. We have rhe most comprehensive available and can reach you in less rime! We srock gliders, harnesses and instruments from Wills, Airwave, Moyes, Flytec, Ball, High Energy, CC and many ntorc! We need your rrodc .. ins. Certified instructors Roh Richardson & Tim Helms. 350+ FLYABLE DAYS PER YEAR! 69

1996, 582 Rotax, fully AIRBORNE EDGFTRfKF. equipped, acrotows great wirh dolly, hours $19,500. ((,O'i) SIJ2 .. filf 1G.

BUILD/FLY

Yonr own BACKPACK POWERED PARACHUTE for fun/profit. Takes off from level ground unassisted. Sale, simple, inexpensive. Dct:tilcd book with sources. Now only $19.95. EasyUp, 1089 Medford Center Medford OR 9750/i.

lKAROS SA

l.ook under New York.

MOSQUJTO MOTOR HARNESS Foot launch from flat fidds. Video $15. Sail Wings (SOJ) 851 1094. WANTED WANTED: RAVENS 179's, 209's and 229's in good shape. Call Matt or Christian at (70(,) 398-]5/i l.

MJ\(;JC AIR l.oc:1rcd in Norrhern C1lifornia. Lessons, sales, sctvicc. (7()7) 963-3155.

ahgc~orwnhlink.com

ARKANSAS OZARK MOUNTAIN I JANG Cl .IDERS Sales, service and instruction. lGO Johnston Rd, Searcy AR 72143. (501) 279-2180. CALIFORNIA

DOI.Pl!IN WING I 996, trike on floars, Rich Hill design, cxrr:ts $5,000 will consider hang or equipment in trade. (352) li81-J322 Florida.

FUU. SERVICE SHOP Locarcd on at the base of the Santa Ana motrntain range. reprc .. senting ALL major brands. Rentals available to qualified pilots. <, clays a week ')am-5pm, closed on Mondays. Express.

ABC A!RSPORTS Best quality, best prices. WW Ram Air 15/i, Axis l .'l, HP! f, Raven 229 and more. Trade .. in for new lrg or pg. (805) 688 .. ()34:J ybajulaz@silcom.com hnp://www.silcom.com/.-ybajulaz ADVENTURES UNLIMITED Orange County's school. USBGJ\ certified insrmction and tat1·· specialist. New & used Wills Wing dealer. (714) It%· 8000

FLY AWAY

Our comprehensive instruction program, locat·cd at the San Francisco Bay Area's premier training site, foatures genrly sloped "bunny hills," superlite gliders and comfortable training harnesses! "FIRST FLIGHT," a video presentation of our bet1inncr lesson is available for $20 including shipping future purtht1ses). Our deluxe shc,wc:asc:s the latest in hang innovations. We stock new and used Wills, Airwavc and Moyes gliders, PLUS all the homst new harnesses. Trade-ins arc welcome. Take a amazing new VIRTUAL RFALJTY simulator! 1116 Wrii;ley Way, Milpitas Ci\ 95035. (408) 2621055, fox (408) 2621388, MSCBG@laol.com www.l1J\NG .. (;UJ)!NG.com

Sama Barbara, USHGA (805) 96\ .. 2766.

HANG GLIDING

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN HIGHT PARK -

Sec

ad under Georgia. Nearest 1nouni-ain lraining center i-o

Orl.ando (only 8 homs).

THE NAME S/\YS IT /\LL! Join us at Walts Point and other launches for the flights of your life. Tours/rides to launch/rerricvals/XC and record clinics. Camping and bunld1ousc/Windtolker launch info. Equipment sales and rentals/river rafting and back .. country exwrsions. The Hang Gliding Centers' Owens Base Camp opens May 15th. Please call today to plan your vacarion. Programs for novice pilots and non .. pilots. Tandem XC the Sierras! Toll free (888) OWENSXC TRUE FLIGHT HANG GLIDING SCHOOL DONALD QUACKENBUSH has the only shop at world famous Kagel Mountain, Los /\ngcles. Of/iring instruction and sales of hang gliding eqnipmenr with the sewing shop making M/\NTIS harnesses. Training pilots for over ftfreen years. J :3112 Sayre /\venue, Sylmar California 913li2. (818) 367.. 6050 ph/fox. WEST CO/\ST PARAGLIDING HANG GUD· ING&. P/\RAGLIDTNG. USIIG/\ paragliding instruction, tandem. All major brands of paragliding and hang !jliding cqllipmcnt (new and used). Repair specialists. Ncxr to Fort Fllnston. The only foll service shop in San Francisco! 3620 Wawona, San Francisco Cl\ 94116. (Ii 15)75':J .. \ 177. WINDSPORTS I.A's largest since 197/i. ]iifteen minmes from L/\X. Central ro Sylmar, Crestline, Elsinore and training sites. Vacarion training, flying and glider sales packages including lodging and ren rals. 'The rnost popular gliders and equipment, new nnd

llscd in stock. Trade in your old equipmenr. 325 sunny days each year. Come lly with us! 16Jli5 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys C/\ 9lli06. (818) 988 .. ()J J 1, Fax (818) 988 .. 1862. COLORADO AIRTIME /\BOVE IIANG GI.IDINC Pull time lessons, sales, service. Colorado, s n1os1 experienced. Wills Wing, High Energy, Ball, Moyes. (303) 67/i .. 2/i5 J AinimcHGG!laoLcom GOLDEN WINGS--· Lessons, sales, service. USH(;/\ certified instrncrors. Dealers for Moyes, Wills Wing, /\lt/\ir, and Airwavc. 15/iO I W. 9th /\ve., Golden CO 80/iO L (303) 278-7181. CONNECTICUT

MOUNTAlN WINCS

1.ook under New York

FLORIDA CR/\YBIRD AIRSPORTS INC USHG/\ & USU/\ cenified instruction. Beginner rhrn advanced hang pilor rnndc111 acrotow rraining & ratings. USUA light pilot tlmt basic flight instructor rraining & r:nings. 3 axis stickrimc for Swifr, Superlloatcr or Dragonfly pilot training. lnsrrnction l days a week by appoimmcm. Dealer for all major /light and aerorow equipment. I 5 minutes from Silver Springs, I .5 homs from DisneyworkL Call Gregg Jl.McNamec (352) 2.45 .. 8263. graybird<iilpraxis.t1et h11p://www.gypzi.com/graybird

)UNE ·1997

The Acrorow Flight l'ark Satisfaction (iqarameed

QUEST AIR SOARING CENTER Tandem /\crotow Instruction EVERY DA Y..AJ.L DAY Soaring Instruction With Every Lesson P:tckagc NEW: TlJ RBO TUG, WE GET YOU TO THE LIPT QUICK! NEW: 1(),000' 'J':indem l,\Ssons, Sec /\lmost /\II of Florida Also I 0,000' Solo Tows, Call for reservations and Info. NEW: Pro Shop with lots of stnfll! More Tandem /\crotow Experience Than ANY!!! Other !'light Parle Statc.. ohhc-Art Tandem Fc1uipmenr and Proven Teaching Techniques. 90 ACRE AIR FIELD. LOTS OF ROOM TO L/\lJNCII AND L/\ND. Have a srnall plane? Fly in for your lessons and fly home the same day. Rental Gliders and the TEMPEST Sailplane, Rooms, Bunk House and Camping. I-lotds and Restaurants close by. Dry Storage for Gliders and Gear. Pool Table, Ping Perng, Swimming Pool with ,1() foot Screened Deck, Fishing Pond, Virtual Reality Hang Gliding Simulator, l )SS TV 4 HBO Channels. Bring your Coif Clubs, 4 Courses near by or knock some balls here. Come Sec the OlJT OF CONTROL BAR! Lighted Volleyball Court.

Open 7 Whole

I\ Weck. Great Vacation Spot For The Close to /\II Ccnrral Florida Attractions.

USUA Basic Flight Instructors on staff, we teach Tug Pilors. Hang Twos and Threes-Train with us ro get next rating. Hang h,urs·-1,xtxmcl your skill levels by letting us reach a tandcrn acrotow instructor.

Just 8 miles from Disney Worlcl Central 10 Attractions YEAR ROUND SOARING• OPEN D/\YS A WEEK• FOUR TUGS, NO W/\ITING • EVERY DIRECTION 50+ .NKE demos 10 fly: Topless Gliders: Lami11ar, Moyes, TR3, Wills. Super Xrralite, XC :, Concept, Shark, Sting, Falcon, Supcrfloatcr and more; also harnesses> varios, etc.

Ages I 3 To Tl have learned to Hy here. No one comes close to our level of experience and success wit-h randcm acrotow instruction.

I\ GRE/\T SCENE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ... IO morels & restaurants within 5 mins., camping, hot slH.1wcrs) shade rrecs, sales) storage, ratings XC retrievals, great weather, climbing wall, trampoline, DSS TV, ping pong, bungee swing, picnic tables, swimn1ing pool etc. 1

Flights of over 100 miles and more than 6 hours. Articles in I-lting Gliding, Kitpl11r1cs, Country and others. Fcarured on numerous . including FSPN2. Visit ns on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com Please call us for rcforcnccs and video. 1805 Dean Still Road, Wallaby Ranch, Florida 3.3837-9358 (9/il) 42/i .. ()070 phone & fax Conservative • Reliable• State of rhc Art

Check out onr Web Site at www.(]11esraitforce.com or !·>Mail at quesrairGPsuncliaLner

FJ LG. !NC/Fl.YING FLORID/\ SINCE 197/i

Call at (352) 429 .. 0213, Fax (.352) 429-li846 or keep up with your E.. Mail on om third line and house com .. puter or plup; in your laptop.

Malcolm Jones, David Glover, Rhett Radford, Ryan Glover, Austin Collins, Tom Ramseur & Jim Appleton

Mail Sruff to: Quest /\ir, 65/i8 Groveland Airport Rd., Groveland Fl, 34736 VISA, MASTERCARD and AMERICAN EXPRESS accepted Here.

Tell the world your head is in the clouds, by wearing great new clothing and accessories from the United States Hang Gliding Association!

eagle t-Shirt #HTEAG $14.95 1 lb

standard polo # HPOL $ 24.oo 1 lb blue, green & burgundy

earth polo #HPOLE $27.00 1 lb spruce & olive

stone washed caps #HCSW $17.95 1 lb blue, green & berry sun gradient t-shirt #HTSUN $14.95 1 lb

woodblock t-shirt #TWB $16.95 1 lb blue PG, brown HG

classic t-shirt #HTCLA $14.95 1 lb

Address _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ City _ _ _ _ __ ___ State_

Zip _ __ _ _

Phone No.L__J_ _ _ _day (_ _ ). _ __ __ eve.

desert polo IBPOLD s35.oo 1 lb black only

Qty

Item #

black flee c e lined j acket IBJKFL $ 7 5 . 00 2 lbs

golf caps # H CG $12.00 1 lb r ed , blue & purple

wo o l j ac ket #HJKWL $7 0.0 0 3 l bs

Size

Color

Logo

Price per Total

M L XL

ah/bh

M L XL

ah/bh

M L XL

ah/bh

M L XL

ah/bh

M L XL

ah/bh

Subtota l

Colorado residents add 3.0%

Shipping

Tota l

Shipping (USA only) Orders up to $35 .................................................................................... add $5 Orders $35 to $70 ................................................................................ add $6 Over $70 ............................................................................ call, fax or e-mai I Outside the USA ............................................................ ca ll, fax or e-mai l _ Check/ Money order enclosed

Visa

Mastercard

Card No._ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ Exp. date _ _ Signature _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ Mail to: US Hang Gliding Assn., Inc P.O. Box 1330

l ad ies sleeveless denim # HDENL $27.00 1 lb a vai lable in small also

long sleeve d e ni m IBDB1'L8 t35.oo 1 lb short sleeve denim IBDE1'88 $30.00 1 1 b

Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330 1-800-616-6888 fax (719) 632-6417

e-mail : ushga@ushga.org Please allow 6 weeks for delivery.

log o ah

l ogo b h

all o f our stuff can be ordered with either of th es e officia l u shg a logos. you cho os e.

s NO MORE BUNNY... THE HILL WITH IT!

INDIANA

.JJ MITCHELL

TANDEM. Airwavc dealer. 6733 Columbia Ave., Hammond, IN li6.32/i (219) 81i52856.

RAVEN SKY SPORTS (41/i) 473-8800. Please sec om ad under WISCONSIN. KANSAS WE HAVE·- The most advanced training prnr;ram known to hang gliding, teaching you in half the time it takes on the rraining-BUNNY HILL, and with more in-flight air time. YES, WE CAN TEACH YOU PASTER AND SAFER. For ycar·-round training fon in the sun, call or write Miami Hang (:liding (:305) 2858978. 2550 S Bay.shore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 3313'$. GEORGIA

PRAIRIE HANG GLIDERS Full service school & dealer. Crear randem instrnction, towing &. XC packages. (316) 375-2995. MEXICO GO ... H/\NG GU DING!!! (Mexico) Alex Olazabal, Valle de Bravo. Rental gliders, Dennis Pagen certified instrnction. (011) 52 '726-22/i4'), fax (01 l) 52 5 553 3045 rosillo@lsupemer.com.mx. MEXICO FLYING CENTER---http://www.infoabc.com/pous Email: pous@scrvidor.unam.mx Tel/Fax 011 .. 525-652-66-66/554-17-79. MICHIGAN NORM LESNOW'S FLYING ADVENTURES Ridge soaring, foot-launch hang gliders and paraglidcrs. Tnstrnctor, Examiner, Tow Administrator, lessons. Call Norm (810) 399-9433.

PERMANENT RV SITES w/full hookups, as low as $50/mo. Call Greg Clover l 800-803-7788. LOOKOUT MOUNTAlN FUGHT PARK Sec our display ad. Discover why FOUR TIMES as many pilots earn their wings at I .ookour than at any other school! We wrote USHGA's Official Training Manual. Our specialty-customer satisfaction and fun with the BEST FACILITIES, largest inventmy, camping, swimming, volleyball, more! For a flying trip, imro flight or lesson packages, Lookour Mountain, just outside Chattanooga, yom COMPLETE training/service center. Info! (800) 688-LMFP.

TRAVERSE CITY HANG Gl.IDF.RS/PARAGJJDFULL-TIME shop. Certified instruction, foot ERS launch and tow. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands. VISA/MASTERCARD. Come soar our 450' dunes! 150') E 8th, Traverse City MT 19684. Offering powered paragliding lessons & dealer for new & used units, including the Whisper and the Fly. Call Bill at (616) 922-2844. Visit our paragliding school in Jackson, Wyoming. Call Tracie at (307) 739-8620.

SPORT SOARING CENTER/MINNEAPOLIS lnstrnction, C<]Uipment dealers for Wills Wing, Pacific Airwave &. Fdel. (612) 688 .. ()]81. NEVADA

BIRDS or; PARADISE Hang gliding & ultralight flying on Kauai. Certified tandem instrnction. (808) 822-5309 or (808) 639- 1067.

ADVENTURE SPORTS Sierra SoaringAerorowing-Tandem. Toms our specialty. Hang gliding/paragliding USHGA ccnified instmction. Sales & full service shop for Airborne, Alt:Air, Moyes, Wills Wing. 3650-22 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 883-7070 phone/fax, advspts@pyramid.net

TREASURE VALLJ,:Y JIANG GLIDING Boise, Idaho (208) 'l76·-79 J 4. Sales, service, info. Large sclcc· tion of' ametican and european rubing, parts, etc.

NEW YORK

AAA FLIGHT SCHOOi. MOUNTAIN WINGS and EAST COAST PARAGLIDING in Ellenville NY. Simply the largest, MOST PROFESSIONAL training facility in the NE with I 5 years experience. 7 foll rime certified instructors, 4 exclusive training hills. We stock everything available for pilots and sell & service AIRWAVE, AV8, ALTAIR, WII.LS WING and now MOYES, also SWIFT, SlJPERFLOATER, CASPER WING and ALL PARAGLIDER BRANDS. Unbeatable prices on gliders. Full time mndems, IC!', clinics. We do it all. (914) 150 Canal Sneer, Ellenville NY 12428, mtnwings@aol.com. OUR EXPERIENCE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. AEROMAX INC Experience the freedom of soar· ing flight! Specialized in tandem instruction & aerorowing. Gifi certificates available. Location: 1 hour north of' NYC. For info call our hotline (914) 778 58'l9, email: max@cloud9.net ELLENVILLE FLIGHT PARK Sales, service, USIIG/\ certified instrnction. Dealer for AIRBORNE, LA MOUETTE TOPLESS, APCO, instruments, accessories. 80 Hang Glider Road, Fllenville NY 12428. Call Tony Covelli or Jane, phone/fax (911) 6471008. Fl.Y HJGJJ HANG GLIDING, INC. Serving S. New York, Connecticut, areas (Ellenville Mm.). Area's EXCLUSIVE Wills Wing dealer/specialist. Also all other major brands, accessories. Certified school/instruction. Teaching since l 979. Area's most INEXPENSIVE prices. Excellent secondary instruction ... if you've finished a program and wish to continue. Fly rhe mountain! ATOI. towing! Tandem flights! 5163 Scarsville Rd, Pinc Bush, Contact Paul NY 12566, (914)

MINNESOTA

HAWAH

IDAHO

UP OVER NEW MEXICO Instruction, sales, service. Sandia Mounrnin guides. Wills, Pacific Airwave. Albuquerque, NM (505) 821-8544 .

NEW.JERSEY

ILI.INOTS

MOUNTATN WfNCS

RAVEN SKY SPORTS (3 l2) 360-0700 or (4 I 4) 473-8800. Please sec our ad under WISCONSlN.

NEW MEXICO

Look nnder New York.

IKAROS SPORT AVIATION & Spartan Microlight Manufacturing. NYC's first and only certified school for bang gliding, paragliding and trikes. Distributors/dealers for all major brands. Manufacturer for the BEST microlights in the world, SPARTAN. New and used e,iuipmern ar best prices. The most friendly service in NY. For cmalog send $5 to: ISA, '3811 Ditmars Blvd II l 10, Astoria NY 11105. Store: 2931 Newrown Ave., Astoria NY. Phone/fax (718) 777··7000, email: lkaros11@laol.com Internet: http://members.aol.com/ikaros 11 /fly.htm SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK Cooperstown, NY. Certified lnstnrction, Sales and Service for all major manufacturers. /;() acre park, 5 rraining hills, jeep rides, bunk house, camping, hot showers, 600' NW ridge. We have the best facilities in N. New York state to teach you how to fly. c/o Dan Guido, Box 293 Shoemaker Rd, Mohawk NY 1:l407, (315) 866-6153.

MOUNTAIN WEST Hi\NC GLIDING Farmington's only foll service school and Wills Wing dealer. Offering tow and tandem flights. (505) 6'\2-8443.

HANG GLIDING

s NORTH CAROLINA

KITE ENTERPRISES Foot Llllnch, platform launch and aerotow insrruction 100. Training, sales, renials and repair. Airwavc & Wills Dallas, Fort Worth and norrh Texas area. 21 I Allen TX 75002. (9'72) 390-9090 nights, weckertds.

Flight Park

RFD RIVER AIRCRAFT/C;o ... HANG GLIDING!!! Jeff Hunt, /iSI J Red River St., Aus1in Texas 78751. Ph/fax (5ll) 167-2529 gohglGhaol.com.

TOTAL AIR SPORTS Area's OLDEST Wills Wing dealer. Certified inst ruction ,tvailablc. "] DEAL wi1lt WILLS". 6354 Limesrnne, Houston 77092. (713) 'l56-6l47.

UTAIJ

TANDEM [NSTRUCTION • AEROTOWING • BOAT TOWINC • PARACLID!NG MOUNTAIN CLINICS l'O()T LAUNCH • OPEN YEAR ROUND • BEACH RESORT • EQUll'MFNT SALES AND SERVICE

ARMADTJ.l.O GLIDER BAGS Protect your glider from UV and all of narurcs clcrncnls. C11s1om m.1dc hcavy··dttty polypropylene w/ft,J] length zipper $90 (pl us $7 .50 s/11.) EXCLl!SJ VFI.Y through Kcn111ckiana Soaring, 125 N Ave., Clarbvillc IN 47129. (81?.) 2887111, (812) 28/ilill MC/Visa.

CALI. KENTUCKIAN/\ SOARINC:

(812) 288-

71 J l for rhc best price.

(800) http:/ /www.kittyhawk.mm

PLEASE SEF OUR DISPLAY AD. VIRGINIA

PENNSYLVANIA MOUNTAIN TOP RECRF.ATlON Cerrificd instruction, Pittsburgh. (·112) G97-lili'77. C'MON OUT AND PLAY! MOlJNTAJN WINGS

I .ook under New York.

TENNESSEE BLUE SKY Jligh qu:iliry insnucrion, equipment sales, sewing, supplies, Clidcr Savers. Call Steve Wene.Jr in l !arr·1so,nbttrf( VA, (510) 132-6557. KITTY HAWK l<lTFS

Sec North Carolina.

Sil.VER WINGS, INC:. -- Certified hg/pg instrnction and sales, Proudly Pacifk Wing, Secdwings. (703) I %'5 Airw;ivc, Arlington VA.

l!AWK AlRSPORTS INC P.O. Box 'JO'i6, Knoxville, TN ]7910-0056, (li23) 212-li99/i. Hang Gliding and world famous Windsoks.

WISCONSIN

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FI.ICHT PARK ad under Georgia.

RAVEN SKY SPORTS l!ANC GLIDING AND PARACLIDlNG Largest and mos1 popular in rhe

Sec

TEXAS AUSTIN AVIATION Certified foot la1mch, row & tandem trainill[\· Sales/service, Steve & Fred Burns WINDEMERE (210) Ci')V580S. HOUSTON (281) 17J-llr88. l!ILL COUNTRY PARACL!DING INC Learn complc1c pilot skills. l'crson,tlized USI lGA ccniflcd training, ridge soaring) foot & tow launching in central

Texas. MOTORIZED PARAGUD!NG lNSTRUC TION & EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE. (915) 379 1185. R1 l, Box I6F, Tow TX 78672.

JUNE 1997

BEST 12" Wll EELS AVAi! .A BLF Super IOU[\h, lightweight, a must for tandem /lying. Builr··in bushings. Only USA-built wltcd. M2.95, quantity discoums. lmmedia1c delivery. Lookout Mountain, (800) 688-LMFP.

Midwest. Traditional curriculum, ridge soaring, monn" tain clinics, Dragonfly aerotowing & tandems hy Brad

K\lshncr. Sales/service/accessories for all major brands. PO Box 10 l, Whitewater Wl 53190 (11 Ii) ,j?.3 .. 8800. PARTS &ACCESSORIES ABSOL\JTFI.Y Tl!E BEST~· Prices for Ball varios/paraclrn1cs. (619) 229-0018, email:

CLOUD BASE INSTRUMENTS The gh J 8000 altimercr/variomcter is responsive and accmarc. It snp· plies crirical pilot information wirhrntl the confitsion o( supertluous fotturcs $2(,9. 2164 El Camino Real, Suire 220, Sanra Clara CA 9505 l. (108) 2/i3-602 I www.orna.com/(:BJ

rcbrokcr(,Dincom.net

AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES Sec TOWJNC. THE WAI.LA BY RANCH (911) 424-0070.

s KENTOCKIANA SOARING Communications Specialist! Ilcsr Prices &. Best Service! Customer Satisfaction ( ;uarnntccd! OVl-:R.STOCK & c:JOSE--OUr l'J'EMS!

VARIOS, Fl.lGHT DECKS NEW BAI .l. GRAPlllCS PLUS ...................... $CAI .L llAI.L GRAP] l!CS COMP ....... DFMO ......... $900.00 BALL Ml 9 ... ... $360.00 AlRCOTEC Piccolo Plus, Demo. .. ..... $/i00.00 DlG!FLY . .. ..... DEMOS ....... $/i00.00 l'l.Y'J'EC liO 10. .. .... 1)erno. .. ...... $533.00 l'l.YTFC 4020 ..... Demo ... $760.00 Fl .YTEC 4030 . ........... ....... . ... $CALL

TJH: NFW TNCRFDfllLF FJ\RM[KE 15, Jusi plug it into the outlet in your car and press the ptt button the control piece when trans· Can be flt through your sleeve and attach to your with vclco. The earpiece is washable. Earmikc 515 is for ]com, Yacsu, Alinco and more. Earmikc is lor l<rnwood. lntroducrory price for the best mic in the market is $')4.')5. ]SA ph/fax (718) 777.7000.

And trophies. Custom, hand cralicd h,mg and unique, quality tro· phics. Prices starting at Each item one of a kind· ornamenrs, mobiles, desk accessories, jewelry, frames and lots more! Call or write for our free catalog! Soaring Dre.ims, 1 1716 l'.iirview Avenue, Boise Idaho 83713. (20i,) 376-79H. Dirccr from llAl\"C CUDJNC SOFTWARF manufacturer. Custom orders shipped next day. Clide, $60-1 OOppd. XC: waterproof road bags, harness zippers, hand fairings and school too! Best prices, fostcst service, zipper Cunnison Clidcrs, 151i9 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 812.30. (970) 6/i J •. 93 J 5.

MAI.LEITE<:... C:ARMINGPS38.. GARMlN CPS 15.... CARMIN Cl'S <JO..

.. ..... $159.95 ...$159.00 ..... $299.00 ...$G99.00

IIELMF.TS PF! J .F &. REF! .EX Full Face ... OVERSTOCK CLFARANCE .... Black &. other ugly colors .... $125.00 PANORAMIC. ..Fu!I J,acc ....... $1ii').00 LF.L-1'2, Used, l.argcw/PT 1·.. ..$200.00 UVFX ....... Pull hcc ....... $290.00

RADIOS-AU. MODELS 1\VA!LABJ.F ..... 5 watt ........... $305.00 .. ...... 5 wart.. .. ... $CAI I. F/C Fin[~erswitd1/r lcadsct... l!cavy-l)my .... $B9.00 5/8 TEI.FSC:Ol'IC ANTENNA...... .. ... $20.95 5/8 CAIN DUCK ANTENNA... .. ........ $17.95 EAR TJ\IJ<-SPFJ\KER/MIC SYS'J'EM .. Salc .... $60.00 VC22. YAESU Vox/PTT.. ............. $58.9'5 MOBILE ............................. 50 wan ... $299-.'J7'i.OO TUNF. UP w/Warranty Intact. .. ............... $)5-50.00 !COM V68. .. .... IY7-I/!imhz .$229.00 AL!N(:O.. .. .......... $CAJJ. YAF.SU FT! IR

"New" KENTUCKTANA SOARING PRESENTS Fingcrswilch Radio Headset by HEAVY-DUTY HEADSET with switch allows pilot to communicate while hands 011 the control bar or brakes. Saler and more reliable rnrnnmnications. Your instrumclll is pro· rectcd with a 90 day rnFg warranty with repair service av.iilablc beyond the warranty. Currently available for Yaesu, !com, Alinco, Kenwood and other compatible radios. Available for foll face or open helmets. $89 ,$3.50 shipping, MC:/Visa, dealer inquires invited. Kcnwckiana Soaring, 42.5 N Ave., Clarksville IN li7!2.9. (812) 288.-7111, fox 28ii-li115. SPEClAl.lZ!NG JN ELECTRONICS, RADIOS, VARJOS, GPS UNITS & MORE!

KENWOOD Tll22..

PARACHUTES WJJ.LS WJNG J.J\RA ............... w/Paraswivcl ... $CAJ.J. J IICJJ FNER(;y QUANTUM.......

..$CALL

I TEI.MF.TS Integral & Air Kevlcr, rop-o/~thc-linc $180-$300. Disco1rnts 011 .small & XS in stock. (Ii l!i)

Edd, NAS, WW, PmDesign, HES & More!

1738800.

MISC:ET .LANEOUS ARMJ\Dll .I .0 Cliclcr Travclhag .. lJV resisrnnt .. $90.00 WIND ADVISORY AIRSPEFD W/Clarnp ..... $23.00 l lAl.1. l'ARACLJDERAJRSPFEJ l, .. $28.9'i JJOOK KNIFE. .. ...... $lli.95

MASON'S TOW RELEASE

MINI VARIO World's smallest, simplest va1-iol Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours 011 batteries, (). I 8,000 It., fost response and year warramy. Great for paragliding too. ONLY $169. Mallcttcc, PO Box 15756, Santa Ana CA, 92735. (714) %6-1210. MC/Visa accepted.

.$'i2.00

lJ.M]TTS ........ Clearance Overstock.. J\VOCF.T I'll.OT WATCHFS..

. ...... $25.00 .$1 lli.45

I<ENTU< JOANA SOARfNG J\ VCllllC 47129 (812) 2B871 ll fox (812) 2B4li115

HlGH PERSPl,CTIVE WHEELS Real lifo savers! 12", light, tough. Fits all gliders. Send $41.95 1 $Ii.SO per pair to Sport Aviation, PO Box I 01, Mtngc,v1lle !'A 16856. Ask about our dealer prices.

by more The world--class XCR-180 opcrarcs up to 3 hours @lJ8,000 fr. and only 11b. Complete kit with harness, cannula and rcmorc on/off· Jlovnnc:let, only $375.00.

HANC CLJDINC

s TEK FLIGHT PRODUCTS

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT ARF YOU A USHGA CFRTll•IED INSTRUCTOR? Or tow ra1cd? If' so, yon owe it to yourself to give us a call. We arc looking for a frw responsible, marurc and sclf~mo1iva1ed individuals ro join rhe MOUN'T'AIN WINGS TEAM. Spend yo11r summer in beautiful upsrate NY doing what you love most·llANG GI.ID-ING. Call us at (91/i) (,!i7 .. 3:377 for more derails. I.MF!' NEl'DS EXPERIENCED HELP shop. Call Alan or Mall (706) 398-35/i 1.

Camera mount, several models available $/i3. 50. Camera rcmole (ask abonr reha1c) $!i5. Vario mount $15. 6" wheels $29.75. S/1 I incl11dcd.

In 1he sew

WANTED -- Hang Gliding/Paragliding insrrnctors. Immcdian: full time opcni ngs available. Live rhc California drcam ... instruct s1udcnts at 1he San Francisco Bay area's premier training site. Service shop is also available. Ask for Pai Dencvan (408) 262-- l 055. MSC:! IG!i1\10l.corn www.llANG,GLIDlNG.com

BAC IT! If you don'1 have your copy of Dennis PERFORMANCE FLYING yet, available through USHCA Headquarters $2.9.95 (+$5.50 s&h for UPS/Priorty Mail delivery).

PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS CALI. lJSJ !CA For a magazine back issue order form. From rhe early (;round Skirnrner to 1hc prcsenl !!mtf!. ("11 ')) 632--8300.

TEK FUGHT PRODUCTS, Colebrook Sragc, Winsted CT 06098. (860) 379-1668. h11p://mem· bcrs. tripod .corn/, ·tckllight/i1H.lcx .html "NEW" A RISK MANAGEMENT MANUAL For Ilang Uiding, by Michael Robenson. Used extcn-sivcly as USHCA's Instructor Ccrrifica1io11 Program Student Notebook. Includes: history, rhc wondrous wind, new ww section, the wing, the windividual, and

DON'T CFT CAlJCHT LANDINC DOWNWIND! I oz. ripstop nylon, UV 1reared, "i'/i" long w/ 11" th roar. Available colors fl11orcsccn1 pink/yellow or fluorescent pink/while. $39.95 ( ,.$Ji .00 S/1[). Send 10 US! !GA Windsok, l'.O. Box !.'DO, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 1330, (719) 632-8300, fax (719) 632--6/i 17. VISA/MC acceprcd.

DOWNWIND From 1hc early days of1he '/O's, 10 the big--time air of Owen's Valley, DOWNWIND is packed wi1h rbrill and exhilaration of cross country adventure. The pcrfoct for both pilots and non--pilots. SHARE THE FXPERJFNCF. A true s1ory, well rold. Available from USIJGA J lcadquaners for only $10.95 (1$3 s/b). PO Box I:l:lO, Colorado Springs C:080901-1330.

SPECIAL NEW PILOT FDJTJON l Iaug c;Jiding & Paragliding magazine:. Now available through USHGA Headquarters. $4.95 each +$1.50 s/h. Informative aniclcs and plcmy of color tl1roughour. SOARING - Monthly magazine of The Soaring Socic1y of' America, Inc. Covers all aspcc1s of soaring night. hill membership $55. fnf'o. kit with sample copy $3. SSA, P.O. Box F, Hobbs, NM 882/i 1. (505) 39211 Tl. REAL ESTATE

WARM HAT PROFILE Hand with removable neoprene pistol and map pockets Cunnison Gliders, Coun1y Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 6/il--'rll'i.

TEXAS IIILL COUNTRY Secluded hill top 101. Paved road & mili1ics, J minures from Packsaddle Mtn., 20 minmcs from Austin and Hill Couniry l'araglidiug. Access 10 18 hole & 5,000' paved privarc: runway $12,500. Call () 10) 82/i 1803.

WINCLETS ~-· Brand new for !(lassie $2'i0 OBO. (219) 845-2856. HIGHER THAN EAGLES by Maralys & Chris Wills. The lifr & rimes of' BOBBY WILLS, hang gliding legend. Experience the triumphs and tragedies of' rl,c Wills family and 1hc: evolu1ion of Wills Wing. $19.95 hardcover (+$/i.75 S/11 for Ul'S/l'riori1y Mail delivery), sec preceding classified for US!ICA BOOKS ordering info.

]UN[ 1997

the famous REVfSED, NEW CHARTS OF REUA-BILITY. $9.95 +$3 s/h. Order your copy from: High l'crspectivc, RR 865 Conc.7, Claremont Ont. Canada LlY 1A2. (905) 291\--2536, fax (90'i) 79/i-

TOWING AEROTOW!NG ACCESSORIES I lcadquaners for: The /Jnesl releases, secondary releases, Spectra "V" bridles, weak links, tandem wheels, launch can kits, clc. THE WALLABY RANCH (9/il) 424--0070.

s CFT MORE AIRTIME, CUARANTEFD! Platform pay·ollt and 1loncla powered stationary winch systems in stock. Over 65 systems in use, prices start at just $1,995 delivered. I;or more inform,nion comacr: TLS, 70 l O M:11-k, San Antonio TX 78218. (210) 82/i. 1803, fox (21 O) 805,8386. MC, Visa, Amx SCOOTER TOW SYSTEMS prices. (9'12) 390·90')0. TOWINC TRAILER 1989. ((,17) 335,7636.

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS YAESU RADIO Misplaced at TELLURIDE FLY· IN, CO, in September l 996, serial number liNWl 703. Dave Broyles (21ti) 727,3588. FOUND CAMERA 35mm, found at POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN, UT on October 6, 1996. Call (80 I) 957. 1118 to identify.

Available at various

ATOL setup, in use since

VIDEOS & FILMS FIRST FLIGHT follows tl,c anion of a new pilot'.s first lessons. This video is an way to show your friends and family how you learn to fly. VHS 15 minutes. $20 includes shipping (may be tlJ!/'liea' to lesson MISSION SOAR! NG CFNTF.R, 1 l 16 Wrigley Way, Milpitas CA 95035. (408) 26?, . l 055. NEW IN STOCK! PARTY AT CT.OUDBASE A hang gliding music video hy Advcnn,rc: Productions $19.95. POINT OP THE MOUNTAIN,Award win ning by East Coasr Video, action at this Utah mecca $29. HANG GLIDING EXTREME & BORN TO FI.Y hy Advcnrnrc Productions, great hg action $31.95 each. HAWAHAN FLY!N by Space'), soaring in paradise, lannchcs tn. Call or fax USHCA (719) 632·8.300, (719) 6.32 (,Ii I please +$Ii domestic s/h (+$5 for two or more videos). C:rcat to impress your friends or for rhosc soclmJ .. ill days. Pcrfict gift for the l:nmch potato rumcd couch potato. Also, ask us about our parngliding videos!

CAL GLOVE Lighr .. wcight CABRETTA LEATHER GLOVES, world famous in equestrian cir, des, arc now gaining popularity in rhe hang gliding, paragliding & markets. Available in men, women & children sizes, 9 difforcnt colors and priced from $7.7.95·$39.95. For more info on these superior leather gloves contact: C:aJ .. (;lovc, ?.920 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento CA 9582.1 (916) li81·8'701, fax (916) Ii 8 1.. J ] 68, email: VARIO BALI. 652, grcar condition, recently calibrated $225. ('ilB) 2.'72/i135 evenings.

MISCEIJANEOlfS W!NDSFEKER More fon than a barrel of down· rubes. It soars, it loops, it flies! ONLY $3.00 plus $?, s/h ($3 s!h on orders o/'3. More than J or Int'! ora'en, plemc C(//l) US! !GA, PO Box I 330, ( :olorado Springs CO 80901. (719) 6:32,8300, fox yom MC/Visa with order to (719) 632.-6,j l C:all lJSIICA for VIDEOS BOOKS & POSTfi.RS your Merchandise order form (719) (i32.,8;l00, email:

SOLAR WINGS SCANDAL Stolen from VAN· COUVER, BC CANADA on Aug11st 10th, l996. 13.6 meters, lilac & unclcrsurface, blue chevron blue Skylark

IKAROS (KOREAN) PARAGUDER Stolen from SAN BERNARD[NO, CA rental car on Jnne 6th, 1996. Pink upper, white under wirh blue hawk design on right bottom, left brake line replaced with 505 hg cord. Contact Miullo Yoon (909) 887. /i8/i4 or Rob McKenzie, l ligh Adventure (909) 883·8488. STOLEN WINGS arc listed as a service to USHGA members. Newest entries arc in bole!. There is no charge for this service and lost and found wings or equipment may be called in (7 I 9) 6'\2·8300 or fax ir in (719) 632,6117 for ind11sion in Hang Gliding magazine. Please call to cancel rhe listing when gliders arc recovered. Periodically, this listing will be purged.

Adventure Productions ...................... 51 Altair ................................................. 23 Arai Design ....................................... 27 Ball Varios ......................................... 31 Bluff View House .............................. ] 0 Brauniger .......................................... 18 Fly Products ........................................ 5 Flyt:ec ............................................... .49 I-I all Bros ........................................... l 0 High Energy Sports

Icaro .................................................... 2 "AEROBATICS" Full color ?,}"x ., l" poster foatur· ing John Heiney doing whm be docs bcst . ,L()OP[N( ;1 Available through US[ !CA I !Q f,,r just $6.95 (+$3.50 s/h). Fill that void on your wall! Send to USHCA ilcrobatics Poster, PO Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 80')33. (lJSA & C:ana,L, only. Sorry, posters arc NOT AVAJ[.ABLI' on inrernarional orders.) SPF· CIAL,Acrohatics & Eric Raymond poster· flOTHFOR$10( s/b).

DON'T LEAVE YOUR GROUND.BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT lN THE HANG GLIDING CLASSII'JEDS. CI.ASSfflED ADVFRTISING RATES The rate for classified is $,50 per word (or group of charnc· tcrs) and$ I .00 per word for bold or all caps. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $5.00. A foe: of$ I 5.00 is charged for each line arr logo and $25.00 for each photo. LINFART & PHOTO SIZE NO LARGER THAN 1.75" X 2.25". Please underline words to be in bold prim. Special layouts of tabs $25.00 column inch. Phone number~?, words. Fmail or web AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, instrnctions, additions and c,1ncellatio11s 11111st be received in 1 I/?, momhs preceding the cover date, i.e. May 20th the July iss11c. Please make checks to USHGA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado CO 809(J[ .. 1J30, (719) 632·8.'.JOO. Fax (719) 11shea~1Juslwa.on, your classified with

..... 7,28 Just Lookout Mm. Flight Park ................... 7 Mojo's Gear ...................................... 51 Moyes ............................................... 39 Neilsen-.. Kellerman ........................... .46 Pendulum Aerosports ........................ 18 Soaring Ccmer .................................. 51

Sport Aviation Publications ................. 5 U.S. Aeros ......................................... 18 LJS Aviation ..................................... .47 lJSHGA ..................... 5,29,45,46,56,57 Wills Wing .......................... Back Cover

your Visa or

HANG GUDINC

© 1997 by Dan Johnson PAUL, MINN Back home after attending thee big n Fun air.show and jl1s before:.-: tha another USHGA board of directors meeting in Colorado Springs ( tJ:1e !IQ of the asEwcia Li on for those of you just back from another planet). ••• One of the evenings involved a little party at Yoo shga offices. While Uie dirc-0ctors and a crowd o perhap 50 persons m:i] abou someone pu ed old copies of t:his off the neatly organized shelves. Editor myself, and sev0,ra] o enjoyed lane trip of rifling through the old rags A. As many of you recall, this column, starting i nineteenth year with thi issue (! !), is take off from the old Bill Allen "Flying Bull" column Uiat ran back in t:he late ''/0:3. When Bill had to top down, he cal1c,d for a writer to succe0,d him. When none came forth, I adapted and a gave credit. to Bill for hie, style wit n my own Wbo} lli. mag,1 z Funny though ... T believed I was closely emulatinq the look and tyle oi the man who gave birth to the format a$ we all looked at "Flying Bull," th ruth i I'v0i changed i t a lo 'I'he typewr ter look cam,0 from t:he daye of Who.Io Air when we bough t::ype outfl rather than compofle it on a Mae (which didn' c,xist). "Flying Bu 1" was professional y 11 typeseL. Ncithe did Bi 1 tll e911iu sc,parators of today. Hi wen2 1 boldface t:al etters. t:he basic "feel" of olumn i imi ar: , newsy, and flomewhat 'I'he yucks, how0,v01r, amc0 Pork's Hang DJvJng magazine parody. Itc, weird and wonderful humor lil:eraJly had a numbc-0r of the din2ctors in stitches. Don't be surprised if Gi Ufles some t:.he ancient: humor aqain some It hadn' ('I'hanlrn, Pork!) so much back to and stuff, the t:rue this Linc,,fl" version of ••• flying season i off , afl by a state rc,cord dif;tance from Florida's Wal Ranch. Yup. Mike "Hollywood" Champlin a Moyefl SX4 and flew 147 miles to w:i thin a few miles o tlw Georgia border! job, Mike! For hifl forts, he qot more than clap on the back; he won t:be Wallaby standing of $500 (which no doubt cov,,,red the g1 rental fc,0) and tow ite nicely). On the same day, book writer Straub also managed over 00 miles. They had some dandy cond Two days earl I alflo got a good out in Falcon :t 95 to 7, 00 feet (pretty for Florida, 'm told). One of those, "couldn' L: qet down" days ... exc(~llent ! 'l'hanks to Malcolm and hifl Ranch Hands. Up a.t Quest, some fine flying by females was to occur just: a L:er Sun 'n Fun and hopefulJ they, too, got some the g-rea t s,outhern a 'm we' 1 hccar more ••• StiLI foLLowed Sun 'n l•'un in form of ECC or East Coast Championships, LJ1e nowtraditional season fltarter conteflt. According to my old frir:md and meet director, Rick Jacob, the c"vent went wel with sev,m of ec,:i.ght days good flying. reportcJd, '"l'he toplesfl gliders are outperforming the gliders with kingposts by a subs tan ti ,i.1 margin. " Thi Tree Topper club .. flponsored event racked up 3,182 milefl of f including one 46-miJ.e task to Lookout LZ. Nelson Howe won on a Laminar and was by topl ,; gliders th ough ixth lace afl ol owfl: 2nd ,Jim Lee/l•'usion; Pet 1

JUNE 1997

Lehmann/Fusion; 4th Brad Koj i /CSX; 5th Mark Gibson/FR; and 6th arry •rudo /Laminar Regretfully one tragic accidc"nt ca,;t a cloud over the event. Rob Howe of the Chicago area wafl ki led when he lost control and ,; truck t:.he cliff. Our heartfelt sympathy to his wife and fami y. Jacob wi l comp el: and 1 and accident report. A. At the c0vent, several new Lopless gliders were seen. Jim Lee's Fusion was done barely in l~ime and Koj i ' CSX wafl reportedly the flame one ufled for Lruck t:esLing. For some of the meet Dennis Pagen flew the Russian Stealth whicl1 ifl being imported by GW Meadow's Just Fly. Different than aLI the :n-,st, it bas a riveted aluminum cnJflllbdr in J ieu of carbon iber which no doubt helpfl bring the price tag down to nearly $4,000 delivered (aB oppofled to over flix 9rand) ! 990 'fiH0se events need tropb:i.es and a new flource ust emerged. Lisa Tate started an enterpri named Soaring Dreams and she prepares awards HG meeU3. She's already done the, Owerrn Valley XC Champs, the US Nate,, tbe Manufacturer' League Meet, and sever a regional I oca contests. 'rhey' all hand crafted in qJass, wood, metal, or plastic. Give her a jinqle at: 208 376--7914 (eveningfl). ••• More on t:he big Telluride Festival. .. firflt, that the dates s}1ifted a squeak to August 18-27, but also the list of cularc, Luigi Chiarani will be the and called to say that some big names are coming. Bill Lishman of C 'mon Geese and Hollywood' fl Home fame wil flhow along witb fellow John Stokes. Michael Robertson who did lhe Ear;y Riser flying in Fiy Home will also attend. Ray Leonard, one t:.be few U . . pilotc; who knowfJ the Speed Gliding format personally, will direct that part o tbe F E, va 0 course, J"im Zeic,et' s Pendulum i of:fc,r:ing that $15 Grand prize dough that:. will flurely draw far and wide ... HA!, like the event needfl more draw. It ought' a be great. 1'o on the devEcloping nc"ws of the web pac.re at www. pendulumaero. com or cal 1 FLY-XC. ••• Back east and out west flame timE0, Greg Black's Lars Linde bought out ,Jeff Greenbaum' s wi t:h another partner, Greg Smith. Lars had been runrdng the EPC and will now add the WPC, or West Coast Paragliding Centeff. Black stays in the afl partner of the hang gliding operation in Bay Area shop. A Lotsa news from Gre,J afl he says Mountain Wings took over the local E11envi11 NY airport afl FBO (that.'s Fixed Bas Operator to you non gEmeraJ aviation pilots). Kind of a big deal when an HG bi takefl over a GA airport, I think. Greg says business has bounced back from laBt year, in [act, he's already ahead of all laflt and the seaflon ust The wi11 be the sj o a i open to any commerc aJ sport aviation ente,rprise who'd like to find flome new cufltomers. 'l'he town's doin9 up fireworks on a grand flcale, Black , and lot.fl like John Heiney and wi 11 pref,ent. 898 Tudor travel on his familiar Road Tour, now it revolvefl around his AV8 buBineflc, the Italian-made Laminars. (More on them, GW' s :import bi , and Kamron Blevin' s new North Wing manufacturing operat.ion nc,xt month as ... ) ••• We' re out ta room. So, go n0,ws or opinions'? Send '0~m t::o 8 Dorset, St. Pau MN '.S5 18. Messages or fax t.o 612 .. 450 0930, or K· mail to CumultrnManC<laol.com. 'I'HAJ)fKSL